With temperatures soaring and the holiday countdown commencing, our thoughts naturally lead to our first bikini outing of the year. Thankfully, this needn’t be a daunting experience with our pre-planned workout to help hone and tone, and get you beach body confident!
Dave Kyle, head trainer at Les Mills, has compiled the ultimate beach body workout comprising of the most effective exercises to help you focus on legs, bum, tum and arms. The plan will tone your muscles and torch calories to get you beach-fit. For those who don’t have time to get to the gym, there are a host of exercises that can be done at home to leave you looking and feeling like a beach goddess.
Dave says, “Many people today are timepoor and simply aren’t able to spend hours in the gym as their annual summer holiday approaches. What people don’t realise however is that there are loads of little lifestyle changes you can make, both at home and in the gym, to get you well on your way to having the body you always dreamed of.”
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In order to work your way to achieving THE PERFECT BIKINI BUM at home, include the following exercises in your routine:
Squats really are a girl’s best friend. In order to achieve a bikini bum, try the following:
• Stand with feet just outside hip-width, then drop down and back until your hips are just above the knee line
• Hold for five seconds the stand up again
• Do three sets of 10 squats with a 30-second rest in between each set
Lunges are amazing at toning and lifting the buttocks:
• With feet hip-width apart, take a long step back
• In lunge position with split stance, drop through the back knee towards the floor, keeping the front knee in line with the foot
• Stop around one inch from the floor then push through the front heel and the ball of the back foot to return to starting position
• The upper body should remain square to the front, keeping shoulders above the hips throughout
• Do three sets of 10 lunges with a 30-second rest in between each set
At the gym, you could try BODYPUMP, a 60- minute workout, packed with moves like squats and lunges, which burns 560 calories and helps to lift and tone the glutes. -
To get ABS OF STEEL for that perfect bikini midriff, Dave recommends the following:
The plank is great for conditioning the core:
• Lying prone on the floor, start on the knees with forearms on floor and elbows under your shoulders
• Slowly lift your hips off the floor until you feel tension in your tummy
• Keep a straight line from your shoulders to your hips
• To progress, come up on to your toes, maintaining the straight line from shoulders to heels
• Hold for one minute, then rest for 30 seconds, then do two more
Mountain climbers are also amazing at toning tummies:
• With hands on the floor under the shoulders, keep your legs long, on your toes
• Stay strong and brace through the core
• Bring the knee up towards the opposite elbow, return and repeat on other leg
• Do for one minute, then rest for 30 seconds, then do two more
Or, if you’ve got time to spare, pop to the gym and try CXWORX, a 30-minute core class that works to blast the abs and tone the tummy, burning 230 calories in the process.
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For SHAPELY LEGS to show off in this summer’s shorts, try the following:
Burpees are perfect for toning legs:
• From a standing position, drop to the floor with your hands under your shoulders
• Kick the legs back fully, then jump back between your hands
• Stand upright
• Do three sets of 10, resting for 30 seconds in between each set
Squat jumps sculpt and tone thighs and calves:
• From a squat position jump as high as you can, reaching as high as you can with arms overhead
• Repeat
• Do three sets of 10, resting for 30 seconds in between each set
Or, if you have 30-minutes to spare, try GRITCardio, a 30-minute workout that burns 600 calories and combines exercises like burpees and squat jumps to help you achieve toned, lean legs.
The tuck jump tones and builds thighs:
• Stand with your feet just outside hip-width
• ‘Sit down and back’ until your hips are just above the knee line
• Throwing the hands over head, jump up as high as you can, tucking the knees in towards the chest
• Land through the ball of the foot with soft knees, rolling on to your heels to absorb the impact and repeat
• Your chest should be kept up throughout to maintain good upper body posture
• Do three sets of 10
Attack kicks sculpt the thighs:
• Stand on the spot and kick out to the front, trying to get your leg parallel with the floor
• Return and repeat on other leg
• Do for one minute before 10 seconds rest
• Repeat three times
Or, at the gym you could try BODYATTACK, a 55-minute workout that burns 735 calories through exercises like tuck jumps and athletic kicking movements.
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To achieve TONED ARMS in the comfort of your front room,Dave recommends the following:
Push-ups tone and define the arms:
• With your hands outside the shoulders, bring the chest down towards the hands and push up
• Beginners should do this on the knees, and then progress to the toes
• Do three sets of 10 with a 30-second rest in between each set
Shadow boxing helps to build muscle, without the use of equipment:
• Imagine you are Rocky and box around the room with an invisible opponent
• One minute boxing, 10 seconds rest.
Or, go to the gym and try BODYCOMBAT, a 55-minute mixed martial arts whole body workout, which focuses on punches from boxing to strikes, and burns 740 calories.
