NikkiFitness Slimnastics: X-​​treme New Workout for Women

There is no shortage of combo workouts out there… dance+martial arts, pilates+rollerblading, even boots that go “boing.” Then there are extreme workouts that separate the body parts so drastically that one day is just for pull-​​ups, the next just 50 ways to do a push-​​up, taking a week and hours of DVDs to get a full body workout in.…

But you shouldn’t have to quit your job to work out full time, combine things that don’t go together, or buy gimmicky equipment! So I decided to design my own no-​​equipment combo workout that is extreme without being ridiculous. I combined training from my college cheerleading and gymnastics days with favorite strengthening yoga poses and vinyasas, then added my boot-​​camp fitness class favorites and personal training results-​​based moves. In fact, I am writing the book on it! Think p90 for females, done in just 30 minutes. Yoga meets cheerleading meets bootcamp!

NikkiFitness “Slimnastics” is an athletic workout, not for beginners, that gets you ripped in a radical new way:
– A yoga-​​based summer sun saluting warm-​​up readies the body
– Slim and tone your legs while melting away fat and cellulite with gymnastic/​cheerleading inspired explosive plyometric cardio drills
– Alternate the cardio intervals with upper body and core-​​cutting balance moves from gymnastics and yoga
– Finished off in a yoga-​​based stretch and cool down for the mind and body.

And it looks fun too! Don’t want to wait for the book? Here are a few sample moves to get you started this week!

Yoga portion– Keep your sneakers on, you are going to need them!

Swimming dolphins work your core, upper back and shoulders while stretching the legs:
Start on all fours and lower your elbows onto the floor. Lift the hips to the sky by straightening the knees. Dropping the head between the shoulders, look at our knees. Keeping the core engaged, move forward so that the shoulders move over the elbows and you are in a fore-​​arm plank position. Then use your upper back, core and shoulder strength to push back into an inverted V.

Make harder: when moving hips back towards feet, lift off your elbows into a down dog and lift one leg. Swim forward into dolphin with one leg hovering off the floor, push back to down dog and switch legs.

Stepping off the mat sets the scene for cheerleading inspired moves like  X and split jumps.

Perform 3 squats in fast succession counting 1,2,3. On the “and,”  jump into the air using your leg muscles and punching the hands to the sky. Land on “four. Repeat.” I– squat/​stand, 2– squat/​stand, 3– squat/​stand, and– jump,  4– land.” Make it advanced: turn the X into a toe touch (pictured).

Visual balancing poses bring the heart rate down and the mind in focus to prepare for upper body burn and core-​​cutting to sculpt the arms without using weights, boost the bosom, strengthen the back, stretch the muscles and shred the abdominals.

Plank heel-​​stretch: Start in a side plank position on your right hand (directly under shoulder) with left foot stacked on right foot. Balance by engaging the arm and core muscles, and lift and lower your left leg to burn the outer thigh. Repeat on the other side. Next get back into the side plank and grab your left insole with your left hand. Stretch the hamstrings as you lift the hips and pull the heel to the sky. Hold for 10–15 seconds and repeat on the other side.

That’s a tiny taste of this killer routine. Slimnastics uses your own body weight and balance to create shapes you never thought you could get into, while shaping the body in a way you only dreamed of. It will let you clean the over-​​sized clothes out of your closet  — along with those hours of X-​​treme DVDs, kangaroo boots and other contraptions.

Tags: abs stretching yoga