I have been eagerly anticipating summer ever since winter began but with a pandemic on our necks and online schooling being a pain, all to itself getting my summer body ready has fallen through the cracks but better late than never right? Whether you’re looking to get ripped for summer or just looking to get started on a fitness journey, these 10 tips will be helpful to you.
Better to be a work-in-progress than to never have started at all
Ms .Tjiurutue
1. Set a Goal
Know your why. Without a goal, how would you know what to work for and whether you’ve succeeded or not? Your goal has to be true to your values and not influenced by external factors. Set “SMART” goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely
2. Mix it up
Keep things exciting by varying the types of exercises you do. Our bodies tend to get used to the same exercises repeated routinely. Varying exercises help reduce the risk of injuries often caused by too much repetition of the same movements. It also maximizes results as all your different muscles are fired up.
There’s a vast variety to pick from! For example, high-intensity workouts, weight lifting, cardio, yoga, different styles of dance, bike riding and many more.
3. Stay hydrated
You are going to be losing a lot of water in your body through sweating from your workouts. Drink tons of water to keep you from becoming dehydrated. Now that it’s about to get warmer, you’ll want to keep safe from heat-related injuries.
4. Workout at home
Yes, working out at home is effective but only if you’re prepared to put in a little effort and time into your at-home workouts. Get tips and advice from fitness personalities you might know or you could simply just consult social media platforms such as blogs & Instagram and even YouTube.
Have you checked out Maria Nepembe’s beginner-friendly flat tummy ab workout? The best part is that no equipment is needed! Here’s a couple of ways to exercise at home:
- using chairs or steps for triceps dips
- a wall sit to tone your legs and core
- wall push-ups to tone arms and shoulders
- if you have young children around you could give them a piggyback ride and use them as weights while doing squats.
5. Go hard or go… you know the line
Your comfort-zone won’t get you results, let alone fast results. Go hard with your exercise regime or go home! Or rather, go sit on the couch since you’re most probably already home.
Go harder, not longer. Forget steady types of exercises that you carry out for longer. To get ripped fast you need intense workouts that leave you totally spent ideally within an hour.
6. Recovery and Stretching are important too
We stretch and warm-up before exercise to rev up our cardiovascular system by raising our body temperature and increasing blood flow to our muscles. Warming up may also reduce muscle soreness and lessen our risk of injury during our workouts.
Recovery and resting allow the body time to repair and strengthen itself in between workouts. If you keep going hem on your muscles and not allowing them to repair, you’re essentially not going to get your desired results soon enough, if not at all, so take a day off.
7. Foods to avoid
Some foods aren’t good for you and will only hinder you from achieving your summer body sooner. Avoid refined and processed foods, i.e. white bread, pasta, cereals and sugar. They lack nutritional value and can actually act as anti-nutrients, which means they leach other vital nutrients. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and sugary drinks too. You do not need to cut them out completely but just reduce your intake significantly if you are serious about your body goals.
Maximize your intake of plant-based foods, whole grains, nuts and seeds and protein to help your muscles recover. Check out this easy balanced diet shopping guide.
8. Get a fitness trainer or workout buddy
For most of us having an accountability partner makes it easier for us to work out. It is harder to be consistent when there is no one cheering you on and helping you stay motivated to exercise.
9. Update your playlist
Nothing beats a good workout than a playlist of all your favourite upbeat tracks that get you moving and motivated to kick butt!
10. All Bodies and Summer Bodies
Let’s not get it twisted, all bodies are summer bodies. The media is saturated with countless information promoting ideas of what healthy looks like and what a summer body should look like etcetera, but I urge you not to buy into any of it.
Rather focus on you. What should matter is how you feel about your body. Work out to improve on your body, not to “fix” it. When love is at the core of why you move your body, working out and watching your body transform will become a more rewarding and fulfilling experience.
Our bodies are magnificent vehicles that enable us to do so many special things on this earth and hence we should aspire to take care of it always.
Happy transformational journey!
Take care ❤
Follow me on Instagram @ms.tjiurutue
Yebo yes😭🥰🥰lets get that summer bodyyyyyy🙏🏾😭
yassss! 🙂