Trainers give advice on how to look your best for swimsuit season

There's something about summertime that brings a change in vision. Perfectly healthy people begin seeing themselves as parts, parts that won't fit neatly into swimsuits.

Too-big thighs, too-soft abs, too-flabby arms and too-big butts prompt them to buy the latest ab-crunching, butt-busting gizmo advertised on TV.

But trainers such as Scott Martin of Big Sky: Fitness for the Human Race said the belief that any one device or particular exercise can reduce one area of the body is misguided.

"If spot reduction worked, people who chewed gum would have a very skinny face," said Martin, who works at several Big Sky centers in the Hartford, Conn., area.

People often do hundreds of crunches but not much else. Beneath the roll of abdominal fat, their muscles are mighty strong, but a six-pack is nowhere in sight.

"Basically, you have to train the whole body. Strength training along with cardiovascular exercise is the best way, along with a good diet," said Toni Craft, group fitness coordinator at Fitness Plus, in an e-mail to the Southeast Missourian.

This way you get an overall-body workout that will build muscle and reduce weight, creating an overall slimming effect.

A comprehensive approach is needed, Martin said, covering diet, cardiovascular exercise and weight-training or strengthening exercises.

"Eighty percent of it is what you put in your mouth," Martin said. "You can exercise till you're blue in the face, but it won't do a whole bunch of good" if you aren't eating wisely.

Martin sometimes sees people reduce their food intake too much, which leads to the metabolism slowing down and the body burning fewer calories.

He favors eating small meals every two to four hours, which keeps the metabolism going, keeps blood sugar stable and helps prevent overeating.

"People think you should work out on an empty stomach, but the opposite is true," said Martin. If a morning exerciser hasn't eaten in 13 hours, instead of burning fat, the body goes into starvation mode. It preserves the fat and burns the lean tissue.

"I'm not talking about having a steak and home fries" for breakfast, said Martin, just a small snack before exercising.

The aerobic or cardio component of a workout can be walking, running, swimming, bicycling, or whatever you choose to get your heart rate up. It should be 30 to 40 minutes long about three to four times a week, Martin said.

Craft, from Fitness Plus, said adding intervals to cardio will spice it up. Alternate walking and jogging and add elevation to "change things up to shock your body," she said in the e-mail.

For strength training, Martin prefers not to use exercise machines. Most adults spend much of every day sitting at work.

"For them to come and sit more at the gym doesn't make sense," Martin said.

He prefers free weights or body weight to build strength. He likes to employ multiple muscle groups at once. Such exercises work more efficiently, he said, because you get stronger faster and burn more calories.

Strengthening is a vital component, he said, because muscle burns more calories than fat; the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate.

He also suggests warming up with "dynamic flexibility" moves -- marching, lunging or doing other moves to warm up the body -- and ending the workout with traditional stretching.

Southeast Missourian features editor Chris Harris contributed to this report.