THE FAST WAY TO MAKE EXERCISE WORK FOR YOU

AS PART of our series The Twinstitute, we asked Fran Horsford and Jess Hambling, 39, to try two different approaches to getting fit — short bursts of intensive exercise versus slower, longer bouts. Fran, a former PE teacher, lives in Honiton, Devon, with her husband Christopher, 43, a financial business development manager, and their children Barnabas, six, Balthazar, five, and Arabella, three. She says: JUST before the experiment I weighed 11st 13lb (I’m 5ft 6in) and was a size 14/16. I’d gained weight as I’d had the kids close together and not had the chance to lose pregnancy weight, and then never had time to exercise.

I had been trying to diet, but the weight wasn’t shifting. It was the heaviest I’d ever been and it was starting to affect my confidence.

In the experiment, I was given a 15-minute, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout with a personal trainer three times a week, for six weeks. It involves exercising intensely for one minute and slowly for one minute — then going at full pelt again for another minute, and so on.

Although the sessions were tough, they were over quickly and I looked forward to the rush of hormones after. But I would feel so sick I couldn’t eat much.

After a month, I’d lost almost a stone and was back in size 10/12 clothes and happy to show off my legs in shorts.

My metabolic rate (the rate at which

the body burns calories) had gone up and my VO2 max (how quickly oxygen gets to your muscles) had increased, too, meaning I can keep going for longer. I never would have believed that three bursts of intense exercise a week could make such a difference. I now continue the HIIT workouts on my own. Jess Hambling, a former art teacher, lives in Tonbridge, Kent, with her husband Paul, 40, an insurance underwriter, and their two children leo, four, and matilda, 22 months. she says: AS TWINS, we are each other’s biggest champions, but we are competitive. I weighed 9st 9lb (I’m 5ft 4in) and was a dress size 10/12 before we joined The Twinstitute. I was put on a programme where I exercised for 50 minutes in the gym, three times a week, at moderate intensity.

I mainly did running and jogging on a treadmill for 50 minutes. I found the slow treadmill jogging a bit boring until I discovered I could plug in my headphones and catch up on Netflix, which provided a great distraction. The exercise seems to have had a positive effect on my mental health, too — if I exercised in the morning, I’d be buzzing for the rest of the day.

By the end of the six-week programme, I was running six miles, three times a week. I was amazed at my newfound ability to keep going; at times I felt as though I could have carried on running for hours.

At the end of six weeks I had lost half a stone, down to 9st 2lb, and was a size 8 — I’d lost fat and built muscle and looked more toned.

I was back in the bikini I wore for my honeymoon five years ago. Both Fran and I said exercising had helped us feel more confident. I’m sticking to the exercise programme, as I enjoy it a lot.