Your daily dose of health: the fiendishly difficult 'Bring Sally Up' fitness challenge
For many, January is the time to kick on with a new exercise regime and get in shape. However, the nation is back in lockdown, gyms are closed and we can only leave our homes for essential reasons. In short, it’s not a great time for our health – mental or physical.
At The Telegraph, we're here to help. That’s why every day we’ll be sharing new pieces of advice from psychologist Linda Blair and fitness guru Joel Snape. Linda will help calm your mind while Joel will make sure your body gets through lockdown in fit shape. And don’t worry, their tips will always be bitesize and easy to adopt, so you can easily incorporate them into your day. Life at the moment is stressful enough without adding a whole new fitness regime to the mix.
Simply bookmark this page and check back every day to get a fresh tip from our experts.
Thursday January 21
Try the fiendishly difficult 'Bring Sally Up' fitness challenge (or it's entry-level version)
Among full-on fitness types, there’s a popular fitness challenge known as ‘Bring Sally Up’. It’s simple but nasty: basically, you’ll put on the Moby tune Flower, drop into the bottom position of a squat or press-up whenever you hear ‘Bring Sally Down’, and go back up again when you hear the ‘Up’ command. The tricky part isn’t the movements, but holding the tension – and even veteran exercisers struggle.
For a (slightly) easier variation, swap in the movement known as the ‘walking plank’ instead – you’ll test your core, but also let a little workout for your arms and shoulders. Start in the top position of a press-up: on the ‘down’, drop onto one forearm and then the other. On the up, go back up...and then repeat for 3 minutes 29 seconds, or as long as you can.
Try this once a week or as a finisher after longer workouts – once you can manage the full song, try graduating to the press-ups version.
Why random acts of spontaneity are the antidote we all need
When out walking this morning I met a stranger who needed directions. I gave them, and he set off on his way. But a moment later as if remembering something he stopped, turned around, and – with a mischievous grin – doffed his hat, bowed deeply, and waved cheerfully before setting off once more.
How we’ve missed spontaneity! For nearly a year we’ve been constantly warned to be careful, look out, stay safe – and of course we must. But that doesn’t mean we have to abandon spontaneity altogether. As long as it’s safe, we can still act from the heart, do something for no other reason than to express good humour.
Your spontaneous thoughts may be overshadowed by warnings, but they’re still there. Listen. If you suddenly feel like dancing, dance. If it starts to rain and you want to feel the rain on your face, step outside.
Best of all, make someone smile.
Wednesday January 20
Mind – Why you should go on a date with yourself
Did you know that spending time alone enjoyably is associated with feeling calmer and happier? Eric Manalastas at the University of Philippines Diliman asked 54 undergraduates to plan a ‘date’ with themselves, where they spent three hours on their own engaged in an enjoyable leisure activity. Afterwards, those who’d gone on the date reported better mood and greater autonomy compared to those who hadn’t.
Why not try this yourself? Set aside a couple of hours to do something you’ll really enjoy. You could take a long walk somewhere you’ve never been, listen to music you love, prepare a different sort of meal, or watch a new film. Before you start, set the right tone by paying attention to the way you describe your planned experience. Instead of telling yourself you’ll be doing something alone, say you’re planning to enjoy a treat in your own company.
Body – How to wake up your glutes with a good book
One of the problems with staying seated for much of the day (and night) is that it puts your glutes, the muscles that should be taking much of the strain of running and squatting, to sleep. With them off the job, other muscles have to take up the slack, reducing your running efficiency and power output.
To wake them up and put them back to work, one of the simplest movements you can do is a variation on the classic ‘split squat’ - basically, a static version of a lunge - using a book. For the regular split squat, you’ll simply take a big step forward from standing, then bend your front leg until your trailing knee touches the ground. For the variation, you’ll simply start with your rear foot on your airport paperback of choice, slightly shifting the way your body moves during the squat and putting a new emphasis on your glutes. Try two sets of five slow repetitions on each side before you set off for a run – or a few more reps in the evening.
Tuesday January 19
Body - a full-body exercise you can do from the couch
With 56pc of UK home-workers now admitting that they do at least some of their work without even getting out of bed, you’re entitled to feel a little bit smug if you’re part of the 72pc that makes it at least as far as the couch. Still, if that doesn’t stop your posterior chain (the collective term for the muscles running down the back of your body) from going on strike, you need a quick fix – and mercifully, there’s one on hand that doesn’t mean braving the not-so-great-right-now outdoors.
