It’s not just hype: seasonal weight gain exists, and it’s a problem for many. During the spring, you’re prepping for tank top and bikini season. During the summer, you’re staying active by wake boarding, jet skiing and swimming. By fall, you may be overindulging in your favorite holiday dishes—which, for many, leaves the onset of weight gain by winter. Here’s how to vamp up your summer workout style, so you can avoid winter weight.
It’s Like Climbing a Mountain
While you’re great at getting to the gym several times a week, and evening dispersing a mix of strength training, endurance challenging and cardio pumping exercise into your workout routine, you aren’t totally going out of your comfort zone. Because you aren’t, you are unable to reach your fitness and weight loss goals as quickly as you’d like. Here’s where the dreaded plateau comes into effect.
Continuing to reach your health goals is like climbing a mountain—one step at a time. But, if you’re moving in place (going through the exact same exercise each week), you’re not actually reaching your goals. Instead, you’re merely standing in place.
Add a New Cardio Class to Your Weekly Workout Mix
Add a new cardio class to your mix, and burn more fat, tone your body and condition it to feel its best (while looking amazing.) If it’s hard to stay put on that treadmill for 30-45 minutes, or you struggle to make it through your weight lifting session, take an hour long class that will force you to stay put and work your way through your comfort zone—landing on the other side! Zumba, spin, body pump, barre, and cardio boot camp classes are some of the many easy ways to work your body out and rev your metabolism. Have fun and give your body the boost it needs to feel amazing!
Focus on HIIT
HIIT, otherwise known as High Intensity Interval Training, is all about blasting fat off of your arms, thighs, back, hips and abdomen. Move quickly from one exercise to the next, and you’ll boost your metabolism, maximize your workout (in less time than a traditional workout) and become a calorie burning machine. A few times a week, head to the weight room and do perform the following:
- 12 reps of a lower body blast. Raise one leg at a time as high as you can, hopping with the other foot, then dipping down in a skier’s pose, and repeating. Consider this a complete lower body workout to give you a better butt, killer abs and toned thighs!
- 10 reps of the Crunch/Dip. Get in a dip pose, on the ground, with your palms face down behind you, butt off of the floor and your knees bent. Bend your elbows (and continue bending until you’ve just about reached the floor) and then lift up. Hint: This is a great exercise to work out your shoulders, glutes and core.
- Firm the booty. This exercise is great to do anytime of the day or night (if you have a private office at work, do this one several times a day to lift and tighten that tush!) Lie down on your back, with your knees bent. Make sure your arms are positioned on the side of you, with your palms facing down. Lift one leg straight up, and squeezing your glutes, raise your hips up as far as you can. Lift yourself back down, and repeat with the other leg.
Getting your body in great shape this summer has never been easier. In fact, when you add these above mentioned exercises to your weekly workout routine, you’ll be one step ahead everyone else for the winter!
