All your personal fitness, exercise and diet questions answered by an experienced fitness instructor. Personal trainer Mel Poulson answers your diet and fitness questions with advice on exercies to boost lung health after years of smoking and what to look for when joining a gym!

Mel Poulson is a tutor at Lifetime Training, and has over ten years experience in personal training and GP referral instructing. Below she answers your fitness questions to help you get and stay in shape. If you have a fitness question you would like answered by Mel, all you have to do is submit your question using the Comment on this Article box below. And remember - sign-up to our monthly health and fitness newsletter to receive your expert answer direct in your in-box.

Question

Judy writes: I have recently given up smoking after 15 years and have begun doing some exercise to try and get fit. I have never been overweight, but are there any particular exercises or sports I should take up that will boost my lung capacity?

Mel's Answer

Any exercise that raises your heart rate and breathing rate will increase your lung efficiency. Swimming can be very useful as you need to control the breathing a lot more as you breathe in with the face out of the water and breathe out with the face in the water.

Try to find some cardiovascular activities that you think you might enjoy. Walking, jogging, swimming, a circuits or aerobics class or any of the cardiovascular equipment in the gym will help. Make sure you get some guidance from an instructor in the gym as to how to use the gym kit safely.

A quick check up with the GP is also a good idea before starting exercise after giving up smoking. This is simply to ensure that there are no long term effects of smoking, such as heart disease, that need to be identified.

Question

Steve writes: I intend joining a gym in the New Year. Is there anything I need to look out for in terms of facilities on offer before signing up? Also, how long should a session last when I go to the gym? My friend says I should go for at least an hour and half each time, but it seems a long time to me?

Mel's Answer

Good facilities to look for in a gym vary for each person. Before you go to the gym look around and think about what you are trying to achieve. Do you want to increase fitness for some kind of sporting event? Do you want to lose weight? Do you want some relaxation time? Knowing what you want helps you to see if the facilities can meet these needs.

Certainly look for variety. A good gym should have a variety of equipment that is clean and in good working order and should have a good mix of classes to appeal to lots of people and interests. Ask about inductions so that you can be shown how to use kit safely. Are there any beginner classes on the studio timetable? If you like to swim or relax a little is there a pool, sauna or steam room for members?

One of the most important questions to ask is whether the clubs instructors are members of the Register of Exercise Professionals. If they are then you can feel confident that they are suitably qualified and trained to give you safe effective programmes.

You don’t need to spend 90 minutes in the gym. In fact, if a programme is longer than one hour in length the chances of you dropping out are much higher! A good personal trainer or gym instructor should be able to programme for your needs. If you only have 40 minutes in your lunch break to exercise your programme should take this onto account.

Question

Susan writes: I am trying to lose some weight and get into better shape. My question is: which is better for me, which will burn more calories, and which is better for getting into shape - jogging on a flat surface, jogging in place, or jogging in place on a mini-trampoline? I assume the trampoline is easiest on my joints, but is there a significant difference in the workout I get if I am staying in one place vs jogging around a track? And does jogging on the trampoline burn more or less calories than jogging on a hard surface?

Mel's Answer

Jogging on a small trampoline will certainly help reduce the impact on your joints so it is certainly a good option for reducing injury. In terms of calories burned you are likely to burn more by running outside.

Jogging outside as opposed to on the spot will burn more calories and feel more challenging. Rather than just moving your body weight up and down on the spot you now need to travel forwards as well. This is harder. The other benefit of jogging outdoors is the benefit of being in the fresh air. You’ll always feel more invigorated after a session outside as opposed to inside.

To begin with try to go for a good time and gradually build this up step by step. The level should feel comfortable. If you went with a friend you should be able to hold a conversation but need to breathe between short sentences, you should feel sweaty and a little breathless. Once you can maintain this for around 20-30 minutes gradually start increasing the level at which you work in the 30 minutes.

When taking up any new activities or exercise always consult with your GP first and ensure that you get advice from an appropriately qualified instructor.

Mel Poulson, pictured. If you have a fitness question you would like answered by Mel, email us at info@keepthedoctoraway.co.uk. For more information on fitness courses & more contact Lifetime Training on 0870 702 7273 or visit www.lifetimehf.co.uk