Guest Blogger: Bikini Boot Camp

April 15th, 2008 at 6:04 am

This is Elyn from Beauty and Fashion. Vera asked me to write up about my experience about bikini boot camp, a 12 week class I am currently enrolled in. If you’re trying to tone up but don’t need to loose more than 5 pounds (if that much), you can find yourself between a rock & a hard place.

Some of the best thigh, leg & butt work can come from higher resistance-higher angle on the Elliptical or Arc Trainer, but the calories burned can leave you with a 400-800 deficit. And even free weights & weight machines can chalk up a steep caloric deficit that can be hard to replace. Do this for 12 weeks & you can end up looking semi-emaciated with weirdly defined muscles … & concerned friends hosting interventions & anonymously mailing you cases of Ensure.

Because of this, a few friends & I decided to hire a trainer to put us through a Bikini Boot Camp: 12 weeks to a fit bikini-ready body … or, as we joke, “die trying”.

The premise is actually simple: use your own body as resistance & build your muscles through PT with a few modern twists. Or at least it seems simple. I’ve come to discover that my body can do all sorts of amazing things, but staying in “forward leaning ‘rest’ position” for 5 minutes might just not be one of them. Along with a few other dozen drills that kicked my butt … or at least has me lying here with heating pads & ben-gay patches stuck all over my thigh & rear.

The good news for everyone reading this, is that you don’t have to hire a retired-SEAL to scream & blow whistles in your ear to get the benefits of this routine … which also mean you can do it at a much more sane pace.

If you belong to a gym, most have a Basic Boot Camp class that is very similar in concept with PT drills & body resistance. All you need to do is mix it in with a Pilates class & some Abdominal classes & you’ll basically have the same workout.

And if you don’t belong to a gym the good news is this is machine & weight free, so it CAN be done at home! Here are 2 of the more ‘fun’ moves we worked through this week:

FORWARD LEANING REST:
Get into push up position (face down, arms shoulder width, legs straight behind you, feet touching) then push up all the way, back straight, feet up, toes face down … & hold. Hold till it feels like your arms are wobbly, then allow yourself to bend knees for a few seconds & resume. Out trainer had us do this for 5 minutes … but do whatever feels best for YOU & do NOT continue if you feel pain!

MODIFIED BUTTERFLY KICK:
Lie on your back, put legs straight up, so they’re at a 90 degree angle with your body &, in controlled manner kick them like scissors. At the same time (now this is *fun*) put your hands behind your head & roll your shoulders up an inch or two (as if you’re doing a curl) & hold right there. You should feel it in your lower AND upper abdominals. For an advanced move, don’t hold the curl, but do a modified side-to-side curl while butterflying your legs. We did it till we had muscle failure … but just do it for counts of 20 (as in slowly count to 20) then rest, then do it again.

And for more torture, eeer, I mean exercise ideas, from my trainer’s source, check out :

Navy SEAL Workout Program:

filmed entirely at the U.S. Navy’s Special Warfare Center, with physical training led on-camera by veteran SEAL instructors who demonstrate proper techniques and instill the special spirit and motivation-to-succeed for which SEALs are renowned.

And, if you want to kick it up a notch, try the Navy SEAL Workout Challenge:

C.J. Carracci, veteran of Seal Team One and Seal Team Six, takes you through a 75 minute workout, designed for anyone between moderately fit & elite athlete. And if you start to feel like quitting watch the bonus Feature: “Navy SEAL BUDS Training” which shows you what the first week or 2 is like for the men applying to be SEALS (harsh does NOT begin to cover it)

Also, please check with your doctor BEFORE you start any intense training program, & if you EVER feel any pain doing anything STOP. IMMEDIATELY. And if the pain doesn’t go away within 15-20 minutes, or gets worse call a doctor immediately!

Also, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate before, during & after working out - especially in warmer weather. And, as our trainer reminds us: you CAN’T build or maintain muscle without food, so eat! And then muscle is built, excess fat gets used by muscle for fuel (really, it does), & the jiggle goes AWAY!

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4 Comments


  1. 1
    yea.. so said:

    sounds great. I think I basically do the elliptical, free weights, weight machines, ab work outs BUT I still have some areas that I am not happy with.

