Beach Bodies: Shape Up Like A Star This Season

The summer is nearly here, and you’re very quickly realizing its time to get in shape now, or spend another summer hiding your body under a t-shirt and avoiding places where people who are ‘in shape’ tend to flock. Stop hanging on the sidelines and get into the game. Getting into shape isn’t rocket science, and it’s probably not even as hard as you believe it to be. Here are the 4 steps you need to follow in order to get in shape for the summer months.

First off, you need to hit the weights. Just a full-body workout, 3 to 4 times a week, will be adequate to get some muscle growth occurring in your chest, back, arms, shoulders, and legs. You can give each muscle group its own day as you get more advanced, however you will make fine results just hitting the gym and enjoying the full-body rotation of the Hammer Strength machines. Spend about an hour a day in the gym, moving from machine to machine. Learn to slowly move through each repetition, feeling the flex and contraction in each muscle group. Your body will get harder and firmer, and the new muscle you add will burn up a lot of fat. That’s right – using the weights alone will bump up your metabolism!

Next, you will need to address diet. You’ll need fuel for your body, and that comes from carbohydrates like pasta, rice, and beans. Protein is used for building muscle & recovery from tough weight workouts, and can be found in foods like beef, chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy. Finally, you will want to lessen the amounts of fats and sugar that you ingest. Nobody says you have to cut them completely, but killing the soda and pastries alone will shave 5 pounds of fat from your midsection.

Now that you’re hitting the weights and eating right, it’s time to add some cardio to your routine. Begin with a 30 minute walk around the block a few times per week, then bump up to some actual machine training – elliptical, treadmill, or stair stepper – for 3 to 5 sessions of 30 to 45 minutes. You’ll see this will help your newly built muscle to show much better.

You’ll be bigger and stronger from the weights, you’ll feel better and train harder from the right diet, and your lung capacity and fat levels will be better from the cardio. Now you can add the 4th optional factor, supplementation. Check out the fat burning supplements sold at your local grocery store or find better prices by purchasing them online. A daily multi-vitamin will keep you healthy, and using vitamins C & E each day will keep you healthy. Good luck on your transformation for the summer!