Your obliques! They’re awesome. Why, you ask? Allow me to explain.

Most people think of their obliques as the “side” abdominal muscles, on either side of the “six pack” (actually called the rectus abdominis). That’s sort of true – your obliques are visible on either side of the rectus abdominis. But they’re actually a deeper layer of muscle – two layers, in fact – situated underneath the rectus abdominis. And those two layers of muscle wrap around your waist, kind of like a corset.

Blah blah blah, but what does it all mean? Here’s the thing: as you tone and strengthen your obliques, they actually pull in, making your waist smaller. Like a corset! But without whalebone and pain. And because I don’t advocate pain or the killing of whales for their bones, here’s an oblique workout that will slim your waist the natural way.

1. Bicycle

You know this one! An oldie and a goodie. Lift your head, neck, and shoulders off the floor. Bend your right knee and twist your upper body toward it, then switch and twist toward the left leg. Repeat without stopping for one minute. Imagine pulling your bellybutton toward your spine the entire time, so your abdominals are scooping in, not bulging out.

2. Side Plank

Hold on the right side for 30 seconds, then switch and hold on the left. While this might feel like a big arm and back workout, your obliques are really what’s supporting you here. Think of the same idea – your bellybutton pulling in toward your spine – to maintain the alignment of your back.

What I’m wearing: top by The North Face, pants by Soybu, shoes by Nike.

Garnet is a student at Columbia University in New York City. She is “that person” who starts dancing at a party when everyone else is standing around, and if there were a Facebook stalking Olympics, she would be a gold medalist. She also loves cheesy 90s music, and almost died of happiness when Vanilla Ice retweeted her. Once. Follow her on Twitter @garnethenderson.

Though it doesn’t really seem like it (since my feet are still frozen from my walk home from class….3 hours ago), summer is slowly creeping up on us. And with it, itsy bitsy, teeny weeny bikinis.

[Insert scary movie scream here.]

If the thought of your winter pooch hanging out over the top of your swimsuit bottom isn’t enough to motivate you to get to the gym, perhaps looking at pictures of uber sexy celebs prancing around in their bikinis will do the trick. Or make you cry. Seriously, look! Then tell me you’re not itching to do some jumping jacks.

Ready to GTL (minus the T and L)? Yeah, me too. I need to get Gaga abs and a Kardashian butt by June. And here are just the workouts to make that happen:

Whip your abs into shape:
Not liking the extra flab around your midsection? Here are 8 moves guaranteed to flatten those abs by summer.

Get a bikini-ready butt:
I figure skated for all of high school and then some, so I never really had to worry about my legs or butt. But now that I’m not coaching or competing, I’ve kind of fallen into a rut. And by “into a rut” I mean “my butt is jiggly and it needs to not be jiggly so I can look amazing next to my ex boyfriend’s new girlfriend.” And these 3 quickie butt-toning moves should do just the trick. Read More »

Although it’s not swimsuit season anymore (moment of silence…..), you don’t have to give up on those 6-pack dreams. Sure, your thick-knit sweaters will be keeping 90% of your body covered up for the next 6 months, but by keeping up your workout routine now, you’ll eliminate that bathing-suit-shopping-dressing-room-meltdown later. Plus, bathing suit or not, 6-packs are hot. Even if you’re the only one seeing it.

And with this easy to follow guide, you can get one…from the privacy of your dorm room! Print it out, tack it to your wall and crunch away. Read More »

“For this workout you’ll need a roman chair, a set of 5 pound weights, 10 pound weights, and 12.5 pound weights, a Bosu ball, an incline bench, a cable machine, a pull-up bar, two resistance bands, a mat and a partner.”

WTF?

Whenever I see workouts in magazines/online that tell me that I need 23,494,201 pieces of equipment to get a full-body workout all I think is, “I’ll stick to the elliptical thankyouverymuch!” But while the elliptical is a great cardio workout, it’s not enough to get into shape and stay healthy. A girl’s gotta lift some weights.

But where? And how?

Typically, the weight room on college campuses is the “man’s domain” (as we control the cardio machine kingdom), so walking in there – never-mind actually using different machines while frat guys look on with tongues hanging out – seems less than appealing for many women. You think I’m gonna do some squats while that meat head looks on? No thank you.

And that’s pretty much why I designed this workout. The routine hits all the important areas of the body and doesn’t require a lot of time, equiptment, or beefy guys staring at you as you fumble with the inner/outer thigh machine. All you need is one flat bench and a set of weights, anywhere between 5 and 15 pounds depending on your strength level.

I recommend starting with the biggest muscles (legs) and then moving on from there, but the order is totally up to you! Read More »