Terrell Harris Dougan: The Woman Who Could Erase Pain
Andrea Metcalf: 5 Things You Should Do Every Morning
Holiday Shapeup Transformation: Fit into Skinny Jeans!
Posted on Dec 22nd 2009 3:00PM by Nicole Dorsey-StraffFiled Under: Fitness
Here's the perfect plan to firm your butt, flatten your belly, tone your thighs and blast fat for Christmas week and beyond into the New Year! "To instigate real changes, shake up your typical routines with activities you don't normally do, and perform exercises that place new demands on your muscles," said Tracey Mallett, creator of "Super Body Boot Camp" and author of "Super-Fit Mama." "Stair climbing initiates a deep core contraction so you're always working your abs during these step sessions, which is a bonus," she said. To reshape your thighs for body-hugging jeans, also cross-train twice a week with step aerobics DVDs, hill programs on the treadmill (or elliptical machine, or real hills) and other intensive lower-body routines such as kickboxing. Try out this circuit below, doing each section for five minutes.
Warm up. "Stair climbing instantly boosts heart rate and builds endurance because of the uphill factor," said Mallett, owner of the ATP Specific Training Wellness Center in South Pasadena, CA. "And incorporating a staircase for weight training is fun, simple and super-convenient." For a jean-loving workout, Mallett recommends finding a set of stairs that has at least eight steps -- inside or out -- and begin trotting up, then walking down the stairs, progressing in tempo until you become breathless. Stay on them for 20 minutes several times per week to burn about 225 calories while sculpting the legs, butt and abs.
Build Intensity. After your first few minutes of walking up normally, try taking the stairs up two at a time to chisel strength in your thighs and lower legs. Continue to keep walking down normally but make the way up more demanding by speeding up and doing lunges up the stairs two at a time. If you can maintain great form, do the fast-paced workout holding a five- to 10-pound dumbbell in each hand.
Try Variations. Stand sideways with left foot on the first step and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Make your way up the stairs sideways, targeting all the muscles of your left side as you go up. Face forward and come down the stairs normally, then alternate going up sideways from right to left, etc. Other variations to try: Walk up on your tippy toes, run up the stairs, extend a straight leg in back of you for leg lifts, and also add more weighted arm exercises, such as biceps curls and overhead presses.
Cool Down. First, make sure you're moving at the quickest clip possible, so you're breathless. Then slowly, over the course of a few minutes, downgrade your pace until your walking normally, then lose the weights and stretch for a few minutes. Great job! "I love slamming in a quickie workout just using the equipment you have in your house or yard. The results are speedy, and you're done for the day," said Mallet. "Get ready to slither into those skinny jeans!"
To try other thigh-slimming moves, check out piloxing.
Fitness expert Nicole Dorsey Straff is a Los Angeles-based exercise physiologist and author, and frequently writes about diet, health and wellness.
