How do I tone those wobbly bits?

It's the question I am most frequently asked and the one I dread the most, because the hard truth is that those wobbly bits can't actually be toned.

In terms of body composition we have lean muscle mass and we have fat. Lean muscle is as it sounds, lean and taught. Wobbly areas, usually to be found around the midriff, hips, thighs and under the arms are deposits of fat. They can't be toned they need to be burned.

Thats the bad news, the good news is that you can get rid of the wobbly bits. However, forget that machine in the gym that tells you if you have your heart rate at a certain level you are working in the 'fat-burning' zone. You may well burn fat but at a very very slow pace. You need to be on that stationary bike or running machine for hours, and frankly life really is too short to be a sweaty gym counting the minutes until you've done your time.

Burning fat can be fun, yes really!! And the feeling after a hard core cardio workout is AMAZING you will crave it and want more. Once you stop finding fat burning a chore and enjoy exercise then your body will respond and the change will begin.

The best exercise for fat burning in my book is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Not only do you burn fat FAST in a HIIT workout, you'll continue to burn it for hours after a session.

• A HIIT can be done in just 10 minutes, with no equipment required and in a small space;
• HIIT is great for different fitness levels as every exercise can be modified or progressed;
• Add weights such as Kettlebells to get even more effective fat burning;
• Try HIIT Outdoors for extra health benefits and a bigger calorie burn

Of course you will never lose the wobbly bits by exercise alone you'll need to clean up your diet too.

We have plenty of short but very effective Online HIIT Workouts available on the  Fitness Members Page. For those new to HIIT I recommend the new Back to Fitness Cardio Blitz, for die hard enthusiasts try the new Hard Core Fat Blaster.