Five exercises to keep you fit without the gym
In these self-isolating times, I have gone back to the future for my workouts, replacing my four times a week gym therapy with just five calisthenics exercises developed by the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Dubbed the 5BX programme, it involves five basic exercises, takes just 11 minutes and needs absolutely no equipment.
The programme, launched in the 1950s, has also been credited with starting the fitness boom after it sold 25 million copies.
Now, as we emerge from our chocolate egg comas, it offers a gentle way to kickstart our fitness routines.
Celebrity devotees include Helen Mirren and generations of British royals. I first came across it on my parents’ bookshelf when I was a kid.
As someone who wouldn’t be seen dead in a gym, it suited me then, and now as someone who can’t do without gym, it suits me all over again.
The five exercises boost flexibility, strength and aerobic fitness. They start absurdly easy and become progressively harder, level by level, across six charts.
Stretching
At the start, this is simply touching your toes. But as you advance, add extra touches to your left and right. The advanced level calls for upright torso circle bends. I’ll never get there.
Sit-up
This starts as merely raising your head and shoulders off the floor before progressing into a full blown sit-up. Keep your back straight and you can hook your feet under a chair if necessary.
Back extension
Be still my middle-aged back! This is actually great for reducing lower back tightness. Lay on your front and raise your head and legs off the floor. (Vacuuming the carpet
beforehand is absolutely essential.)
Push-up
Builds arm and shoulder strength. Starts as a simple pushup from the knees. Graduate to a full push-up and then add a forehead touch to the floor for extra difficulty.
Running in place
This is the high intensity part. Start with just 100 steps in six minutes, before increasing steps. But every 75 steps, add another exercise, such as scissor jumps, knee bends or star jumps.
Developed initially for men, 5BX was soon joined by the XBX programme for women, which adapts the five original exercises and adds five more.
Each original exercise starts with a basic movement modified for women, before becoming progressively harder.
Then five new exercises are designed to improve flexibility, strength and aerobic capacity. Two are floor exercises: side leg raises while lying sideways and alternative leg lifting while lying on your back.
The remaining three exercises are performed standing: front knee raises, lateral side bending while sliding the arm down the leg towards the ankle and circling arms forwards and backwards.
Some criticise the programme as old-fashioned and potentially unsafe in its advanced phases.
But the instructions are clear. Start at the very bottom of the first chart, never skip a level, and don’t fast track. Progress until you reach the chart to maintain optimal fitness for your age.
‘‘My impression is that the 5BX is a very thorough programme,’’ says Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, from University of Sydney’s School of Health Sciences.
‘‘Considering all the circumstances of Covid-19 this will be very suitable for some people because it requires no equipment.’’
– Sydney Morning Herald
Find the programme on Amazon or online at fit450.com.