Four Things You Must Do to Get Lean
Do you ever wonder what it takes to have toned abs or lose the floppy part hanging off the back of your arm? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as endless crunches or tricep dips. Each person is built differently and as a result will store fat in certain areas more so than other areas or lose it more quickly in some spots vs. others. So you won’t be able to pick and choose what area of the body is going to look more fabulous in certain areas first when you start strength training for fat loss. For the most part, clients I work with want to lose body fat and have lean muscles that give them a “toned” appearance. This happens with full body strength training and here’s why: strength training will help build muscle and raise your metabolism. The higher your metabolism, the more fat you can burn, revealing the muscle beneath the fat. Strength training is a bit of art and science combined, but when done properly can achieve significant results. Here are the elements you’ll want to incorporate in your fitness routine to obtain the lean look you want.
Full Body Exercises
A tricep dip doesn’t fit into this category, therefore I wouldn’t spend much time performing this exercise. What you’ll want to include are exercises that have you using as many muscles from head to toe as possible. For example, a squat with a dumbbell curl to overhead press is a good one. This exercise uses your legs, core, arms and shoulders to complete the movement. There are many exercises that do fit the bill and a professional trainer can help if you’re not sure where to start.
Full body exercises are so effective in a program because they are efficient. You’re packing as many exercises into the designated time as possible and working to build muscle more quickly. Also, allowing those muscles to shine means decreasing the body fat that covers them. When you work your whole body you burn more calories, which also burns fat.
Proper Nutrition
It’s easy to get overwhelmed on the topic of nutrition with so much information available. However, when it comes to supporting your hard work in the gym to create lean muscle and burn fat, there is no other more important factor than getting enough protein to develop muscle. Whatever diet trend may come and go, science tells us that protein is what provides muscle the nutrients to grow. Current researchby the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests 1.4 g/kg to 2.0 g/kg of protein per body weight, which when converted to grams per pound maxes out at approximately 1 g/lb of body weight. Without proper amounts of protein, you won’t give the muscle what it needs to repair and rebuild and developing lean muscle tissue will take much longer to develop.
The only way to know how much protein you are getting through your diet is to track your food. Technology has gone a long way in making our life easier in this respect. There are several food tracking apps available that will journal your food and sync with your fitness devices; however, I really like MyFitnessPal. After you download the app, spend a week tracking what you eat and get used to recording what you eat and drink. Next, set up your macronutrient (Carbs, Fat, Protein) percentage goals. I keep my macronutrient percentage goal for Protein at 30%, Carbs at 40%, and Fat 30% of calories, which for the most part, still falls in line with the Dietary Guidelinesset by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Program
Along with proper nutrition you’ll need to implement an effective strength training program. As I mentioned earlier, incorporating full body exercises for strength training will be most effective in developing muscle to burn fat. One way to maximize your results is through circuit training, where different or opposing muscle groups work while others rest, which will increase the number of calories burned. For example, after you’ve done a set of squats with overhead press, start a set of side lunges with upright row, and then repeat. You’ll be working as many muscles as possible in the time you have to work out.
Another important aspect to getting results is a concept called progressive overload. In order for the muscles to grow and get stronger you must continuously challenge your body. The human body is very good at adapting and once it does, the same stimulus you used before won’t have a significant effect. You’ll have to constantly challenge your muscles. One simple way to do that is increase the weight you use. An easy rule of thumb to know when you’re ready is if you can do an extra two reps for the last two sets of exercise, then it’s time to increase the weight. However, be sure you’re still able to perform that exercise with proper form since that will be the safest and most effective way to benefit from any exercise.
You’ll need to strength train at least two days a week in order to effect change and build muscle. Depending on how many days a week you can train, you’ll want 2-3 full-body workouts each week and then master them over a 4-6 week period before changing workouts. Give your body a day of rest in between strength workouts to rebuild and recover. Some form of cardio or yoga would be great to fill in on your non-strength training days.
Lastly, programming a full-body strength workout is not an easy task. There’re many things to consider, including exercise selection, the order of exercises within the workout, the tempo of each rep, along with number of sets, reps, and rest in between. This is where you should get professional guidance and look for a trainer who has a current Certified Personal Training certificate. Even if you don’t plan to train with him or her on an on-going basis, work with the trainer to write you a program. Then, have the trainer demonstrate the exercises and explain the program so you can work out solo.
Warm-Up and Cool-Down
In order for the warm-up to be truly effective, plan to spend about 6-8 minutes for a full-body strength circuit. A proper warm-up will prepare your body for your workout, which means stimulating the nervous system with movement patterns, elevating your core temperature to get heat and blood flow to the muscles, and warming the joints to engage a full range of motion in your exercises. Some examples of exercise that fit into this category would be body-weight versions of exercise you’re about to do in your workout and animal movements. Warm-ups that help get the joints moving are especially key in achieving your full range of motion and maximizing the effects of strength training. For example, if you can sink lower into your squat you’ll recruit more muscle fibers, affecting change within the muscle that will cause it to rebuild stronger and larger than before. Remember, the more muscle tissue the body has, the higher your metabolism, the more fat you can burn at rest!
If you are looking to accelerate fat loss results you can do a cardio finisher at the end of the workout to help burn additional calories. A cardio finisher would be a 3-5 minute interval session where you work with a high level of intensity that will elevate your breathing and heart rate. There are various ways to get in an interval session, but you could use a rower, treadmill, or sprint outdoors. One example of a cardio finisher would be 30 seconds of rowing at 80% - 90% intensity followed by 30 seconds of 40%-50% intensity, and then repeat the one minute interval 3 to 5 times.
After your workout be sure that you get in a proper cool down to stretch and work mobility. At this point in the workout your muscles and joints are warm and pliable. This is when you can really work on flexibility and mobility to help achieve more range of motion in your training, maximize muscle growth and ultimately increase your metabolism to burn fat.
Now that you have the basics get out there and exercise so you can be a fat-burning machine!