Easy to do exercises to soothe aching bodies and soothe your soul at your desk. 

1. Shoulders and neck. - Clasp your palms together and stretch up above your head feeling your shoulders release tension. Pull your chin down to your chest and take 3 deep breaths in and out. Repeat twisting your torso from left to right. 

2. Wrists. - Place your left hand palm down. Take your right hand palm up under the fingers of your left hand. Push your fingers back slowly towards your body. Hold for 10 seconds and release. Rotate your left hand in circles releasing all tension from your wrists. Repeat the process with your right hand. 

3. Arms. - Whilst sitting straight, pull your right arm across your body. Press your left arm before your right elbow towards your chest. Stretch open and close your fingers of your right hand. You will feel the release in the top of your arm and shoulders.

4. Ankles. - Holding out your left leg under the desk, circle your ankle around 20 times clockwise then again anti-clockwise. Next, point your toe forward and stretch out all that calf tension. Repeat with your right leg. 

5. Back. - Sit up straight in your chair with both feet flat on the floor. Twist your torso around until your can reach the top corner of your chair with your opposite hand. Pull into a deep stretch. Turn your head the opposite way for a stretch down your neck. Repeat with the opposite side. 

Stay flexible. Stay Salty!

Cinnamon Tan

UK Fitness Blog

You may be surprised but, the perfect time to get your fitness goals on track is when we are away from home. Our stressful busy lives can sometimes be the cause of our bad eating habits and lazy attitude towards training. Your annual summer vay-cay can do more for you then just helping you to relax. 

Start the day with a good breakfast, you'll have lots to choose from. Make sure you're making the correct choices to fit your regime. Cereals, fruits and yogurts are always a good idea. 

With all of your meals usually being at the same time everyday it will be easy to get yourself into a routine with your meals. Sample the local specialties, restaurants will usually have an abundance of dishes packed with fresh locally sourced produce.

On holiday it can be hard to resist the temptation of a fizzy drink or wine on tap whilst your baking in the sun. But, try to stick to water during the hottest hours of the day. 

Don't forget to allow yourself an occasional treat, cheat meals or cheat days are glorious whilst on holiday! One more cocktail can't hurt, right?

Take advantage of the resorts amenities, swimming pool? Tennis court? Onsite gym? Make everyday count, most importantly make it fun!

Stay hydrated, stay salty!

Cinnamon Tan

UK Fitness Blog

Good morning my fellow salty babes,

The launch for the opening Salty collection has / is taking a little longer than I anticipated

due to life getting in its way with its hurdles.

The whole range will consist of 6 styles. As I create all the sized patterns by hand and sew everything myself this is prooving to be more of a challenge due to the complexity in some of my designs.

I want everything to be perfect and unfortunately this means taking my time to get ready for the launch. However, when it is complete I hope you gals will feel it was worth the wait!

Above is a photo diary of making a sample pair of Salty Booty Shorts, what the photos don't show is that I had an absolute nightmare putting these together, I was so clumsy that day and everything was going wrong. 

Ever threaded up an over locker?

Yeah, I had to do that more times than I could count. Which resulted in a very unhappy mood and a few swear words.  -  You feel my pain, right?

Least to say, all the Salty Babe products are made right here in Manchester, UK by my hands with love and lots of tears.. it's you're job to get them sweaty!

Above is a sneak peak of a some of the designs which will be available soon.. hopefully!

I'd love to hear you're thoughts..

Stay salty!

Cinnamon Tan x

Do you suffer from daytime drowsiness due to to poor sleep.
How often do you doze off (in the day) in the following situations?

- Reading.

- Watching TV.

- Waiting for something in public. Post office, Dentist.

- Lying down after lunchtime.

- Passenger in a vehicle.

- Sitting talking to someone.

A score of 4 or above suggests you may need more sleep!

But, when the time comes to go to bed.. you just.. cant.. sleep!

We've all had those nights tossing and turning, sticking a leg out of the quilt, turning your pillow over to the cold side and counting sheep.. These nights are something we'd all love to eradicate from our lives.

Here's how:

Drink a cup of hot tea.

Drinking herbal tea has many benefits including helping you to wind down after a stressful day. Try a hot cup of chamomile an hour before bed time. 

Read a book. 

This is something I've found works for me, reading a book gets me away from looking at harsh bright screens and allows my eyes to "relax" to the point where I just need to rest them. 

Use your bedroom as a bedroom.

This maybe hard for those who's bedroom is the focus on their living.

Staying off and away from your bed during times where you're working, watching tv, playing on your iPad will allow you to completely relax when it's time for bed as you know that the bedroom is a place to completely relax and sleep. This means keeping TVs and other stimulating electronics out of your sleep space. 

Put your electronics away!

The harsh light emitted from our gadgets stimulates our eyes and brain keeping you awake. Ban all gadgets 30 mins prior bedtime. 

Stretch.

Practicing yoga or simply gently stretching will ease built up tension in your body allowing you to have a restful sleep. 

Meditation.

Clearing your mind from the days stresses and worries stops those late night talks with your brain thinking about that moment 6 years ago and whether you think you've left the oven on. 

Exercise.

Burning off extra energy in the day will leave you feeling tired and ready to sleep when you get to bed. 

Set yourself a bedtime.

Yes, I know you're an adult now but, setting yourself a regular sleeping pattern will do wonders for both the time you spend sleeping and awake. 

Make lists.

Make a physical list including everything you may worry about during the night such as.

In the morning I need to _________

I must not forget ____________

I am worried about ____________

Organise tomorrow's outfit.

This will help you relax knowing you have one less thing to worry about. 

Do you have any tips you use to get a good night's rest?

Stay salty!!

Cinnamon Tan

UK Fitness Blog

Stay salty!

Cinnamon Tan

UK Fitness Blog

I recently went to an amazing seminar where I learnt that I'd been doing cardio all wrong! I LOVE cardio, you could call me the cardio queen but, apparently we need to kick out the long treadmill sessions and introduce HIIT ( High intensity Interval Training ) into our lives.
Why?
HIIT burns more fat, the high exertion your body goes through during the process fire's up your natural repair cycle, this means your body continues to burn calories long after you finish your workout. If you're a runner HIIT will do wonders for your stamina, you'll find you're able to run longer and harder! As well as boosting your metabolism, when you mix your HIIT with strength training, you loose the fat but keep that beautiful shapely muscle.. that's right ladies, we can lift too and boy, is it addictive! If you're a bit of a workout-aphobe, HIIT is perfect for you, most workouts last a maximum of 3 mins which you can repeat to suit you. The best thing about HIIT is you can train just about anywhere! So there literally is no excuse.Above you'll see a HIIT workout I put together myself combining some of my favourite exercises with some I like not so much but target areas I'm keen to work on. I've seen some great improvements to my stamina, I practice this first thing in the morning, better than ANY coffee for waking you up.  Feel free to download the image, try the workout for yourself and tweak as you need.

Stay salty!!

Cinnamon Tan

UK Fitness Blog

An insight into the contents of a Salty Babe's gym bag. 

 Do you think I like pink & yellow? hmm...

Stay salty!

Cinnamon Tan

UK Health & Fitness Blog