I am amazed how easy it still is for us to place the responsibility for our body composition on external, uncontrollable factors while we shy away from what we can immediately control. With a proper resistance training program and sustainable nutrition habits, we can actually control most of the outcome in our favor.
The trick is that we need a program that is designed for our bodies and our lives now- not that of yesteryear. What has continued to work with our clients is a properly designed resistance training program alongside nutrition accountability coaching.
We design a training program tailored to bring about more muscle tone and reduced body fat and provide sustainable nutrition habits to support their recovery and drive-home the results. Bundle this up with the much sought-after accountability piece and you have a recipe for success!
Here are five keys towards achieving your Summer Body with confidence:
- Get Stronger. You should be resistance training 2-3x per week with an emphasis on moderate-to-high rep ranges and shorter rest periods. This creates a metabolic demand that promotes fat-loss and added muscle; so long as you are consistently working on getting stronger with each workout.
- Metabolic Intervals. Alongside gaining strength, we must dedicate a certain amount of our training week towards what we call Metabolic intervals. Commonly known as ‘HIIT’, this involves performing whole-body (strength) movements with a fast tempo while working up to 85-95% Max Heart Rate; followed by resting to 70% Max Heart Rate. You would rinse and repeat for the duration of the workout.
- Nutrition. Balanced nutrition that is intended for muscle maintenance and optimal recovery drives the outcome of our efforts in the gym and is just as controllable as our training, if we start to look at nutrition as something other than a quick-fix solution.
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- Water – Drink half of your bodyweight in ounces of water per day.
- Protein – Consume 1g of protein per pound of target bodyweight per day.
- Carbs – Consume whole-food starch carbohydrates at breakfast, as well as before and after workouts. Focus on fruits & vegetables the rest of the day.
- Recovery. We can only make improvements if our bodies are properly recovering from workouts. 2-3 resistance training workouts per week (combined with Metabolic intervals) seems to work the best to ensure that we are resting enough to allow repair/rebuild of muscle tissue and can continually improve on strength.
- 90/10 Rule. We do not need perfection to see progress and results, we need compliance 90% of the time. This leaves 10% to allot towards the occasional missed workout and indulgence on the nutrition front. This is what makes this sustainable for the long-term without burning out.