It’s called a hip thruster, and it’ll work your hips, glutes, core and hamstrings without even making you get off the sofa. First, slide off the seat until your feet are on the floor and just your upper back is resting on the couch. Next, lower your hips towards the floor, then drive them back up, squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement to make sure they’re getting the message.
Do 3-5 reps, rest briefly, repeat 2-3 times, and resume at least pretending to work.
Mind - manage the background ‘noise’ in your daily life
Are you in the habit of switching on the TV or radio while you’re doing other things? Do you think the content doesn’t really matter, because you’re not paying much attention to it anyway?
Think again.
We register what’s going on around us, even those sounds and sights we’re not focusing on directly. Just think how often you’ve been in a situation where background music was playing, and even though you don’t recall hearing it, you find yourself humming that tune later on?
Incidental listening affects our emotional state, which helps explain why we sometimes experience ‘inexplicable’ mood shifts. They’re actually quite explicable – you just weren’t aware of what you’ve just heard and the effect it had on you.
Therefore, to avoid triggering a negative mood, turn off background news bulletins, which are full of anxiety-making information... and put on your favourite dance music instead!
Monday January 18
Body – Give your posture a soft reset
One problem with lockdown – especially if you haven’t been carefully cultivating an eight-teas-a-day habit for the best part of a decade – is a lack of reasons to get out of your chair. With Zoom calls, work catch ups and even social chitchat happening in front of a screen, it’s likely that, even if you’re going for a walk once a day, you’re unconsciously getting up a lot less than you used to.
This fix is a two-parter. First, plan to work in Pomodoros – the 25-minute chunks of time that many productivity experts suggest keep you focused and energised. Secondly, challenge yourself to spending at least a day doing a simple 20-second standing exercise, based on yoga’s Mountain Pose, whenever the timer dings. In other words, do it several times a day.
Stand up, keeping your legs tight together, and imagine ‘screwing’ your feet into the ground – you should feel your glutes flex. Next, turn your palms to face forward, ensure you’re standing up straight, and take one or two deep breaths through your nose. That’s one minute: now you’ve got another three to get a cuppa before your next Pomodoro.
Mind – Consider the clouds
Early Spring means rapidly changing weather, and although of course you can’t prevent a day of rain or sudden snow flurries, you are free to decide how to respond to the weather. Why not use this time of year to learn about cloud types? New learning helps us feel more positive and more in control of our life, and recognising different types of cloud offers the extra advantage of learning to predict the weather.
There are four main types of cloud, although you’ll often see them in combination. Cirrus, fair weather indicators, look wispy and feather-like. Stratus clouds are flat sheets that make for overcast or foggy days. Nimbus are clouds that already contain rain or snow. And cumulus, the low-lying clouds that look like big cotton balls, indicate fair weather - unless, that is, they darken and gather into tall towers of cumulonimbus, which means a thunderstorm is imminent.
Friday January 15
Body - Challenge your core with the elevated side plank
At a certain point, learning to hold a plank for longer starts to be a waste of time. The current world record for holding the position is over eight hours, but once you can get past the two minute mark, honestly, you’d be better off testing your core with tougher variations – especially the side plank, which can address your balance and obliques in a way its standard cousin doesn’t. And, if you’ve already managed a 90-second version, there’s a tougher version worth testing yourself against.
To do the elevated side plank, set up as normal – on one forearm, with your foot on the floor – then put your ‘top’ foot on something around knee level, like a couch or chair. From here, you should be able to take your bottom foot off the ground – either hold for ten seconds, or move your knee forwards as if you’re ‘jogging’ in the air. A time-saver and a showoff classic – what’s not to like?
Mind - It's movie night!
If you’ve been trying not to remember we’re in lockdown yet again, you’ll know how impossible that is to achieve. The reason? When we try not to think about something, we must first bring to mind whatever it is we don’t want to think about—thus reinforcing, rather than diminishing, its presence in the mind.
A more effective way to block out unwanted thoughts is to distract yourself by engaging in an enjoyable and challenging activity, using as many senses as possible. Watching a good film is a brilliant choice.
Choose one you’ve not seen before, preferably something cheerful. Look for an intriguing story line, good acting, and/or great music. Turn off other devices, sit down comfortably, and engage fully with the film.
To make the effect last even longer, ask other friends to watch the same film so you can talk about it on the phone or online later.
Thurs January 14
Body – A two-minute mobility workout you can do in your front room
You probably already know that you need to do a bit more mobility work – the stuff that saves your spine after you spend eight hours a day in a chair – but, let’s be honest, it’s not all that appealing. Time is one thing, but space is another – one thing that most YouTubers don’t give much consideration to, in their pristine home-studios, is the size of a regular flat, or having to clear away a bucket of errant Lego before you can do anything.
