With your wedding day right around the corner, or even a handful of calendar months away, at the very top of your to-do list is probably the goal of getting in shape.
It's your wedding day, so the desire to look and feel your best will trump any other goal you have in the wedding planning phase.
Let your wedding planner focus on making your reception look like it's straight out of a bridal magazine, and let your florist put together flower arrangements that'll be remembered on Instagram forever.
In the meantime, you may want to up your "sweating for the wedding" game by taking advice from these four personal trainers:
1. Get Toned and Defined
“Brides usually want to develop more muscle tone or definition. Exercises targeting the arms, shoulder, legs, buttocks and stomach may be beneficial,” says Steven McDaniels, director of fitness and athletics at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida.
To tone yourself, try these exercises out: squat to dumbbell curl, plank row with dumbbells, good mornings with a barbell, dumbbell hip thrusts and dumbbell calf raises.
You should also do some ab exercises like: back raises, superman and side bends with dumbbells.
2. Emphasize Your Shape
Jake Pacheco, founder of ModernBody says, “Give yourself time, and focus on emphasizing your shape. To do this, use lighter weight for certain areas and go heavier on areas you want to accentuate."
Strength Training Day 1: For your lower body, do four sets of eight to 10 squats, three sets of 12 to 15 donkey kicks and three sets of 12 to 15 lunges.
Strength Training Day 2: For your upper body, do three sets of 12 to 15 cable tricep extensions, three sets of 12 to 15 dumbbell bicep curls, four sets of eight to 10 shoulder side lateral raises and chest press for three sets of 12 to 15.
Strength Training Day 3: As your cardio (and for your abs), do three sets of 15 to 20 reverse crunches, three sets of 15 to 20 Russian twists, three sets of planks (hold for a minute) and then a 45-minute cardio circuit (15 minutes of cardio on three different machines).
3. Pick a Full-Body Approach
Angelo Grinceri, celebrity trainer, recommends,
A daily blend of dynamic stretching and full body strength training (with and without resistance) completed in a circuit or tabata. When these full body modalities are performed correctly and continuously with limited rest, the user will notice an improvement in posture, core definition, coordination, muscle tone and body fat composition.
Repeat a strength training circuit three to five times, do 16 alternating arm planks and do 15 rear step with one arm rows (performed on a shoulder pulley).
Then, do 15 one arm chest press forward steps (performed on shoulder height resistance pulley), 30 split leg deadlifts holding a kettlebell, standing leg raises (15 reps pointed toe, 15 reps flexed feet) and 15 hanging leg tucks.
Complete the workout with a six to 10 minute cool down walk, stretch for another five to 10 minutes and take deep breaths to get your body back down to relaxation mode.
4. Accept The Big Bang Approach
Wedding prep is all about looking great in your dress. This workout consists of full body "big bang" exercises to keep your heart rate up and burn tons of calories while focusing on the areas you'll be showing off: arms, shoulders, back.
Very little equipment is needed and the workout can be done in under an hour. Like any workout, you want to avoid overdoing it in the beginning though.
Dustin Houge, Interval Studio Instructor at Studio Three, said, "The following movements can easily be progressed as you as you see gains by incorporating more resistance and increasing your reps."
To start you'll need a set of dumbbells and a resistance band.
Warm up with five to 10 minutes of aerobic exercises like jogging on a treadmill, knocking out a few flights on the StairMaster or rowing. The goal is to raise your heart rate and warm up your body to prepare for movement.
Begin your workout with 30-second plank variations (forearm plank or high plank with alternating limb lifts), 12 dumbbell goblet squats and 12 push ups (modify by dropping to your knees).
Then try 12 chop variations (on each side) using a dumbbell or resistance band, and 12 alternating renegade rows.
Complete this circuit three times and allow 30-60 seconds between exercises and two to three minutes between sets.
You'll have the wedding body your guests will all be jealous of in no time.
