It’s that time of year again when we need to get our bodies ready for those beaches…..

Getting into shape for the summer doesn’t mean you need to go join a gym and spend hours upon hours sweating and straining

There are a number of very simple, easy exercises that can be done almost anywhere

One of the simplest set of exercises involves isometrics

Isometric exercises are basically contracting a specific muscle and holding that contraction for a number of seconds. You can do these exercises anytime, anywhere, and no one will even know you’re doing them.

Contracting your stomach muscles and holding the contraction for as long as you’re able is one of the best exercises to flatten your abs. You’ll gradually be able to maintain the contraction for longer and longer periods of time.

Isometric exercises are frequently recommended by personal trainers because there is no strain on the joints and have very little risk for injury.

The old-fashioned lunge is one of the absolute best exercises for getting the legs toned and into shape

Start with your feet shoulder-width apart. Then lunge forward with one foot, bending your knee until it nearly touches the ground. Make sure your lunging knee does not go beyond your foot- the lunging leg should never go beyond a 90 degree angle.

You can do lunges as a static exercise where you start and end at the same spot each time, or you can do them as walking lunges (kind of like taking giant steps each time). If you choose to do static lunges, you in addition to lunging forward, you can lunge to the side and to the rear to work nearly every muscle in your legs.

Another fantastic leg exercise is the squat

Again starting with your feet about shoulder width apart, you simply move like you’re going to sit down, but right before your bottom hit the chair, stand up again. You can alter the position of your feet (feet together, feet shoulder width, and feet wide apart) in order to work out more muscles.

To help tone your arms, you can do good old-fashioned push-ups or you can do “wall-outs”

A wall-out is where you push yourself out away from a wall. Place your hands against the wall so that you form a diamond with your thumbs and forefingers, this helps to position your elbows correctly to target both the bicep and tricep muscles. Then push yourself away from the wall.

One variation on the old-fashioned push-up which can help target that “bingo wing” (the flabby bit under your arm) is to put your feet up on a step, a chair, or whatever sturdy element you have handy and then performing the push-up.

As you can see, you really don’t need fancy equipment or even huge chunks of time to go to a gym in order to get ready for the beach. All you need is a few seconds throughout your day to do some quick and simple exercises, and you’ll be all set to show off your new bikini body this summer.