how to get a lean body

How to Get a Lean Body

My last post on how much hyped Hollywood workouts – such as lifting light for a lean look (think Gwyneth Paltrow/Tracy Anderson) wasn’t going to get most women Hollywood bodies was pretty popular so I wanted to do a follow up. (Oh and for those of you following along at home – it is slightly more than 6 weeks to Memorial Day Weekend – official beginning of summer – which means vacations, weddings, and swimsuits. I will have more posts coming up on how to look great in a swimsuit so stay posted…)

First of all, most Hollywood bodies are exceptional – not just good or average – so lets get that out of the way now. Of course keep in mind I am talking about the actors and actresses we see in movies and in magazine photo-spreads. Movie stars themselves seldom look *this* stunning all year round as just like anyone else they need to take breaks.  However, unlike us, most stars stay in good shape (eat reasonably healthy, go to the gym and do elliptical machine workouts) all year as they always need to stay within striking distance of “exceptional” should they land an important part, need to do a big photo shoot, or make an appearance at a high profile award show.

If you want to look exceptional, and you are willing to do everything it takes – it is possible to have a Hollywood style body – but it takes discipline (you have to do the diet and the workout), perseverance (you cannot quit because you feel sore or busy or discouraged), and knowledge (you have to know what to do.)

Having an exceptional body is not for everyone. You have to be a little obsessed. You can be fit and healthy, feel great, and not look exceptional. Diet and exercise for fitness and health isn’t the necessarily the same as diet and fitness targeting appearance – and many people get confused by this. For example, you can eat for optimal health, eat of energy, train for increased endurance, or to gain strength…but this will not automaticall help you look exceptional (But hey, you’ll be happier than if you are not fit, full of aches and pains, easily winded, and depressed because you are ridiculously overweight.)

Most people go to the gym and do workouts and diets focused on conditioning because they just don’t know the difference. These people will not necessarily see the changes in their bodies they hoped to see for the time they put in. This is always really really frustrating and unfortunate. Hopefully this article will help clear up this confusion.

Realistic Expectations

If you are not already in good shape and within 10lbs or so from you goal weight, you need to spend the time to get there first. Someone who is in good shape and at a reasonable body weight can whip themselves into exceptional shape in as little as six weeks. Someone who is totally out of shape and carries a significant amount of weight would do well to spend three to six months getting in good shape first.

This is why it always makes good sense to keep in reasonably good shape all year. That way, if a special event or occasion pops up on your calendar (like a vacation or wedding) you can realistically get yourself looking amazing with a concentrated 6 week push.

What happens if you try to do this without building a good foundation first? Most likely you will not achieve your goal due to injury, burn out, or simply but not having enough time. This will really discourage you and potentially lead to you giving up on diet and exercise at all.

Basically there are three things you MUST do to get a lean body.

Number 1 – Your diet must be in line

You must know how much to eat relative to the calories you burn in an average day. I did a post on this earlier. Then you must follow your plan. In the FitCast interview with Valerie Waters, Valerie mentions how so much diet success is based on planning, preparation, and avoiding temptations – not just will power and abstinence. Check it out.

You also don’t really have to cook…just assemble foods. If you stick with a simple morning protein shake, snacks of fruit and nuts, grilled meat, veggies, and simple salad greens a lot of meals can be put together in 15-20 minutes. Always keep some meals prepared ahead (like lunch) so in the mornings you can just grab one as you head out the door. I usually prepare the next days lunch while I am preparing dinner. I use the same food, I just put 1/3 to 1/4 of it aside right away.

Number 2 – You must do strength training

If you do not do strength training you will lose muscle as you lose fat resulting in a smaller version of you that looks flabby, deflated, and can’t eat as much as you did before – no good.

You only need to do 30-40 minutes of strength training three times per week. I usually do Monday-Wednesday-Friday.

When it comes to strength training you have two options:

You can lift heavy weights. (Examples of these types of programs include Rachel Cosgrove’s Female Body Breakthrough, New Rules of Lifting, New Rules of Lifting for Women) This kind of workout builds muscle while torching calories as it takes a lot of energy to move heavy objects around. You will also burn calories as your body repairs itself over the next day. This is how you become stronger, by the way.

You can do fast-paced weight lifting/body-weight circuits (Examples include Turbulence Training, Cardio Strength Training by Robert Dos Remedios, and Valerie Water’s Red Carpet Ready Program.) This kind of workout is like a weighted fat burning circuit. This will get your heart rate way up and have you sweating while you tone up.

Both methods work well and it just comes down to preferences, resources and ability.

If you do not have the resources or time to work out at a commercial gym, option 1 could be more difficult for you. However, if you have a basement or garage, for LESS MONEY than the joining fee plus first month’s dues you could get everything you need such as one pull up bar, one barbell, one bench, assorted weights…

If you haven’t done weight lifting before, you may feel nervous and intimidated. Don’t be afraid to seek the help of a good personal trainer to help you through the exercises. One session shouldn’t be ridiculously expensive and its a good investment in your future.

Weight Lifting Will Not Make You Bulky

Unless you overeat. Then you keep your layer of fat and your muscles get bigger underneath – thus you get bulky.

I think its one thing to say that lifting heavy and becoming strong won’t make you bulky but its another to see it.

Here are some women who know how to get a lean body:

This is a woman doing heavy squats at Jason Ferruggia’s Renegade Gym. So…how big do her thighs look? Look pretty tiny to me.

Here is a woman doing 13 perfect pull ups. Do her arms look bulky?

How about this woman doing push ups?

Here is Nia Shanks doing front squats, again…pretty skinny if you ask me.

…and Nia again doing a pretty tough deadlift (you can see her struggling.)

Oh I almost forget this one. That would be silly of me:

Number 3 – You Must Burn Fat

There is a hierarchy to fat burning workouts. In descending order I will list workouts that torch the MOST fat. You can choose what works best for you given your current abilities.

1. You can do High Intensity Interval Training. (Click here to see an example and answer the question “what is an interval?”) This will burn fat like crazy while you are doing the workout, raise fat burning hormones, and continue to burn additional body fat well after your workout is over.

Remember – high intensity means HIGH INTENSITY – like sprinting. If you are not sprinting hard, you are doing regular intervals, not high intensity.

Here is an excellent video:

There are many ways to do these kinds of workouts, and if you are looking for variety I recommend flipping through “Cardio Strength Training” or “The Female Body Breakthrough.” Otherwise, its as simple as doing sprints outside, on a treadmill, or on a stationary bike. I also like to use kettlebells.

Here is  a good video example from Results Fitness (Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove’s Gym):

In general, people do these kinds of workouts once, maybe twice per week. They should all be UNDER 20 minutes total.

I have seen recommendations that you not start high intensity interval training at the same time as you start weight training (if you have never done before) as its just too much for your body all at once. I agree. Wait four to six weeks before you add this in. (You could do reasonable sessions of traditional steady state cardio a couple days per week if you felt able.)

2. You can do fun stuff like body weight complexes! You can do this great routine a couple times per week. There are more examples of these types of programs either through Turbulence training, or Cardio Strength Training.

Here’s an example from Cardio Strength Training:

3. You can do regular intervals!

Here’s a good video that shows two good options:

4. You can do regular cardio. Ideally you should do it after weight lifting, High Intensity Interval Training, or after a body weight complex for an additional 15-20min. You can do a few 20 sessions but don’t go crazy as you don’t want to exhaust yourself for minimal benefit as most of you far loss will come from diet+weight lifting.

I will be working the next 6 weeks towards getting into exceptional shape and I hope you will join me! Look forward to progress pics and more!

Let me know what you think!
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