BY TEAM HEAT (Devon Cormack & Heather Hardy) | The kids are home for the summer, and I know what you’re thinking:
Noooooo!!!! Not being able to get to the gym shouldn’t be an excuse to skip your daily workout and fall completely off the wagon for the next three months. Take it from a personal trainer when I say that we’re sick of having to nurse you all back into shape after your three month hiatus and late night rendezvous with the ice cream man. Give yourself thirty minutes before the kids wake up to tighten, tone and keep your flabby tushy in shape!
LEGS: Your glutes and quads are a part of the largest muscle group in your body — so by working your legs, you can increase metabolism and burn more calories.
WALL SQUATS: 3 REPS Stand against a wall with your legs 1-2 feet out. Press your back into the wall and slide as far down as you can. The goal is to be in position as if you’re sitting in a chair, with your knee and hip bone in one straight line. Hold this position for one minute, then rest for 45 seconds. You can up the intensity of this workout by holding small hand weights or a medicine ball. If you have no equipment handy, a container of laundry detergent works!
LUNGES: 3 REPS Position one leg forward with your knee bent and your foot flat on the floor, and one leg straight behind, on your toe. Lunges are done north to south, so bend your front knee, making sure not to extend your knee past your ankle. No leaning forward — it’s a straight up and down move. Down and up, 20-30 times. You can up the intensity with hand weights, a medicine ball or anything you can grip onto around the house.
Stand with your hands on the seat of a chair and raise your left leg until it forms a straight line with your neck and back. Lower it to the floor, then quickly jump it back up. When the leg is extended out, squeeze the muscles in your gluteus before dropping it back down and then quickly back up. Do this for one minute, with each leg. Repeat this twice.
PLANK POSITION: 2 SETS Get into pushup position — but instead of being on your hands, get onto your forearms. The elbows should be directly under your shoulders. Your belly should be super tight. Do not arch your back, and keep your neck and spine in one straight line. Hold for 1 minute.
PLANK POSITION WITH AB TWIST: 3 SETS Get into the plank position (again, on forearms). Twist your waist so your right hipbone touches the floor, then return to home position. Left hipbone touches the floor, then return to home position. Keep alternating left to right for a total of 10 sets (twisting right and left equals one count).
LEG LIFTS, 3 SETS: Laying on the floor on your back, put your hands under your tailbone (for lower back support). Have your legs straight out and your head down. Press your lower back hard into the floor and raise your legs until your heels are pointing straight up to the ceiling. Lower them down as close as you can to 6 inches above the floor (Caution: Do not lower the legs where the lumbar lifts off the floor, or starts to arch). Do not bend your knees! Both legs should move up and down as one piece, to maximize the work in the lower abs.
Stay on track. It’s just a 30-minute commitment every day — and before the summer is over, you’ll see results and be so happy you did it.
Now, do it!
The photos were taken at Gleason’s Gym (77 Front St., Brooklyn) — where Devon Cormack and Heather “The Heat” Hardy work as personal trainers, while prepping for fights. Before turning pro, Hardy (a single mom) won championships in Muay Thai and Kickboxing. As a Golden Gloves contestant, she won silver in 2011 and gold in 2012 (125-pound division). Her next pro fight is July 24, at NYC’s Roseland Ballroom (where she’ll enter the ring with a 5-0-0 record). Chelsea resident Devon Cormack is a three-time World Kickboxing Champion who coordinates fight scenes for film & TV. If you have a fitness or nutrition question for Heather or Devon, send an email to askteamheat@chelseanow.com. For more info, visit heathertheheathardy.net and follow her at facebook.com/TheHeatHeatherHardy. Also visit gleasonsgym.net.
