The 28-Day Bikini Body Workout Plan

If the thought of wearing your bikini in public for the first time this year makes you want to dive headfirst into your sweater collection, it’s time to change your training. We have just the thing for you — our four-week program is designed to blast fat, boost metabolism and build muscle, getting you in knockout bikini body shape in record time. Ready? Set? Get after it.

Summer Shock
The method behind the body-blasting madness

1. HIGH AND LOW
Studies show that combining heavy and light weights in a weekly training split helps transform the body more effectively than relying solely on one or the other for weeks at a time. High-rep workouts done with lighter weights burn tons of calories during the session, while low-rep workouts with heavier weights increase calorie burning for 24 to 48 hours afterward.

2. TURN UP THE HEAT
This program employs both a weekly heavy-weight/low-rep workout and a light-weight/high-rep workout — as well as a third workout using moderate weights for good measure — to give you a completely new full-body workout every other day of the week. You’ll turn up the heat on your fat cells even more by adding 20–30 minutes of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) immediately after each training session. It’s not for the faint of heart — but then, neither is that bikini.

3. REST
Fatigued? That’s what recovery days are for. On the days between each lifting session, all you have to worry about is one 45-minute session of cardio, staying between 65 and 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. That, and getting ready for the next day’s workout.

4. SWITCH IT UP
Using a different method every time you hit the gym and different exercises in each workout will keep your body in a near-constant state of shock for the entire four weeks. If you find the workouts becoming slightly easier from one week to the next, however, just increase weights on your superset and triset days, or increase the reps in the circuit.

Monday: Low-Rep Day

This workout uses heavy weight and low volume to increase overall strength while adding a little size. By either pairing an upper-body move with a lower-body one, or a pushing muscle group with a pulling muscle group, one muscle will rest while the other is working. Excess post exercise oxygen consumption will be at its highest with this workout, burning additional calories for 24–48 hours afterward. 

Intensity Technique: Supersets.
What it is: Two exercises are performed back-to-back with no rest between.

Pushup to Dumbbell Row
• Assume a pushup position on the floor with a dumbbell in each hand, arms slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, abs tight. • Lower your upper body to the floor and perform a pushup.
• At the top of the pushup, pull the dumbbell in your left hand up parallel with the plane of your back and hold for one count. Lower it to the floor, perform another pushup, and repeat on the right side.

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
• Standing with your feet hip-width apart, hold a pair of dumbbells in front of your legs with an overhand grip, chest high, knees slightly bent and a natural arch in your lower back.
• Keeping your head up and maintaining the arch in your lower back, lean forward from the hips, letting the dumbbells slide down your legs to the floor.
• Reverse the motion and push your hips forward, squeezing your butt as you return to standing.

Dumbbell Sumo Squat
• Hold a dumbbell in front of your body and take an exaggeratedly wide stance with your toes angled out 30–40 degrees and your arms between your legs.
• Keeping your chest up, eyes forward and weight on your heels, squat down as if you are sitting on a chair.
• Hold for one count at the bottom of the movement, then squeeze your glutes as you return to the standing position.

Walking Dumbbell Lunge
• With a dumbbell in each hand and your arms at your sides, take a giant step forward.
• Keeping your chest up and abs tight, bend your front knee to bring your torso straight down toward the floor. Your front thigh should be parallel to the floor and your back thigh perpendicular to it; make sure your back knee doesn’t hit the floor.
• Press through your front heel to return to a standing position.
• Repeat with your other leg. Continue traveling forward in a straight line for reps.

Leg Extension
• Sit on a leg-extension machine with the footpad resting firmly across the front of your ankles. Point your toes toward the ceiling.
• Extend your legs straight out without locking your knee at the top of the movement.
• Squeeze your quads for a count at the top, then slowly bend your knees back to 90 degrees to return to the start position.

Barbell Upright Row
• Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, grasp a barbell with both hands slightly outside of your hips and wrap your thumbs around the bar.
• Keeping your shoulders back, chest up and core tight, with a slight bend in your knees, pull the bar up your torso until it’s a few inches below your chin.
• Hold at the top position for one or two counts, then lower it along the same path and repeat for reps.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise
• Hold a pair of dumbbells in front of your quads.
• With a slight bend in your elbows and knees, lift your arms out to the sides until your hands are at shoulder level, palms facing the floor.
• Pause at the top of the movement, then slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Standing Barbell Military Press
• Grasping a barbell in front of your thighs with your hands about shoulder-width apart, bend your elbows to flip it to the top of your chest.
• Keeping a slight bend in your knees and your abs tight, press the barbell straight up overhead until your elbows are extended but not locked out.
• Hold the barbell at the top of the movement for one or two counts, then lower it back to chest level. Repeat for reps.

