Think Victoria’s Secret model, think totally unattainable and a hardcore workout regime? Or not! Martha Hunt, the Victoria’s Secret model, face of Juicy Couture, Seafolly and Hugo Boss—who also is known for being one of the kick-ass girl squad members in T-Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’ music video—attributes the super feminine and ultra toning workout ‘barre’ as the secret weapon behind her lingerie ready bod.
Ahead of her Angel duties, she spends time sculpting her bod at Xtend Barre, working with founder Andrea Rogers using a mix of traditional ballet and barre moves alongside ankle weights, resistance bands for extra burn and tone.
With summer around the corner in the US and for those of us wanting to work with the ‘summer body made in winter’ philosophy in the Southern Hemisphere, we asked Rogers to share with Amodrn the barre moves she prescribes to Martha to get a bikini bod fast.
5 Barre Moves Martha Hunt Swears By For A Scorching Hot Bod!
“The way I train Martha Hunt and any Victoria’s Secret Angels is the exact same way I train all my Xtend Barre clients! I incorporate exercises like pliés, planks and lunges to lengthen, tone and chisel the muscles. Every session is different from the last and will have you dripping with sweat! I incorporate light hand weights to train the shoulders, biceps, triceps and upper back muscles and in the lead up to a big show, we increase the intensity of training by adding some extra weight—ankle weights, resistance bands, but if you can’t get your hands on these, water bottles will work just fine!” says Andrea Rogers.
1. Relevé Plié
“You can benefit from the burn of a plié no matter where you are!”
- Stand behind a chair and face it with your legs together and toes pointing forward.
- Place your hands on the chair back, but don’t lean on it.
- Squeeze your inner thighs together and lift your heels off the ground, as high as you can.
- Keep tension in your thighs the whole time and pay attention to shoulder position.
- Bend your knees and lower your body to make a 45-degree angle with the floor.
- Without dropping heels, extend your knees to come back up to a standing position.
Repeat 8-16 times for 3 sets.
2. Plank
“A real core burner!”
- Suck in your tummy muscles to make sure there is no pain in the spine.
- Choose your plank variation – either on hands and straight legs or elbows and knees. Modify to your fitness ability!
- The plank line should be long and low.
- Use your breath and hold for 1 minute.
3. Bridge
“Expect to feel the burn in your glutes and hamstrings!”
- Lie on your back with knees bent, legs hip-width apart and arms down by your side.
- Squeeze and activate your glutes and lift your hips up to create a bridge.
- Hold for 30 seconds and then complete 20 hip lifts, making sure you are putting your weight in your heels.
4.Chair Plié
“Chair pliés are great for toning your quads and thighs.”
- Keep your heels, knees and thighs together.
- Focus on keeping your tummy engaged, spine long and chest proud.
- Stand close to the barre and rise up on the balls of your feet.
- Bend your knees to sit back like you are sitting in a chair.
- Your arms should be straight, and shoulders anchored as you sit into to the plié.
- Return to a standing position.
- Repeat 8 times then on final repetition hold the chair plié for eight slow counts, followed by 16 small pulses.
5. Tricep Lunge
“Great for toning arms!”
- Standing in parallel, bend the knees and hinge from your hips to ensure you are leaning slightly forward.
- Reach your right leg behind you so you are in a lunge position.
- Place your right arm long behind you, with your palm facing the ceiling.
- Place your left arm wherever is comfortable and helps you balance.
- Lift your right arm to a challenging position, where you begin to feel the burn in your tricep!
- Pulse your arm up and down for 8-16 repetitions.
- Then try a small circle with your arm and repeat clockwise and anticlockwise for 8-16 repetitions.
- Repeat on the other side using the left leg lunged back, working the left arm.
For a sneak peek into a training session between Andrea and Martha, check out a behind-the-scenes video here!
