Are you looking to tone up this summer? Perhaps change your attitude towards fitness and even start enjoying working out in the gym? Let the team at Places Gym help you.

To kick-start your August training, we have put together a 7-day workout plan for you to enjoy. It can be easy to take one look and think, “Oh but I don’t know what any of this means.” Well, in that case, please speak to one of our fitness instructors – they are always more than happy to help.

So, let’s start at the very beginning…

Day 1 – Strength training

The key to shaping your body, losing fat and increasing your metabolism lies with strength training. The more leaner muscle you carry on your body, the more energy is required to maintain it.

Bodyweight squats: remember to keep your back straight and to not sink forward so your knees go over your toe line

Dumbbell bench press: find an ideal weight to start with, sit up straight with your back and head resting on the bench and push your arms up (one at a time) into the air

Bent-over row: use the barbell or two dumbbells and bend forwards slightly keeping your back straight

Box steps: don’t start too high, only jump to the height you feel comfortable with

Ball slam: find a weighted ball and throw from above your head onto the floor, catching as it comes up in a slight squat position (you might need to check which balls you can slam in your gym!)

Complete 10x reps of each exercise above, and where required – 10x on each side. You should have 30 seconds rest between each exercise, and repeat the whole set 3 times.

As time progresses, try increasing the weight or the height of your box jump – you might just find your body reacts very well to the change.

Day 2 – Interval training

Now for some cardio. High intensity interval training will increase your heart rate each time you’re on the sprint or high intensity round. Your heart rate will then lower on the lower intensity round, which causes your body to burn more calories.

Treadmill: walk on a lower speed such a level 5 for 1 minute and sprint for one minute on a higher level such as level 10. Keep this going for 16 minutes

Rower: set the clock to 6 minutes – have 1 minute hard-out rowing and 1 minute slow

Prowler sled (weighted sled): try to push the prowler at a walk or sprint for the length of the room and back, with 1 minute rest in between – repeat this 5 times

Your body will probably cry out in pain – but the right kind of pain is a good pain. It shows the interval training is working, your strength is improving, and your body is working hard.

Day 3 – Rest

Funny how we said this would be a 7-day workout programme, and we’ve added in a day’s rest. Don’t worry! Your body has just completed two days of solid training – your muscles need time to rest and repair before going hard again.

Day 4 – Foam-rolling

After an intense day or two of working out, your body might not start to ache until 48 hours later. You enjoyed a day of rest yesterday, but now is time to get back into training – slowly.

Foam-rolling and stretching improves your mobility and introduces a full range of motion to enable your muscles to stretch out and to improve on the quality of your exercises.

Roll-out: lie on your back with the foam-roll in the middle of your back. Push with your feet to drive backwards and let the roller work its way up to your shoulder blades, then pull yourself back down

Calf roll: sit upright with the foam under your calf (one leg at a time), and bend the other leg for support. Lift yourself slightly off the floor and roll back and forth so the foam moves along the length of your calf and back

Quad roll: Lie in a plank position with the roller underneath one thigh, above the knee. Holding yourself on your arms, push backwards and pull forwards so the foam moves along the length of your thigh

Repeat each exercise twice (two on each side where required), for 30 seconds a time.

Also, check-out additional foam rolling exercises from PT Martin at Places Gym Preston.

Day 5 – Core work

Now for your mid-section. You can make toning your core as easy or as difficult as you choose – we prefer the easy, but effective methods.

Abdominal machine: if you can’t find this piece of equipment, please ask a member of the team to point it out and show you how it works

Russian twists: start sat on the floor, leaning slightly backwards and twisting from left to right. After 10 twists, lift your feet off the floor and lean further back to increase the intensity

Stand and lower: starting stood up with your hands above your head, crouch down into a squat, put your hands on the floor and walk out until you’re in a plank position – then reverse

Complete 10x reps of each exercise above, and where required – 10x on each side. You should have 30 seconds rest between each exercise and repeat the whole set 3 times.

Day 6 – Full-body

So far you’ve had a good few workouts, each focussing on different areas of your body. Now it’s time to mix it up a little.

Try taking one or two exercises from each workout for a full body session. It will also help you realise how far you’ve come this week and give you chance to improve on your routine.

Day 7 – Rest

You’ve earned it! Time for a rest day, so you can replenish your body ready to go again tomorrow.

Try to stick with this workout for about 4-weeks before mixing it up. Improve on your routine and increase your weights, reps and times as you progress forwards.

You don’t want to keep doing the same workout for a long time as your body will become so used to it and won’t respond – not to mention you will get bored.

When you’re ready to try something new, speak to the team! Our personal trainers can work with you to create a whole new plan to help you continue on your fitness journey.

Good luck!