Muscle Sport Magazine

Look Your Best For Your Wedding & Honeymoon: Bridal Body Shop Preps For Gowns, Tuxes & Bathing Suits

Let’s face it. Everyone wants to look their best on their wedding day – men and women alike. Especially with today’s modern technology where you will have photographs and videos that will not only last a lifetime, but can instantly be put online for all to see. So it behooves one to ensure that he or she is not only picture perfect facially, but also physically fit and in good shape. You owe that much to each other – and yourselves.

They say that love is blind, but it can also recognize an attractive body. So it was with that in mind that spurned on a genuine idea by Laurie Towers (CEO and founder of Physical Advantage in New York City, a sports and massage arts center whose client list includes many professional athletes and celebrities) and noted fitness trainer Elite Ziegelman to create a program for not only the bride and groom, but even the entire bridal party, if requested. It became a reality in 2011 when the two trainers with a combined 50 years in the fitness industry launched the Bridal Body Shop.

“I think the grievance that we have as a general rule is that most people – and being gender specific for a moment, women – will look at getting in shape on a selected calendar marking: a wedding, milestone birthday or any event that will call for them to feel on display,” says Brooklyn native Towers. “This goes against the grain of our philosophy, which is to simply embrace fitness as a part of your life with the same respect and ritual that you apply to bathing and brushing your teeth. We are taught very early in our lives that in order to preserve good dental health, we must invest time within our day to brush them and do so regularly. Sadly, we do more damage to our bodies than we do our teeth and yet we contribute very little to the upkeep.

“This is where our motto comes in: ‘It’s a dress for a day, but it’s your body for a lifetime.’”

One of the main attractions of their program is that they will come to your home to train you, or you can visit their Upper East Side studio – either together or individually. For house calls, Towers and Ziegelman will arrive with what can best be described as a portable gym – kettlebells, yoga mats, jump ropes, TRX – basically anything that you will require to get into the kind of condition to make your significant other proud.

But don’t wait for the last minute to get yourself into shape. “The sooner that you can begin, the better,” explains Towers. “Especially if there is a considerable amount of work that has to be done. Some people wait until the time frame closer to the wedding to start, just because they feel there will be less time to put the weight back on. What we like to do is give them the tools and mindset to keep things maintainable on their own.”

Once assessing your fitness level, the trainers will design a regimen that is specifically for those needs. Losing weight, toning up, getting more muscular – each client is different and, as Staten Islander Ziegelman assesses, “Our bodies are a one-per-customer deal; it’s always worth the investment.”

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While the original plan was geared more towards the brides-to-be, it has bridged out to include more male clients, or – as cleverly coined by Ziegelman – their ‘Tuxedo Trim’ program. “The lead that men will have (over women) is that we are still a society that will nurture and fortify the male populis towards athletic endeavors, so even if a man has very little history of working out, he will probably have been involved in something related at one point in his past,” says Towers.

When it comes to providing the right routine for a client, there are always precautions to take and ways to ensure that everything is in place for a success story. “We had this one client who was extremely overweight and had exercised very little in his lifetime,” Towers recalls. “Needless to say, a fair amount of care had to be placed on not overdoing it based on his being a novice to the atmosphere. Happy to report that the weight was lost in a safe and respectable amount of time.”

Of course, nutrition is a big part of any weight loss plan and the Bridal Body Shop will give each client precise instructions on what to eat and what to avoid. One of their mantras is, ‘You can’t out train a bad diet,’ which is difficult – yet essential – to adhere to.

Perhaps the icing on the (wedding) cake is that the two women will stay in contact with their past clients to see how they are doing since the ‘big day,’ which makes Towers proud. “The nicest thing about being part of the process of assisting someone into a healthier lifestyle is that you also become a part of it and form bonds that keep you connected,” she says with a well-deserved smile.

So be sure to say, “I will” before saying, “I do.”

Be sure to visit their website, http://www.thebridalbodyshop.com and to kick off Bridal Week in New York, the inaugural episode of their podcast on Blog Talk Radio began back on Sunday, April 21. Towers and Ziegelman take your calls and answering questions live on the air, welcoming guests and featuring a platform of topics for the bridal party and more. 

Be sure to ‘Like’ their page on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. 

Photo By Simon Lau

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