A 6-week pre-wedding workout plan: what to train, what to eat and what to wear

Six weeks before a wedding is enough to get stronger, stand taller and have the energy for five days of functions. It is not enough to rebuild your body, and anything that promises that is a crash diet. The plan that works: three strength sessions a week, a walk every day, protein at every meal, seven to eight hours of sleep, and a lighter final week so you are not sore on the day.

What six weeks can and cannot do

Six weeks of steady strength training makes a visible difference to posture and to how you move: shoulders back, a stronger back and core, legs that carry you through a sangeet and a baraat. Most people also sleep better and have more energy within the first fortnight.

What six weeks will not do is change your shape dramatically, and trying to force it with very low food or two sessions a day backfires. You arrive at the wedding tired, hungry and sore. Treat these weeks as the start of a habit rather than a deadline.

The weekly shape

Any three non-consecutive days work for strength. With shopping, fittings and family visits taking up evenings, a 35-minute morning session is easier to keep than an hour after work.

The strength session

Do these as a circuit with a pair of dumbbells or a band, resting about a minute between rounds. Choose a weight where the last two reps of each set are hard but still clean.

1. Goblet squat, holding one dumbbell at the chest: 10 reps
2. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift, hinging at the hips with a flat back: 10 reps
3. Push-ups, hands on a bench or sofa edge if needed: 8 to 12 reps
4. One-arm dumbbell row, a hand on a chair: 10 reps each side
5. Glute bridge with a band above the knees: 15 reps
6. Plank: 30 to 45 seconds

A resistance band set covers the rows and bridges if you have no dumbbells, and travels in a suitcase for the out-of-town functions.

The six weeks, week by week

The sangeet counts

Dance practice is training. An hour of rehearsing the sangeet routine is a solid cardio session, and it is the one most people will happily do three times a week. Put it on the walk days, wear the same kit you train in, and drink water through it. If you are dancing more than one function, the Garba guide on lasting nine nights applies here too.

Food and sleep, without a crash diet

• Protein at every meal. Dal, paneer, curd, eggs, chicken, fish, chana or sprouts. It keeps you full and helps the strength work show.
• Fewer fried snacks and sweets, not fewer meals. Wedding season brings mithai to the door every day. Keep it to a piece, not a box.
• Water through the day. Most people under-drink in the cooler months.
• Seven to eight hours of sleep. It does more for how you look in photographs than any last-minute plan.

The wedding week

• Go lighter, do not stop. One or two short sessions with two rounds and weights you already know. Finish the last one two or three days before the main function.
• Nothing new. A new exercise in the final week is how people end up sore on the day.
• Plan around the mehendi. Once the mehendi is on, your hands are out of use for hours. Train or walk that morning, before it starts.
• Keep walking. A morning walk settles nerves and sleep in a week that has little of either.

What to train in for six weeks

You will be training three or four times a week, so it pays to have more than one set.

• For women, the Sculpt pieces are the simplest answer, because they are all the same 78% nylon, 22% spandex knit and any top goes with any bottom. On top, the Sculpt Cross-Back Sports Crop, the Sculpt Raglan Crop Tee or the Sculpt Long-Sleeve Crop; underneath, the Sculpt Full-Length Leggings or the Sculpt Biker Shorts. Two tops and two bottoms cover four sessions a week between washes. The sports bra fit check is worth two minutes before week one.
• For men, the Apex Compression Tee, an 88% nylon, 12% spandex knit, with the Terrain Baggy Pants for the walk to the gym.
• For the cold mornings, if the wedding is in the north in December or January, the winter layering guide covers what to wear outdoors.

Check your size on the size guide before ordering, so a set does not have to go back in the busiest six weeks of the year.

The short version

Three strength sessions a week with the six moves above, a daily walk, sangeet practice on the off days, protein at every meal, seven to eight hours of sleep, and a lighter wedding week with nothing new. You will not have a new body in six weeks, but you will be stronger, standing taller and still dancing at the last function.