8 health and fitness books to kick-start your 2022
New year, new bod: Get your exercise groove on with one of these new wave of bespoke fitness books catering for everyone, from angry yogis to gym sceptics.
FITNESS FOR SCEPTICS
When a fitness book has a finely tuned hot bod on the front, it can be inspiring, but also not. So, it’s refreshing to see a body-positive fitness book featuring a plus size woman on the front. Written by Insta influencer Meg Boggs, Fitness for Every Body is about getting fit whatever your shape and size. It includes step-by-step, full-body workouts, as well as inspirational snippets on body confidence and advice on diet and mental well-being.
£10.27
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There’s so much to love about this lifestyle book/journal with its juxtaposed pretty cover and sassy title. Lifestyle rebels will be drawn to Balance Is Bullshit by Alicia McKenzie for it’s dismissal of fads and wishful thinking. With exercises and challenges throughout, this is an interactive book encouraging physical, mental and financial wellness (crucial to the first two!) with the aim of hitting achievable goals and cutting out (some of) the chaos in life.
£18.99 (Feb 2022)
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A-LISTER FITNESS
Simon Waterstone got Daniel Craig in shape for his 15 years of Bond movies and Benedict Cumberbatch says he can train you into feeling like a superhero. Need to know anything else about Intelligent Fitness? Ok, this book by the PT and former marine isn’t just about fitness but the whole picture – sleep, energy and confidence, and while Waterstone usually trains A-Listers, mere mortals will appreciate his accessible and practical approach, for any age, but best suited to fitness bunnies who want to try something fresh rather than starting out from the couch.
£16.71 (from 6 Jan)
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We’ve had the 30-minute and 10-minute workout revolutions – here’s the ultimate time-poor, get-fit-quick promise, from Kusal Goonewardena – 3 Minute Workouts – High Intensity Fitness Fast! It’s certainly a compelling offering – no-one can claim they don’t have three minutes to spare for a flat stomach. Suitable for all ages – and schedules.
£17.59
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FITNESS FOR WOMEN
Want to know how Gemma Atkinson still looks like the nubile teen she was in Hollyoaks? Then read her book, The Ultimate Body Plan for New Mums: 12 Weeks to Finding You Again. It’s not about crash dieting, but starts gently with healthy food suggestions and post-natal exercises at home from six weeks after giving birth. There are 75 recipes (mercifully simple given the target audience), and even advice on sex from the self-styled guru herself!
£16.99 (April)
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At the other end of the fertility ladder, we have Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond not the punchiest of titles, but most definitely a kick-ass guide to getting your sass on in your 40s, 50s and beyond. Written by exercise and nutrition expert, Dr Stacey T Sims, this is aimed at women who find that menopause leaves them feeling crap and want to bounce back, but might need a new regime to help them.
£15.09 (May)
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ROLL OUT THE MAT
You don’t even have to pretend to be feeling zen when you indulge in a bit of Rage Yoga, with Linsey Istace. Expunge the demons and feel better. While we’re at it, we couldn’t go without mentioning the new release, Wild Kilted Yoga, which exercises another kind of primal urge. The book follows the hunky and oft-bare chested Scot Finlay Wilson, down dog and up mountain doing alfresco yoga in a kilt. I mean, it’s not too late for a stocking filler is it?
£11.99
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The recently published Pilates for Everyone by Micki Havard is a winner for those days when you can’t face dragging yourself out on a dark January night for an evening of old ladies passing wind in the village hall. With 50 pilates exercises, all with modifications, and 15 sequences there’s plenty to keep you busy and get you into a simple but attainable routine.
£12.99
Buy now