Summer is here, and it’s time to get beach ready! As you might have realized by now, I am a total fitness nut. And one of my new obsessions is a fabulous women’s only studio in Flatiron called Uplift. I am especially hooked on Andi Schpok’s HIIT classes! Andi was gracious enough to take time out of her busy schedule to sit down and show me a few moves and great tips to look hot this season! The following tips were written by our new friend Andi to help us look super sexy in that bikini this summer:
To get in summer-ready shape quickly, you’ll want moves that are multi-taskers. These 5 moves involve large muscle groups or multiple muscle group focus to burn calories efficiently while sculpting & strengthening. Form is first priority. As long as you can maintain good form for all reps, try to use the heaviest weight that works for you. If you need to go lighter or heavier than the weight range recommended, do what is best to give your body the best challenge.
1) Medicine ball burpee with overhead press and medicine ball push-up (alternative with weights).
A) Start with 6-9lb medicine ball in hands and raise it over head as you come up to your toes (low impact) or hop into to the air landing softly with knees slightly bent (high impact). B) Place the ball on the ground and walk your feet back into a plank. With arms, creating a diamond shape, hands on the ball, take a “half push-up” lowering your chest down toward the ball but not as low as you would for a regular pushup. Return to a high plank, arms extended with hands on the ball and walk your feet back in to take a squat. Repeat either hopping with medicine ball raised over head or coming up to your toes raising ball overhead. Complete 10 reps as fast as you can while maintaining good form. If you don’t have a medicine ball, use two 3-5lb weights. Have the palms (holding weights) face each other when the weights are overhead.
2) Lunge pulls alternating legs 30 seconds per side .
Stand with right foot on a step or stair, leaning forward and keep your right knee bent and stacked over the right ankle, arms extended straight in front of you with light weights (2-3lbs) palms facing in. A) Extend your left leg back, tapping the left toe behind you as your arms extend forward. B) Keeping your right knee bent and right thigh low, pull the left knee in toward your torso as you pull the arms and back, bringing your elbows behind you and hands outside of your chest. Repeat on same side for 30 seconds, focusing on keeping your front knee bent and stacked over your front ankle, and your weight heavy in the front heel. Switch sides and repeat for 30 seconds. For beginners, or when no step or stair is available, you can complete this exercise with front foot on the floor instead of elevated.
3) Alternating plank-to-superwoman lifts with lat pull.
A) Start in a forearm plank with elbows bent, trying to maintain a straight back, belly lifted, and hips level with the back and shoulders. Keep your gaze slightly in front of you on the ground to keep the neck in line with the spine. Hold for 30 seconds, then B) lower onto belly and extend the arms and legs, lifting off the ground as you keep your gaze on the ground slightly in front of you. C) Keep lifting, but bend the elbows and pull them in toward your waist. Extend arms back straight and repeat 10x.
4) Squat Jump Rows
A) Start with a set of medium to heavy weights on the ground in front of you. Slowly, lower down to a squat while keeping your chest higher than your hips and your back flat, lowering until you can reach the weights in either hand. Without rounding your back, begin to push into your heels as you straighten your legs, coming to a standing position while leaning forward with flat back, arms straight, weights hanging down, and chest slightly higher than your hips. B) Squeeze shoulder blades together as you bend the elbows, keeping the elbows close to the body, bringing the weights to your chest height, elbows up. Lower the arms back down and slowly lower to squat position back to where you started and release the weights to the floor. C) Rise to a squat position and then jump up and return softly to the squat. Return to start and repeat 12x. As a low-impact alternative, keep the weights in your hand as raise them above your head, coming to your toes instead of taking a jump. In this case you will not need to release the weights to the floor during the exercise.
5) Sumo squat with alternating bicep/tricep.
Stand with legs wide and toes angled out about 45 degrees from parallel. Use your thigh and glute muscles to try to push the knees back (rather than letting them fall forward) and keep weight in the foot balanced by focusing on keeping some weight in the outside edges of the feet (not allowing all weight to come to inside edges). Try starting with one 7.5-10lb weight and one 5-7.5lb weight and adjust to go lighter/heavier as needed to challenge yourself while feeling in control of your movement. A) Holding the heavier of the two weights in your left hand, place the weight in front of you with your palm forward and your elbow glued at the front of the left side of your waist. Holding the lighter weight in your right hand, bring the right arm overhead, bend the right elbow, keeping the elbow close to the right ear, and lower the weight straight back toward your right shoulder. B) Raise both weights, completing one bicep curl and one triceps press. Lower back down and repeat 15x. Exhale as you raise the weights and inhale as you lower. Switch sides and complete a second set of 15 reps, with bicep curl on the right and tricep press on the left.
Last Minute Fit Trick
Right before you head out to the beach take just one minute to drop down and take 30 seconds of push-ups followed by a 30 second forearm plank. This will help you look your best instantly by pulling in the belly and engaging all muscles during your plank, and getting the blood circulating, and arms & chest engaged from your push-ups.
Smart Beach Side Snacking
While we are by no means suggesting this is a replacement for sunscreen, eating the right snack may help boost your skin’s protection from the sun. Slather on the SPF too, but in full sun some of us need all the help we can get! Eating a combination of vitamin C and vitamin E rich foods may temporarily help boost your skin’s protection from sun damage.
Two examples of lovely beach side snacks:
1) Sliced Red Bell Peppers with Guacamole
2) Clementines & raw, unsalted Almonds
Don’t forget some H2O!
Our favorite Sporty SPF for the face is Badger Face Stick in SPF 35. It stays better than most even when you get really sweaty. Still follow the re-application instructions as needed for best results!
Loving everything we’re wearing, well so do we! I have been a huge fan of New Balance for years and recently became interested in finding a great shoe for classes like HIIT. Something that’s light weight, nimble and oh yeah, looks awesome! Look no further than the Minimus. Shop the Minimus, as well as the rest of our outfits at the bottom of this post.
Meet my fabulous trainer, Andi Schpok, HIIT instructor and trainer at Uplift Studios. Andi dove into the fitness scene in 2008 when she started teaching classes for her fellow students at Tufts University. She earned her Personal Training certification from the Cooper Institute in Dallas, TX where she also completed a summer-long intensive internship shadowing and working with Cooper’s elite trainers. While earning her Master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Nutrition from Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, she kept her energy up teaching classes primarily at Healthworks Fitness Centers for Women. Today, you can join her for a workout at Uplift in NYC. Check out Uplift’s schedule online and sign-up for the ultimate HIIT workout! Andi blogs at www.purefitlosophy.com.
SHOP THIS POST:
Top: Uplift // Pants: New Balance c/o // Headbands: E.Kammeyer Accessories // Shoes: New Balance Minimus c/o
GIVEAWAY TIME!
I am giving away a set of 3 E.Kammeyer Accessories athletic headbands to one lucky reader, to help keep those fly aways out of your face while getting sweaty and beach ready! In order to enter please do these 3 things (a reader will be drawn at random on Friday the 6th):
1: Follow @ELKammeyer and @AndreaSchpok on Twitter.
2: Comment on this post.
3. Follow E.Kammeyer Accessories on Facebook.
Photographed by: Jonathan Rodriguez
Workout & Tips all written and provided by Andi Schpok.
