I run because I love food

Came home, procrastinated for a while about what to do for Juneathon, ruled out a run as I was already a bit late home from work, and decided on the Swiss ball.

Instead of working the abs again, I opted for some leg strenthening exercises. Three sets of 10 (30) of the following:

• Squat against wall (quadriceps, gluteals)
• Bridge (gluteals)
• Hip extension with calves on ball (hamstrings, lower back extensors, glutes)
• Leg curl with heels on ball (hamstrings, calves, core stabilisers)
• Heel raise (calves)

The muscles in brackets indicate the core areas worked, according to my exercise cards. But the beauty of the Swiss ball is that virtually every task also works the core stabliser muscles (abs, pelvic and back). It’s worth getting some instruction from someone who knows what they’re doing – I saw a great personal trainer for a while when I lived in Bath and he taught me how to isolate muscle groups, to ensure you work the right ones.

Obviously I don’t always look like the elegant models you see in magazine articles on the subject. I quite often wobble about a bit and end up in a heap on the floor, legs akimbo.