Building a lean, tight body means that you must perfect your nutrition and stay disciplined with your workouts. Building muscles tightens your body and firms all your trouble zones.
Increasing your cardiovascular and adding muscle-building workouts to your weekly fitness routine can give you the results you're looking for. Consuming the proper foods allows you to take in the nutrients your body needs to maximize muscle-building and minimize fat storage.
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Food and What to Do
Your diet is key in losing the weight that's covering the muscles you want to tighten.
1. Consume Fewer Calories
Create a caloric deficit. To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume daily; 3,500 calories is equal to 1 pound. Reach your caloric deficit by reducing your total caloric intake and burning calories through exercise.
2. Eat More to Eat Less
Eat six small meals a day, two or three hours apart. Eating frequently helps to suppress your appetite and increase your metabolic rate to burn more fat. Consume breakfast, lunch and dinner, with three additional snacks during your day.
3. Count Your Macros
Consume a variety of nutrients. Aim for a diet in which 45 to 65 percent of calories come from carbohydrates, 10 to 35 percent from protein and 20 to 35 percent from fat according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Choose healthy carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Pick lean proteins like lean meats, low-fat dairy products and protein shakes and pick healthy fats like olive oil and nuts.
Body Toning Workout Plan
To tighten your body you have to MOVE.
1. Cardio Is One Key
Perform at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity per day according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Cardio training helps you to burn fat and tighten your body. Choose activities that work the entire body like running, swimming or kickboxing to burn the most calories.
2. High Intensity-Interval Training
Train using intervals to maximize your caloric burn says the American Council on Exercise. Interval training burns more calories in a short period of time. Interval-train with any aerobic activity by working at a high intensity for 30 seconds followed by a moderate intensity for one minute. For example, sprint for 30 seconds and jog for one minute, alternating for 30 minutes.
3. Build Your Muscles
Build muscle with strength training. Perform strength-training exercises at least two and up to four days per week. Split your days by working your legs and core one day, chest and triceps together and your back and biceps a separate day. Choose six to 10 exercises each strength-training day. Complete three sets of each exercise with eight to 12 repetitions per set.
4. Abs Every Day
Focus on your tummy. Train your abdominals most days of the week after your aerobic activity. Len Kravitz writing for the University of New Mexico says that you can do ab exercises every day because the abs can rarely be worked to fatigue and therefore don't need a day of rest. Choose three exercises, completing three sets of 15 repetitions each. Mix up your exercises with bicycle twists, traditional situps, reverse crunches, planks, leg lifts, scissor kicks and crunches.
Warning
Consult your doctor before making any dramatic changes to your diet or fitness regimen.