Ask an ELLEgirl

Photo: Courtesy of Liukin

Hey ELLEgirls!

I am having such a great, but busy summer. One of the hardest things about traveling is trying to stay fit while on the road. I’m sure a lot of you girls are taking some much needed vacations, family time, or just time away from the daily grind, so I wanted to share some of my tips for staying fit while traveling.

The most important thing is to make sure you stay committed to your goals to stay healthy and HAPPY! I can’t even tell you how critical it is to take just 30 minutes of your day and devote it to yourself. When you think about your day, you are awake for at least 12 hours of the day, right? Now think about just 30 minutes of those 12 hours! (LESS than five percent of those 12 hours!)

That is what I have learned in the past two years of my busy, hectic life. Whether it means waking up at 5am or going to the gym at 11pm, I always feel so much better after a quick workout. Here are a few of my favorite exercises.

Always start your workout with at least five minutes of stretching. Make sure you stretch out ALL of your muscles! Then start with some cardio. I love running outside on a trail or in the park, but if those aren’t available I will opt for the treadmill or elliptical.

· 3 mile run on the treadmill

· 30 minutes on the elliptical

You can also do some strength training after, or mixed in with your cardio to make it a little more fun, but harder too! You can do all these exercises in a row and repeat this circuit 3 times!

· Push ups (15 reps)

· Reverse push ups/dips (15 reps)

· Step ups onto a block/bench (15 reps)

· Lunges (15 reps)

· Bicycle crunches (opposite elbow to opposite knee) (8-10 each side)

· Sit ups (20 reps)

I hope these workout tips will help you feel better and be confident about the way you look J Next time I will share with you my favorite play list to get pumped up for your workout sessions!

XOXO~ Nastia

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Photo: Courtesy of Liukin

Hi ELLEgirls!

Hope you are all having a great summer so far! Some of you might remember me from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Since then, life has changed quite a bit for me. I have had the opportunity to do many amazing things and meet some wonderful people. One of the coolest things so far has been getting the opportunity to work with JCPenney & Warner Bros. to launch my very own fashion collection called “Supergirl by Nastia”.

I have always been very interested in fashion. I designed all the leotards I competed in, but never had the time to pursue my dream of having a clothing line. For the past few months I have been traveling back and forth to Los Angeles and working intensely with the design team for the Supergirl line to get everything just right. Just last week I was finally was able to see the collection on the racks, and it was SO cool! I hope you all will love it too. We have also already designed the Holiday collection AND are almost done with the spring collection. (Can you believe how far in advance everything is created?!)

My inspiration for this line comes from many things. Through my gymnastics journey, I had some injuries, struggles, tears of greatness and laugher but also tears of disappointment. So many people lost hope in me achieving my dreams, except my parents and closest friends. They taught me that if I worked hard enough every single day, believed in myself, and went after my dreams, ANYTHING is possible. I stuck with this advice and was able to not only achieve my dream of representing my country at the Olympic Games, but I surpassed them by winning the all-around gold and 5 medals total at the Olympics.

I hope to change at least ONE person’s life by telling them to simply BELIEVE. I will be sharing a little more about myself, the things I love, shopping advice, styling tips, and more over the course of the summer!

Stay safe, have fun, and don’t ever forget… Follow YOUR dreams.

XOXO

Nastia <3

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