Cross-training for women

One way to ensure you are not overtraining a specific area of your body is by doing cross-training, which refers to the combining of exercises to work various parts of the body. It has been proven to enhance fitness levels and increase muscle tone and effectiveness for an injury-free experience, as well as gear the mind to focus on the challenges, opportunities and rewards that lie ahead.

Furthermore, a cross-training programme will supplement the training you are currently doing in your chosen sporting code and give your whole body the strength, endurance and power it needs to perform at its best.

Adventure Boot Camp (ABC) is a great cross-training option, and a big believer in the benefits of ABC as a cross-training option is Swiss born, professional mountain biker and three-time winner of the Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike Race, Ariane Kleinhans. She says, "Adventure Boot Camp is the perfect cross-training exercise for my off season. It focuses on the whole body, which is great for me because my core and arms don’t get the attention they deserve just from cycling.

The variety of exercises we do challenges my coordination. I feel I’ve gained the necessary fitness base from which to start more specific mountain bike training. Since December, I train between 15-25 hours a week. Most of it is on the bike, although I also run and swim and do specific core workouts. Cross-training is a refreshing change from just cycling, it helps me to prevent injuries and it keeps my motivation up."

Only open to women, ABC's workouts are designed to include both cardiovascular and resistance training exercises.

All classes are held outdoors and run by a qualified personal trainer, who can assist you to achieve your sporting and fitness goals. A technique that is used a lot is interval training. This is a form of cardiovascular training where the heart rate is increased by short bursts of high-intensity effort and then decreased over short time periods. It is an important part of cross-training, as it helps to supercharge your fitness, increase your metabolism and get you to reach those fitness goals quicker than a programme consisting of just moderate-effort exercise would.

If your training schedule is already very busy, but you would like to include some form of cross-training in it, then there's ABC's one day a week/four sessions per month option, which is to be launched in January 2015. This is in addition to their current 12 or 20 session camps. With this option, you can choose a class time and location (there's over 100 beautiful outdoor venues to choose from) that best suits you.

There is no better time than right now to sign up to an exercise programme.