The fix? A super-quick, best-bang-for-your buck routine that you can do anywhere you can kneel down, in under two minutes – all mnemomically named after animals for ease of use.
Start with a set of cat-cows – from the all-fours position, round your spine towards the ceiling while looking at the floor, then arch your back as you look up. Do 5-10 slow reps, then move onto the pointer-dog – bring one arm and the opposite foot out to make a straight line with your spine, testing your core and stability, for 3-5 reps per side. Finish with the ‘fire hydrant’ – bring one knee up in a sideways arc, hold, then repeat on the other side.
Simple: now all you have to worry about is the kids leaping on for a ride around the house.
Mind – Wake up your creativity, in two steps
In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron asks her students to make two commitments.
First, her students must begin each day by filling three pages of a notebook. Students can write their dreams and thoughts, make plans, recall particular memories – whatever comes to mind. Cameron believes this exercise empties the mind of running commentary that can stand in the way of creative thinking.
The second commitment, the artist’s date, is a two-hour weekly outing, to be planned at the beginning of each week. This must be a solo activity, something different from normal routine, something enjoyable, and something that uses as many of the five senses as possible. Examples include baking something according to a new recipe or walking somewhere new. This exercise is intended to stimulate new ideas and offer fresh perspective.
Why not make these two commitments so you, too, can awaken your creative sensibility?
Weds January 13
Mind – Hide your phone when you need to concentrate
When you need to maintain focus, can you guess what’s most likely to distract you? Adrian Ward at the University of Texas and colleagues asked participants to complete a test that required high levels of concentration. All had mobile phones with them. Some were told to leave the phones in another room, others to keep them but put them away in a pocket or bag, and the rest to place the phone on the table where they were working.
Those whose phones were elsewhere did best, while those who had their phone with them but out of sight recorded the second highest test scores. Participants whose phones were on the table did worst - whether the phone was facing up or down, or even whether it was on or off. Next time you want to do something that requires full focus, first put your phone in another room.
Body – One stretch to sort out your neck
Doctors are divided on whether ‘text neck’ – an ailment associated with constantly looking down at your mobile phone – is a real issue, but one thing’s for sure: spend long enough doomscrolling in the current climate, and you’re going to end up feeling tense.
Fix it, and take a break from Twitter, with one simple move known as the ‘scalene stretch’: first, you’ll put one hand on the opposite shoulder, almost as if you’re going to recite the pledge of allegiance. Now, tilt your head away from that hand, aiming to get your ear as close to the other shoulder as possible. Finally, tilt your chin up until you feel the stretch, hold for 10-15 seconds, and repeat on the other side. Even if your timeline’s still all gloom afterwards, at least you’ll have done something for your spine.
Tues January 12
Mind - Be careful how you speak to yourself
When you talk to yourself, have you ever stopped to notice the language you use?
This is important, because the words you choose when you talk to yourself have a powerful impact on your mood, and can either enhance or dampen self-esteem. Next time you become aware of your self-talk, take note. Do you encourage and praise yourself, or are you harshly critical? Do you give yourself credit for effort, or do you focus only on outcomes?
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has shown criticism makes us defensive and likely to give up, whereas praise for effort encourages us to persevere, learn more and improve performance. When you talk to yourself, prioritise positivity. Instead of, ‘I really messed that up,’ or ‘What a failure I am!’ say, ‘I may not have succeeded, but I know I tried hard. What can I learn from this experience so I can do better next time?’
Body - Challenge your chest with…a good book or two
If you’ve been doing press-ups in lockdown, you might have noticed that it’s your triceps (the muscles on the back of your upper arms), not your chest, that do the brunt of the work. That’s because one of the main jobs of your pectorals (chest muscles) is adducting the shoulder - bringing it inwards and across your chest - which is why bodybuilders superset their benching with chest flyes. The good news? Even if you don’t have any dumbbells, there’s a fix, and all you need is a couple of good books.
It’s called the prayer press – you’d typically do it with a couple of light weight plates, but books can work even better. Start by holding your chosen tomes together in your hands, pressing them together as if you’re praying, close to your chest – your elbows should be pointing towards the ground rather than flaring out. Now press the books outward, squeezing them into each other as you do and aiming not to let them slip. Pause with almost-straight arms, bring back in, and repeat for 2-3 sets of 3-5 slow reps. Use this after a few sets of press-ups to activate your chest, or as a challenge in its own right – maybe work up from novellas to the Times Atlas of the World.
