Your quick-fix to get beach fit

There’s still time to get in shape before the beach holiday, writes Peta Bee.

Your summer holiday is looming and you’ve left it too late to get the bikini-ready body you wanted this time last year but never got round to achieving either. Too busy to hit the gym and too hot in our heatwave to bother with the pre-holiday diet, you are left wondering how you might improve your shape before you board the plane.

While it’s too late to make drastic changes, there are steps you can take to improve your appearance almost overnight. Many of the reasons we struggle to look good in beachwear is because our posture is so poor — leading physiotherapists say there are tricks of the trade that can provide the optical illusion that you have instantly slimmed down.

“How you stand can make an enormous difference to how your body looks,” says Kim Saha, a physiotherapist who has worked with some of Northern Ireland’s top sportspeople. “With a few simple stretches and adjustments, you really can look longer, leaner and slimmer.”

In the longer term, it is wise to start planning for next year’s beach holiday when you get back from this one.

Fiona Wilson, associate professor of physiotherapy at Trinity College Dublin, says that poor posture does not play as big a factor in back pain and injury as was once thought, and that aesthetic improvements linked to better posture often come with being more active.

“If you are otherwise fit and healthy, you can get away with slightly rounded shoulders,” she says. “But the more active you are in everyday life, the better your posture will become as it self-adjusts to enhanced mobility and fitness.”

Wilson says squats are the number one exercise to include in your weekly routine along with regular walking. “If you do a few squats every week over the next year, you will enjoy enormous improvements in the way you hold yourself,” she says.

But what can we do in time for this year’s excursion? If you have more than three weeks before you head away, you can try the long-term exercises listed below. But if you have left it right to the last minute, we have a quick-fix option to make sure you look your best in your bikini. Practise these over the next few days to make sure you are beach-ready:

For a flat tummy

Well-performed crunches will target the muscles needed to help towards a flat tummy.

- What’s wrong: Either you have gained a layer of fat or it might be that you have overworked the top layer of muscles by doing too many sit-ups and crunches in isolation. “With weak abdominals, people also tend to push out and brace the tummy in an attempt to achieve tension,” says Saha.

- Long-term plan: Well-performed crunches will target the muscles needed to help correct this problem. Lie on your back on the floor. It’s really important to maintain a small arch in your back as this will avoid your tummy muscles bulging as you crunch. Place your hands lightly behind your head. Crunch up by bracing your abdominal muscles and maintaining a small back arch. Imagine you are pulling your ribs down towards your hips at the front. Keep elbows wide and parallel to the floor as much as possible. Do three sets of 15 of these three times weekly.

- Quick fix: Lucy Macdonald, a physiotherapist based at the Octopus Clinic in London, suggests this quick fix. “With an empty bladder, put one hand on your tummy button and the other hand above. Gently squeeze the muscles that stop you going to the toilet, contracting them to about 20% of the maximum effort and keep breathing throughout. Keep this doing while you draw up the lower part of your tummy towards the spine, as if you are zipping up a pair of trousers. Look at yourself doing it in a mirror and you will see your tummy flattening.” Do it two/three times daily before you leave.

For a toned bum

- What’s wrong: “If you stand or sit with your bottom tucked in or out (as most of us do), then you’re making it hard for the gluteal muscles in your body to work effectively and this causes them to lose firmness and sag,” says Macdonald. “It also makes it harder for your abdominal muscles to work so the upshot is you have more of a sticking out tummy as well.”

- Long-term plan: The ‘dead bug’ exercise is a great way to combine abdominal and gluteal strengthening with hip-flexor movement. Lie on your back with arms and legs raised. Your legs should be bent at 90 degrees so that your calves are parallel to the floor and feet in line with the knees. Simultaneously extend your right leg forward and your left arm above your head. Keep your chin tucked in and stretch the leg out fully so that you feel a tightening in your thigh. Don’t let your back over-arch when you perform this movement. Return to the start position. Repeat on the other side. Perform three sets of 10 three times a week.

- Quick fix: “Wear shorts or underwear and stand side on in a mirror,” says Macdonald. “Stick your bottom out as far as you can, then tuck it under as far as you can. Next, aim for about halfway between the two movements. Notice the small concave at the bottom of your spine — that’s the position you’re aiming for.”

For straight shoulders

- What’s wrong: Slumped shoulders are unflattering and can make you look less than athletic and cause your stomach to protrude. “The old advice of moving your shoulders back and down can actually make them look more sloping and cause shoulder and back pain,” says MacDonald.

- Long-term plan: Lie on your back with arms extended on the floor at right angles. Lift your head off the floor, making sure you maintain alignment with the spine. Keep your chin tucked in and eyes straight ahead. Pull shoulder blades back together and lift both arms a few inches off the floor without arching your back. Perform 10-12 reps three times daily.

- Quick fix: “Stand in front of a mirror, lifting shoulders up very slightly. Move your shoulders backwards and then drop them down slightly,” says Macdonald. “The shape of your shoulders should change from a convex shape (downturned curve) to a concave (upturned curve). Hold this position as you move your arms forwards and backwards.”

For lumpy legs

How you stand can make an enormous difference to how your body looks.

- What’s wrong: People stand with knees locked out which pushes the hips forward or with toes turned in. Both mean buttocks and leg muscles don’t work and lack definition. “You can make your legs look leaner and more shapely quite easily,” says Macdonald.

- Long-term plan: “Squats will develop leg strength, gluteal strength, and improve posture in the process,” says Wilson. Start without weights but add them as you get stronger. Stand with feet approximately hip-width apart and hands on hips. Stick your bottom out and flex from the hips to lower into a squat position. Imagine sitting back on your heels as if lowering yourself into a chair. Lower as far as comfortable, then push heels into floor and really squeeze your bottoms and thighs as you return to the start position. Assume good posture before lowering back down for the next repetition.

- Quick fix: Macdonald says: “Stand side on to a mirror and move your hips so that they are stacked directly above the ankles. Simultaneously soften your knees to make sure they are not locked straight. Now stand face on to the mirror and look at your knees. Turn your knees out slightly if they are pointing inwards.”