As the wedding plans pile up, it’s easy to let health and fitness slip down your priority list. But with the prospect of hundreds of eyes on you, there’s no better excuse than your wedding day to launch into a new fitness routine, or to renew your vows to take care of your body.
Whether it’s toning up your arms and back for that amazing strapless gown, losing 10 pounds, reducing stress or preventing illness, there are countless reasons to get in shape for your nuptials. An intelligent fitness program can deliver it all.
Investing in fitness
Showing up to the gym without knowing the ABCs of training and nutrition can yield unsatisfying results or worse. There’s nothing pretty about hobbling down the aisle due to over-zealous exercising. A good trainer can ensure that you use your time as safely, efficiently and effectively as possible.
“If you can include it in the cost of the wedding, consult with a professional,” says Morgan Luzier, trainer and owner of Balance Fitness Studio in Minneapolis. “Then you have some support and it keeps you accountable.”
Trainers are also crucial in evaluating your current state of health and fitness. The professionals at HomFit, an in-home personal training company, evaluate movement patterns, structure, level of conditioning, injuries and alignment. “We really want it to be safe, effective and results-oriented,” says co-owner Michael Stoltzman. His trainers also take pictures, measurements and other statistics—intimidating, perhaps, but a great way to see the rewards of your commitment.
Get planning
Figure out what your goals are or the look you want to achieve. While many brides are seeking greater tone, this was not true for Lisa Van Ahn, a kickboxing champion and personal trainer at Balance and Fitness Studio, who got married last summer. “That hard athletic look doesn’t look great in a dress,” says Van Ahn, 33. “I wanted to look feminine. I wanted softness and curves.” She also wanted to lose less than 10 pounds. To achieve her goals, Van Ahn ran more and lifted lighter amounts less frequently. It was hard for her to hold back, but provided a vital lesson in moderation.
Be practical about the changes you want to happen in the amount of time you have. “If you haven’t worked out in 10 years and now you want to look like you did when you were 18, it’s going to take you 10 years to get back to where you were,” says Aaron Leventhal, certified personal trainer and owner of Fit Studios in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Natalie Weiner from St. Louis Park put her fitness program into high gear almost immediately after her boyfriend popped the question. “The moment I got engaged, I felt lighter, more energized. I had waited for this for so long,” she says. But initially her goals were unrealistic. “I had this view that I wanted to be the incredible shrinking woman,” she recalls. “I wanted people to not recognize me.” She hired a trainer who emphasized lifelong and practical changes.
Weiner, who says she has a hard time doing anything in moderation, was impatient at first. She added running—lots of it—to her workout with the personal trainer. But soon her hip started to hurt from overtraining and she was forced to re-evaluate her goals. Weiner learned what many trainers already know: Extremes in fitness and nutrition often backfire or yield only short-term results.
Train smart
Start training as soon as possible—ideally as soon as you get engaged, but at least 12 weeks before the wedding day, says Stolzman of HomFit. “It takes that much time to really effect changes and correct some posture and alignment issues.”
Leventhal, who works with professional and elite athletes as well as everyday people, uses a cyclical method of training called periodization. This approach allows for a period of recovery so you can push harder the next time, prevent injuries and, best of all, peak at a certain time—say, your wedding day. In a four-week cycle, it might work like this: You train three times in week one, four times the second, five times the third; then the fourth week, you reduce the number of sessions to two. “This is better than showing up randomly at the gym,” says Leventhal.
Trainers also often increase the progression, making it more difficult from session to session, so you might do lunges without weights one session, with weights the next, for example. These cycles incorporate both cardio and resistance training for the best results.
Stay interested
Working with a personal trainer might be the most efficient use of time, but it is not the cheapest and certainly not the only way to achieve your goals. “The biggest roadblock [to achieving fitness goals] is boredom,” says Leventhal. “There’s not one way to do this. Find different ways to train: yoga, boxing, track workout.”
Weiner’s hip injury encouraged her to seek balance and look at the bigger picture. She stepped up her yoga practice, which she teaches at CorePower. Most of the boutique studios in the metro area (Balance, Fit Studios, KofiCore) offer small group classes for around $25 a session, about a third of the cost of most one-on-one personal training sessions.
Enjoyment and variety are key to physical success. Know what moves you. “What’s more important than the type of exercise is frequency and consistency,” says Luzier.
Eat right
Depending on who you talk to, proper nutrition and eating habits account for at least half of successful fitness plans. Even the most consistent, varied and proper workout regimens can be undone by the other 23 hours of the day. However, this does not mean crash diets or gnawing hunger. Remember, a happy bride is a beautiful bride, which would make a hungry bride … Bridezilla. In fact, most health and fitness experts find extreme diets of any kind to be ineffective at best.
Many people are surprised to learn they’re actually eating more, or at least more often, on a weight-loss nutrition plan. In fact, current thinking among trainers, supported by nutritional science, encourages eating several smaller meals throughout the day. “You need to eat consistently for your metabolism to work,” says David Prokop, managing trainer for Steele Fitness, a customized personal training service for home or business.
Fit-friendly food
What you eat makes all the difference. “Many people will say they’re too busy to eat better, make better choices and cook differently. But small choices can make a big difference,” says Prokop. Take that salad you have every day for lunch. “What’s in the salad? Caesar dressing. How much? There could be 80 grams of fat in that, so a great choice was ruined with a ton of fat.”
Nutrition was essential to Van Ahn’s fitness plan. She substituted water for other beverages, which is key to any fitness plan. “Water helps people feel fuller,” says Prokop. It helps the digestive system break down food better and use nutrients more efficiently, and it helps replenish cells so you feel energized throughout the day. “Water helps everything run smoother,” he adds.
Van Ahn also ate strictly whole foods, “nothing that came in a box or a package.” While she did not eliminate sugar altogether, she mostly cut out sweets from her diet. In the end, she lost eight pounds. But at a certain point Van Ahn stopped weighing herself.
“You have to fall in love with your best body,” she says. “The wedding is one day. I’ve come to the realization that it’s about my life.”