Friday January 8
Mind - Embrace the power of scent
Scent is thought to be one of the first ways we come to know our surroundings and our carers. Some have even suggested that when we’re very young, we use scent rather than language to encode powerful experiences. That’s why when you encounter a specific scent – for example a particular flower or the smell of something baking – you find, to your surprise, you’re recalling a very early memory.
Scent also moderates mood, which is why so many advocates of meditation, mindfulness and yoga encourage the use of aromatherapy oils when practicing these techniques.
Why not use the power of scent to help you regain a sense of calm? Obtain samples of foods you love, herbs, and/or aromatherapy oils. Close your eyes and inhale the scent of each. Note the associations you make and emotions you experience.
Choose your favourites, and keep them on hand to help when you’re feeling stressed.
Body - A stretch to start your day in the right way
There’s probably someone, somewhere, still starting every day in lockdown with ten minutes of sun salutations in between their morning meditation and gratitude journaling – but if you aren’t that person, there’s an easier way to work out your bedtime kinks first thing in the morning. It’s called the full-body flow, and it’s simple enough to do while you wait for the toaster to pop.
To do it, first stand a couple of feet from a wall, and lean forward slightly to put your palms on the brickwork. Next, walk your hands downwards until your upper body’s parallel to the floor, or until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Walk back up, and, keeping your hands on the wall, push your hips towards the wall to stretch your back and core.
Repeat two more times – if you want to change the stretch slightly, point your toes in and then outward on the subsequent reps.
Thursday January 7
Mind – Take an interest in a chore
Pacing through my daily dog walk this morning, I came around a bend to find a man carefully positioning his camera to take a series of photos.
“Of what?” I wondered. This is my everyday dog walk. What could be worth photographing here? So I asked him.
“Everything around here is just so interesting,” he replied.
Suddenly the surroundings transformed. I noticed the frost on the leaves, some early buds appearing on a few trees, the shapes of many shoes impressed on the path. A robin I would have missed flew past and alighted on the wire fencing, cocking its head and regarding us curiously. That man was right – everything is so interesting.
Try it for yourself. Choose something you do most days, something you regard as a daily chore. Today, pay careful attention as you carry it out, noticing what’s going on in every detail. You’ll be surprised what you find.
Body – A healthier way to binge-watch
A big part of the problem with going on a sustained Bridgerton bender is the position you assume while you do it – the comfort of your couch encourages you to move as little as possible, leaving you stiff and immobile.
The simplest fix is to do at least part of your nightly viewing while sitting on the floor. It’s less comfortable, so you’ll naturally shift and stretch as you watch, keeping you limber.
If you want to take it up a notch while following the Featheringtons, try the “boat” pose – it’s a yoga staple, and it isn’t easy. Sit with your legs slightly raised off the ground and your back at a roughly 60-degree angle from the floor, with your hands reaching forward and palms facing in. Hold it for 10 seconds, rest for 20, and repeat three times. Too tough? Start with bent knees, and work your way up to the full version.
Wednesday January 6
Mind – Make a Lockdown ‘habit pledge’
When the latest lockdown was announced you could almost feel the despair. Please not another one!
But this isn’t ‘another one’. Things are different this time: we have a way out – the vaccines.
Since this lockdown is different, why not approach it differently, by thinking of it as a time to embed a health-giving habit into your life. Phillippa Lally and colleagues at University College London asked 96 volunteers to choose a new healthy behaviour and carry it out daily. They found that the average time needed for the new behaviour to become automatic was 66 days.
66 days brings us to mid-March, when there’s a reasonable chance that restrictions will have eased. What new behaviour would you like to acquire by then? Getting to bed earlier? Re-establishing regular contact with an old friend?
Make a 66-day pledge to incorporate the habit into your routine, and turn this lockdown into a positive opportunity.
Body – Your two-minute posture fix
If your daily commute’s simply from kitchen to couch, you can’t afford to spend another six weeks worsening your Neanderthal posture. Thankfully, there’s a simple way to wake up your rhomboids – the muscle that’s there to retract your shoulder blades, giving you better posture – and you can do it in less time than it takes to boil a kettle. Do these two exercises, repeat once, and stand a bit straighter.
The Batwing: First, stand a few inches from a wall and lean back against it, keeping your body straight so just your shoulders are touching the brick. Next, push your elbows back against the wall to lift yourself away from it, keeping your arms tucked to your sides. Hold for five seconds, then relax.
The Wall Angel (demonstrated in the video above): Next, move so you’re right up against the wall and assume the classic being-robbed position: elbows in line with your shoulders, forearms vertical, back of your hands touching the wall. Slide your hands upwards – keeping them in contact with the wall – until your arms are straight, then reverse direction, and repeat for three reps.
