Get the Perfect Beach Body - For Women
If like most people, you indulged a little over Christmas and New Year and now carry a few extra pounds as a result, then you may be wondering how you can shift that extra weight in time to hit the beaches this summer. Well whether you’re looking to become a Baywatch stunner or simply fit back into your favourite bikini, achieving your perfect beach body doesn’t have to be back breaking work, you just need a few helpful tips to get you going.
Whereas the boys will be looking to increasing muscle mass as part of their beach body programme, most women will want to focus on slimming down and toning up. The best way to achieve this is through light weight, high repetition weight training and cardiovascular exercise.
To ensure the best workout, always start with weight and muscle training and finish with cardio. Starting with cardio will wear your body down and prevent it from performing at it's best during weight exercises.
Here are a few excellent exercises to get you burning fat, toning muscle and sculpting your perfect beach body.
Abdominals
The abdominals are the foundation for all toning exercises and should be the first area you focus on during your workout. Great exercises to really tighten up the ads include:
Crunches
Lay flat on the floor, then, using your abdominal muscles, pull your upper and lower body up towards the centre. This is a lot like a regular sit up except it involves moving the legs as well as the upper body.
Exercise Ball Crunches
These are similar to regular crunches except you perform them on an exercise ball and keep your legs stationary. To perform this exercise place the centre of your back on top of the exercise ball and perform a crunch. These are more effective than regular crunches as it recruits all of your core muscles to stabilise your body.
Leg Raises
These are great for working the lower abdominals which can be a bit trickier to tone. To perform this exercise, lay flat on your back and raise your legs up to a 90 degree angle. Make sure that you keep your legs straight to maximise the workout.
Perform as many reps as you feel you can do and set a target to achieve a few extra reps each week.
Free Weights
As you are looking to tone muscle rather than build it, you’ll want to concentrate on high intensity weight training. Basically this means that using a light weight, and performing a high number of repetitions for each exercise. Ideally you’ll be looking to perform each exercise until your muscles will not allow any more. This is called going until failure.
Many women shy away from weight training out of fear that they will become too muscular. This belief is mostly unfounded as high intensity training refers to the effort expended rather than the weight used. Also, most women are not genetically capable of developing large, defined muscles.
Cardio
Now that you have completed your weight training you are ready to finish off your workout with some cardio. The main benefits of cardiovascular exercise include improved lung capacity and stamina as well as an increased metabolism which will keep your body burning fat quicker.
Whether you decide to use the treadmill, bike machine or any other form of exercise equipment, never go flat out straight away. Begin with 3-5 minutes at a slow pace and then build up speed gradually.
Interval training
Interval training involves short sudden burst of high intensity work. For example you jog at a sustainable speed for 5 minutes, and then you run at full speed for 30-45 seconds before returning to a sustainable jog. This method of training is ideal for losing weight and can be performed during all cardiovascular exercises.
How you arrange your workout is up to you and should fit well around your other commitments. Always allow plenty of time to rest and relax, as fitness is as much about recovery time as it is about exercise. Follow the advice in this guide and you’ll be flaunting your beach body in no time.