Actress JoAnna Garcia Swisher (and New Mom!) Shares the Secret to Her Mermaid Abs

The new mom -- and newly minted mermaid -- shares how she keeps her tummy taut and tight.

December 3, 2013

Flame-haired beauty JoAnna Garcia Swisher has about a billion reasons to explain the whole glowy thing she's got going on -- aside from her glittering mermaid costume. Maybe it's her hottie husband, the first baseman on the Cleveland Indians, Nick Swisher, her beautiful baby girl, or mayyybe it's that she got to live out every little girl's [Ed. note: And some editors' here - RJ] dream: to play a Disney princess.

This season, Garcia Swisher's taken on the role of Ariel in ABC's hit series Once Upon a Time. (Check her out in Sunday's ep!) But stepping into that sexy seashell bikini and those shiny mermaid fins required discipline -- which she has -- and hard work, considering the actress had just given birth to her baby, Emme, just about three months prior to filming.

"Every mom is ready to get her life and body back," says the actress, who sweated off the baby weight with Lori Standen's Pure Barre classes in Avon, Ohio. (PS: Find a Pure Barre studio near you; they're the largest barre chain in the country.) "[Working out] made me feel sexy again. Like, 'Oh my god, That's what my butt feels like!'"

And thanks to her beloved barre classes, the new mom was able to tone up her butt -- and then some -- by toughing through moves like the "Hundreds" ab exercise (gracefully demo'd by Standen, below).

"I'm so honored that I had the opportunity to watch her body transform into the incredible post-baby bod she is rocking now!" Standen says.

And we definitely agree about the incredible-bod part -- did you see the bikini pic Garcia Swisher tweeted last month?! Check it out: we know you'll agree she's one hot mermaid mama, too.

THE MOVE: HUNDREDS ABS

Works: Abs, obliques

Lie on your back and draw knees up towards chest. Lift head and shoulders, and bring chin to chest, coming into a tight ball-like position. Keeping your upper body lifted, extend legs out on a diagonal while extending arms out by your side. Pump arms up and down four times, then hold arms still and curl torso a tiny bit up and down twice. Repeat this series ten times total to complete a set.