Mister GoLightly -- Not so FIT, Not so FABULOUS
Lately Mister GoLightly has been forced to come to a very sad and true realization -- I am not as fit or fabulous as I had previously convinced myself. Like many others in the world of fashion, over the years I have learned the foolish tricks of skipping meals, crash dieting or even -- over exercising. But the honest truth of the matter is that none of these things have made me truly look or most importantly, feel any better. I think of lot of it has to do with the fact I have simply been cheating myself out of the proper exercise routine and nutritional program. But all of this is about to change. Yes Sir! Mister GoLightly is about to grab the dumbbells by the bars (or whatever you call that rod that holds the two balls together) and making a change... Operation "Fit and Fabulous" is starting today!
Now in order to achieve this I have decided to create myself an ultimate body sculpting vision board filled with various body parts of my favorite celebrity man and lady candy. OK, when it comes to the lady parts, I've just added them in for context, inspiration and their sheer dedication. But no matter how much I find myself cutting and pasting body parts I must admit the one defining area that has always eluded my faux fabulous frame are the perfect abs...
Body Beautiful -- Vision Board
I know that I am not alone in my quest for acquiring the perfect abs so usually I try to ignore this section of my body altogether. I will admit there are times when I see the random guy or gal at Starbucks with there little tummy gently pressed against the counter ordering their Grande-mocha-latte-salta-shaka or something like that, and I think to myself, "How cute, a little gut." Of course, I would think how cute because I have somehow tricked myself into believing that I'm a little better off in the mid-section. But that's not true at all. I've just found a better way of camouflaging my imperfections or reverting to the old Fashion 101 trick of sucking it in. You see, in the fashion world there is always someone telling you to suck something in, suck something up or surgically suck something out. But today, all of this is about to change. And I've decided to start with the Holy Grail of body betterment -- the abs.
For inspiration and instruction, enter stage left, Mr. Gregg Cook of EQUINOX -- The ABINATOR!!! In all of my years of attempting to find the "body beautiful" -- I've found it all in 1 minute and 35 seconds of pure physical perfection. Men -- at this point -- you are going to want to turn your computer screen slightly out of the eyesight of your better half, as you never want her to have this video evidence to compare you to. And women, you are going to be forced to gently fold down the corner of the page and close Fifty Shades of Grey and grab your morning coffee or Bloody Mary (no judgment), and prepare yourself for this hot and steamy video... All clear? Now press PLAY.
What did I tell you? THE ABINATOR!!! Mr. Cook along with Lisa Wheeler of EQUINOX have created the perfect work out routine to get us all started. I hope you didn't think I was taking this challenge alone. Oh, no -- all of you are joining me for the ride. Trust me, I know what you are saying: "This routine looks like it is for the professionals." But not at all. According to the pros, it's not the level of difficulty that matters -- but the outline and principles of movement. One such abdominal rule to abide by: always start with stability. "It's sort of like flipping the switch so you're activating the muscles that might have been sleeping," says Gregg Cook. "When you hold something like a plank, you get a really strong neural signal from the central nervous system to the core. Once everything is lit up, from there you're just sort of pouring gas on the fire." Gas on the fire -- now he's just taunting us to take the challenge.
According to the professionals, there is a science to perfect abs and contrary to popular belief, it has absolutely nothing to do with how many sit-ups and crunches you can do. Now, I don't have time to break it all down for you, as if I could, but according to EQUINOX's senior creative program manager, Lisa Wheeler, "The best moves will have one focus, like rotation for example, but while one muscle group is rotating, others are stabilizing and/or mobilizing to move the body synergistically." Ms. Wheeler goes on to say, "This approach is going to give you a much deeper abdominal workout than, say, crunches, during which most of the rest of the body is not engaged except the rectus abdominis, which is actually the most superficial muscle in the abdominal bunch." Now how's that for science. Rectus Abdominis -- I dare you to say that fast five times. And most importantly, I dare you to join me on my journey to becoming "Fit and Fabulous."
All photos courtesy of www.mistergolightly.com.