Crunch Time

If you’re a bride busy with wedding prep, it’s easy to forget to prioritize yourself, and before you know it, it’s only a month to go and you still have a few pounds to lose or areas you need to tone up to look your most stunning self.

Don’t worry — we have the 30-day guide to define and accomplish your fitness goals so you’ll rock that dress on your big day.

Before you get started, here are six golden rules to getting fit:

• Find a friend, maybe someone in your wedding party, who can work out with you. Not only will you have more fun but you are less likely to miss a workout when you are accountable to someone.

• Make a playlist. Numerous studies have shown you can work out up to 40 percent harder when listening to your favorite tracks.

• Drink water, all day. Not just to rehydrate, which is good, but also because many times when we feel hungry we are actually thirsty.

• Make a date. Treat the workout like any other non-negotiable appointment. Find a time in your calendar and stick to it.

• Consult with an expert. Especially if you are trying something new, make sure you are using the correct form and weight. The last thing you need is an injury.

• Relax. No one is perfect — it’s OK if you skipped a session. Put it behind you and make sure you are early for the next one.

• Now on to the good part — what exactly should you be doing?

Gunnar Peterson, the Beverly Hills — based celebrity trainer who got Kim Kardashian ready for her wedding to Kanye West, says, “You’ve got to keep shaking things up. One of the biggest mistakes I see women making is doing the same moves. You’re going to stop getting results.”

Gunnar recommends using multi-muscle exercises that can work several muscle groups at the same time, like squatting while doing bicep curls instead of staying stationary. Your upper and lower body muscle groups will both be working at the same time. This also keeps your heart rate higher, allowing you to burn more calories in a shorter amount of time.

Alternate strength exercises with cardio; this maintains the heart rate but also allows you to keep exercising without taking a break, increasing the overall intensity of the workout.

There are dozens of cardio exercises that you can build into routines such as: jump rope, burpees, high knees, butt kicks, jump lunges, jump squats, frog jumps, jumping jacks and star jumps.

Some great strength exercises with appropriate weights include: deadlifts, squats, bicep and tricep curls, planks, side planks, ball slams, army crawls and crab walks.

Do each exercise for one minute and switch. Create a circuit with four exercises, repeat twice and move on to a new set.

There are numerous free circuit-based workouts like this available online, on Instagram and Pinterest. Alternatively, look for a group training class that offers this kind of combination workout. If you can train like this for 45-60 minutes, three times a week and maintain a (relatively) healthy diet, there’s no doubt you will find the results you have been searching for.

 

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