Carrie Bradshaw in a scene from the HBO series, Sex and the City. Courtesy HBO
Carrie Bradshaw in a scene from the HBO series, Sex and the City. Courtesy HBO

Work your core and credit card – exercise while shopping



Wasn't it Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) who said that she couldn't make the switch to shopping online because visiting all those stores was her cardio workout? Well, she was ahead of her time, because shopping workouts have become the latest exercise fad, with hundreds of fitness fanatics squatting, curling and pressing their way around their favourite shops and supermarkets in an attempt to stay fit.

In fact, if you join this bunch of clued-in shoppers, you could be burning your way through up to 800 calories during an average shopping expedition. That means twice-weekly shoppers can burn 1,600 calories a week, or 83,200 calories per year. Experts from the British shopping website Promotional Codes have come up with a few cool exercises for those who want to feel the burn while indulging in retail therapy.

Squats – bending to the bottom shelf

Instead of bending over to reach the lower shelved items in the supermarket, try sitting back into a squat for 10 minutes.

• Calories burnt: 51 calories (or one cookie)

Calf raises – reaching up to the top shelf

When reaching for items on the top shelves, do some calf raises to strengthen the backs of your legs and shoulders. The 10-minute exercise will also tone your calves.

• Calories burnt: 34 calories (or a single piece of treacle toffee)

Arm curls with tinned food

Arm curls aren’t only for lifting heavy weights in the gym. Pick up a couple of tins (opt for the heavy ones) and pump away for 10 minutes to improve your posture while strengthening and toning your arms.

• Calories burnt: 80 calories (or a chocolate digestive biscuit)

Lunge – push the trolley

Pushing a trolley around for an average 40-minute shop burns up to 160 calories. However, to help tone your legs, thighs and quadriceps, try performing lunges while walking around the supermarket; use your shopping trolley to lean against. Filling it up first with the week’s groceries will offer more resistance (and therefore burn more calories).

• Calories burnt: 317 (or one cheeseburger)

Side lunges – reach into the chiller cabinet

Side lunges are a great exercise for working your side abdominals, thighs, bum and hamstrings all at the same time. This doesn’t burn a lot of calories but is great for toning those muscles. Just don’t try it on a busy day at the local hypermarket.

• Calories burnt: 20 calories (or one mint)

Leg raises while browsing

Leg raises work your thighs and quads. Try it out while in the queue at a checkout counter or browsing items. It also does wonders for your core stability and balance. For a tougher workout, try lifting your legs up as high as you can to crunch your abs at the same time.

• Calories burnt: 70 calories (or a scoop of vanilla ice cream)

Arm raises with bottles of water

Arm raises with bottles of water is a great alternative to lifting dumb-bells in the gym and will tone your biceps a treat. Get more out of this exercise over a period of time – gradually swap smaller bottles for bigger ones.

• Calories burnt: 105 calories (or quarter of a box of chocolates)

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Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

10 tips for entry-level job seekers
  • Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
  • Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
  • Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
  • For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
  • Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
  • Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
  • Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
  • Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
  • Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
  • Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.

Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz

Huddersfield Town permanent signings:

  • Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
  • Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
  • Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
  • Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
  • Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
  • Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
  • Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
  • Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
SERIE A FIXTURES

Friday (UAE kick-off times)

Sassuolo v Bologna (11.45pm)

Saturday

Brescia v Torino (6pm)

Inter Milan v Verona (9pm)

Napoli v Genoa (11.45pm)

Sunday

Cagliari v Verona (3.30pm)

Udinese v SPAL (6pm)

Sampdoria v Atalanta (6pm)

Lazio v Lecce (6pm)

Parma v Roma (9pm)

Juventus v Milan (11.45pm)

 

Tewellah by Nawal Zoghbi is out now.

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Juventus v Napoli, Sunday, 10.45pm (UAE)

Match on Bein Sports

TEST SQUADS

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.


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