Dress rehearsal: Holiday workout tips!

You had intended to go to the gym three times a week, but lately you're more likely to be found on the couch, catching the latest episode of Mad Men. Now, you're breaking a sweat - for the first time in weeks - at the prospect of wrestling into a slinky cocktail number for the season's holiday parties. Forget about starving yourself on a diet (or cancelling invitations); if you start an exercise regimen and a sensible eating plan now, you'll experience changes in as little as 10 days, says celebrity fitness trainer Gunnar Peterson, whose clients include Jennifer Lopez and Penélope Cruz. “Stick with it and people will see the difference in your body within three or four weeks.” What's the fastest way to fake a fit figure? Concentrate on your upper body, says Jennifer Cohen, a Toronto- and Los Angeles-based fitness trainer and author of No Gym Required: Unleash Your Inner Rockstar. “Most dresses are sleeveless or strapless, so if you show off great shoulders and arms, they will give you the overall appearance of being in shape,” she says. Whether you blitz your body from top to toe or just focus on the areas that your dress will reveal, here's how to get in show-off shape.

TOP SECRET
“Push-ups are the number one exercise for toning your upper body,” says Cohen. Position your hands on the floor - or on a bench, if you're a beginner - directly below your shoulders. Extend your legs out behind you, balancing on your toes. Keeping your back straight and abs tight, lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Hover for a moment, then push yourself back up to the starting position. Do three sets of 10 reps.

MIDDLE GROUND
To tighten your abs, lie on a bench or stability ball (“You can even use an ottoman,” says Peterson) and, keeping your feet on the floor, slowly lift your body until you're at a 30- to 45-degree angle. Pause for a moment, then lower it back down. For added difficulty, hold a weight plate and extend it overhead as you lift up. Don't have one? Use a water bottle, says Peterson. Do two to five sets of eight to 20 reps. “I call this the butt blaster,” says Cohen. With your right leg, step up on a chair. (It should be high enough that your right thigh is parallel to the floor when your right foot is on the chair.) Keeping your weight on your right foot and your hips facing forward, slowly straighten your right leg so that you're standing on the chair before lowering your left leg to the floor. Do 15 reps on each leg.

Image courtesy of Marcio Madeira from the Lanvin collection