December is upon us and with it the last mad dash to Christmas, a push to tie up projects before the holidays disrupt everything – meet-ups with friends, office parties, family feasts. It’s all good fun, unless the combination of stress, more alcohol and rich food gives you gut problems, including IBS.
If you’re looking at the next few weeks with trepidation, try adding these workouts to your routine. They’re programmed by PT Hayley Madigan on behalf of probiotic brand Symprove.
Symprove says it’s well established that low-impact exercise may help relieve the symptoms of gut issues and we concur: the role of exercise in gut health has come up before when we talked to Dr Megan Rossi about constipation and dietitian Jo Travers about IBS. In a survey, Symprove found 54% of respondents didn’t know exercise may help and 80% actively avoided activity during a flare-up.
While we’d never encourage anyone to exercise if they’re worried or uncomfortable, these sessions are a great way to integrate low-impact training into your day even when the holiday season kicks into high gear.
Each workout is short – one’s just four minutes – and none requires any equipment. Give them a try and see if they make a difference.
Circuit Workout
Perform each of the exercises below for 45 seconds, resting for 15 seconds after each. Repeat for a total of three of four rounds.
Tabata Workout
This workout follows Tabata timings, but while Tabata traditionally requires you to go all-out, here you keep your movements slow and controlled. Do each exercise for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, then move on to the next exercise. Complete four rounds of the exercises in total.
Pyramid Workout
This workout is a bit more challenging and takes longer than the others. In the first round, for every exercise perform four reps on each side, then in the next round perform six reps on each side. In the next rounds do eight and 10 reps, respectively, then come back down the pyramid. You’ll do seven rounds in total.
More Low-Impact Workouts
- A Low-Impact Cardio Workout That Goes Easy On Your Joints
- A Great Low-Impact Workout For Core Strength
- Give Your Joints A Break With This Low-Impact Workout From Studio FLY LDN
