HOW TO TRAIN

START SKIPPING

Your first order of business: get a skipping rope. If you’re still warming up with a desultory ten minutes on the treadmill, have a rethink – 60 seconds of skipping will fire up your nervous system and turbo-charge your warm-up. For a harder challenge, try a double-under pyramid. Set a timer running and aim to get three doubleunders in minute one, six in minute two, nine in three, and so on. Make it to five minutes and you’ll be ready for anything.

…AND SPRINTING

Though they’re not ideal for the larger gentlemen, sprints are perfect for the chap who’s already in shape. In a study conducted by the University of Colorado, test subjects who sprinted all-out for five 30-second efforts – separated by periods of active recovery – burned an average of 200 extra calories a day. You can do your sprints on the treadmill (hold on to the handles) or the bike.

USE HIFT

High-intensity functional training is HIIT’s bigger, tougher, more fun brother. “It’s designed to help you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time,” says trainer Emil Hodzovic. “You can use it for a few short, sharp sessions or add it to weights sessions to fire up fat burning.” Keep it short and nasty: ten kettlebell swings and a sled push, repeated ten times, will leave you shattered but incinerating fat like a furnace.