Sam Hopes
Sam Hopes is a level III fitness trainer, level II reiki practitioner, and senior fitness writer at Future PLC, the publisher of Tom's Guide. She is also about to undertake her Yoga For Athletes training course. Having trained to work with mind and body, Sam is a big advocate of using mindfulness techniques in sport and fitness, and their impact on performance. She’s also passionate about the fundamentals of training and building sustainable training methods. When she's not writing up her experiences with the latest fitness tech and workouts, you’ll find her writing about nutrition, sleep, recovery, and wellness.
Latest articles by Sam Hopes
Forget weights — build your core and strengthen your hips with this 3-move bodyweight workout
By Sam Hopes last updated
Strengthen your hips and build your core using three bodyweight exercises and five rounds of exercise.
Forget weights — I'm a personal trainer, and the ab wheel is my go-to for sculpting your core and shoulders
By Sam Hopes last updated
The ab rollout is an upper-body exercise that builds core and shoulder strength. Here's how to do it and the benefits of adding an ab roller to your exercise routine.
Forget sit-ups — 3 seated ab exercises that build your core muscles using one dumbbell
By Sam Hopes last updated
You can build your core using one dumbbell and three seated ab exercises. Our personal trainer explains how to do them and a 10-minute ab workout to try.
Forget ab exercises — this full-body kettlebell workout strengthens your core in 4 moves and 8 minutes
By Sam Hopes last updated
The Kettlebell Kings four-move complex strengthens your entire body and only takes eight minutes. Here's how to do it, according to a trainer.
I'm a personal trainer — 3 ways to boost your ab workouts and build your core without weights
By Sam Hopes last updated
Three beginner-friendly tips for boosting your ab workouts without weights, according to a personal trainer.
I test cross training shoes for a living — and this is the one pair I’d buy
By Sam Hopes last updated
As a personal trainer, I would buy the Nike Metcon 9 cross training shoe any day of the week, here's why.
I did 50 kettlebell crush curls every day for one week — here's what happened to my upper body
By Sam Hopes last updated
The kettlebell crush curl strengthens your biceps, shoulders, and chest muscles. Here's what happens when one writer does 50 reps a day for one week.
Forget the Arnold press — build your upper body with 2 kettlebells and 1 resistance band
By Sam Hopes last updated
The Kettlebell Kings kettlebell press drill develops upper body strength and pressing power using two weights and a resistance band. We explain how to do it and the benefits.
Forget dumbbells — you just need a set of kettlebells and 5 moves to build full-body strength and muscle
By Sam Hopes last updated
The kettlebell beginner workout builds full-body strength and muscle using five exercises and one set of kettlebells. Our personal trainer explains how to do it.
I tried the 3-minute CrossFit kipping exercise every day for a week — here are my results
By Sam Hopes last updated
Kipping is a popular bodyweight skill learned in CrossFit. Here's how to do it, and what happened when one fitness writer tried it every day for one week.
Forget crunches — 3 reasons I ditched ab workouts for compound exercises
By Sam Hopes last updated
Your core plays a vital role in your training and everyday activity, but multi-muscle exercises are a more efficient way to strengthen this essential group of muscles.
Relative strength vs absolute strength: Which is better?
By Sam Hopes published
Relative strength is a person's strength compared to their body size. Absolute strength is the maximum amount of force exerted regardless of size. Here are the benefits of both.
Forget push-ups — 5 dumbbell exercises to sculpt arm muscles like Miley Cyrus
By Sam Hopes last updated
5 exercises to sculpt and shape arm muscles like Miley Cyrus using a set of dumbbells, according to a personal trainer.
I teach stretching routines for a living — 3 exercises that strengthen your hips and open your hamstrings
By Sam Hopes last updated
Three bodyweight exercises that stretch and strengthen your hip flexors and hamstrings, according to a personal trainer.
Forget burpees — this 3-move CrossFit workout strengthens your entire body using dumbbells
By Sam Hopes last updated
The CrossFit workout can be done in just 21 minutes using three full-body exercises. Here's how to do it.
I tried 60 hand-release push-ups every day for one week — here are 3 things I learned
By Sam Hopes last updated
What are hand-release push-ups, how do you do them and what happens if one writer does them every day for one week during a fitness challenge?
You just need this 4-move dumbbell workout and 20 minutes to chisel your shoulder muscles
By Sam Hopes last updated
The four-move dumbbell workout strengthens and builds your shoulders in under 30 minutes, and it's beginner-friendly. Here's how.
Australian pull-ups for beginners: How to do them, and the benefits for building your back and biceps
By Sam Hopes last updated
Learn how to do Australian pull-ups, the benefits, common mistakes, and variations to try as a beginner.
I did 50 kettlebell thrusters every day for one week — and here are my results
By Sam Hopes last updated
What is the kettlebell thruster, how do you do it, and what happened when a fitness writer did the exercise every day for one week?
Deadlift beginners: 5 things I wish I had known before I started deadlifting
By Sam Hopes last updated
A personal trainer shares five ways to improve your deadlift technique whether you're a deadlift beginner or just refining your skill set.
I'm a personal trainer — this is my favorite dumbbell exercise for building full-body strength
By Sam Hopes last updated
The dumbbell thruster is my favorite full-body exercise for building strength and muscle. Here's how to do it, the benefits and variations to try.
Forget push-ups — you just need 1 kettlebell and 15 minutes to build your chest, shoulders and legs
By Sam Hopes last updated
You just need one kettlebell and this 3-move workout to build full-body strength and muscle, and it only takes 15 minutes.
Forget Russian twists — I did 50 Russian push-ups every day for one week, here’s what happened
By Sam Hopes last updated
What are Russian push-ups, how do you do them and what happens if you do 50 reps each day for seven days?