If You Can Get Married To Him, You Can Workout With Him

 

Whether you’re a newbie at the gym or a die-hard fitness guru, every bride and groom wants to look fit, healthy, and glowing. Now, with this bride and groom workout, any soon-to-be-wed couple can spend time together building bonds and their bods.

Let’s start with upper body since that is the most exposed part of any woman; sorry fellas, but you guys are in your tuxes the whole day!

Shoulders

There are three muscle parts to the shoulder: the anterior deltoid (the front muscle), lateral deltoid (middle muscle), and posterior deltoid (back muscle). Provided will be two exercises for each muscle, and if done right, you only need two!

The Anterior Deltoid Front Raise

Both the groom and the bride can do this side by side. Hold one dumbbell in each hand relaxed at your sides, then proceed to raise one arm, holding the dumbbell in a hammer grip (horizontally), extending it in front of your face. You can do this facing each other to make silly faces, or beside each other to keep with a pattern. No matter what, make sure it’s together!

Anterior Deltoid Shoulder Press

This workout goes about by one partner sitting on a bench seat, and the other standing behind to spot. The one on the bench seat holds a barbell at shoulder height with arms in front, shoulders bent, and in close to the body. From this position, push the barbell up towards the sky squeezing the anterior muscles.

With this workout, don’t be afraid to get up close and personal with your soon-to-be-spouse! Barbells can be heavy and after several reps its almost necessary to need a spotter. A spotter is the workout partner that stands aside to help his/her partner finish a full set when the weights become heavy.

For example, when the bride is sitting on a bench while pressing a barbell, the groom stands behind her with his hands gently holding her elbows, on guard to guide them up and down for her assistance. For more information on spotting, click here.

Lateral Deltoid Dumbbell Fly

With this exercise, there is no doubt that the two of you will poke fun at each other! It works similar to that of a bird flapping its wings, start arms low at the sides, holding one dumbbell in each hand, then raise arms to shoulder level while squeezing the lateral (middle) muscle. No worries though, every couple needs a good laugh with each other every now and then.

Lateral Deltoid Shoulder Press

This is a typical shoulder press that focuses more on the lateral deltoid because of the weights being pushed from the sides of the head, rather than in front.

To start, hold the dumbbell weights one in each hand, at the side of the head, then push them upwards so they touch above the head. This initiates different muscle, tearing to work the different shoulder muscle. Again, the bride and groom must take turns spotting each other behind the bench.

Posterior Deltoid Fly

For the bride who really wants to show off her sculpted shoulders on her big day, she needs to focus on the rear delts, otherwise known as the posterior deltoids. These muscles help define beautiful shoulders, ready to be accented by her fitted dress.

To do this exercise, the bride and groom need to pick up their dumbbells, one in each hand, and hang them towards the ground. Lean forward, with head bent so that the shoulder muscles are relaxed and the only muscles working are the posterior deltoids. Then squeeze the rear shoulder muscles to pull up the weights in line with the back, no further.

Posterior Deltoid Posterior Deltoid Row

For the groom that desires to show off his strength, this is the exercise for you. Start with the barbell on the ground with the desired weight plates. Have your body bent forward, with knees bent, with the head and shoulders relaxed, the similar position as before. Then grab the barbell and lift it towards your chest, squeezing the elbows back and tight to the body.

Biceps and Triceps

Progressing onto the next upper body part, the muscle groups that compose the arms: biceps and triceps. Again, there is two exercises provided for each muscle.

Bicep Curls

Bicep curls are probably the most common form of bicep exercises, but also probably the most important. Every woman that walks down the aisle holds a bouquet in her hands, and the biceps are the muscles that give her the ability to carry it.

Performing this exercise begins with the dumbbells held in both hands at the bride and groom’s sides. Bring up the weights to squeeze the biceps (the muscle on the front side of the upper arm), then lower back down to the sides.

Seated Bicep Curls

This is another version of the bicep curl, but it relaxes every other muscle in the arm except for the bicep, thereby making it a target exercise. This is another one for the fellas working out with their almost-brides!

It heavily accents the larger muscles of the arm, so they will definitely be seen through their tuxes. All that is necessary is one dumbbell and a bench. Sit on the bench, hold the dumbbell in the working arm and rest that arm’s elbow on it’s same side knee (i.e. right arm, right knee, et vice versa). Curl the dumbbell up towards the chest, then lower back down and repeat.

Tricep Incline Extension

A common wedding tradition is the famous bouquet throw. Guess which muscles are used in this traditional post-wedding ceremony event? The triceps! Ladies, get those bouquet- throwing muscles ready with the tricep incline extension.

Start by laying on an incline bench holding a barbell. The first position for the exercise is actually holding the barbell above your head, then lowering it towards the floor behind your head while keeping the elbows tightly in. And finally, raising it back up.

Tricep Lying Extension

Another name for this exercise is the skull crusher. So ladies, beware! We do not want you to drop a dumbbell on that beautiful face before the wedding day!

The truth is though, so long as the form is proper, there is no reason for this to cause anymore stress than necessary. Simply lay flat on a bench while holding two dumbbells straight in the air. Then, slowly, lower the dumbbells so the arms are bent 90 degrees and the weights are beside the head.

Chest

The chest shows more visible changes on men than it does for women, but that’s not to say it doesn’t have any effect at all. In fact, for all you lovely ladies out there, exercising the chest helps improve the breast size and keeps them in shape as well. So if you want them at their best on your special day, follow along with these exercises.