Wednesday: High-Rep Day

The high volume and low intensity of this circuit is all about burning calories. Sandwiched between the two more intense workouts of the split, it serves as an active recovery from the first workout that still allows you to prepare for the third.

Intensity Technique: Circuit Training
What it is: A series of exercises performed consecutively with minimal to no rest between exercises. One set of each exercise performed constitutes one circuit.

Box Jumps
• Set up a box or a step bench so you have a platform 18 to 30 inches high in front of you.
• With your feet a few inches apart, bend your knees and spring onto the top of the platform, landing softly in a squat position.
• Step quickly back down to the floor and repeat for reps.

Dumbbell Squat to Shoulder Press
• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells at shoulder level with your palms facing inward.
• Bend your knees 90 degrees while pushing your hips back to descend into a squat position.
Keep your upper body erect and descend until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor.
• Push through your heels to stand back up while simultaneously extending your arms to raise the dumbbells straight overhead.
• Pause at the top for one count, then bring the dumbbells back down to shoulder height as you simultaneously descend back into the squat position.

Bent-Over Dumbbell Skier
• Bend your knees slightly and lean forward from the hips until your torso is parallel to the floor, keeping a slight arch in your lower back.
• With a dumbbell in each hand, let your arms hang straight down, palms facing each other. • Keeping your elbows locked, push your arms up and back until they’re slightly above the plane of your body.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades and lats at the top for one or two counts, then lower the dumbbells.

Rotational Walking Lunge With Medicine Ball
• Hold a medicine ball in front of your body with both hands, elbows locked at 90 degrees.
• Taking a giant step forward with your right leg to perform a walking lunge (described on page 38), twist your torso to the right, making sure to keep it perpendicular to the ground as you descend toward the floor.
• Hold for one count, then twist your torso back to a neutral position as you rise back up.
• Taking a giant step forward with your left foot, twist your torso to the left as you descend again. Continue traveling forward until all reps are completed.

Exercise Ball Dumbbell Chest Press
• Lie back on a stability ball so that your chest and shoulders are supported, neck in line with your spine and feet flat on the floor.
• Hold a pair of dumbbells at the sides of your chest with your elbows pointing to the floor directly below them.
• Press the weights directly up until your arms are extended but elbows are unlocked. Hold for a count, then lower and repeat for reps.

FrIday: Moderate-Rep Day

This workout is geared to build muscle through high volume and moderate intensity. The exercises in each triset hit the same muscle in different ways or an assisting muscle group to bring you to fatigue.

Intensity Technique: Trisets
What it is: Three exercises performed back-to-back-to-back with no rest.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise to Front Raise
• Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand, perform a lateral raise.
• Lower the weights back to your sides, then shift the dumbbells in front of your quads.
• Keeping an overhand grip and your elbows straight but not locked, lift the weights directly out in front of you until they’re parallel with your shoulders.
• Lower the weights, shift them back to your sides, and repeat for reps.

Exercise Ball Dumbbell Flye
• Lie back on a stability ball so your neck and shoulder blades are supported, your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are bent 90 degrees. Raise your hips to keep your torso parallel to the floor and contract your abs to support your lower back.
• Hold a pair of dumbbells with your palms facing each other, arms extended straight over your shoulders, with a slight bend in the elbows.
• Keeping your wrists locked straight and the same bend in the elbows, lower the dumbbells in a wide arc out to the sides until they’re about level with your shoulders.
• Squeeze your chest as you return the dumbbells along the same arcing path back to the starting position.

Bent-Over Dumbbell Triceps Kickbacks
• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be by your sides, palms facing each other.
• With a slight bend in your knees, lean forward from the hips until your body forms a 45-degree angle to the floor.
• Bend your elbows 90 degrees and bring your upper arms in line with the plane of your back. Pin your elbows to your sides.
• Extend your hands straight back to lift the weights in an arc toward the ceiling until your arms are almost straight. Pause for a moment, squeeze the triceps, then bend your elbows to return the weights to the starting position.

Jump Lunges
• Take a giant step forward with one foot and descend into a lunge position.
• Jump straight up and scissor your legs in midair, landing with your other foot forward, and descend into a lunge again.

Dumbbell Push Press • Using an overhand grip on the dumbbells in each hand, lift your arms and bend your elbows to bring them level with your ears.
• With your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees and push your hips back until you’re in roughly a quarter-squat position.
• Explode upward from your legs onto your toes, simultaneously pressing the weights straight overhead to full arm extension. As you settle back into the quarter-squat position, lower the weights alongside your ears.
• Though you are exploding forcefully upward, your feet should stay in contact with the ground throughout this movement.