Still time to get legs ready for swimsuits

I love spring time. You whip off the slacks, have a good look at your legs and decide that swimming is out for another year. Now, why do your legs look like that? I'll tell you why, because you sit all day, deny yourself water, eat lots of salty fatty foods, and you DON'T EXERCISE! That's putting the blame where it belongs.

No one is happy with the condition of their legs. They're either too fat, too muscular, blue (veins), or they're w-a-y too short. And, most legs have funny little areas of puckered skin. It's called fat. Have a good look at your kids' legs. They don't seem to have problems that adults have when it comes to maintaining good, smooth looking legs.

Kids are continuously active, burn up extra fat calories in movement, and they drink plenty of water.

Why am I picking on your legs? Because legs are the part of you that show the most when summer comes. Lest you forget, there are other areas that hang out when you put on a swimsuit, the bags under your arms for example. And how much of you falls out behind? Swimsuits are cut up the side to the armpits so you have a lot of area to fall out. Boy, what a dismal picture.

You have about eight weeks before someone will ask you to show up in a swimsuit. You could wear exercise tights in the pool, borrow a LARGE T-shirt, or get the flu.

Instead, how about using those eight weeks to get rid of your winter fat before you present those legs to the public?

Legs need activity and exercise, plenty of oxygen and less calories. When you do floor leg exercises, make sure that your body alignment is correct. Keep your body straight on its side from shoulder to heel before you do leg lifts and inner- thigh work. It will work on both sides of the leg and those saddle bags. too.

Eight weeks of hard work can give you a good start on losing five to 10 pounds, and maybe give you a peek at your normal waistline. Slow arm work with weights can whittle down those underarm bags, and an hour of hard exercise each day may help your bottom fit into your swimsuit.

Nothing spurs a person on like a timed incentive. In eight weeks, you can look a lot better if you make the effort. All it takes is time and the need to wear a swimsuit.

• Jerry Vance is the owner of Sweat Shop/Wet Sweat. She offers classes through the Carson City Recreation and Aquatics Center and is a fitness instructor for the Carson City Senior Citizens Center.