Photo Credit: @adidasrunning

The pros weigh in on how to best prepare your body for bathing suit season.

By Sarah Emily Gilbert 

Want to hear a fact that’s equally horrifying as it is delightful? Bathing suit season is just around the corner. Summer is the time to let loose and relax, but when it comes to our bodies, most of us would like to tighten up. Ready or not, now is the time to get in shape for sundresses, shorts, and bikinis, but where to begin? Embarking on a pre-summer fitness routine can be a daunting task, so we called in the professionals for guidance. Here, some of the area’s leading names in health and fitness share their tips on how to best prepare your body for summertime.

Michael Lawrence, M.A., C.S.C.S.; Fitness Director at Mendham Health & Racquet Club

“Give yourself the gift of regular, guilt free, enjoyable workouts in the gym. The time you spend training is not a solitary, self-serving pursuit. Working out is really a kind of therapeutic selfishness, or enlightened self-interest. Putting a priority on taking care of yourself first, translates to having greater resources and energy for others – psychological resources as well as physical.”

Mike Romano, Co-Founder & Senior Training Coach at Longevity Personal Fitness

“A simple tip on getting in shape not only for the summer, but for the long term, would be to move better! It’s simple, but not easy. Come from a good place, proper posture and breathing. No matter what your interest, if you move better, you'll move more, feeling and looking your best. Get the best instruction available to improve your performance in whatever your activity of choice is.”

 Myles S. Berg, M.A., Exercise Physiologist, Owner
of Motion Fitness Club

“Go ahead and eat carbs! If you’re looking to get lean for the summer you need to eat the right kind of carbohydrates to replenish muscle glycogen, which is stored energy that’s used for intense cardiovascular exercise bouts.  But you must pay attention to the glycemic index of those carbohydrates, which affects how quickly certain carbs will raise blood sugar levels and promote fat storage.  Check out a glycemic index table (ranging from 100 to 0) and focus on ingesting foods with a low index ranging from 0 to 50.”

Tamer Ibrahim, Vice President and Fitness Director at YB Fitness

 “Water plays a major role in the muscles and organs. The average adult's body is made up of 60% water; therefore, the body cannot survive without water. Depriving the body of water can lead to dehydration, resulting in muscle cramping, and the body not functioning properly overall. Water is important for a number of reasons: digestion, transporting nutrients to and from cells, eliminating waste, and dissipating heat (sweating). It's important to drink at least two liters of water daily. To make this goal more manageable, try drinking eight glasses of eight ounces of water spread throughout the day.”