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This is the fourth part of Instyle’s series of workouts which focus on different parts of your body. It’s all about legs this month, on page 254.

I like the way this article puts to rest the idea that working your legs will always bulk them up. Although some women do have a tendency to build chunky thighs, bodyweight exercises will very rarely contribute to this. It mentions spin classes can contribute to big legs, but personally I reckon you’d have to be doing several a week, and maxing out on the resistance. Make sure you periodise your class with bursts of easy riding (a good instructor will set their class up like this anyway), to avoid overworking your quads.

As with the abdominal part of the program a couple of months ago, it’s great to see cardio mentioned here to enhance the results of your workout. You can build muscle, but what’s the point if it’s hiding under fat?

This plan has four different parts to it, the idea being you do a different one every day. Personally, I’d prescribe a day of rest between doing walking lunges and squat holds and zig zag lunges. Both use the same main muscle groups, and to use them two days in a row leads to overwork. My main complaint with this article is the idea of focussing on only one part of your body at time. Any good program aims for balance between abs, back, chest and legs, and obviously splitting these areas into four seperate months will sell more magazines, it can lead to imbalance and overtraining.

That said, I like these exercises. Good illustrations for most of them mean you can work out what you need to do without being too confused. There are some fairly advanced exercises here, like scissors, side-kick plank and side thigh raises, so it’s important to understand you’ll need to have good core control. Even a basic lunge is a challenging exercise to do properly, so make sure you’re not overdoing the reps before your technique is right.

Adding a day of rest between each day of working out will make this a much better option. ***

It’s been a lean couple of months in the old glossy monthly stakes, with most of last month’s mags neglecting the health and fitness front totally. Happily it’s Cleo to the rescue, with month 3 of their Bikini Body Panic Plan on page 201.

This month’s all about maximising results and minimising time spent working out. Basically it’s a circuit program, with 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. It’s not a new idea, but it appeals to a lot of people because so many of us are now pressed for time.

“It may sound too good to be true, but this 20 minute workout will give you better results than the average one and a half hour session”. Some important things to remember when reading this quote: I don’t think anyone should be working out for longer than an hour - unless you’re going to fatigue and having to rest for 5 minutes between sets, there’s no way you’ll have enough energy to do quality work for the whole 90 minutes. An “average” 90 minute session would be just that - wandering around the gym, saying hi to a few people, pumping out some cursory reps, then getting sick of it and bailing out. If you focus, work hard, and go in with a plan, then it doesn’t need to take forever.

Exercises this month are a bit of a mixed bag, and once again, the weak point in most of them is the demonstration. I don’t have many clients I’d be happy prescribing the second day 2/5 exercise to, mainly because it’s too much for most people’s lower backs - and that’s with close supervision. Squat jumps, shoulder pushups and burpees (which here have a much better name in spring jumps) are all advanced exercises, and if you’re unfit, there’s a really good chance you could hurt yourself. Remember when you’re doing a circuit and you’re getting tired, chances of injury are greatly increased. Pay special attention to keeping your core strong, and your neck relaxed, which are both hard as you fatigue.

My favorite exercise this month is virtual skipping, which is something I’ve been getting clients to do for ages. It’s awesome, and you can do it anywhere, but remember to stay on your toes and jump lightly unless you want to feel your shins for the next couple of days. Also wear a good bra! This article needs more information on technique, but in principle it’s a goody. ***

Page 206 moves into celebrity diet secrets, which are all good, but I’m slightly skeptical of Mandy Moore’s nutritionists claim that his diet will make you “instantly leaner”. I love reading what celebs are eating though. ***

Page 210 has an article by A.J. Rochester, listing 20 little things you can do to change your body. This is great stuff, and I give it a huge thumbs up. *****

Cleo is fast becoming my pick of the glossy monthly mags for excellent exercise advice. This month the health section kicks off on page 216 with some nutrition advice. Four awesome salads (one I’m going to make for lunch tomorrow), and some great advice about eating bread. Thank God people are starting to wise up about the no-carb/low-carb issue. Also apparently apples are better for you than coffee in the morning - hmm, maybe, but I’m not giving up my morning java for anything!

Page 218 brings us to The Bikini Body workout, and it’s great to see everyone’s favorite exercise for legs, lunges, can be varied even more than I thought. My only issue with the curtsey lunges (1A), is that anyone with a knee issue will be wrecked by doing these. Ditto for the jump lunges, and once again, the model has really bad posture in the photos for 1B. I know that’s being picky, but if you’re putting photos in a magazine, you can make sure she pulls her chin back into line.

