We’re Bringing Sexy Back

By East Side Crew on September 1, 2011 in Sport

Spring is here, which means warmer weather, more sunlight, afternoon beers and less clothing – uh oh!

If everyone can think back to last spring, the weather was slowly getting warmer and then bam, a freakishly hot day came along, you swore it felt like mid-January and some fool suggested a quick dip to cool down. Sure, it’s ok for your buddy who didn’t spend all winter cosying up to a block of chocolate, but are you swim season ready?

If you want to avoid last year’s mistakes and be ready to whip your gear off faster than you can say ‘bikini wax’ when the weather warms up, here are some of our best tips to get your mid-section looking tight and toned for summer.

Fight the Bloat

Processed foods, foods that are high in sugar, alcohol, and excess caffeine and salt can all contribute to your body storing more fat than it needs and bloating your stomach. Following a simple, healthy eating plan that is low in processed foods and high in fresh veggies, fruit, lean meats and nuts will help you to reduce the amount of fat your body stores and lead to a lean, flat belly.

Tone and Tighten

These core stability exercises will help to tone your abdominals and create the lean look you are after. Slow and steady wins the race with these exercises. Aim for 1 minute of each exercise and 2-3 sets. Rest for 2 minutes between sets.

• Plank with alternating arm extension
• Alternating leg lowers
• 1-arm and 1-leg extensions

Technique is really important when you are working your core. Make sure you are always drawing your belly button back towards your spine (without sucking in) and avoiding any rounding or arching of your back.

Fat Blast

Abdominal exercises will help to tone and tighten the tummy, but toned stomach muscles aren’t much good if they are hiding beneath fat! To burn fat fast, you can’t beat high intensity workouts such as the one below. Do this workout two to three times a week and for maximum results add a 30-minute run to the start or end.

Workout

This is a great two-for-one workout, with the benefit of fat burning and toning at the same time. To get the best fat burning effect, you need to work at a high intensity. Time your first round and then aim to beat that time by more than 15 seconds. You are decreasing reps each time, so this should be easy!

• 400m run
• 30 V Sits
• 30 Russian Twists
• 30 Mountain Climbers
• 30 Bridge Reach
• 30 Squat Thrusts
• 30 Push Ups

Repeat 5 more times, dropping the reps by 5 each time so that on your last round you are doing 5 reps of each exercise.