Celebrity mum Penny Lancaster shares her exercise and weight loss secrets

"The first change I made was to my diet was starting to drink Cho Yung tea. It’s a Chinese green tea that, unlike some others, looks and tastes appealing with a mild flavour and no aftertaste. It helped me kick-start my ‘healthy mission’ with the promise of weight loss if you combine it with healthy lifestyle."

"Nine months after giving birth I’m very happy with my body. I’ve worked hard combining exercise and a healthy diet with drinking Cho Yung tea, helping me achieve my goal of regaining my pre-pregnancy body by the time my son is one in Feb.”

PENNY’S EXERCISE REGIME

Personal trainer Gary O’Connor has devised the following exercises for Penny. They require a sturdy kitchen or office chair and a basic set of plastic dumbbells, ranging in weight from 2 to 10lbs depending on personal strength. Alternatively, use a couple of tins of soup or bags of sugar.

Warm up for five minutes before starting by gently jogging on the spot, and by circling bent arms backwards and forwards, to a point where you feel warm and loose.

Exercise 1: The Squat (designed to exercise the major muscles on the front and back of the thighs)

Stand in front of chair with the backs of the thighs gently touching the front edge of the chair. Holding the arms out in front for balance and with the feet hip-width apart, lower the hips until in a sitting position, keeping the abdominal muscles taut. Squeeze the thigh muscles and push forward and upwards into a standing position to complete the movement. Repeat 10 times. Breathe in on lowering and out on standing. Carry out the movement in a smooth controlled fashion. When proficient, gently touch your bottom on the chair before returning to standing position. Repeat the whole set twice.
Progress the exercise by:
 1. Increasing the repetitions progressively from 10 to 15
 2. Increasing the number of sets to 3
 3. Carrying out the movement while holding the dumbbells

Exercise 2 :  The Leg Kickback (designed to exercise the bottom, back of the thighs, lower back and stabilising muscles)

Stand upright holding the back of the chair, then take a big step backwards until the body forms an L shape: arms outstretched, body bent forward in line with arms and legs straight at 90 degrees to the body. This is the start and finish position.
From this position, draw the right knee towards the chest, pause, then stretch the leg out backwards until it’s as straight as possible. The finish position should ideally have the arms, torso and leg in one straight horizontal line parallel to the floor. Repeat 10 times with the right leg before repeating with the left leg (one set). Rest and repeat for a second set. Progress by increasing repetitions progressively from 10 to 15 , and then the sets to 3.

Exercise 3: The Dip (designed to exercise the muscles at the back of the upper arm and the chest muscles)

Sitting on the edge of the chair, clasp the edge of the chair with your hands, knuckles facing forward (lift your thighs slightly) and, taking your weight on your arms, slowly walk the legs forward so that your bottom clears the chair edge. Keeping the tummy muscles taut, bend your arms and slowly lower your body towards the floor until your arms are at approximately 90 degrees. Flex the muscles at the back of the arms and raise the body, returning to a straight arm starting position. Lower and repeat 10 times. Finish by returning to the sitting position. Increase repetitions progressively from 10 to 15 and sets from 2 to 3. The exercise can also be made harder by moving your feet further from the chair until, ultimately, legs are straight.

Exercise 4: The Shoulder 3-Way Combination (designed to exercise the muscles of the shoulder, front of upper arms)

Sitting on the chair with knees bent at right angles and feet placed hip-width apart on the floor, hold a dumbbell (or tin of soup!) in each hand, arms hanging down vertically.

Part one: Tense tummy muscles and raise arms out to the side until parallel to floor. The body should resemble a T-shape when viewed from the front. Pause at the top position before slowly lowering to starting position. Repeat 10 times. Breathe in on lifting and out on lowering.

Part two: In the same starting position, arms hanging vertically at sides and knuckles facing backwards (towards back of chair), curl the dumbbells up towards the shoulders by squeezing the muscles on the front of the upper arm until hands are close to shoulders. Pause and then lower back to starting position. Repeat 10 times, breathing in on raising the dumbbells and out on returning to starting position.

Part three: Tensing stomach muscles, curl dumbbells up to shoulders, turn hands and shoulders outwards so the palms are facing forward. Then squeeze the muscles of the shoulders and press the dumbbells over head until arms are straight. Pause and lower to start position. Breathe out on pressing over head and out on return to start position. Repeat 10 times.
Increase repetitions through to 15 then increase sets from 2 to 3.

Exercise 5: The Bent-Over Row (designed to exercise the muscles of the upper back and front of the upper arms)

Standing facing back of the chair, bend forward at the waist and support body by resting left arm on back of chair, move legs backwards until torso and legs are at approximately 90 degrees; feet should be hip-width apart. Move right leg back slightly to form the get-set position (like a runner on a start line before a race), the right arm holding a dumbbell and hanging vertically downwards. Keeping the arm close to the side of the body, squeeze the upper back muscles and draw the arm up (bending at the elbow) towards the mid-section of the torso. Pause and slowly lower dumbbell to starting position. Breathe out on lifting dumbbell and out on lowering.

Repeat this programme up to three times a week with a day’s rest in between – ideally, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On each occasion, cool down by stretching out muscles you’ve worked during exercising.

Cho-Yung Tea will be exhibiting at the Vitality Show 2012, and can be found on stand number H317. For more information click here.
Cho-Yung is available at £39.99 for 30 teabags from Holland & Barrett stores or online at www.choyungtea.com