Here’s why I love them, and why you should consider adding them to your warm-ups and workouts.

1. Perfect for warm-ups

Warming up isn’t just about getting hot – it’s about priming your muscles and joints for the work ahead. I use resistance bands in all of my warm ups because they:

• Activate key muscles – Especially those that can be hard to wake up, like glutes, shoulders, and core (hamstring stretches).
• Improve range of motion – Perfect for loosening tight hips or shoulders before a lift (shoulder rotations).
• Increase blood flow – Getting your muscles warm and ready to work (squats and torso twists).
• Reduce injury risk – By strengthening smaller stabilizer muscles that protect your joints.

Example Warm-Up Moves:

• Banded Glute Bridges
• Hamstring stretches
• Shoulder & chest static holds

2. Versatility for all fitness levels

From glute activation to upper body strengthening, bands come in various resistance levels, making them perfect for beginners or advanced lifters. You can use them to add resistance to bodyweight exercises or as a stepping stone to heavier weights.

3. Convenience and portability

No space for a full gym? No problem. Bands are lightweight, compact, and easy to toss in your bag for workouts at home, while you’re working away, at the park, or while traveling on holiday.

4. Add intensity

Resistance bands add a unique kind of resistance that keeps your muscles under tension through the entire range of motion, which can be great for building strength and muscle tone.

5. Affordable and effective

Compared to big, bulky gym equipment, bands are really budget-friendly and can still help you have an effective workout

Ready to add bands to your routine?

If you’re ready to level up, check out these resistance bands here – these are the longer ones – perfect for warm-ups, glute activation, or full-on strength sessions.

For the shorter, booty style bands (ouchy!) – check these out…  The ones I use are linked  here 

Give me a shout if you’d like some resistance band training inspo!  Happy to help!

The post Resistance bands… Why I love them so much! appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

I’ve been looking into this more and it seems the link between physical exercise and mental health relates to neurotransmitters and neuromodulators (endorphins) in the brain.  Exercise increases our levels of ‘feel-good’ hormones (dopamine and serotonin, epinephrine, GABA & glutamate levels) and also those chemicals which help with pain and stress relief, which ultimately facilitate emotional and mental health benefits.

Specific mental health benefits of exercise include:

• Improved depression symptoms
• Decreased anxiety
• Reduced stress
• Increased resiliency
• Better sleep
• Improved PTSD symptoms
• Decrease ADHD symptoms
• Boosted self esteem
• ncreased mental function
• Improved PTSD
• Better memory function
• Sense of control

It seems exercise doesn’t need to be super strenuous to be effective in this way, any kind of movement helps, but research suggests that more intense sessions 2-3 times a week can be particularly beneficial, so it’s important to find something which works for you.

Obviously if you are struggling with any of these symptoms, it’s hard to get started, so my advice would be to start small and allow yourself time to adjust.  Committing to a walk every day is a great way to begin, but the key is consistency, coupled with time and patience.

One tip is to start thinking of yourself as a person who exercises.  Tell yourself that’s who you are now!  You are one of those people, it’s just something you do.  Even if you’ve only just started, it’s still true, so re-enforce that identity with yourself.

Also, you can view this ‘movement’ as an act of self care – it’s like going to bed at a sensible time, drinking enough water, taking your make up off at night, putting on SPF, having a relaxing bath… Looking after yourself is important; you can’t pour from an empty cup, so the saying goes (and it’s true btw!).

Another way to start is to find someone else to exercise / walk / run with regularly.  The chances are you’ll have friends who also want to enjoy exercise more frequently too, so team up with them!

If getting started is down to you alone, I’d recommend you find a great podcast about something you’re really interested in, plug in, and walk around the block – just for 10 mins.  You might find you get lost in the podcast and want to walk for longer to hear more!  Try and repeat that each day… even if it’s raining! There’s something extra therapeutic about walking in the rain (if you’re kitted out for it!).

Other suggestions include group fitness, walking clubs, running clubs, even finding some low intensity workouts on YouTube can be really effective…. My final suggestion here is to track your activity, build up a streak, something visual really helps (e.g. a chart or a log on your phone) – you can then see what you’ve achieved and be proud of yourself – that all helps to build self esteem and it contributes to feelings of positivity and accomplishment.

