Want a road-ready body for Carnival?

Carnival season has arrived. 

And, for the avid soca-philes among us, the time is nigh for an unending stream of rimed to series of weeks-long partying will culminate on April 27 with the traditional Road March.

Should you be readying or already snagged that costume to be among the thousands of revellers parading the streets of the capital city.

Krystal James, a personal trainer at Alpha's Iron Den Gym and a former Carnival road marcher, shares tips with Loop on how individuals preparing for the big day can kick-start effective home workouts without needing a gym membership.

James breaks down four exercises to build your endurance for Carnival Sunday's long hours of dancing, prancing under the blanket of that blazing morning-into-afternoon sun. 

Commit to a 30- to 45-minute walk at least three times weekly, and add weights to make it more challenging, gym instructor Krystal James advises. (Photo: Marlon Reid)

First up, walking.
The fitness expert strongly recommends beginning a 30 to 45-minute walk at least 3 to 4 times a week.

"Building your steps, that's good cardio," James says. "It's good for the heart, good for building the stamina needed to endure the road march all day long." 
When walking, do so by carrying weights such as dumbbells in both hands to improve the exercise routine. Choose weight-size (5-, 10-, 15-pounds or more) that are challenging but manageable, she suggests. If you don't have access to dumb bells, you can easily opt to carry water bottles, filled with either water or stones instead. You can determine whether a small 16-ounce size or the larger gallon bottle suits you better.

Of squatting exercises, James says: "It's a full-bodied exercise and takes into consideration your core...and it also helps build the glutes". (Photo: Marlon Reid)

Squat-time!

"We will all be on the road, gyrating and 'wining', so we are building the legs' strength to keep us going throughout the day," she rationalises of why squats make a fantastic workout.
"It's a full-bodied exercise and takes into consideration your core, it also helps build the glutes. It's a foundation exercise that is a staple and good for building the body all-around."

James says squats using your own body weight is an adequate challenge. Commit to doing 100 of them.
Squatting is standing with your feet slightly greater than your shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing ahead. Slowly descend, bending through the hips, knees and ankles. Stop when your knees reach a 90-degree angle. Then return to the starting position.

"If weights are available, then you can use a manageable but challenging weight, and do the same 100 repetitions of squats," she notes.
Weights that can be utilised in this exercise can be dumb bells, or similarly to the water bottles used for the previously mentioned walking warm-up up.

Lunges are great for leg strength and building the quad muscles. (Photo: Marlon Reid)

Why lunges?
The third routine to add to your pre-road march warm-up are lunges.
The Alpha's Iron Den Gym trainer points out that "these [lunges} are also very good for leg strength as well, since we need the legs, lunges help to build the quad and the glutes." Lunges build the butt, she stresses, cheekily noting "you know you have to look nice out there in the costume, so the legs have to look nice and carry you through the days, squats and lunges are two ideal exercises for that."
She recommends doing at least 50 lunges on each leg, and 100 lunges in total. To execute the exercise, step forward with one foot and lean forward until your knee reaches a 90-degree angle and your rear knee is parallel to the ground. Then return to the starting position.

Beginners who are jump roping should start with 100 to 200 skips a day. (Photo: Marlon Reid)

Skipping along...

According to James, skipping is a great workout to increase stamina. "It's tied in with the dancing and jumping up on the road for the whole day. So it's very good practice to bring you into Carnival," she tells LOOP.
"Jump [ing] ropes is a full-bodied exercise... the heart, legs, upper body, everything is getting worked all at once," the fitness expert says. "You are sweating and shredding the body down for the big day. It helps with your breathing and is excellent cardio."
For someone who has been inactive and just starting to skip, she suggests starting with 100 to 200 skips a day. However, should an individual be more active, "they can do anywhere between 300 to 500 on a daily basis, or they could even take it up a notch if they are more advanced, and skip for a minute, take a break, then skip for another minute, and try that for 10 rounds."

By Omar Tomlinson