Fitness Friday: 5 Ways to Swap Fixed Weight Machines for Free Weights

Morning!

I'm really getting back into my routine so I thought I'd share some ways I'm trying to vary some exercises and make my time spent in the gym the most efficient.
Swapping out using your fixed weight machines for free weights is a great way to use more muscles and burn more fat. So here's my top ones to swap out!

1) Seated Leg Extension. This trains your quads, the huge leg muscle at the front of the thigh.
Now I think we all know that isolating your quads from other leg muscles isn't going to get the results that you want very quickly.
Squats will most definitely help your quads and glutes together, ranging from wide leg squats to one leg pistol squats.............ooh err!

2) Seated Chest Press. This trains your pectoral or chest muscles.

Using your upper body muscles is much better when you use them all at the same time, performing push ups will not only use your chest muscles but your core and shoulders too. Doing them on a box as an incline push up will maximise all of these muscles and help you build up to full push ups when you're strong enough.


3) Seated Leg Press. Another that targets the leg muscles, including quads, glutes and hamstrings.
As mentioned above, squats are the best exercises for these muscles groups. Starting with body weight squats get used to the movement and ensure your form is perfect before progressing to holding weights in each hand or even a barbell.


4) Bicep curl machine. Pretty self explanatory, but I have to admit I really don't get this one!
I'm not sure why you'd use this fixed weight machine when you can pick up a pair of dumbbells and perform a better bicep curl and engage more of your muscles therefore burning more calories and fat.

The same goes for the tricep version, you can do so much more with tricep dips!


5) Any Ab machine such as a Seat rotation or Cruncher. I used to use these all the time and I can honestly say that I never saw any results from using them.
I hate to stick with everyone else but planks are the signle best exercise you can do for your core, you see progress really quickly and just need to persevere. I try to alternate normal planks with side planks, with and without pulsing my hip up and down and curling my arm underneath and back out again. 

Using bodyweight exercises are so much better than fixed weight machines. Not only do you use more muscles because you engage your core and require more muscles to help balance your body during the exercise, but you can see faster results and that's something I can agree with having experienced it myself!

What's your favourite bodyweight exercise? Do you have any favourite routines?

L xxx

Review: Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

Good morning!

This month is just flying past, is it really the 29th already?? Crazy!

Today's review is of a well renowned product in the beauty world that has been around for a while.
Clarins Beauty Flash Balm is a so called wonder product, it's an instant radiance booster that helps to minimise signs of fatigue. It not only acts as a primer but also a moisturiser and mask in one. Is this much of a wonder product even possible??

Allegedly you can use this in place of your normal moisturiser for when you need a bit more of a radiance boost, and as a mask for those reeeeeally long weeks where you just need something to SAVE your skin!

It contains four active ingredients with very specific jobs:

• Witch Hazel and Olive tree extracts tighten and promote radiance

• Algae extract revitalises

• Bisabolol soothes and softens

• Rice Starch purifies the epidermis

I've heard plenty about witch hazel over the years but the others I've not heard of so much. Clarins are generally pretty good at using different natural ingredients in their products though so this doesn't bother me too much.

The packaging is pretty standard for Clarins, their very iconic red and white packaging is simple but distinctive.
This balm comes in 50ml tubes and can be purchased from many department stores, online and if you're lucky in duty free too - always looking for a bargain!

So what did I think? Well I used this mainly as a primer. I did apply it as a moisturiser too on top of my normal moisturiser and I'm pleased to say my skin did look more 'awake' and slightly brighter after use.
As a primer I thought it also worked well, my make up stayed on my face just as well as any other primer I have used. It didn't feel like it was covering my skin as it sunk in like a moisturiser, I'd say this one works as a primer because it creates the perfect base with your own skin, rather than covering it and creating a base for your make up to 'stick' to.......if that makes sense?!

The product itself is a pale apricot kind of colour, and I find this helps it to blend in seamlessly. It really does just disappear!

I haven't used this as a mask, my skin needs a lot more hydration than this could give me and so it is unlikely I would use it as one. I pretty much use hydration masks daily at the moment as it's the only way!

That said, this product has been a fun buy. I've always wanted to try it and I'm glad that after all this time I've had the chance to try such a cult product.

