On Halloween or just about any other day, women wish they had a toned body that looks fit in a latex catsuit. Celebrity trainer Ramona Braganza knows how to get you fit and curvy for a skintight jumpsuit. Her workouts are short, but intense enough to transform a celebrity’s body in record time, great when you need to get in shape for a role like Catwoman.
Braganza has trained Halle Berry and Anne Hathaway for their catwoman roles, where they had to have a knockout physique with lean, toned muscles and feminine curves.
Shape up with Ramona’s “3-2-1 Training Method”, which incorporates a blend of cardio, circuit and core training to build lean muscles and say goodbye to belly bulge!
The next 30 to 45 minute blast workout consists of 3 cardio segments, 2 circuits of strength and 1 core element.
Circuit One
-Begin the first cardio segment with 3-5 minutes warm up on the elliptical, bike or jogging in place.
-Follow with 3 rounds of strength exercises that work on three different parts of the body, by doing 3 sets of 15-20 reps and resting for 45 seconds between the sets; for chest do pushups or use the chest press machine at the gym. For legs and biceps do single leg lunge with bicep curl and as a compound exercise do plié squats or plié jumps.
Plie Jumps: slim and tone your inner thighs and hips , and sculpt your calves.
-Start with your feet wider than shoulder width apart, turning your toes out and bending your knees.
-Extend your arms out to your sides at shoulder height.
-While keeping your arms extended, bend your knees and drop your butt to the floor; then jump into the air. Hit the ground and return to the starting position. When landing try to land gently and keep your knees bent to prevent knee injury.
-Do 15 reps.
Circuit Two
-Start your second cardio interval with 10 min of high intensity exercises such as jump rope, running or jumping jacks that get your heart rate up. Even if you don’t have a rope with you, just pretend and continue jumping.
-Follow with 3 rounds of dumbbell reverse flies, (which work the back muscles for good posture), tricep kickbacks or tricep dips great for jiggly arms and shadow boxing exercises to increase endurance and speed. Again, do 15-20 reps of each set with a few seconds of rest between them.
Jab Cross Punches: this type of kickboxing movements executed with weights in your hands, is great for the upper body and for the oblique muscles when you twist your trunk.
-Start with the legs hip width apart and knees slightly bent, holding a 2-5 lb. dumbbell in each hand.
-Hold the hands in a boxing stance at chest level with your palms facing in.
-Twist your torso to the right while extending the left arm to punch; then return to the initial position while keeping your back straight and the core muscles engaged. Twist to the left side and punch with the right arm extended.
-Do 15-20 reps.
Circuit Three
-For the last cardio segment, you should do quick, intense movements such as jump ropes followed by 30 seconds of kicks or walking up and down the stairs.
– The core segment is what ends a vigorous workout series. Do 3 abs exercises in a row, such as 15 reps of v-ups, followed by 15 reps bicycle and plank variations.
Plank with hip twists (waist cincher): it works on transverse abdominal muscles, obliques and hips, trimming the waist.
-Start in a plank position on forearms, keeping your hands in line with your elbows and the back straight.
-For an extra challenge, hold the start plank position for 30 sec without arching your back.
-Twist your hips to the left and slowly touch the floor. All this time, keep your elbows still on the floor, rotating just your hips.
-Return to the middle position and then twist to the other side.
-Do 20 reps.
Ramona Braganza’s fitness advice:
-If you do only cardio every time when you go to the gym, you won’t have a great body. She classifies this as one common fitness mistake that women make when they want to reshape their bodies. She says that cardio alone leads to “skinny fat, looking thin but lacking definition”.
-You need to combine your cardio workouts with at least 2 times a week strength workouts such as squats, lunges and pushups to build lean, sexy muscles.
-Don’t take shortcuts when lifting weights: if you take too many breaks between your series and use light weights that you can lift easily, it means that you aren’t working hard enough to challenge your muscles. Your last strength training exercises should be hard enough that you are burned out after the exercises..
Studies have shown that building muscles helps to burn fat faster; in general, a pound of muscle burns 50 to 150 calories per day while 1 pound of stubborn fat only burns 3 calories per day!