    I recently started to add some weights to my workout routine and it really does make a different. I am 5′7, currently 135lbs. I love my weight, but in order to get rid of my lower pouch in my tummy and tone my inner thighs I feel as if I have lose so weight :(

    Please ask your trainer what the best way to get rid of that pouch and tone inner thighs. Of course I have to watch what I eat, I cut off sugar but I am a sucker for white rice.

    Please help, this post was very helpful and I plan on doing those butterfly kicks.

    April 15th, 2008 @ 9:47 am
  2. 2
    Anonymous said:

    Yea.. so - First off you’re at a totally great weight for your height & if you love it, that’s EVEN BETTER!

    As for thighs, there are 2 ways to go for them … since you to a gym, they probably have a machine in the weight room that you sit on (like a chair) & and you put your feet in these holders & squeeze together (I’ll get the name from my gym when I hobble over later & let you know). The trick on this is to NOT do it like the guys who use it for short reps at high weight. You want to do low-to-moderate weight (1/3 body weight max, maybe 1/2 as you build up strength) & slow controlled movements NEVER letting the weights touch all the way down! UNTIL muscle fatigue kicks in … as you get better, you can do it for set times. But the point is low weight, slow-controlled movements & sit straight so you feel it in your inner & back of the thigh when you do it (sounds easy, sems easy, but when your done you’ll KNOW what I’m talking about).
    2-3x a week & you’ll see a difference!

    Also the leg press is a great pseudo-pillates machine for legs, lower abs, etc…

    Pull the machine as far in to the plates as you can & stay at lower-to mid-range weights. Then place your legs far apart & as high up on the plate as they can go, scooch your butt up a little & off (it’ll remind you of a “squat”) & slow & controlled do the presses but don’t let the weights touch back down (if possible). You can also, change positions once you burn out in the first position, bringing your feet into towards the middle or doing modified ballet feet placement (for all these moves you butt stays down) &, again, slow-controlled movements (really feel which muscles are working) at low-to-mid weight.

    For the lower pooch … the Elliptical is a secret winner! If you use it leaning forward & holding on, SLOWLY train yourself to go to a higher incline, pretending you are actually going uphill — lean back, face looking up focused on a point it would be if you were going uphill & body following, and once you learn SLOWLY to let go, use your arms like you are running or hiking. The point on this is your lower belly is the BALANCE in your body, so you should be tightening it up for the uphill walk/run! You’ll actually feel it in ways you may curse me for … especially when you get good at it.

    And you can do this - just walking around very day too! Tighten your lower belly & walk from your lower belly — it’s hard to explain,but most people push from their shoulders & you should walk from your lower abs, because that’s your body’s gravity center! (if you have an intro to ballet or dance class at the gym ask the teacher who will be able to show you exactly what I mean).

    Hope these ideas help!! Just ONE MORE IMPORTANT TIP (based on extensive personal research: Even if you’re working at lower weigh than you’re used to & think you can just keep going if you hit the 10 minute mark STOP … or you’ll feel in all the wrong ways the next day!

    April 15th, 2008 @ 11:36 am
  3. 3
    Elyn said:

    ooops - #2 was me.

    April 15th, 2008 @ 11:37 am
  4. 4
    yea.. so said:

    Elyn thanks for the tips.

    I believe the machine you were talking about is the hip adduction machine. I used that machine. I usually do 100 reps of 50 - 55 lbs, I just started about a month ago. I will def keep the weight low and the reps high. I dont do these often (maybe once a week) but Im going to get on this machine more often now! :)

    The leg press machine I use almost every time I go to the gym. I love it. I started from a month or so ago at 140lbs now Im up to 220lbs! Yea this machine is amazing and its tones my quads really well. I tried using it in the plie (second position ballet move) position last week and though I did feel the burn in my inner thighs my knees started to hurt. Im not sure if that was to blame or the leg extension machine.

    I use the Elliptical everytime I go to the gym too. I love it, theres about 3 different types of elliptical machines so I try and see which one fit your description best.

    I am going to start jogging/power-walking on the treadmill before I get on the elliptical from now on, hopefully that will help with my legs and tummy.

    Again thanks for all the advice I really appreciate it!

    April 16th, 2008 @ 3:48 pm

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