Stay in shape with this new home routine from Midlands Air Ambulance fitness guru, Aidan Brown 

We have all had to adapt to a new way of living. Working from home, educating little ones, not being able to see friends and family and only leaving the house for essential journeys, were among just some of the challenges. It also meant we had to find new ways to keep fit.

Here, critical care paramedic for Midlands Air Ambulance, Aidan Brown, gives you some tips on exercises to try at home that can help you keep fit and healthy.

Aidan says: “The MAAC aircrew are required to maintain a high level of fitness as on occasion we have to run a distance from a safe helicopter landing site to where the patient is, sometimes tackling difficult terrain or scaling fences for example, and this is while carrying 15kg lifesaving equipment bags. So I adapted what I do in the gym to my back garden and have found some great exercises you can do at home, too.”

TAKE 10 WITH AIDAN 

Aidan’s routine is a great way to stay fit and the set-up is simple – do each of the five exercises for one minute, then repeat, totalling a 10-minute workout.

PRESS-UP

There are many variants of the press-up but the most important thing to remember is to make sure you keep you back in line and your bottom down.

TRICEPS DIP

Place your hands on a chair with your feet about shoulder width apart on the ground. Bend your arms to around 90 degrees and push back up to the start position. The closer your knees are to your bottom, the easier the exercise. Do it at a level that suits you, while maintaining good technique.

HIGH KNEES

This is an explosive exercise which can really get your heart rate up. Run on the spot as fast as you can, attempting to bring your knees up to 90 degrees. It really helps to swing your arms.

HALF BURPEES

This is a great full body movement. From standing, touch the floor with your hands shoulder width apart, jump your feet back to get yourself into the plank position with straight arms. Then, jump your feet back to your hands. Get into the squat position and powerfully jump as high as you can.

POWER STAR JUMP

Another full body exercise, which really burns the calories! From standing, squat until you touch the floor, then jump as high as you can, performing an explosive star jump. When you land, go back to the squat position to start again.