Alex Bowman is a tutor at Lifetime Training. He has over six years of experience in the health and fitness industry, including fitness instructing, personal training and studio instructing.

If you have a fitness question you would like answered by Alex, all you have to do is submit your question using the Comment on this Article box below. And remember - sign-up to our monthly health and fitness newsletter to receive your expert answer direct in your in-box.

Sarah Asks :

I have exercised all my adult life and have within the last 6 months been doing quite vigorous exercise such as boxing, weights, spinning and running. I exercise 3 times per week but am putting weight on, I have put on half a stone in the past 5 months. Can you help as I am concerned about this; I want to lose weight not gain it from exercise!

Alex’s Answer

Sarah, this is a very common concern amongst female exercisers. Let me turn this around into a question for you. Is your figure getting closer towards the way you want it to look? The reason I ask this is that people can transform their body towards their ideal figure but still remain the same weight or actually put weight on. The reason this happens is due to muscle mass. Muscle is a very dense material and hence is heavy. You are doing some fantastic exercise which will aid fat loss and promote muscle mass. Just make sure that you are not building muscle when you lift weights. Try to aim for around 15-20 repetitions.

A word of advice. When measuring your appearance, I would personally stay away from the scales. Use body measurements instead. The best places to take these measurements are around the centre of each upper arm, the centre of your thighs, around the widest part of your butt and around your waist at belly button height. If you measure these every 6 weeks you should feel better about your results!

Alex Bowman, pictured. When taking up any new activities or exercise always consult with your GP first and ensure that you get advice from an appropriately qualified instructor.

For more information on fitness courses & more contact Lifetime Training on 0870 702 7273 or visit www.lifetimehf.co.uk