After nearly a year of preparing for my wedding, it hit me: The one thing I hadn’t checked off my to-do list was getting toned for the big day. Enter Terri Walsh. The veteran trainer — she was the first creative director of programming at Crunch Fitness — developed her own workout routine, A.R.T Method (Active Resistance Training), during her two decades of fitness experience. For the past three years, she has helped people get in shape for important events — be it a wedding, college reunion or photo shoot.

Getting to Walsh’s sixth-floor, walk-up studio is an exercise in dedication alone. Once my panting subsides, Walsh gives me a fitness assessment. She takes my measurements, evaluates my body fat, discusses my goals (flat stomach like Gisele — duh), hands me her DVD to practice techniques at home and introduces me to the six women working out today.

The intimate class size instantly relieves some of my gym anxieties — and is part of the A.R.T. appeal. Among weights, blocks and exercise mats, you’ll find basil plants growing on window ledges. Phoenix, Walsh’s adorably happy pitbull rescue, often makes visits. And class chatter includes where a gal can find the best blowout in town — my kind of place. A self-professed “house head,” Walsh curates a playlist before each grueling workout, which consists of sequences involving weights, planks, lunges, push-ups, crunches and squats.

When the going gets tough

When the burn of your 40th leg lift is too much to bear and you’re considering lowering down, Walsh will yell: “You didn’t climb up six flights of ugly stairs to hang out” or “Your pictures are forever!”

“She’s got a great sense of humor and such good energy,” says Kelly Rosen, 29, who first signed up for boot camp before her wedding in 2010. “No matter how exhausted you are, she’ll get you to kick it into high gear.”

Marisa Sannicandro joined A.R.T in 2012 to “look as good as I could in my wedding dress.” She admits that she “hated going to the gym and never did,” but says, “this class is so fun.” After seeing her waistline shrink from 28 inches to 23 in eight weeks, the 32-year-old is a convert. “It’s only an hour, and you feel so much better after,” she says.

And those aren’t the only perks. “What I love about Terri is when she’s teaching, she makes you understand what you’re doing,” says Rosen, who lost 11.5 inches during her boot camp. “It was like my body transformed. You feel strong. She’s very empowering.”

More than numbers

Every few weeks, Walsh measures her students to make sure they’re on track. But for this trainer, the greatest sign of success is when a student finally nails a move.

“My favorite part is watching someone go from uncoordinated to coordinated,” she says. “I like the person in the back row. I like the person that’s trying to hide from me. Everyone thinks you have to come out of the box understanding what to do, and that’s not the case at all.”

Teaching people how to be physically capable may be even more important than results. “Of course I’m going to make your butt tighter, of course I’m going to give you the abs you want, of course your arms are going to look good,” Walsh says. “But what keeps people showing up is that there’s never-ending learning and discovery when you actually practice what I teach you to do.”

The favorite part for us students? Even better than how great our jeans look now is the walk down those stairs after each class. You’ll feel so badass — bring on the final dress fitting!

You must eat

“I don’t believe in diets,” Walsh says. She requires boot campers to eat three protein-packed meals and send her a daily food diary.

“Before Terri, I ate no breakfast — and for dinner, [I?ate] whatever junk food I could grab on the way home. She taught me how to eat healthfully,” says Sannicandro.

Try the workout

The ART Method workouts always work your entire body. This workout will give your trouble zones a little extra attention. This is a Bridal Trouble Zone Workout using the ART Method active resistance points. You’ll want to think of keeping your shoulders down, your ribs closed and your navel pulled back while you use your feet to push and stabilize your body while you move. This workout can be done with 2 minute intervals of jumping jacks, jogging in place or cardio dance in between each set to ramp up the fat loss & help speed you on to your wedding dress body.

1: ART Bi-Level Batwing/Saddlebag Blaster