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Helpful Hints For Bathing Suit Season

By Lance Owens

Simple Hints for Bathing Suit Season

Ok summer is almost here. How do you look in your bathing suit?

If you’re answer is, not so good. Then let me give you some simple tips.

First and most important is, what you put into your body is what you can expect to get out of it. If you put fatty ugly food in you will get fatty ugly results.

Sorry to be so blunt but lets face it. If you won’t eat better, then all the exercise in the world is going to be a waste of time and energy. Ok so let’s say you are ready and willing to do what it takes to change the shape of your body, what do you do first to look great in your bathing suit?

I am going to give you the best advice a fitness professional can give.

First, make a plan. Your plan should consist of, what you want to accomplish, when you want to accomplish it, how you will feel when you reach your goal and how you will reward yourself for achieving your goal.

Write these things down. You may not want to take the time to write it down but please believe that this step is very powerful. When you write it down, post it on your bathroom mirror and read it every day. It creates an affirmation and gives you a powerful daily self accountability.

Next get a support system. This step is often overlooked because our human tendency is to just do it alone. Get your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, child, friend, neighbor, co worker or anyone that you trust to be supportive. Most people will love seeing you succeed but don’t be discouraged by the naysayer’s.

There will be people who will be less than supportive simply because your commitment to becoming fit may make them feel guilty that they do not yet have the desire to commit to a new fit lifestyle. Remember, it’s your body that will be wearing that bathing suit. Stay committed.

And in case you don’t already know it, you will have a new lifestyle. But that should be ok for you because you already know that making changes in your lifestyle is necessary. Otherwise you’d just keep doing what you’ve been doing. And you’d keep getting the same results you’ve been getting. A great quote from a historian: “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”.

So find someone who you can talk to and who can share in your accomplishments with excitement and will be supportive and comforting when you have set backs. And you will have set backs. But when you do, get right back into the groove and keep on rockin it! Your new bathing suit body is only a few steps away.

You can make simple little changes and get huge results. It just takes time and consistency. Remember, it took some time to get to where you are and it will take time to back to where you want to be.

Life is a journey. Enjoy it. Make smart choices. The more smart choices you make the more natural and automatic that habit will become.

Try on last years bathing suit. How does it look? How do feel in it? You can even take a self photo in the mirror wearing that bathing suit. Hide the photo away if you want but refer back to it now and then for some inspiration.

Next go shopping. Below is a small list of good food choices. Use the money you were saving for the drive thru. Pack your lunch the night before. Do not skip meals. Eat three sensible meals consisting of protein (lean meat), fibrous carbs (green veggies) and complex carbs (wheat grains). Also eat two snacks one between breakfast and lunch and another between lunch and dinner. Snacks should be low in saturated fat and sugars. Fresh fruit for early snack and nuts or cottage cheese for afternoon snack.

Next order of business is the exercise program. I must admit this is my favorite part.

For starters, always do your strength training before your cardio if you are going to do them back to back. The other option is to do your cardio workouts on opposite days.

For instance you could do strength or resistance training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and do cardio on Tuesday and Thursday. Or another option if you like to do more cardiovascular training for maximum weight loss is to do two days of strength training and three days of cardio. In either case it is recommended that you exercise five days per week and that you perform some type of moderate exercise for 30 minutes every day.

Those 30 minute bouts of daily exercise can be walking, biking, jogging, swimming or anything that will give you an increase in your heart rate. This additional exercise is crucial to your overall health as well as giving you a short cut to your new bathing suit body.

For beginners and for those looking to lose weight and tone up, I recommend doing a total body workout (sometimes referred to as circuit training).

When doing a circuit training program always begin by working your larger muscles before working the opposing smaller muscle groups. Here is an example of a total body circuit: Lets name it your “Bathing Suit Body Blast”

Free Squats, Stiff Legged Dead lift, Calf Raise, Bent Over Row, Biceps Curls, Chest Press, Triceps Kickback, Standard Ab Crunch. These can be performed with dumbbells, bands or even soup cans. These exercises can be found in nearly every fitness magazine or you can contact me for specific instructions. I am happy to answer your questions.

In between each exercise do 30 to 60 seconds of light cardio (walking or jogging in place, toe hopping with one leg or two, jump rope etc.). Do approximately 15 repetitions of each exercise before moving into cardio and then onto the next exercise. Start out with two cycles or circuits. When you are ready to step it up, add a third cycle to the routine.

Let’s talk about “target heart rate”. Over the last few years there has been a lot of talk about this magic fat burning zone. And now I want to dispel the myth. I also fell into the mass marketing trap and lost sight of the simple equation. The truth is that the more cardio you do the more calories you will burn. The more calories you burn the more fat calories will be included. The key is to not do so much that you over train and stress the body to a point of excessive cortisol production.

Cortisol is a stress hormone released whenever you are under stress physically or emotionally. Cortisol is catabolic. Catabolic means the destruction of muscle fiber. Remember, muscle is your metabolism.

Here is the simple equation, you can do cardio at a moderate pace for a longer period of time or you can shorten your time spent by doing a more intense session. Either way, listen to your body and do at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to intense cardio two to five days per week depending on your goals.

If fat loss is your goal opt for more days of cardio. If toning is your goal do more circuit training as outlined earlier. If increased muscle size or strength is your goal, hit the weights a little harder.

Signs of over training may include, restless sleeping patterns, lethargy, and lack of focus and in some extreme cases may cause flu like systems. I this occurs, take some time off. It may take 2 days or more to recover from over training. But do not get discouraged. Taking a couple days off to recuperate is part of the process. And no it is not like starting over.

Recap:

Remember the three most important factors are consistency, consistency and consistency.

Never give up! You will never fail if you never give up. Consequently, you will never succeed until you stop trying and start doing!

So get to it! Start doing! Don’t be discouraged by set backs! Be consistent! Get the bathing suit body you’ve always wanted! It will be yours with just a few simple steps!

Look good and feel good in your swim suit and enjoy a happier healthier life!

Almost forgot one of the most important ingredients! DRINK MORE WATER! Your body expels 60 to 80 ounces of water every day by natural means. SO if you do not replenish your hydration you will dehydrate and that can cause a myriad of problems. So drink more water throughout the day.

About the Author:

Lance Owens is a certified trainer and owner of Club South health and Fitness in Boardman Ohio. Find his website at www.boardmanfitness.com.