8 ways to build your confidence.

When you exercise well, your body produces endorphins, which will work towards building your confidence

Confidence is the body’s silent expression of how it feels about itself. Don’t let this beautiful feeling ever dip, no matter what your size is. You have a beautiful body and you must let just the endorphins flow in every part of it – your booty, your chest, your arms, your thighs, your abdomen, your back…. Confidence is never about size, it’s about feeling good about yourself. And exercise is the only natural way to feel that confidence in every part of your body. Here’s how you can do it:
Core: Mountain Climbers
Starting position: Come on all fours, with hands under your shoulders. Ensure they are inside of the shoulders. Knees are behind the hips. Toes will be tucked under.

• Inhale and keep your belly button in.

• Exhale and simultaneously lift your knees.

• Keep breathing as you hold the plank position and keep bringing one knee into the chest, alternating with both legs. Make sure your pelvis is up. Do it to a count of 10, 12 or 20 – whatever your fitness levels are. To end, bring your knees down.
  Arms: Low Row on TRX
  Starting position: Keep the TRX fully lengthened. Hold the handles at chest level. Keep the palms facing each other and your feet hip distance apart. Hold the TRX straps tight.
  

• Inhale and keep your belly button in.

• Exhale and simultaneously lift your knees.

• Keep breathing as you hold the plank position and keep bringing one knee into the chest, alternating with both legs. Make sure your pelvis is up. Do it to a count of 10, 12 or 20 – whatever your fitness levels are. To end, bring your knees down.
  Arms: Low Row on TRX
  Starting position: Keep the TRX fully lengthened. Hold the handles at chest level. Keep the palms facing each other and your feet hip distance apart. Hold the TRX straps tight.
  

• Inhale and keep your belly button in.

• Exhale and tighten your glutes to lift the pelvis to a bridge position.

• Inhale: Stay.

• Exhale: Lift the right leg into a position resembling a table top and point it out to a diagonal.

• Inhale: Keeping the belly button in, circle the leg in and then circle it out. Keep going for four times in the clockwise direction and four times in the anti-clockwise direction.

• To end, bring the right leg to table top and bring the right foot down. Repeat the same with the left leg.
  Chest: Push ups
  Starting position: Get on your fours. Your arms are under your shoulders and your knees are behind the hips. Lift your knees and come to a plank position.

• Inhale, keeping your belly button in, and bend your elbows, bringing your chest close to the ground.
• Exhale and press up.
• Keep going for 6, 8 or 10 repetitions as per your fitness levels.
  Back: Crab Walk
  Starting position: Sit on the ground with knees bent, feet are close to each other. Keep your hands behind the shoulders. Finger tips are facing away from the body, wrists are close to the body. Make sure your body is centred somewhere between wrists and ankles.

• Inhale and lift your pelvis off the ground.

• Exhale and step forward with opposite foot and hand.

• Continue rhythmically for 6, 8 or 10 steps.
  Waist: Side Planks
  This exercise from the Pilates Mat Workout gives an hourglass figure.
  Starting position: Sit down sideways. Hand is under the shoulder, close to the body. Legs are stacked in a way that the foot of the lower leg is behind and upper leg is forward.
  

• Inhale, keep the belly button in.

• Exhale and lift the pelvis up to a side plank position.

• Hold the position to a count of 6, 8 or 10 breaths and bring the pelvis down.
  Legs: Lateral Lunges
  This traditional exercise done with tubing strapped to the ankles gets a really quick response from the body.
  Starting position: Tubing strapped to the ankles. Stand with your feet hip distance apart. Hands on your hips.

• Inhale, keep the belly button in and take a step from the right foot to the right side. Foot moves in the direction of the knee.

• Exhale and bend the right knee and come back to the starting position. Do the same with the left foot for 8, 10 or 12 repetitions.
  Shoulders: Thread the Needle
  Starting position: Pick up a ViPR (Vitality, Performance and Reconditioning) according to your fitness levels. A 4kg is a good one to start with. Hold the ViPR in a two-hand neutral hold. Keep it close to the chest. Keep your feet wider than hip distance apart
  

• Inhale and take the ViPR through your legs by going into a squat.

• Exhale and come up.

• Inhale and take the other end of the ViPR through the legs.

• Exhale and come up.

• Go for 8, 10 or 12 repetitions as per your fitness levels.