The overarching point here is that if you are struggling, you can take these small steps to begin to help yourself.  This doesn’t have to be overwhelming or ‘all or nothing’ – these are just small steps to get you started.  Obviously, there are circumstances where you may need to see a professional and that is perfectly understandable, but these are steps you can take NOW to look after your own physical and mental wellbeing as no-one is going to do it for you.     

Final words – exercise is a powerful tool.  And it’s FREE.  Find something you enjoy, do it regularly and use it to your advantage and look after your physical and mental wellbeing.  Remember, taking care of your mental health is not a luxury, but a necessity.

If you need any support with getting started and you’d like to transition from walking to workouts, please reach out – I can help you get started.

The post World Mental Health Day & Benefits of exercise appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

We know this because there was a huge study on metabolism undertaken in 2021 (the largest of it’s kind) and it concluded that metabolism does NOT change between the ages of 20-60.  So, contrary to popular belief, a slowing metabolsim is not the reason we find it harder to lose weight and feel good as we get older.  We cannot blame metabolism (or simply our age) for this! 

Weight gain does still happen though and the main reason many of us put on weight is largely down to lifestyle changes, additional stress and changes in our movement patterns... that’s because we tend to move less, consume more, sleep less, exercise less frequently and less intensively, lead busier lives, and we tend to have less time for ourselves as we focus more on others.

If we turn some of that outward attention inwards, we can all take steps to improve our own health and wellbeing…  Simple, right?!  In principle, yes – in practice, no!  It’s about understanding and changing behaviours and attitudes, developing healthier habits, cultivating a healthier environment and being more aware of our health and wellbeing at all levels, which is not easy when we have so much other stuff to juggle!  It is a lot to focus on, hence why having a coach can be beneficial (but that’s another blog entirely!).  

My advice here – start small. Build as you go. Make some changes, start to cultivate a healither lifestyle. Remember there are no ‘quick fixes’… Being healthy and fit is a lifestyle, never a fad, and we shouldn’t under estimate the impact of small behaviour shifts, especially as we get older.  We need to look after ourselves and accept that we are in full control of our own health, weight and fitness and mindset – this cannot be blamed on ‘old age’ or the ‘inevitable’ middle age spread or a ‘slow metabolism’  – weight can be gained and it can be lost, but you have more control over that than you may think!

Take control, make an effort to be the best version of you and if you’d like help with knowing where to start, please feel free to message me.  I’d love to help.  

Find out more about the metabolism stufy here:  https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/surprising-findings-about-metabolism-and-age-202110082613

Listen to the podcast here:  https://drchatterjee.com/how-to-eat-to-boost-your-bodys-natural-defences-avoid-the-foods-that-weaken-them-with-dr-william-li/

The post Myth busting – Metabolism and ‘middle age spread’ appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

I have personally employed some of these strategies to help me control my snacking and like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes…. I promise!  (And – spoiler alert – YOU CAN STILL HAVE SNACKS!!)

1. Drink water – staying hydrated is important to help you feel fuller for longer, so you are less likely to experience cravings.  It’s also really bloody good for you, so try and drink lots of water every single day, regardless of your snacking habits!  
2. Introduce a NEW RULE!  One snack per day. Limit it. Set yourself a rule. If you are serious about achieving your goals, you’ll understand why this is important!  If you are tempted by a snack after you’ve already had your daily allowance, save it for the next day.   You’ll probably enjoy it even MORE if you wait!  Delayed gratification!  
3. Only have it if you REALLY want it. Make it a ‘HELL YES!’ snack!  If there are biscuits in the office which you think are ok, but aren’t your favourite, just say NO!  Practice it!  Remind yourself that saying yes to the biscuits is like saying no achieving your goals.  Or flip it – saying NO to the crappy office biscuits is like saying YES to your goals!!  Get serious about it – nothing changes if nothing changes.  
4. Enjoy your snack as you eat it, take the time to savour every bite. This is important, let yourself enjoy it, guilt free, especially if you’ve factored it into your calorie intake (which I encourage you to do!)
5. Create a barrier or remove the stuff likely to tempt you. Don’t buy it, or if you do have it in the house, or move it somewhere else to interrupt the automatic habit of opening the snack cupboard (or your equivalent!).  Create a barrier, or do something which makes you pause before taking action.  

Hope this is helpful and you’re able to take some pointers away to help you take control.  Snacking isn’t ‘bad’, but having some strategies to implement will definitely help you achieve your weight loss goals!  Please let me know how you get on!

The post Don’t let snacking be your downfall! appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.