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Health/Fitness Blog – Spring Break Edition: Lift your way into a bikini body with these easy exercises

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois chapter.

So we only have about eight weeks left until spring break. If you haven’t marked your calendars with a countdown, now is the time!  If there is going to be any sort of spring break dieting or workout plan, your best bet would be to start sooner rather than later because spring break is going to sneak up on us faster than we expect! There are so many things to focus on when thinking about getting bikini ready.
 

  1. What to do at the gym.
  2. What to eat
  3. How to cut out unhealthy habits.
  4. What to wear.

 


 
Starting a schedule of going to the gym once a day will make your life so much easier. Don’t think about it as “if I should go to the gym” but “when should I go to the gym.” When you’re at the gym make a trip down to the weight room; that’s where you’ll burn the calories. Cardio everyday isn’t going to challenge your body the way weights will. If losing inches is your goal, then the weight room is where this will happen.
 
This week let’s focus on butts. When we’re on the beach with bikinis on, the behind is a main attraction.
 
 

– Do one set of 15 leg presses at a weight that doesn’t hurt, but is slightly challenging
– Do one set of 12 leg presses at a weight more difficult than the last
– Do 5 sets of 10 leg presses at a weight that is difficult enough for you to be out of breath on your last set.
 
Good job girl. After stretching out, head over to the calf raises machine or find something elevated like some stairs that you can do calf raises on.
 
– Do one warm-up set of 15 leg presses at a weight that doesn’t hurt, but is slightly challenging
– Do one set of 12 leg presses adding weight so that it is more difficult that the last
– Do 5 sets of 10 leg presses at a weight that is difficult enough for you to be out of breath on your last set
 
For the next few weeks focus on eating…but make sure that you do actually eat! That’s the biggest problem; girls think that the best way to lose weight is to not eat, when in reality it is the worst way. Doing a hard work out takes a lot out of you; as a result you should be regaining strength with a big meal everyday.
 
If you have questions about eating or lifting weights at the gym, ask!
 
ARC regular and my trainer, Ian Estabrook says the same thing after every workout: “Eat, Eat, Eat! Eat so much.”
 
Just make sure what you’re putting in your body is what your body wants and needs. After you eat two slices of pizza do you feel bloated and sick? That means your body doesn’t want to eat that, listen to what it’s telling you.
 
Don’t give up, and see you at the gym! 

Emily Cleary is a 22-year-old news-editorial journalism major hoping to work in the fashion industry, whether that be in editorial, marketing, PR or event planning is TBD. With internships at Teen Vogue and StyleChicago.com, it's clear that she is a fashion fanatic. When she's not studying (she's the former VP of her sorority, Delta Delta Delta), writing for various publications or attending meetings for clubs like Business Careers in Entertainment Club, Society of Professional Journalists, The Business of Fashion Club, or for her role as the Assistant Editor of the Arts & Entertainment section of her school's magazine, she's doing something else; you will never find her sitting still. She loves: running (you know those crazy cross-country runners...), attending concerts and music festivals, shopping (of course), hanging out with friends, visiting her family at home, traveling (she studied abroad in London when she was able to travel all over Europe), taking pictures, tweeting, reading stacks and stacks of magazines and newspapers while drinking a Starbuck's caramel light frappacino, blogs and the occasional blogging, eating anything chocolate and conjuring up her next big project. Living just 20 minutes outside of Chicago, she's excited to live there after graduation, but would love to spend some time in New York, LA, London or Paris (she speaks French)!