Easter is a time for getting together with others, embracing the outdoors and of course, indulging in large lunches, chocolate eggs and the all important hot x bun!

It’s also a time for travel and that can sometimes disrupt your exercise routine – maybe you are making time for others or taking time out on a hot beach with no gym in sight. The secret is to have a 20 minute regime that includes the key elements of exercise such as CV strength, balance and flexibility that you can do literally ANYWHERE.

At WALX we call this total body walking and you can adapt it to use with and without poles although you will increase both the cardiovascular and toning effects if you use them! (Oh and don’t assume that you could not take them on holiday with you because the WALX Xplorer breaks down small enough to go in any suitcase and is also super lightweight too)

Yes you could just go for a daily walk but if you have consumed a buttery hot cross bun or a very small Easter egg, chances are you have added 300 plus calories to your daily intake and that could take over 45 mins to burn off with a brisk walk of 3.5 – 4.5 miles and hour!

Adding poles will not only increase the calories burned( because you are using more large muscles) but it will help to tone the upper body and improve posture too. The leaner you are, the more efficient your metabolism will be too.

Thats why we love to add a couple of simple strength exercises to our daily walk as well.

The best lower body strength exercises to blend into a walk are the lunge which you can do statically by stopping to perform or use as a travelling exercise with lunge steps instead of your usual steps.

Stopping to perform 10 squats works well too and you can even travel with these if you turn to the side of the path and take side steps with a squat. Alternatively you can use poles to stabilise you and a bench to stop you going too low.

For your upper body you could also use the bench or some railings to perform some tricep dips (as demonstrated by a couple of our walkers) or simple chest press exercises which work those major upper body muscles. To learn how to do these exercises safely and correctly book a total body walking sessions with your local WALX group

Finally make sure you add some impact to strengthen your bones and as it’s Easter that just has to be via a few bunny hops (sorry we could not resist!) Always finish your walk with a good stretch and hey presto you will have boosted your cardiovascular fitness, strength, range of movement and flexibility….all in 20 minutes!