fitness

Sam Frost's personal trainer talks about how she got fit and healthy before The Bachelorette.

The Bachelorette has consumed our Wednesday and Thursday nights, dominated office watercooler chats and now it can infiltrate your workouts too.

We spoke to Sam Frost‘s personal trainer Blake Worrall-Thompson (ironic, we know!) about her fitness routine and it’s one you can try (maybe in the ad breaks?).

“Sam’s main goal was to get back into her pre-Bachelor shape, where her weight and health took a bit of a battering,” he says.

Like many of us, exercise may not have been Frost’s favourite thing to do, but she was committed to making a gradual but sustainable difference.

“It was important to keep it intense but as interesting as possible. We focussed on high impact and high attack weight training in order to burn fat. Sam was training five days a week – three days of weights and two days of cardio,” explains Worrall-Thompson.

The workouts

Frost’s exercise regimen was a mix of two strength-based workouts – Tabata and Worrall-Thompson’s own ‘Sexy 300’ workout.

Tabata

Tabata is a time-structured workout, that involves 20 seconds of high-intensity work, followed by 10 seconds of recovery. You do each exercise eight times for a mini four minute workout before moving on to the next exercise.

Worrall-Thompson recommends working through:

  • Jumping lunges: Beginning with a normal lunge, ensuring your front leg is at a 90 degree angle in the squat position and your back leg is straight behind you. Jump and swap legs around, so the front leg is now the back one and vice versa. Make sure you keep your chest and torso upright and engaged.
  • Push ups: Place hands on the ground under your shoulders and lean on toes. Lower your body until your chest touches the floor (or as far as you can go) and then push back up.
  • Squat jumps: Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, do a regular squat then engage core and jump. On your (controlled) landing, go back into the squat position – that’s one rep.
Squat jump demonstration. Image via iStock.
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  • Plank: Starting in a press up position with your weight resting on your forearms, make sure your body forms a straight line from shoulder to ankles. Engage your core by sucking in your belly button and hold.
  • Bench dips: Gripping the edge of a bench, position your feet together with legs out straight. Lower your body straight down slowly and move back up quickly, making sure your elbows are pointed back and your back upright.
  • Leg raises: Keeping your legs as straight as possible, slowly raise them perpendicular to the floor. Hold the contraction at the top for a second, then slowly lower them back down to the start position. (Post continues after gallery.)

Sexy 300

Worrall-Thompsons' Sexy 300 workout involves 30 reps of 10 exercises for 300 in total, with the aim of completing the whole workout as quickly as you can.

"It was a great progressive one for Sam as you each time you can try and do it faster and lift heavier weights," he says.

  • 30 walking lunges: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands on your hips. Step one leg forward, flexing the knees to drop your hips, moving until your rear knee nearly touches the ground. Repeat.
  • 30 push ups: Place hands on the ground under your shoulders and lean on toes. Lower your body until your chest touches the floor (or as far as you can go) and then push back up.
  • 30 Kettlebell Swings: Holding the kettlebell between your legs with two hands, bend your hips keeping the arch in your back and squeeze your glutes to push your hips forward and swing the weight up.
  • 30 Bodyweight rows: Similar to a reverse push up, find a strong object or bar that is about arms lengths from the ground. Lying with your back on the floor, pull your body up so your chest touches the object.
  • 30 single leg deadlifts: Standing straight with the kettlebell in hand, extend the same side leg up and backwards as far as it will go, leaning your chest forwards. (Post continues after gallery.)
  • 30 bench dips: Gripping the edge of a bench, position your feet together with legs out straight. Lower your body straight down slowly and move back up quickly, making sure your elbows are pointed back and your back upright.
  • 30 squat jumps: Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, do a regular squat then engage core and jump. On your (controlled) landing, go back into the squat position - that's one rep.
  • 30 curl and press (dumbbells): In a standing position, hold a weight in each hand. Lift to your chest, then push above your head and back down to the starting position. Repeat.
  • 30 sit ups: Lying on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, place hands behind ears with elbows out to the side. Engage abs and use your chest to lift your shoulders off the floor and raise your body towards your knees, then lower back down again.
  • 30 leg raises: Keeping your legs as straight as possible, slowly raise them perpendicular to the floor. Hold the contraction at the top for a second, then slowly lower them back down to the start position.

Like all things in life, things done properly take time and Worrall-Thompson says even Frost had times she wanted to quit.

Sam Frost doing The Colour Run. Image via Instagram.

 

"Sam's the first to admit motivation was hard for her at times - in 12 weeks you go through a lot of headspaces but she started to see results and that was motivation. She's an impressive individual. When it comes to motivation, keep it consistent and create that habit - make it second nature and it will run a lot smoother."

According to Worrall-Thompson, the key thing was ensuring that the workout was progressive, building in stages to ensure continuing results.

"Training alone can also be a lot harder, so don't be afraid to do as Sam did and do it with a friend for extra motivation," he says.

Will you try the workout?