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10 exercises to get you beach body ready
Get your body in shape for beach weather now with these tips!
By Jennifer Weatherhead
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Bikini season is only months away, so its time to get that bod toned, sculpted and ready to strut your amazing self down a sandy beach in an itsy-bitsy two piece. To find out how to get your body in tip-top shape for beachwear, ELLE Canada enlisted the help of Jenn Scott, a trainer for Beach Body Boot Camp to give us the ten best exercises to target problem areas for bikini season. To get the ultimate beach body, she recommends doing the following exercises 3 times per week with 1-minute bursts or cardio in between, such as jumping jacks, stair running or running on the treadmill. Remember to stretch all major muscle groups in the body after your workout to keep muscles long and lean. Hold each stretch for 10 slow, deep breaths.
1. Work that tush! Single Leg Squats --Sculpts the glutes.
Stand on one leg with opposite toes touching lightly beside supporting foot for balance. With hands on hips squat down as though you were sitting onto a chair. Keep chest and eyes up, an arch in the lower back and ensure the knee does not go beyond the front toe. Allow the muscles of the supporting leg to do most of the work as you squat down slowly and come back to standing by contracting the glute muscles. Breathe in as you squat down and out as you stand up. Repeat this movement for 20 reps on each leg.
2. Tone your tummy! Ab Circles on the Ball -- Sculpts the entire mid-section.
Sit on a stability ball with lower back supported by the ball. You may do this exercise with feet resting against the wall for balance. With hands at the temples, begin with a side bend to the right, then arch back and come full circle through a side bend to the left and then up to your starting position. Perform 10 continuous circles to the right, followed by ten circles to the left. Breathe in for the first half of the circle and breathe out for the second half. Concentrate on contracting the muscles of the abdomen through the entire range of motion.
3. Firm your backside! Lying Ball Raise -- Sculpts the glutes.
Lie face down on a mat with legs stretched and turned out, toes pointed and holding a small stability ball between the ankles. Rest the forehead on the hands. Keeping legs stretched and squeezing the ball between the ankles, contract the glute muscles to raise the ball off the ground as high as possible (most likely a few inches). Try not to use the upper body at all: Focus on allowing the lower body to perform the movement. Breathe out as you lift the legs and in as you lower. Raise the ball slowly and lower to ˝ an inch off the ground. Perform 15 repetitions, rest and repeat.
4. Get fierce legs! Jumping Lunges -- Sculpts the entire leg.
Stand with the back facing an exercise bench or chair. Place the toe of the back leg on the bench with legs in a wide lunge (holding dumbbells or with hands on the hips). Keeping the back toe on the bench, lunge down with the front leg and then explode into a single leg jump and land softly, working through the foot and moving smoothly and continuously into another lunge. Breathe in as you lunge down and out as you jump up. Repeat this movement 10 times and then switch legs. Do two sets of 10 with each leg.
5. Tone your legs! Ball Hamstring Curl -- Sculpts the hamstrings.
Lie face up on a mat with the bottoms of the feet on a stability ball. Raise the hips up in the air in line with the rest of the body. Contract the hamstrings to roll the ball in toward the butt, and then roll back out again. Be sure to keep the hips pressed up as high as possible and hips, knees and feet parallel. Breathe in as you roll the ball in towards you and out as you roll it away. Perform 15 repetitions, rest and repeat.
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