When the summer months roll around, a honed and toned figure is high on all of our wishlists – along with a fancy bikini and some snazzy flip-flops, of course!
But what’s the best way to ensure you’re looking smoking hot when the sun peeps out?
A plan of action. Which is where we come in. ‘Goals help us stay focused, goals give you clarity in your decision-making process and goals give you purpose and a real sense of accomplishment,’ says co-founder of London Fields Fitness Sapan Sehgal (lovelondonfitness.com). So it’s important to take five to think about what you want to achieve and how – to make sure you stay on track when those oh-so-tempting cupcakes are being handed around the office.
First steps
So where do you start? ‘It’s important to have a long-term goal, for example “I want to lose a stone by the end of the year”,’ says Sapan. ‘However, you should also combine this long-term goal with several short-term realistic goals that will help you achieve that long-term goal.’ This could be anything from aiming to lose six pounds to getting into that new dress for a work event or looking hot in your bikini in six weeks’ time.
‘Setting long-term goals for yourself can help you to stay focused on what you want from life. It can also help to counter our bias towards short-term thinking and short-term results. Achieving your short-term, realistic goals will keep you motivated, too,’ says Sapan.
How long will I need?
The length of your summer shape-up regime depends on where you are now and where you want to be by the time the sun pops out. ‘It totally depends on the kind of goal you have; if you have unrealistic goals, like you want to lose half your body weight in six weeks, this clearly won’t happen and leads to unhealthy practices. But if you want to lose a little bit of weight and tone up a bit then, yes, this can be achieved in six weeks,’ says Sapan. Being realistic about the time frame you have and what you want to achieve in that time frame is key to the success of your hot-bod plan. ‘When setting your goals, be honest with yourself about how achievable they are and give yourself a realistic timetable to achieve them,’ says Sapan.
What should I eat?
Hitting the gym is a great start, but you’ll make little to no ground on your bikini bod if you’re tucking into treats the moment you unlace your trainers. ‘It’s a no-brainer that diet and exercise are both crucial to your wellbeing and health,’ says Sapan. You can’t commit to one aspect, but not the other, and expect to see decent results. ‘Sticking to recommended guidelines – like getting regular doses of aerobic activity and resistance training, filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables, and eating lean protein – is the best way to optimise your health overall,’ says Sapan. ‘Abiding by this will ensure you reach your short-term goals, as well as your long-term goals,’ he adds.
Celeb shape-up
When the summer hits we’re often bombarded with images of celebs looking super-svelte on the beach. So how do they get in such smoking shape? We quizzed some of our fave celeb PTs to find out what they get their clients doing at the gym.
Bodyism’s James Duigan (bodyism.com), who has trained Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Lara Stone, Hugh Grant and Molly King, says variety is the spice of life: ‘The best way to get into ultimate shape is to do a variation of exercises. At Bodyism we offer yoga, swimming, Pilates and stretching, as well as the regular Bodyism PT sessions. So our clients never get bored and they have naturally toned and healthy bodies.’ Sounds like
a great combination to us – and easy enough to fit into our own busy routines, too.
Elia Siaperas (eliapersonaltrainer.com) is the studio manager at The Laboratory Spa and Health Club (labspa.co.uk) and has trained celebs including Jennifer Ellison and Natalie Cassidy. ‘The workouts I get my celeb clients to do to get their summer bodies are usually weight-training exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pull-ups and shoulder presses,’ says Elia. ‘But in between these big compound exercises we do interval training – on the rower, sprints outdoors or burpees! So we are burning fat along with sculpting the body with the weight training.’
Russell Bateman from the Skinny Bitch Collective (thesbcollective.com), who trains the likes of Daisy Lowe and Suki Waterhouse – and some of the hottest up-and-coming British supermodels – says: ‘It’s not about what they like to do, it’s about what they need to do. Priorities always dictate choices. So when I coach a model, actress or mother it is down to their particular goals and mindset. The main goals are always to
get leaner, stronger and fitter, so we train girls using a variety of movements – including battle crawling, Olympic movements and some sprints.’
And Russell is a big fan of the primal movement school of exercise. ‘It’s all about getting back to being human with our diet and our training protocols. Forget the cross trainer, it’s not a functioning human movement. Lunge, push, pull, squat crawl and have as much sex as possible.’ And it’s not all glamour. ‘SBC looks pretty, but our sessions are extremely animalistic and fire the central nervous system in so many ways. This has an amazing body and mind impact.’
What about those celeb diets?
They must have some amazing tricks up their sleeves, right? ‘My advice to slim down for the summer is to up your protein intake and lower your carbs and fats. Drink three litres of water a day, plenty of green tea and one black coffee before your workouts,’ says Elia. ‘All these little things will speed up the metabolism and help you lose the weight.’
Organic food and plenty of veg and protein are the secrets to success at Bodyism. ‘We recommend that our clients always live a clean and lean lifestyle to reduce the toxins in their diet, which are clinging on to the fat,’ says James. ‘We recommend that they eat mainly organic proteins, vegetables and healthy fats. By living clean and lean they will get slimmer, get more energy, sleep better and feel healthier.’
Russell advocates a diet that weans you off sugar. ‘Try to cut out the major intolerances for a few weeks – dairy, gluten, wheat – and minimise sugar. I like to tell my clients that the only sugar I want in their lives is a sugar daddy.’ And he’s tough on fruit and caffeine: ‘No fruit before a workout and no coffee after. Fruit before can blunt fat-loss potential and coffee after stimulates you after you’ve already trained! Not good!’ It’s all about nutritious whole foods and organic produce. ‘Berries are allowed along with a high protein, fibrous carb and healthy fat variety,’ says Russell. ‘Think salmon or meat varieties from organic produce along with cruciferous veg like broccoli and some nuts. Raw cold-pressed juices are so good, too – the greener the better with minimal fruit juice.’
But what’s the secret?
Celebs always look so good though. There must be some sort of super-secret workout or fat-burning food that we’re missing, right? Well, not really.
‘My secret tip is simply to fill up on protein. Protein will keep you fuller for longer,’ says Elia. Eggs for brekkie, chicken salad for lunch and baked salmon for dinner should do the trick then… easy peasy!
James is a big fan of getting your ZZZs. ‘Sleep more! By sleeping more and stressing less your tummy will get flatter,’ says James. ‘Bodyism’s Serenity shake will help you to sleep better and it also helps to lower your cortisol levels.’ Like we needed an excuse to hit that snooze button…
And Russell’s top celeb secret? ‘That would be telling,’ he says. ‘But if you train, sleep, love your body and remember to let your body repair, you’re on the right track. Diet and training should be choreographed to perfection, so much so that they’d win a ballroom-dancing competition. If one element is out of sync the dance is going to look awful.’
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