Healthy Hollywood: Get Movin’ Monday – Kelly Osbourne Raises The Bar On Fitness!

Kelly Osbourne is the poster girl for a hard-earned body! The 26-year-old shed nearly 50 pounds and looks fab!

Now a “healthy” size 2, the reality star credits her toned physique partially to an intense sculpting program called The Bar Method, which is also favored by Drew Barrymore and Denise Richards, who workout at Los Angeles’ Bar Method studios.

The newly svelte Kelly has called it hard-core, adding, “I hate life while I’m doing it, but it changes my body so quickly!”

“The Bar Method is a ballet barre based exercise that combines isometrics, interval training, dance conditioning, and sports rehabilitation to quickly and safely burn fat,” states, co-owners Kristin Kelleher and Amy Duffey, of NYC’s Bar Method studio.

Duffey and Kelleher claim a 60-minute class blasts fat and tones muscles and newbies who take between 3 – 5 classes will notice weight-loss and more toning within months.

No need for a ballet barre or a neighborhood studio to be able bring a little Bar Method love your way. Founder, Burr Leonard, shares 3 moves anyone can do at home. A sturdy chair is the only necessity.

1. Standing Seat
Standing seat lifts your seat, elongates your thighs, flattens your abs, and improves your posture – all in one exercise!

Instructions:
*Stand comfortably a few inches away from your bar or piece of furniture (face it) and hold onto it with both hands.
*Place your feet in a narrow “V” shape so that your heels are tight together and your big toes are three inches (or so) apart.
*Soften your knees. Roll your hips under and firmly grip your glutes. Press your chest slightly forward, square your shoulders, and straighten your back.
*Now lift one leg (your working leg), point your foot, and rest it on the floor about six inches behind you.
*Raise your “working foot” a few inches off the floor. Tuck again. Lift your chest again. Begin to rhythmically exhale and pull in your abs. Duration: Count aloud to 40.

Key Tip: Be sure to keep your “working side” thigh under your hip, not stretched behind you. Also, make sure the muscles in your standing seat are firmly gripped the whole time you’re doing the exercise.

2. Diamond Thigh
This intense thigh-work exercise tones and narrows your thighs, while it shapes and lifts your seat muscles.

Instructions:
*Start exercise by facing bar or stable piece of furniture. Stand about an arm’s length from it and hold with both hands.
*Get feet into position. First step is to turn feet into a wide “V” by turning out your hips and bringing heels together. Then raise heels high, but only to where your feet are still comfortable. Then walk feet toward each other and bring heels together. Now your feet are in exercise-ready position.
*Grip your glutes and draw in abs.
*Bend your knees until you are about a third lower than standing position. Hold. Return to standing position. Repeat for 50 small up-down movements.

3. Low Curl
This move is great for both flatter abs and an orthopedic stretch.

Instructions:
*Sit on a carpeted floor or on a soft exercise mat.
*Open your legs to hip-width apart and rest your feet flat on the floor.
*Come down on your elbows. Either put forearms on the floor or raise them upwards.
*Grip your glutes firmly and press your lower back downwards. Press your shoulders down. Contract your abs.
*Hold onto the outsides of your thighs with both hands, and bend your elbows outwards. Make a circular shape with your arms.
*Press your chest about an inch more forward by deepening the bend in your elbows. Be sure shoulders are squared and pressed down.
*As you hold this position, exhale rhythmically. Roll abs down with every exhale. Duration: Count aloud to 40.

For more information on The Bar Method and their training DVDs, go to www.barmethod.com.