Get A Lean Beach Body
Everyone wants that lean beach body. This article will give that information, detailed and precise.
*NOTE* - While this is written for both sexes, tips marked with [MASS BUILDER] should not be followed by women who do not desire a more powerful looking body, as those steps promote strength and mass building.
Instructions
1. NUTRITION
* If you've looked into getting abs, you've heard it all before. Eat smaller meals more often! Ideally, you'll want to shoot for 6 - 7 small meals. This can be tough, so if you only can do 5, that's ok too.
* Stress over calories less, concentrate on protein (build/maintain muscle and body functionality), fiber (keep everything moving along), and carbohydrates (provide consistent energy) more. (That's right! Eat carbs! Below are some numbers you should consider. Give or take 10% from these numbers.
-Protein (Male: 1.3g x body weight)(Female: 0.9g x body weight)
-Fiber (Male: 0.2g x body weight) (Female: 0.2g x body weight)
-Carbohydrates (Male: 0.9g x body weight) (0.75g x body weight)
[Try to limit calories to 25 cal/lb for males, and 20 cal/lb for females]
*Replace, don't remove food from your diet! Some examples include: Instead of a "lean" 5 oz hot pocket, have 3 oz of light chunk tuna on whole grain bread. Instead of regular soda, try the newer diet sodas (NOTE- There's still research out that the sweet taste may make you crave a snack, so have the soda with a meal)
*Lose the booze - This is the toughest one for some people. Beer can pack quite a wallop on the waistline, and the less said about mixed drinks is better. If you want to drink, stick with your diet soda and clear, unsweetened liquor.
*Foods that will help you on your way - There are some miracle foods when it comes to this.
-Nuts, of any sort. High in protein (unsalted, with no artificial sugary/salty flavorings)
-Eggs (less the yolk) - 2 hard boiled eggs with no yolk is my personal favorite post workout food. Filling, with the protein to boot!
-Spinach (try it with the spray-on dressing), high in nutrients and fiber
-Fish (wild salmon is a top choice when it comes to getting beneficial fatty acids, tuna, albacore, cod and tilapia are all wonderful alternatives)
-Chicken (Skinless. Skins tend to be laden with fat and unnecessary calories. Boiled chicken can be boring, so go ahead and spice it up with garlic, or a light marinade)
-Fiber One Bars (The snack industry has come a long way on good fiber products. Not only does this NOT taste like cardboard, but each bar has 9 grams of fiber!)
*Vitamins and minerals. Try and get these from food to increase the amount absorbed. If you absolutely must take vitamins, natural vitamin tablets have a higher rate of absorbing. Key vitamins/minerals include: Zinc, Iron, Chromium, Vitamins B and D.
2. EXERCISE
* The most important thing about losing fat is variety. You CANNOT LOSE BELLY FAT BY SITUPS AND DIET ALONE. I cannot make that more clear.
* By variety, I mean make sure you sample both strength training and cardio. Below is my personal plan, if it works for you, congratulations, if it doesn't, tweak the exercises.
-I have categorized my muscle groups into "Show" muscles (arms, abs, obliques) and "Go" muscles (chest, legs, back, shoulders)
-Personally, I opt for 5 workout days a week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday). Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are strength training days, Mondays and Thursdays are cardio days [If you're a male, looking for lean mass/strength, you can get away with 4 days a week, 2 strength, 2 cardio, ladies looking just to be lean without mass should look at either a 5 day program (4 cardio, 1 strength), or 4 day program (3 cardio, 1 strength).
*At this point, I'd like to mention that one pound of muscle can burn 30 - 50 calories on an active workout day (depending on how blessed with genetics you are). Ladies, strength training is NOT your enemy, and you will not bulk up provided you use light weights, or even better, resistance bands. Guys, I assume you're still reading cause you'd like a little extra muscle. Consider this: If you could add a pound of muscle to each arm, it would really make your arms look spectacular. However, that would take a lot of training, and a lot of time, you only burn 60 - 100 extra calories and quite frankly, there's not a lot of real estate on an arm to put muscle. Working the "go" muscles though? Easy to put 10 lbs of muscle on your torso, and 5 lbs on each leg. Now you're burning 600 - 1000 extra calories each active day.
-"Show" Days: 4 sets (each arm), 15 reps single arm curls. 4 sets, 15 reps tricep pushdowns. 4 sets, 20 reps FULL situps (unless you have back problems). 2 sets (on each side) on an oblique-twist machine. 2 sets, 12 reps barbell curls. 2 sets (each arm), 12 reps skier's arm extension.
-"Go" days: 3 sets, 12 reps barbell bench. 3 sets, 12 reps (each arm) bent over row. 3 sets, 10 reps military (shoulder) press. 3 sets, 12 reps squats. 3 sets, 10 reps lat pulldowns. 4 sets, 8 reps shrugs.
-Aerobic days: use a treadmill, or bike. Your goal is to burn calories. (Guys: aim for bodyweight x 2.5 for calories burned. Ladies: aim for bodyweight x 3). [NOTE: adding incline to a treadmill will exponentially burn more calories.]
3. BODY MAINTENANCE
*You may be asking "What should I be doing on my off days?" The answer is simple. Stretch. 5 minutes, 2x/day is all you need.
*Don't use the workout as a reason to become complacent. Try to remain active.
*Sleep/Rest is a must. Oversleeping/overresting is a don't. 7 - 9 hours will be sufficient.
-Resting includes being sure not to run the same day of exercise 2 days in a row. If you want to do mostly cardio, do it one day, take an off day the next, and then do cardio after that.
Tags: sets reps, body weight, Male body, Male body weight, sets each, strength training, body weight Female