Irreverent Fitness: The Thinking Person's Bathing Suit Bible

Beautiful Readers,

So I just returned from this summer's first real visit to the beach...no kids...no older relatives...just me, the boyfriend, and no reason to wear a more demure bathing suit. I'll be honest, I try to keep most of my blogs sassy enough to be a little interesting, but adequately P.C. on the whole to keep me out of trouble. And I am quite careful not to write anything that makes Beautiful Fitness sound like a lot of other naughty fitness operations, as in the kind that make people feel critical about their bodies (hell, they are just bodies after all-it's not like a flabby stomach affects the quality of your soul or anything), but sometimes I think our readers might like a tiny dose of that good old fashioned, "What do I do about wearing a bathing suit so that all of me is not coming out of it?" advice from an expert. So here goes.

Issue? Stomach, butt, and thighs, right? Ever since they invented the elasticized bathing costume, these body parts have concerned men and women wherever there is sand.

Let's start with abs. There have been tomes written (mostly a waste of pixels and paper) about abs and ab exercises. Abdominal muscles come in two types that matter to people who are trying to make theirs look firmer. Don't worry about all the other kind of abdominal muscles unless you are a medical student, or a personal trainer.

There are the Rectus Abdominus, and the Obliques (yeah yeah there are internal andexternal obliques but don't worry about 'em, you do the same stuff to make them behave). Rectus abdominus-make your stomach look flatter, Obliques-make your waist look smaller. Rectus abdominus are in the front of your stomach, and Obliques are on the sides. Nuff said.

Two exercises:

Crunches: I like mine best on a big fitness ball which I find is more fun, more comfortable, and ultimately, once you figure out what's going on in there, can give you better control of the resistance you are using to work your abs. Don't have a ball? or just don't like them? No problem. Do them on the floor.

Lie on your back (or with your back pressed into a fitness ball balancing yourself with your feet on the floor) with your hands behind your head and your elbows out to either side. Looking at the ceiling, raise your head, neck, and shoulders slightly off the floor (or ball) continuing to look at the ceiling. Focus on engaging your stomach muscles to help press your torso up instead of using your neck and shoulders to pull you into position, also, attempt to keep your engaged abs pressed down towards your back instead of allowing them to stick out into the air (as they will want to do). Lower to floor or ball. Repeat a whole lot of times. Seriously. More reps equals more firm ab muscles. Feel free to quit at 80. If you are new at this, don't worry about doing 80 or even leaving the floor, raise your neck and head up to the ceiling slightly and just focus on engaging your abs very tightly on each raise. Try not to lift your shoulders while you do this exercise, it doesn't help, and it could give you very stiff shoulders or potentially a pinched nerve.

Now for Obliques, then we're done with abs.

Bicycles: Remember these guys from gym class?!? They'll work your obliques in a very direct way, and really, they're kind of fun once you get the hang of them. Lie on your back with your hands placed behind your head, this time you'll be using your elbows, so don't worry about where they are positioned for now. Then bring your right knee in towards your chest while keeping your left leg extended and bringing it off the ground about a foot (or two, if you prefer), with your legs in the position I just described, rotate your torso to the right and bring your left elbow towards the bent knee (or touch it with your elbow if you can), then switch to perform the exercise the same way (right elbow to bent left knee with right leg extended about a foot of the ground). As with crunches, really focus on making sure you are doing this exercise with the right body part, namely your Obliques, instead of using your neck and shoulders. I also recommend actively engaging your obliques on each side as you use them (presuming you know where your's are--don't worry in time you will if you do this exercise)

Now for hips, thighs, and your butt. Let's cut to the chase. These muscle groups all cohabit in basically the same part of your body, and therefore, they find it best to work together too. That's good news for anyone who need to wear a bathing suit soon. The best exercise ever that puts all of these fine fellows to work, is squats. Two kinds.

Squats: With or without holding a weight in your hands (call Beautiful Fitness if you want to talk about where to put a weight 212-380-1277), separate your feel approximately three feet apart and bend your knees while keeping your abs engaged. Keep your position like that of a skier by making sure that your weight is far back (so much so that you could lift your toes up) and your knees are always behind your toes. Raise to standing and squeeze your butt. Do endless reps without hurting yourself.

Plies: Ballet term. Comes from the french word Plier meaning to bend. It's a squat. With your knees out to the side. And your toes pointed away from each other. Same as Squats. Stay upright on both the up and down motion, and consciously engage your inner thighs to come up and your outer thighs to go down. Again, do tons.

And there you are. That's all you'll need to look pretty good in your Anne Cole black one-piece suit, your Missoni reversible triangle bikini (which, by the way, includes a warning that you can not, in fact, swim in it- tee hee!) or your favorite Speedo racing tank. And whatever your body may be doing these days--have fun on the beach!

Fondly,

Alix Florio President Beautiful Fitness

www.beautifulfitness.com