Trading the Genes for Good Jeans in 14 Days
By Ava Marques
I have a love hate relationship with the genes I have inherited!
I am convinced that even if I look at pizza online- straight to the hips it would go. I am not complaining! I have been blessed with what a lot of women are willing to go under the knife for, yet like every woman out there, there is that body part that we struggle with and mine happens to be my “cheeks”. Afterall, who doesn’t want to look good in their jeans!
The Plan: Easy but effective!
That’s what I’m after! I was not prepared to change my diet and I hated the idea of exercise. My busy lifestyle just did not afford me the time to trek to the gym and back. And before anyone attempts to scold me, I know we should find time for what’s important but the fact of the matter was I hated exercising. The only recourse I had was to come up with a criteria to help guide my course of action.
Whatever I chose couldn’t exceed 15 minutes a day in total, be low impact, knee friendly and most of all effective.
Challenge Accepted!!!
The Process : Kickbacks and Straight-Line Lifts
In spite of my ambivalence I chose Kickbacks and Straight-Line Lifts.
My motivation was that they would take less than 2 minutes to complete, they could be done standing and the techniques seemed easy.
Only 30 repetitions of each exercise would be done on each leg.
The How
To maximize my efforts, technique was important.
Kickbacks – were done as I stood with both legs shoulder width apart, making sure my back always remained erect and my abs engaged.
My saving grace was that I held unto the wall for extra support. I slightly bent my knees then raised my leg backwards from the hip. I was tempted to lean forward but I kept form. I did this at a slow and controlled pace for 30 repetitions then switched to the other leg.
Standing Straight line Lifts – were done similarly except I raised my legs to the side. For these I imagined my leg being in line with my ear. I rested for about 1 minute between exercises.
Day 1 < – > Day 7
Both exercises burned like hell!
I thought that it would have been simple but I was more out of shape than expected.
Nevertheless, with every burn I envisioned my thighs and glutes firming up and me looking spectacular in my new jeans.
Day 8 < – > Day 14
By the second week, the exercises seemed easier.
I was getting stronger therefore I increased to two sets of 30 in each leg.
With increased sets I noticed an improvement in my posture and my overall leg strength and I could swear that a bit of muscle definition was peeking through as well.
My butt and legs felt tighter.
The Review
It’s day 15 of my quest to being “jeans perfect” and I can honestly say the experience was a fulfilling one.
This experiment has made me look at myself and my love hate relationship with exercise differently. My issue was never with exercise itself but more so due to the unhealthy relationship I had with indiscipline and lack of self care. I went into this with the focus of looking good in my jeans but came out feeling empowered, fitter, dedicated and happier.
As for my body, I have learnt that you may not be able to control the genes you were given but there is something you can do to make them fit right.