One of my favourite things about it is the fact that even though it is brightening and radiance boosting....it's not glittery at all! Not in the slightest, not even the tiniest hint of a shimmery particle that I could see.

You can snap this up from Escentual for £25.50 at the moment, instead of the full price of £29.

Have you tried the Beauty Flash Balm? What did you think?

Do you like trying cult beauty products? What's next on your list?

L xxx

Oxford

Hey All

I mentioned in last weeks post that I'd been in Oxford so as we loved the hotel I thought I'd share some bits with you.

While my other half was away with work we decided the first free weekend we had when he got back we'd go away for so we could have some chill time together.  After originally deciding on Bath or Bristol but not being able to find the type of hotel we wanted we decided to go back to a bucket list we wrote a while ago and Oxford was decided.

We knew we wanted somewhere with a swimming pool and jacuzzi so we could relax so the hunt began. We also wanted to be central so we could walk into the city in the evening to be able to grab food and explore. Due to wanting all of this we were a bit limited on choice and then we saw Oxford Spires Four Pillars hotel which fit the bill. We also got it a bit cheaper by booking through expedias secret hotels. It's a gamble but you can usually narrow it down to a few options due to area and facilities.

The hotel were great from the beginning. As we'd booked through Expedia secret hotels you can't amend the booking so I contacted the hotel direct to see if we could pay to upgrade our room as we wanted to stay in Eastwkye house due to the roll top bath, clarins toiletries and older features.

When we arrived it all looked like the pictures online and check in was quick and simple. When we got to our room we were glad we'd upgraded. Robes and slippers were on the bed, chocolate, cookies and water on the side and a beautiful bathroom with clarins toiletries. The room was decorated in simple colours and looked clean. The bed was also really comfy.

The bath we then popped our robes on and a short stroll across the carpark and we were relaxing in the pool. It was a small but quiet pool with a mural painted.on the wall to show arches. We loved relaxing in the saunas and steam rooms but did feel the shower and changing facilities seemed a bit outdated and not quite what I'd expect for a four star hotel.

Overall we loved it for a quick weekend break and would definitely go back.

We love eating so went to a few places. Firstly we stopped in the red lion for a snack and shared a pork platter where we tried cheek for the first time. That was some tasty meat. It was like a posh pub meal with prices to match.

For evening meal having not done research before hand we ended up in Jamie's Pizzeria. The food was delicious and fresh and reasonably priced. The lemon sorbet was amazing afterwards.

And of course a trip to Oxford wouldn't be complete without a pitstop in Bicester Village. My other half was very patient as I dragged him round every bag store for two hours while I hunted the perfect bag for a birthday present. In July I'll have my perfect kate spade. I can’t wait.

I love exploring new cities and Oxford was a beautiful one. With amazing buildings and architecture we easily lost hours just wondering. Whilst we were there there was an amazing little market selling crafts which we couldn't help grabbing some pieces from.

Now to find another city for the next adventure. Any recommendations?

Love M

Xxx

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Polish in Coconut

Morning all!

I have fully been raiding Barry M's shelves recently, I love their range and the Gelly Hi Shine polishes just get better and better!

My latest purchase (1 of 3, naturally I cannot pick up just one) is the Coconut polish.






This one has already been raved about by many a blogger so I'm just adding in my appreciation to the mix. I really liked Lychee (post here) but sometimes with my super pale skin tone it did look a bit too toffee-ish, so this colour is the perfect option in those times. It's an off white colour on the nails and so obviously a lot lighter than my own skin colour making it appear to be darker than it actually is, kind of like a free tan if you like!

So how does it apply?

Much like the others the brush is thinner than I'd like, its so much easier to cover the nail when the brush is wider - minimal effort necessary! I put two coats on to get the effect in the images below, some look like they might have been better if another coat had been applied but nevertheless this lasted a full week with a top coat on top and only chipped on day 6.

It definitely looks a little darker in the bottle than on the nails but I still like it. It's definitely a summer one and I'll be using this on toes too to make my tan look a little darker!

What do you think of the Gelly Hi Shine range? Do you have a favourite?

I bought two others from the range that I'll be posting about soon!

L xxx