Bikini body made easy
With a 12-week programme, the 23-year-old personal trainer’s Bikini Body Guide provides everything you would expect from a modern workout: Well-trained arms, toned tummy and strong legs. Bikinis can only dream of being worn on such a body.
Self-confidence
While Kayla Itsines particularly appeals to women who already do sport, she nonetheless deliberately keeps the standard of training low at the start. Especially as the Bikini Body Guide also contains a four-week pre-training programme, which is intended for anyone who has not yet done this type of training or has had a lengthy break from exercising. The workload is decent from the start, but doesn’t ask too much of you. It makes you want more and it’s easy to keep at it. Besides aesthetics and athleticism, this is what Kayla Itsines is about. She doesn’t want to cause frustration, but rather help women feel more comfortable with and in their bodies, thereby gaining more self-confidence and female strength.
Basic concept
After the introduction comes the actual workout plan. The Bikini Body Guide accompanies women over 12 weeks. It offers three different workouts each week. A 52 page glossary provides detailed descriptions with numerous photos of the individual exercises. For complicated exercises you can also visit Kayla’s Instagram page. She often uploads videos of the exercises there. Finally, the "Education" chapter explains the background to strength training.
Training plan
Training starts gently, then gets more difficult and towards the end pushes new limits. In the first four weeks there are two to three strength training workouts, a set of stretching and two to three LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) workouts to complete. Although Kayla talks about 28-minute workouts, it should take about 40 minutes, as every set includes breaks and you should also warm up before exercising and ideally stretch the parts of the body used during exercising afterwards.
The workout really goes up a level in the second block and makes your ‘inner couch potato’ whine. Three to four strength training workouts, two sets of stretching, two to three LISS workouts and then also one to two interval training workouts. Those who make it to this point notice clear results. You’ll even notice initial results after the first training sessions, as at the beginning the individual exercises get easier and easier. And that also motivates you to keep going in the final four weeks. This not only strengthens your body, but also your willpower. Three to four strength training workouts, two sets of stretching, three LISS workouts and two interval training workouts. Towards the end of the programme you are often required to work out twice a day. This contradicts the 27-minute programme which is advertised, but it helps achieve the promised Best Bikini Body, provided that you also adopt the appropriate healthy diet.
Caution
A small precaution for women who don’t want to put too much strain on their joints: Practice the programme’s plyometric exercises carefully. It’s not much help if you have a great bikini body, but can only see the beach from your hotel room, because you are no longer able to move around!