Summer is coming our way again, and this means we’ll have to appear in bikini’s or bathing suits. Now I am a firm believer that your body is a bikini-body as soon as you put a bikini on, and that you should love your body every step of the way. But I also believe that there is nothing wrong with wanting to tone up for summer. Therefore, I’ve got a workout for you that will tone your entire body with the help of a resistance band.
Your lower body
The first part you want to tone is your lower body, which includes your glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves. So, I’ve got a move for each of these parts.
Calf raises
For toning your calves, you put your toes down on the resistance band and hold both sides of the band in your hands up with your shoulders. You then move your heels up and down to work your calves. I recommend you do these raises until you start feeling your calves burn, take a small break, and repeat this cycle three times.
Squats
For training your quads we’ve got the simple squats. You put your feet onto the resistance band hold it in your hands up to your shoulders. Then you simply squat up and down. You can repeat this the same way you did with calf raises.
Bridges
No move trains your glutes like the bridge. For this move you tie the band around your legs right above the knees. You then lay down with your knees in a 90-degree angle and move your hips up and down. You can repeat this move from 15 to 20 times.
Lying hamstring curls
To tone your hamstrings and lift your glutes you can tie the band to your right ankle and the other end to a door or something similar. While lying down you pull your ankle up to your butt and stretch it again. This move should be repeated 10-15 times on both your ankles.
The core
The area most women are worried about is this their core. But remember, your core is more than just your abs. Your back and obliques belong to the core too, so for those body parts I’ll too have some exercises.
Two-in-one
This move will work your upper- and lower-back in one go. First you put your feet hip-width apart on the band. Then you bend over and pull the band up to your waist and back-down again, this part is called the row. This move can be repeated roughly 12 times.
The reverse crunch
For working the lower and upper abs you attach your band to a hard surface and put it around your feet as you lay down on your back. With your knees in table-top position you then continuously lift your butt off the floor.
The Russian twist
For working the obliques, we have a move called the Russian twist. You put the band around the soles of your feet and bend your knees as you sit on the floor. You then lean back as far as you can and you rotate the band by moving your left hand across your body and right hand towards your right hip. This motion you repeat roughly 10 times on each side.
Upper-body
Finally, we’ll tone up those arms and shoulders to look great in any backless clothes you’ll be wearing this summer.
A row variant
We can use the rowing motion to tone your shoulders as well. You simply stand on the resistance band with both sides in your hands. You then have your hands at shoulder-height and row them up repeatedly. This can be done around 10 times.
The bicep curl
To make bicep curls a little tougher, stand on the resistance band and hold the ends in your hand. You can hold your arms down and bend them upwards towards your elbows to contract your biceps. This can be repeated around 15 times.
Mix it up
Now it’s up to you to combine these moves into a workout. You can pick the exercises that target areas where you feel you need the most help or focus on a different area of your body every day of the week.
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Photo: Brian Wu
