8 easy exercises to help you tone up for summer

Still got a summer holiday in the pipeline? Here are eight exercise videos from London-based personal trainer Adrian Collins that will give you a confidence boost 
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Kate Lough|Jenny Marc3 August 2016

Summer holiday season is in full swing, which means it's time to dust off your trunks or bikini if you're headed to the beach.

If you're looking to tone up before you strip down on warmer shores, there is help at hand.

London-based personal trainer Adrian Collins has put together eight super easy-to-follow workouts that will get you feeling toned and confident in no time.

From bridges to lunges to shoulder presses, these exercises targt all your muscle groups from your legs to your abs.

Watch the videos below to see how Adrian does it.

Warm-up...

As ever, remember to warm up first using a combination of stretches and rotations, while holding a small weight.

1. Bridge

This exercise activates the glutes and the core. Lie on the floor, lengthen out through the kneecaps and elongate the spine, raising it off the mat. Repeat the exercise 10 times. Try to get length through the hip flexors and slowly drop each spine back to the floor. To progress it, you can use just one leg, stabilising with the other - do 10 times and then swap to the other leg.

2. Curtsey Lunge

Stand hip distance apart, step back into the curtsey position and press through your front heel as you come back up. Repeat 10 times on each leg. Avoid leaning forward and maintain your knee tracking.

3. Push Up

This is a nice upper body workout that will tone the back of the arms. Go onto your knees and walk your ams forward. Inhale as you move into the floor, and exhale as you push away. Keep the feeling in the back of your upper arms. To progress, stay in the same position and extend your legs - for an even harder workout take 5 seconds to go towards the floor and stay down for an extra 2 seconds.

4. Reverse Row

Use a dumbbell if you want to for this exercise ( a can of beans or bottle of water will do!) - but you can just use your bodyweight. Stand with your feet hip width apart, stabilise on one foot, lengthening through your heel and then reverse row off the floor - imagine your elbow is being pulled by a piece of string up into the ceiling. Do 10 repetitions and then back up to finish.

5. Heart Rate Increase

You can do this three different ways - for 10, 20 or 30 seconds. First exercise is kicking your heels up to your bum for 10 seconds, then straight into a squat (making sure your elbows touch your knees), and then into a sprint on the spot as fast as you can

6. Handwalk

Start by exhaling and walk out onto the mat with your hands all the way, feel the stretch - making sure your shoulders are above your hands. Then bring your feet together and open up the spine by lengthening each arm up towards the ceiling. Then walk back, feeling your hamstring open up and exhale back up.

7. Shoulder Press

This one is a bit more intense. You can do it in two different ways, with a single leg or alternating legs as you do each rep. Step into a lunge and as you do so, press through your shoulders and lift your weights towards the ceiling. Keep your spine straight and your heel pressed to the floor.

8. Abs

For the last exercise, sit on the mat with your hand behind you, feet hip distance apart. Roll down so you are lying back against the mat, hand behind your head and then extending towards your knees. When your hands reach the floor, count to 10, tapping, each time lifting your hands higher. Then open up your palms as if you are paddling, as if trying to throw water out of a canoe. Then place your hands behind your head and go into rotations, with your elbow coming towards your knee. To progress the movement, go into a single leg and repeat the previous exercises.

Adrian Collins is a personal trainer in London and creator of the Social Butterfly Programme; collinsfitness.com. Follow him on Instagram @collins_fitness

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