How to get a body like a footballer!

Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) Football Club is located in North London. The club is also known as Spurs. Tottenham's home ground is White Hart Lane. The club motto is Audere est Facere (To dare is to do).

New research has revealed that almost half of women are embarrassed by their men's bodies on holiday - thankfully, our fitness coach Kunle Odetoyinbo has the plan to put it right!

The survey - commissioned by our sponsors Thomson - also shows that whilst almost one in two women make the effort to diet before their summer break, only 13% of their partners bother to shape up in the same way.

The survey reveals that the biggest turn off for women is the beer belly with 70% citing it as the most unsightly part of a man’s body, with multiple chins and fat thighs following in the ugly stakes.

Of the women questioned, most said they felt pressure to exercise extensively prior to their annual getaway in order to brave skimpy beachwear and wished that their partners made the effort too.

The research shows that of all the sporting physiques, women (34%) find footballers’ bodies most alluring.

So in light of these findings, Thomson has teamed up with our sports physiologist Kunle to adapt training used in professional football into a 'pre-summer exposure' programme especially designed for living room footie fans.

CLICK HERE FOR KUNLE'S FULL TWO-WEEK EXERCISE PROGRAMME

Kunle commented: "As football requires all-round fitness, professional players’ bodies tend to have all the traditional attractive attributes like the wash-board stomach and toned thighs.

"The programme I have devised is not going to transform the average bloke's body into a player's physique overnight, but combined with a healthy eating programme it certainly should help tone up those unsightly lumps and love handles that plague men who don’t exercise regularly or eat a healthy diet."

Chris Mottershead of Thomson added: "From our research we know women are invariably the organisers of holidays for their families and partners. Slimming ready for the warmer weather have always been a key part of their preparation ritual and it's interesting to see that they are just as concerned with their partners appearance on the beach as well.

"Our pre- summer exposure programme has been designed to motivate all those couch potatoes out there. It can be picked up with minimal effort, essentially is a bit of fun and has been designed with football fans in mind. The two-week plan includes dietary tips and football-related exercises to make the activity more accessible and interesting than spending hours at the gym. It's designed to be carried out two weeks before your holiday and for the women in your life it's got to be worth it!"

THOMSON’S TOP PRE-HOLIDAY EXPOSURE TIPS
by By Kunle Odetoyinbo MSc BSc CN Med.

Here are some tips you can adopt to start to enhance your physique and make sure you're in tip-top condition for the beach. Most are designed to be completed in the comfort of your own home, so there’s no need for busy, sweaty gyms or miserable runs around the neighbourhood.

For a full two-week exercise programme, log onto www.spurs.co.uk/soccercise

1: Before you start exercising, it's important you stretch and warm up your muscles to avoid damaging them whilst working out. Lie along the length of your sofa, put your arms straight above your head and stretch the entire length of your body. You should also stretch individual muscles at your leisure.

2: Attempt to increase the variety of food groups you consume including meats, fruit, vegetables, dairy products and, most importantly, the places you buy them from!

3: Running/walking on the spot — again, the perfect exercise for the living room. To make this one more interesting and keep concentrating, try doing it whilst throwing your football above your head and catching it repetitively. Try this for 10-20 minutes every other day.

4: Keepy-uppy — frustrating at first if you've not done it before but a great move for getting the heart racing. Try this for ten minutes every other day.

5: We are currently over-obsessed with supplements at the expense of eating a healthy diet. So, try to take less of these by eating the right amounts of foods that contain them naturally, like fruit and vegetables.

6: From your armchair hold two phone books, magazines or any other object you can find in each hand and use them for biceps/tricep curls. Try to do three sets of 8-15 repetitions.

7: Sit on the floor in a crossed legged position or with legs out in front of you whilst watching a match or TV programme. Try to build this into your own home routine so you spend 2-5 half hour slots per week sitting on the floor it will help to improve your posture. Do not use any supports.

8: Hold a football behind your head in both hands and perform sit-ups. Aim to do five sets of 10-20. Make sure your knees are bent.

NB Go slowly at first. Anyone with health concerns should consult a doctor.