Playing with my new nephew.

Baking Yummy Cookies.

Walking along the lakeside with my wonderful husband.

Going to Cubs Games.

Beaching it.

Hanging with my loving family.

Spreading Hearts.

Making BIG Plans. More to come on this one!

Stick with me as the summer ends and I catch you all up on the trends, tips and details that shouldn’t be missed.

What have you been up to this summer ?!

Many women feel comfortable on the weight machines that give you a guided path as to where your arms or legs are supposed to go, which I think are a great starting point.  Getting off the machines and embracing the flexibility dumbbells offer will help increase the intensity of your workout.  I love being able to get creative with dumbbells and let your body move and grow stronger in its natural range of motion.

When I work with brides the main body parts that they want to improve and see definition in is their arms and back.  They want to be able to wear their dress with confidence and pride to show off the hard work they put into it. Here are four of my favorite dumbbell exercises to tone your arms.

1. Stability Ball Push-ups

These will test your core while you walk out and balance on the ball, but will assist you in lifting your body weight. Pushups are one of the best overall body exercises you can do. Women please dont shy away from these!  If you dont have a stability ball available, start with pushups on your knees and go down as deep as possible keeping your core and lower back from dipping.

2. Squat with Overhead Press

This full body exercise will get your heart pumping.  Keep your heels driven in as you squat down and core engaged.  Avoid dropping your elbows down by keeping them strong throughout the exercise and push them high above your head together.

3. Chest Press

Drive the dumbbells up in a straight line over your chest, engage your core and keep the intensity at a controlled pace.  Dumbbells will ensure you are turning on your stabilizer muscles in your shoulders more than you would in a barbell chest press.

4. Standing Tricep Pressdown

Use the lat pull down machine for this next exercise. You will be working mainly your triceps and lats/back muscles. Keep your arms straight as you pull down the straight bar to your hips and control it as it returns to its starting point.

Do 12 – 15 reps of each exercise  and repeat the entire circuit 3-4x. The last few times you go through the circuit is when your muscles will get the most out of the exercise.

What are other ways you enjoy using dumbbells to tone up?

Cruise

A great example is the Caribbean Islands Marathon Cruise on the Royal Caribbean Cruise line where you will tackle four different islands with four different races along the way. You will be running along side participants from across the country with a variety of experiences. Share your past running stories while seeing a new island every day. Each new run will have different scenery, hills, and distance so you will always be engaged in the run.

Or try Visiting the Hawaiian Islands with the Run – Hawaii Cruise and hit three different islands while you run past beautiful scenery and enjoy days off in between to recover for the next run! A sample schedule can be found here to see what each day would look like on the cruise.  Your family and friends are encouraged to join you and can plan excursions on the trip for each island or they can cheer you on during your run.

If you would prefer to stay closer to the states, join the first marathon cruise down the New England coast and Canada in October of 2011 where you will run in one of the Maine Marathon events and continue on to experience national parks, pubs and group activities while on board. And don’t forget to refuel after your long run with the buffet’s and top notch service on the cruise lines.  Many of the cruise lines now offer exquisite gyms and spas as well as healthy food options for the calorie conscious.

So if you have a love of traveling with an urge to travel – try checking out a marathon cruise that is planned by runners…designed for runners!

Brides - go on a weekend marathon cruise for your bachelorette party and encourage all of your girls to start training together for the runs! Having the social support will help you all encourage each other to get in shape while having fun at night after your long runs on the ship together.  Or plan your honeymoon on one of these marathon cruises and you and your fiance can start training now together.  You can look forward to completing your first marathon together as a married couple.  Your goals of getting in shape and completing a marathon can all come together as you prepare for your honeymoon marathon.  See the world on your own two feet!

I would love to hear from any of the readers who have gone on or considered a marathon cruise vacation before.

Shabby Apple is a great online boutique that has specifically designed dresses to fit almost every wedding style. Their bridesmaid line of dresses offers several stylish dresses to choose from, but I encourage you to go through all of their designs and find the one that best fits your personality!  When I look at their dresses each photo tells a story and I would love to hear which dress is your favorite and what story you are telling for your big day!

Chic, Sunny and Sophisticated…

Happy Talk

Fun, Flirty and Fashionable….

L’Opera

Vintage Inspired & Simply Stunning ….

B 17 Bombshell

The classic Black Dress with the utmost elegance ….

Cleo & Anthony

The Not – So Classic Black Dress – Smart & Sultry….

Syncopation

***COUPON CODE: bubblybride10off exp. 4/30/11  ***

Use the above coupon code at ShabbyApple.com and receive 10% off your order until the end of April! You can find more than dresses on this site such as maternity clothes, aprons, jewelery, and dresses for the little ones in your life!  Spend some time searching their site and let me know which style dress is your favorite.  Mine is below!

Tip :  A simple way to make your back look instantly more defined and confident is to stand tall and hold your shoulders back. You will be surprised how quickly posture improves your overall appearance (you can instantly look skinnier by simply standing straight up!)  This is written for all of my brides out there who sit at a desk or hunch over for 8+ hours of the day.  I challenge you to constantly self correct yourself pulling your core tight, shoulders back and sitting tall through your day.  It is vital for you to add exercises into your routine which work your back muscles and strengthen your core to help improve your posture.

Here are a couple of my favorite back exercises:

Birddog – Begin on all fours on your yoga mat. Slowly extend your opposite leg and arm and tighten your core to help you balance. Lift your arm and leg up high and then lower them back to where you started. Alternate with your right arm/left leg and left arm/right leg.  Complete 15 lifts on each side. Keep your head facing down in order to keep your spine in a neutral position.