Chest Fly

Both the groom and the bride may partake in this chest fly exercise, so ladies, don’t be intimidated! Just let your man take care of you by giving you a little assistance as a spotter. To do so, lay on the incline bench and start with the dumbbells in the air. Proceed to lower them out to the sides, keeping arms bent and chest muscles strong.

Chest Press

This exercise takes proper form to fulfill, so ensure that arms are parallel to each other at all times. Begin laying on the bench press with one dumbbell in each hand. Arms start bent at the chest, then shoot straight upward, before returning towards the chest. Spotters are suggested.

Back

Most women choose an opened back dress to accent their curvy features. If this is you, pay special attention to these back exercises! Back workouts help every woman feel beautifully fit in their white gowns. For the groom, it’s always nice when the tux is a bit snug on the back. Trust me, it is a good thing.

Back T-Bar Row

Although this picture does not depict a two step process, it is quite simple to maneuver. All that is necessary is to be in the squat position with the barbell between the legs. Put the desired weight at the end, like how you would when it is usually used. To pick it up, you could use both of your hands to grip the bar below the weights, or use a metal handle or even a rope handle, just a little something for some added leverage.

Then once you are holding the barbell, pull it up to the chest while squeezing the entire back inward towards the spine. This sounds strange, but flex every muscle with the pull up the bar. Once you get the hang of it, it is quite simple. This is an especially nice workout for the brides with backless dresses.

Back Barbell Row

This barbell row is similar to a previous one used for the posterior shoulders. But this has more emphasis on the mid-to-upper back. By holding the barbell with the palms facing outward, gripping and leaning farther forward, this gives the back muscles more work to do. Which in the end, exercises them more than the shoulders.

Now onto the lower body: the legs and the gluten! Though they may not be seen by the general audience at the wedding, the bride and groom will be able to see these muscles sown at the gym and reap the benefits on the honeymoon.

Legs

Legs to the body are the like the tires of the car, they keep us moving and stable. Bad legs, like bad tires, may move us forward, but they can’t promise to get us where we need to go.

For you brides out there, that would be down the aisle! You want your legs to be lean, muscular, and sexy for your newlywed husband, don’t you? Men, if you’re traditional, you want to carry your newlywed wife through the threshold, don’t you? So follow through on these leg workouts and you’re sure to be at your peak for your wedding.

There is only one example of each muscle because with legs, every exercise works other muscles in the legs, so there is no need for repeats!

Quads

The quads are the top muscle of the leg and they are exercised through lunges. Please be sure to use at least a 10 pound dumbbell or else its the same as using no weight at all. So if you really want those sexy, trimmed legs, be sure to add on the weight.

Find clear space in your workout area to be able to walk through the lunges down the aisle, room, or wherever it is you’re working out! Hold the dumbbell at your sides, then take a long lunge to the front, then follow through without stopping into the next lunge on the other leg, and so on.

Hamstrings

Unless you have a machine, just use a dumbbell and a bench for hamstring curls. Lay with your stomach on the bench and your legs hanging off the side. Put one dumbbell between your feet, and lift it towards your buttocks, pulling up the weight by squeezing the muscle between the buttocks and knee.

Upper Leg Muscles

The upper legs are worked altogether in the form of a squat. The squat combines movements to work the hamstring, the buttocks, and the quads.

The squat is especially beneficial to tone out both the groom and the bride’s legs before the big day, so don’t forget to get your squat on! Spotters are highly recommended so that no injuries are made before the wedding day.

If there is no squat rack, put enough weight on so that you can lift the barbell over your head and onto your traps (the muscles between the neck and shoulder). Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart, and toes pointing outward in the direction of the knees. Bend down so your buttocks dips below knee level, then shoot straight upwards. Make sure you keep knees loose and muscles tight.

Calves

Every female wants her calves to look appealing in her high stilettos. It’s only necessary to go with that gorgeous wedding dress. That being said ladies, never skip out on calves! Gentlemen, you can’t skip out either. Just because we can’t see them through your pants doesn’t mean your wife won’t see them while swimming in the Bahamas.

This is a simple exercise to stimulate the calf muscles. Find a ledge of some sort, whether it be stairs or a stepper, put one foot on the edge and leave the other one dangling at its side. Then, while holding some sort of weight, raise your body up by the foot on the stepper, and lower it back down, switching sides after each leg is finished.

Abs

You can never forget about the abs. In order to be able to breathe on your wedding day in your dress, you will want to work out your abs. Doing a few ab workouts never killed a bride.

Is that really just a normal crunch exercise? Yes, it is! A normal crunch, when done correctly, creates a burn in the abs after 12-20 crunches. Of course, you can always add a dumbbell or a weighted ball to add weight to your crunches, but nothing fancy is necessary.

Just keep your form tight, meaning bring your pelvic bone and rib cage together in the middle to crunch them together. Viola!, the perfect, simple option for the perfect set of abs for the perfect day in the perfect dress. Of course, the wedding party won’t actually be able to see these glorious sets of abs, but the bride and groom will on that honeymoon to the Bahamas.

 

If you’d like, cardio can be done every day or whenever you feel, so long as you focus on the workout beforehand. If you do decide to add cardio to your pre-marriage workouts, bike riding and hiking are two nice ways to spend time together and unwind.