Fitness Fitness Tips

You’ll Want to Know This Trainer—and Her Toning Exercises, Too

Emily Abbate

January 2, 2018

Meet your Well+Good (Re)New Year week one trainer, Charlee Atkins. The certified strength and conditioning coach (CSCS)—and one of the hosts of our first-ever Well+Good Retreat—came to New York City six years ago to join the squad at SoulCycle. When the petite powerhouse (and master instructor) started craving fun, new ways to complement her rides and get her body moving off the bike, she created Le Sweat, a dynamic workout that requires little-to-no equipment—but plenty of body resistance moves for full-physique toning. When she’s not Le Sweat-ing? Well, there’s also Le Stretch: a class dedicated to recovery and pre-hab. Think lacrosse ball self-massage, held hip openers, attention to shoulders and back, that sort of stuff. In translation: Atkins knows a thing or two about giving your body everything it needs.

Expect to be challenged with out-of-the-box exercises.

Atkins will be sharing three exclusive GIF workouts with you throughout the next seven days. Each will help you tone from head to toe while loosening you up in all the right places. Expect to be challenged with out-of-the-box exercises that you’ll definitely want to incorporate into your day-to-day routine. (Atkins’ Shoulder Activation move in workout two is a favorite around the Well+Good office, BTW.)

Above all, she believes that the best workouts are attainable. “We should be setting ourselves up for success and progression," she says. "I swear by this idea that how you do anything is how you do everything, which to me means that I should treat my health just the way I treat the things I'm most passionate about. In pursuit of aging successfully with continued movement and wellness, I think sweat and the freedom to be physical is the cure for most of the things that tie us up mentally and emotionally.”