better living | fitness

Fit for summer

A QUICK-START EXERCISE GUIDE

BY KELLY BOWSER

Swimsuit season is coming quickly and it’s never too early to start training your body.

“You gotta get started at least a minimum of 12 weeks out,” says JoJo Livolsi, master trainer at The Claremont Club. “The best bet would be to just start out now. More is better. Even with three months, you have to be very strict.”

Strict is 30 to 45 minutes of cardio with your heart rate in the target range (subtract your age from 220 and multiply by 70 percent and 80 percent to calculate your upper range) four to five days a week, plus an hour of weight training three days per week.

And if that exercise regimen isn’t strict enough, you’ve got to watch what goes in your mouth.

“Diet is everything,” says Livolsi, who has a master’s degree in kinesiology in addition to her personal training certification. Each part of the equation is important when you’re looking to shed inches and tone up.

Weight training helps create the shape and builds lean muscle, which allows the body to burn more calories at rest. Cardio helps you burn calories and lose the fat that hides the shape. A healthy diet magnifies the effects of the other two.

The top requests that trainers get as people prepare their bodies to hit the beach are to flatten the tummy, firm up the butt and tone the back of the arms.

You don’t need a gym membership and loads of equipment to do that. Good old-fashioned sit-ups, squats and push-ups will work all those areas, Livolsi said. “You can do a lot of exercises with just four- or five-pound hand weights.”

EXERCISES TO LOOK BETTER AT THE BEACH

To tone up and shape your entire body, master trainer JoJo Livolsi suggests hitting each part of the body (arms, back, tummy and legs) with three sets of three exercises each. Ten to 12 repetitions of each exercise make up one set.

She suggests working the abdominal and back muscles first because they help support the rest of the body. Before starting any exercise program, get your doctor’s OK.

Back and stomach
Livolsi suggests doing abdominal exercises like crunches on a fitness ball or other surface that lets your stomach muscles stretch out between the contractions.

• For the “six-pack” abdominal muscles, try crunches with a fitness ball. Your shoulder blades should be off the back of the ball. To make it more difficult, keep your legs closer together or hold onto a medicine ball.

• For the side (oblique) muscles, Livolsi has clients balance on their butt with the thighs forming a “V” with the trunk. Hold onto a 2- to 4-pound weight and twist from side to side while trying to keep the feet from touching the floor.

• To get the lower back, lay on the floor, holding your chest up by resting on your elbows, then lift up one leg at a time. This will use the muscles in your lower back, butt and the back of your legs. To make it harder, lift both legs at the same time. Or, lay with your stomach on a fitness ball and lift the right arm and left leg at the same time while holding your balance.

Shoulders and back
• “Teacup raises” add nice shape to your shoulders. Sit with arms straight at your sides while holding dumbbells. Lift one arm at a time until it is parallel to the floor.

• Try one-arm rowing for your back muscles. Find a bench, keep one foot on the floor and kneel with the opposite leg on the bench. You’ll grab the weight in the hand that’s on the opposite side of the kneeling leg. Let the arm with the weight go straight, then use your back muscles to bend your arm at the elbow and pull up the weight.

Arms
Bicep curls and hammer curls give you that peak on the top of your upper arm.

• For bicep curls, rotate the arms out about 45 degrees from the center of the body and lift the weight by bending at the elbow. Always exhale on the way up.

• For hammer curls, start by standing with a soft bend in the knee and arms at your sides. Lift the weights up and down — one at a time - as though you’re hammering a nail.

• Tone up that flab on the back of your arms with tricep kickbacks. Get in the same position used for one-arm rowing, but keep your elbow close to your waist and bend and straighten your arm.

Chest
• Try doing “bench presses.” Lay on your back, grab a barbell or other weight with your hands about shoulder width apart. Inhale as you bring the weight to about an inch above your chest, then exhale as you push it away.

Legs
• The “deadlift” hits the back of your legs and butt muscles. While standing, hinge forward at the hips. Hold onto the weights with your hands and stand up straight by using the back of your legs and butt to pull up your torso.

• Lunges - with or without weights - also work your legs. For the top of the thighs, put one foot on top of a box or step and bend both knees until the back knee almost touches the ground. Keep your stomach muscles tight as you do the exercise.

Your whole body
• Squats are the best exercise to work the most parts of your body, Livolsi says. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, bend at your knees until the thighs are parallel to the floor. Exhale from your abdominals as you return to standing. This one tones the butt, abdominals and the back and front of your thighs.

- PHOTOS BY THOMAS R. CORDOVA