Boasting about three million views on Instagram, Maja Salvador shows off her abs and svelte body during her El Nido Palawan beach vacation last week. “Two weeks ko lang ‘yan na achieve Ate Giselle. We had to tape advance episodes for Niña Niño before they could release me for my El Nido trip, so I had barely two weeks to get back in shape," Maja tells Gossip Girl. So how did she achieve her 11 abs? Before I answer that, let me educate you first what are 11 abs, as I did not know it myself as well.
“11 abs are when you only develop vertical lines of definition, one down the middle and a line on each side of your abdomen. These side lines mark the edge of your obliques (the side abs). Many women are afraid that they'll blow right past 11 abs and get a full-blown 6-pack if they don't do the right exercises.” (www.getfitwithCedar.com) Looking at Maja’s abs during our interview, she definitely has those 11 abs. So are you all itching to know her secret?
Everybody, meet the Megaformer, the actress-dancer’s secret to her 11 abs. “Idol ko kasi si Meghan Markle at yung mga Victoria's Secret models. Eto ang secret nila. It lengthens and strengthens at the same time. Di ba ang hahaba nila? Nagagawa ng Megaformer yun. ‘Yun akin, Microformer, the small version of Megaformer. Si Kathryn Bernardo meron din nito," reveals the star of the high-rating primetime television show on TV5 "Niña Niño." I researched on this Megaformer created by Sebastian Lagree and apparently my favorite Victoria's Secret models Karlie Kloss, Martha Hunt and Alessandra Ambrosio hop on it weekly. Celebrities like Sophia Vergara and Kim Kardashian are fans of it as well.
In an interview from People Magazine, the creator of the Megaformer Sebastian Lagree tells us why the A-list models and celebrities of Hollywood love it. “It’s a cardiovascular workout, it’s strength training, and it’s not going to bulk them up, It helps create that long, lean look."
When you keep a muscle contraction for over 60 seconds, it’s going to have that effect of really tightening and sculpting the muscle. Usually you do it for a shorter time, but we do sets that are 60 to 120 seconds, and that’s how much time you keep the muscle tense. It’s very hard to do, so you’ll see people shaking and sweating. It definitely increases the heart rate, and that’s the magic. Thanks to the intensity of the method, the Victoria's Secret angels only need to hop on the Megaformer three times a week for hour-long sessions to see results. I think the reason why models may like this over other workouts is because they can do everything all at once, You don’t need to go for an hour run, and then an hour weight training, then an hour of stretch, 30 minutes of abs. Physical fitness is more than being able to run a long distance or lift heavy weights at the gym; or how long you worked out or at what intensity,” Lagree explains on his website. “While these are important measures of fitness, they only address single areas. Physical fitness is made up of five basic elements: cardio, strength, endurance, body composition, and flexibility.”
So how much for this high-tension machine that is twice the size of a traditional reformer bed and with double the resistance options ? For P200,000.00, you can get the Microformer, the small Megaformer, which is the ultimate mix of strength and cardio. If you ask me, I will just stick to the 100 percent organic waist trimmer I drink and do my yoga ab workout I get for free on YouTube. But honestly, If I did have P200,000 to spare, I’ll get myself one of these like Maja and Kathryn. You can follow Maja on her Instagram @iammajasalvador and if you want to know about my organic waist trimmer drink, you can follow me at @gisellesanchez on Instagram as well.