I like the Hindi Pushups, but they’re really just Downface and Upface Dog poses strung together. Good to see even a boot camp instructor can find ways to incorporate yoga into his regime! Power pushups are like the lunges - anyone with any kind of wrist or shoulder weakness is going to be destroyed by these.

I like the idea of the different cardio circuit exercises, but photos would have been handy. Bunny hops and single-leg hops I get, but the platypus walk and gorilla run have me slightly confused. Excellent ideas for overloading on both cardio and resistance work, and I love the fact you don’t need any equipment.

Good stuff with just a couple of really picky complaints. I give this article ☆☆☆☆

On Page 224, AJ Rochester writes a thought provoking and really intelligent article about the way we view food as comfort and a way to cope with stress in “Why food is not your therapist”. Really worth reading, and gives some excellent suggestions for substituting the chocolate and icecream for something worth while. ☆☆☆☆

For the 400th issue of Cosmo, I would’ve expected some extreme exercise info - instead, there’s no seductive celeb workout or diet regimes, but on page 252 (this magazine is like “dude, where’s my page number”, so that’s as close as I can get) there’s some advice about tweaking your fitness routine to get the maximum benefit. Apparently research shows that higher intensity workouts suppress appetite, while moderate intensity exercise increases appetite. I would argue that quite strongly, since after teaching spin, I could probably eat a whole farmyard of horses without blinking. Obviously though, changing intensity is a great idea - your body can’t adapt if you constantly change the stimuli, and it makes things far more interesting for you.

I was disappointed this was the only exercise info in the whole mag, so I’m only giving it …

☆☆

There’s a good article on page 245 about healthy snacking, with some interesting and sensible advice. A big thumbs up for the chocolate dipped strawberries!

“Jessica Alba’s Bikini Body - our no fail plan to get you hot for summer”.

Unlike the other plans, this one doesn’t have anything to do with a celebrity. You definitely see Jessica Alba and her beach body, but the no fail plan for you to get hot has no connection to her at all. I confess to being slightly disappointed!

Page 179 is where we get down to business, and the first question on the page is one that “the Chief” answers well. In response to someone being worried about working out their legs in case they get too muscly, he suggests more reps to avoid bulking up. Hooray! He could also have suggested doing body weight exercises, and maybe throwing in some plyometrics, but I guess there’s only so much space you’re given for the answer.

The cardio workout section suggests trying Fartlek training - a type of interval work that translates as “speed play”. I remember my class tittering when we learned about it in personal trainer school. It’s smart advice to incorporate it into your workout, because a) it keeps you from getting bored, b) it stops your body from adapting to what you’re doing and c), it burns more energy, and isn’t that what everyone wants?

Over the page (180) we get to the resistance exercises. A good mix of upper and lower body work, but I’m going to be picky again, and say don’t lock your elbows out when you’re doing pushups (Exercise 4, deep knee pushups), and the technique being used in the Straight Leg Crunches (Exercise 7) is only working this poor girl’s neck. Very few people can keep their back neutral lying down with straight legs, so bend your knees and put your feet on the floor, and keep some distance between your chin and chest unless you want to stress your neck out.

I liked this article so much I’m emailing Cleo for their weekly exercise and nutrition tips. If you want to do the same, the address is cleobbc@acpmagazines.com.au

☆☆☆☆

Page 186 “Why you need to eat more to lose weight”

Someone send this article to Jessica Simpson now! “The Biggest Loser” host AJ Rochester has smart advice about how much you choose to eat and how it effects your metabolism. The best thing is it’s written from personal experience, not just crackpot theorising.

“Jennifer Hawkins’ Summer Body Plan - her diet, her exercise routine - instant results”

The second celebrity workout and diet plan this month steps up to the plate with “instant results” promised. I guess you’re not going to sell too many magazines saying “follow a sensible eating and exercise plan and you’ll see the results after working hard”, but I think “instant” is possibly gilding the lily.

While I was disappointed with OK’s Jessica Simpson diet, this one, adapted by Celebrity Overhaul’s Dr John Tickell from his book “The Great Australian Diet”, is actually (and ironically) great. It’s sensible, includes three healthy snacks per day, heaps of vegetables and fruit, and a sensible amount of food. Limiting yourself to three meals is crazy, and only leads to cramming a whole packet of chocolate biscuits into your mouth a few days into the plan, so I give this diet a hearty thumbs up.

