Train Like A Pro: Getting Fit for Summer

^{All photos by Sterling Galli (@Galliphotography / Galliphotography.com)}

With Robby Hayes

With warmer weather on the horizon, the pressure to get in shape for summer can be daunting. Pool parties, beach vacations, and lighter, tighter tees can make most of us feel like we have to crank up the intensity when it comes to our workouts. With April behind us, we can finally start to shed the mass we gained in winter, right?

Robby Hayes, known for his roles in ABC's hit series “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise" doesn’t believe in adjusting your fitness approach according to the seasons. As an L.A. resident, he sees the benefit in year-round training.

So we asked Robby to give us his tips for getting (and staying) in shape, and what really works when it comes to consistent routines:

Big is out, Lean is in

How often have you heard someone say, I’m working on my winter body or time to put on mass for winter months or GAINS, GAINS, GAINS? If you’re like me, you’ve heard those phrases more times than you can count.

Recently though, the trend has started to shift. People are realizing that putting on a lot of mass just to “shred it down” come summer isn’t necessary. And in my mind, it never has been. It’s like working hard for something you’ve always wanted, and then letting it all go until you’re ready to maintain it again.

I mean, would you put your car in the garage during winter and not use it for four to six months? If so, there’s a good chance that it could take a little while to get that ride up and running again! Why should your body be any different?

The answer is: it shouldn’t. So what’s the easiest way I’ve found to get a summer-ready body? Keep it up year round.

To understand my thinking, you should know where my experience with training began. When I was young, I was a swimmer. Frankly, that’s a bit of an understatement. I considered swimming my full-time job from ages 13 to 23. Swimming decided which high school I attended, paid for my undergraduate degrees in college, and took me to the 2012 Olympic Trials in Omaha where I competed to make the team in four different events.

You’ve probably seen the stats about Michael Phelps having to eat 25,000 calories a day just to maintain his diet while training. Yes, swimming is hard. But on the plus side, we could eat WHATEVER we wanted.

Well now I’m 29 years old, on a flight twice a week, and I’m not swimming ten miles a day like I used to. In fact, I haven’t swum in a lap in over six years. So how does my body adjust?

Running and Heart Rate Control

Like most former athletes, I’ve had to change my approach to working out. Which brings me to my number one training tip: I call it my “Body Cheat Code.”

It all started when I began doing tons of cardio because I thought my body would have a hard time adjusting to not swimming five hours a day. During that transition period, I was running close to seven-to-nine miles a day, but it left me too exhausted for the abs, weights, and lifts I was supposed to do afterwards.

So I found a shortcut. I started sprinting one-to-two miles at a rapid pace right before my workout. This tricked my heart rate into staying up throughout the duration of that workout, (assuming I didn’t take massive breaks between sets).

Even when I’m doing my bicep curls for the girls, my heart rate and breathing is more rapid than if I were just starting my workout cold turkey. I sweat more during my workouts, my breathing remains shorter in between lifting sets, and overall I burn twice the amount of calories in one workout with my sprint start than without it.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a great technique for getting ready for the summer. But if you’re looking for long-lasting results, I recommend trying this approach year-round.

Robby Hayes, 29 years old and a Florida native, is best known for his roles in ABC's hit series “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise.” Robby now lives in Los Angeles, California where he leads an entrepreneurial, influential, and successful lifestyle. Find him at @roberthunter89 on Instagram.