All your personal fitness, exercise and diet questions answered by an experienced fitness instructor. This week, advice on losing the Christmas tummy and exercise advice for bad backs.

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.

Jane Page from London writes: I want to tone-up my belly, which has grown over the Christmas period. What exercises/activities should I try to do to get back in shape?

Mel's Answer:

This is such a common problem following the Christmas period. All that food and drink and very little activity means that it doesn’t take long before we start to see a few extra pounds here and there.

In order to lose the body fat that has appeared in this area it’s a simple case of burning calories. Some simple cardiovascular exercise is best for this. Something like walking, swimming, aerobics classes or the gym is great. Start with a time and level that you feel comfortable with and gradually progress with this until you can complete around 30 minutes continuously. Once you can do this you can begin making the sessions harder without taking up more of your time.

To tone the tummy muscles try a simple exercise like the plank. This exercise works deep abdominal muscles that compress and flatten the tummy and help with good posture. Lay on your tummy with your head resting on your hands and your back in its natural position (neutral spine). Imagine you have a drawing pin on the floor under your tummy and draw the belly button in so that your tummy lifts up off the floor and doesn’t touch the drawing pin. As you do this, ensure that you breathe normally and maintain the same position of your spine. Hold this for around 10 seconds and then release. As this gets easier you can lift up so that you rest on the elbows and knees. A further progression is to extend the legs and rest on the elbows and toes. When you progress, make sure the elbows are below the shoulders and that you are still breathing normally. Ensure you maintain the neutral spine position. If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, a heart condition or are pregnant this type of exercise is not recommended.

Question

Daren Campbell from Glasgow writes: I have been suffering from a bad back over the last few months, largely due to poor posture and hunching over a laptop all day. A friend told me to try yoga, but I don’t know anything about it - what does it involve exactly and do you think it will benefit my constant back ache? Any other tips would be helpful.

Mel's Answer

The first thing I would recommend you do is consult your GP regarding your back pain to be sure exactly what the cause is. Yoga can help as a complementary therapy along with conventional medicine to relieve a variety of medical conditions. Yoga can help with correction of poor postural patterns that can lead to back injury and pain. Yoga is also very good for relieving stress. Stress often leads to muscle tension and this can exacerbate your back pain further.

You need to find a class in your local area and ensure that the teacher is properly qualified. Log on to the British wheel of Yoga website (www.bwy.org.uk) and you can search for an instructor in your area who is properly qualified.

Talk to the instructor and make sure that you inform them of your back pain and your needs as there are several movements that may not be suitable for you and the instructor can offer you modifications that are safer. You also need to find out if their class is right for you as there are several different types of yoga ranging from relatively gentle to very intense.

If you are desk bound for a large part of the day it may be worth approaching your employers to provide you with a back support for your desk chair that encourages you to maintain a better posture throughout the day. Focus on lifting your chest and pulling the shoulders back and down as opposed to lowering the chest towards the desk and rounding the shoulders. Imagine you have a piece of string attached to the top of your head and when this is pulled up you lift and straighten giving you a better postural position.

With all advice given always listen to your body and when making a change to your training programme or starting exercise you should consult your GP first.

Mel Poulson, pictured. 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

For more information on fitness courses & more contact Lifetime Training on 0870 702 7273 or visit www.lifetimehf.co.uk