June is the most popular month for weddings. With it just around the corner, brides are looking to do whatever they can to get in perfect wedding shape. Wedding planner Shannon Boone sees a lot of variation in how her brides get fit for their weddings, with a few popular standouts. “Pilates and Yoga tend to be workout staples as they [the brides] like the lean, tone results,” she said.
Brides who don’t have as much time to shape up before the wedding may find help with tips from fitness expert and owner and creator of the Burn method, Lisa Corsello. She offers some exercise tips for brides aiming to look their best as they walk down the aisle.
Much of Corsello’s advice is based on the style of dress the bride is planning to wear. For the many brides who opt for sleeveless and strapless wedding gowns, Corsello suggests focusing on the biceps and shoulders, recommending bicep curls. “Target the entire bicep by changing the way you rotate the weights as you lower and lift,” she said. Start with palms facing forward and then turn the arms so the palms face upward by the end of the lift. For the shoulders, Corsello again suggests rotating the arms while lifting from just above the thighs to about shoulder height. This short arm workout can fit into almost anyone’s busy day with only 20 reps per exercise.
Other areas of focus, especially in strapless or low v-cut gowns, are the chest and triceps. Corsello feels that push-ups are the best exercise for toning those areas. “Push-ups can be done anywhere and, if done correctly, can tone the chest, triceps and even the abs.” If the traditional push-up is too difficult, she said that brides can also modify and do them on their knees. Corsello advises to do the push-ups with hands just under the shoulders and slightly wider than shoulder width. Do 3-4 sets of both kinds, doing as many as possible in each set.
“Brides who plan on wearing a slim-fitted, silhouette-style gown on their big day will want to focus on tightening their midsections. Ab and upper body exercises are key to looking perfect in these types of gowns,” Corsello said. She recommends planks, both side and traditional position to really work out the abs. An added challenge is doing “plank-ups” – shift from a full plank to into a forearm plank while keeping the abs engaged and the knees off the ground and back up again holding for ten seconds in each position.
Exercising at home is not the only option for brides who want to get fit for the big day. “I have a lot of brides who are serious runners…some will sign up for bridal boot camps and lately I’ve had several taking boxing or kick-boxing classes at places like Title 1 Boxing,” Boone said. Whether seeking out classes or trying the exercises Corsello suggests, brides all over can look fantastic on their big days.
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