Y, T and I Raises - This is a great move for beginners and can be done simply on a yoga mat (as shown below) or on a stability ball or bench.  You want to use your core and back muscles to lift your torso off the floor and raise your arms to make a Y shape.  You may also bring your arms straight to your side to make a T shape, or directly forward to make an I with your body.

Inchworm – You will get a full body workout with this move. Begin in a standing position and bend over so your hands are on the ground.  If you aren’t flexible yet bend your knees slightly, but begin working to where you can keep your legs straight when you bend over. Next, walk your hands out while keeping your legs as straight as possible until you are in a full plank position and hold for a 1 – 2 second count.  Walk your arms back in towards your legs and return to a fully standing position.  Repeat 10 – 15x.

Pull-ups - Pull-ups are a more advanced move and you will need to work up to where you can do an unassisted pull up.  They take a lot of back strength but are a great way to add definition to your back.  I suggest using an assisted pull up machine at your gym or finding a trainer or strong friend to hold your feet and help give you resistance while you are learning.  With an assisted pull up machine you are able to control the amount of weight which is helping you, slowing decrease the weight as you continue to practice these.

Lat Pull-downs are a great way to start building up that back strength you will need to complete the above pullup. Sit down on the machine facing the weights, brace your core and pull down on the bar towards your chest. Complete 12 – 15 of the pull-downs at a weight where that last repetition is a struggle for you to complete.

By strengthening your back you will improve your posture and set yourself up for less injuries in the future.  Oh wait, you will also look FABULOUS in your wedding dress while you are standing in front of 150 of your friends and family members. Hit the gym and start working in some of these back exercises to your routine. If you have any questions on proper technique please email me or ask a personal trainer at your gym.

What is the main muscle group you are working on for your wedding?

Plank/Side Plank

One of my favorite and most beneficial ab exercises is the plank.  The plank targets your deep abdominals and as these muscle strengthen they will help stabilize your spine, improve your posture and make every strength move more stable.  As you are building up your abdominals start with your plank using your knees instead of your full body weight on your feet.  Begin with 20 sec increments of time and work up until you can hold it for a full minute. Once you have conquered your knee plank, fully extend your body so your holding yourself up with your elbows and your toes.  Again, build up your strength starting with short 20 second periods – until you can hold the plank for 1 minute+.

The side plank is just as easy while directly hitting your obliques – and will help whittle your waist smaller!  All you have to do is open up your body so that you are holding yourself up with only one elbow and your other hand is on your hip.  Just as you did the plank, begin in short increments and start building up so you can hold yourself up off your knees and just with your elbow and toes.

There are numerous progressions for these exercises but those will come with strength.  By mastering these two moves you will feel significantly stronger in your core and save yourself from injury down the line!

Dumbbell Woodchop

The woodchop can be executed with dumbbells, medicine balls or any spare soup can you have lying around the house.  This is a great way to dynamically work your full abdominal muscles. Bring the dumbbell or medicine ball down to your left hip and then quickly move it up diagonally to your right shoulder as if you were going to throw it over your right shoulder.  The action in your abdominals that you will use to stop the ball from flying over your shoulder is key to this exercise.

Start this exercise on your knee and then when you feel strong enough move up so you are standing while you are doing the chopping motion.  When you are standing make sure to get your legs into the motion and squat down when you lower the dumbbell and fully extend up when you raise it diagonally to burn the most calories.

V-up

The V up is a more advanced move but can be modified to fit your strength level. Begin with your body lying on a yoga mat or carpet and you will want to pull your legs up and your chest up so that your body forms a V as shown below.  Hold this position for a 3 – 5 second count and then release it back to where you started.

Bicycle Crunch

One of the key parts of this exercise is to maintain your eyes looking up at all times.  People tend to do this exercise with their elbows and not their abdominals which ends up pulling your neck forward and will be painful after awhile.  First, lie on your back with your elbows behind your head so that they are out of your peripheral vision. Keep your elbows pulled back and your eyes looking up so that your neck and spine stay in neutral.  Next, bring your knee to your opposite elbow and hold this for a 1 – 2 second count and then switch – alternating between knees.  You will want to speed this exercise up, mostly to get it over with quicker but I will challenge you to keep it slow and you will tighten your core quicker!

Stability Ball In and Out’s

This is a much more advanced move but it something fun to work up to! Climb onto the stability ball (there is no graceful way to do this) so that your shins are on the ball, your hands are supporting yourself on the floor and your body is in a curled up position as shown below.  Next, you will push your shins out so that your body is fully extended in a plank position. Once you are stable, pull your shins back towards your chest and continue the exercise pushing out and pulling in.

All of these exercises have progressions to make them harder or regressions to bring them to your level. Do 20 – 25 of each of these exercises in a circuit and repeat the circuit 2 – 3 times for your best results. The key is starting with the basic exercises and challenging yourself to go further as you master them!

What are the best abdominal moves that got you ready for your wedding?!

Photo credit: Ace Fitness

The best time to kick your self in shape is the winter and for 2011 brides I know this is on the top of your mind.  I have spoken with plenty of brides who have their dress picked out and now need to lose the weight, tone the arms or slim down the legs so they can look and feel their BEST!

Follow my 2011 Bridal Fitness A – Z Posts which will outline the best exercises to pinpoint those spots that you want to work!  Send me emails and ask me questions on what you are specifically going through and lets get in shape together for the upcoming wedding season!

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Now it is Anita’s turn to give away all of her favorite things.  Anita is an officiant here in Chicago and has seen numerous brides walk down the aisle and knows  what it takes to plan and prepare for a wedding. Her blog AnitaWeds is giving away a package of great wedding goodies.  There is still a week or so left to enter and I think all of you should check out the site and put together a short paragraph about how your wedding is going to be unique to YOU! Enter by Monday January 31st and let me know if you win! i would love to read your entry you send in!

Good Luck!