The exercise plan is also good. Like Jessica Simpson’s plan, this one combines upper body and lower body movements, and pitches a circuit style workout, which means time wise it’s manageable. It also recommends cardio, which is essential for weight loss. Duration wise, it’s sensible and achieveable.

My only criticism is the model used in the pictures demonstrates two of the exercises with bad posture. In pictures B and H, her back is too rounded. In picture F, her technique with the deadlifts shows a tilted lower back, and rounded shoulders, plus knees overshooting toes, which is a big no-no. The description of this exercise says to distribute your weight evenly, but should advise you to bring the weight back through your heels - you should be able to wiggle your toes. That way, you keep your knees safe, and use your glutes and abdominals more. On a more positive note, I love the row with lunge and bridge to plank. A great list of exercises, but could have been shown using better technique.

☆☆☆☆

I was captivated by the article pitched on the front page - “Jessica’s Workout - Jess and her trainer show us how she got that bod!” So when I got to page 124, I was eager to read all about it.

First off, I just have to say I’ve never seen a lunge performed in this way before. By leaving her back leg straight, it would appear the most important muscle for lunges - the butt (apparently Jess’s favorite) is being underutilised. Traditionally, the back leg is bent during a lunge, and your body stays upright. Jessica Simpson is leaning forward in every picture, which would allow her pelvis to twist as she gets tired. I may be being hyper critical, but(t) I think the old skool way of lunges is far harder, and gets more results.

Okay, critiscism aside, I do like the way that upper and lower body movements are linked. It’s great to double up intensity, and lunging while doing lat raises, or any other upper body movement is a smart, time saving way to go. I also like the way her trainer changes the intensity of reps and weight, so her body doesn’t have a chance to adapt. This is great if you’re doing a workout at home with hardly any equipment, and it means you can keep your exercises similar, without losing results. The idea of doing exercises in a circuit is also good, and makes a workout far more challenging.

Then we come to the scariest part - the diet. It’s disappointing to see that basically what you’re looking at is something no normal human could stick to. Apparently she has icecream a couple of times a week, and allows herself cheat days, but if she was a little more sensible with her day to day eating, then maybe there’d be less chicken fried steak consumed.

Any time you’re replacing a meal with food in bar form, you really need to ask why, especially if it’s a daily occurence. Okay, she’s in movies or film clips which require her to look amazing, but if you’re someone without those commitments, why wouldn’t you just eat something sensible for breakfast or a snack? To eat a grapefruit sprinkled with a sugar substitute seems insane, when you could eat fruit with more natural sweetness and forget the sugar substitute. What’s wrong with an apple or pear, for God’s sake? I’d add at least two more real-food snacks to this plan, and ditch the Zone bar and chemical laden grapefruit for something more nutritious.

Exercise wise, this plan seems good - I’ll be checking out those lunges to see how effective they are. Diet wise, I say boo-hiss.

☆☆☆

(I’m taking away a star for the diet)

A couple of pages over (Page 129) is an article about fat burning foods. While I question some of the logic behind the actual ability of these foods to “burn” fat, it’s definitely a sensible list of foods to add to your diet. Fibre, fruit, vegetables, lean meat and fish all make up a sensible, unprocessed day to day eating plan, and most people would benefit from eating all of these foods.

If you’re interested in reading more about burning fat, “The Liver Cleansing Diet” by Dr Sandra Cabot has some intriguing advice about what your body needs to process fats. And it ain’t Zone bars or sugar substitutes!

Page 218, Your Complete Beach-Body Workout - Part 2, Abs

Ah abdominals - everybody’s favorite area! In case you didn’t pick up the sarcasm, I’ve found abdominals to be everybody’s least favorite area. It’s hard work to get strong abs, and most people find they’re disguised by an unattractive layer of stored energy, aka fat, which makes them even less loveable.

Thankfully, this article is really on the ball with its recommendations. Developed by Donna Aston, this breaks down the muscles into easy to understand groups, gives different options for every day so your muscles don’t get too accustomed to what you’re doing, and advises you concentrate on your technique instead of trying to rush through heaps of reps - hooray! It also advises adding cardio, which will help burn fat, and thus show you the rewards of the hard work you’re putting in.

The workout is great, and has heaps of different options - sixteen in all, four per daily plan. The only critiscism I can make is that some of the more complex exercises don’t have pictures, and even the best explanation of body movements can be hard to follow without visual aid.

All in all, a top notch addition to your summer workout. I give it the full complement of stars.

☆☆☆☆☆