6 steps to Bikini's and Board Shorts!

With summer just around the corner I thought I would put some steps together to help you get in shape for beach season.

* Nutrition –

The most important thing to ensure your ready for summer is to get your nutrition in check.

The first thing I would recommend is using the smart phone app ‘My Fitness Pal’ to track Macronutrients/ Calories. This allows you to see exactly what you’re eating, educating you about foods as well as being another method of tracking progress if fat loss plateaus.

Remember majority of people will need to be in a calorie deficit in order to drop fat this means you will need to expend more energy then you’re putting in.

A nutrition plan high in protein is a good place to start and as a general guide, I would recommend 2grams of protein per kg of body weight.

I do personalised nutrition plans tailored to your goal, weight, body fat% and nutritional needs, visit my services page on my site for more info.

* Train to get Strong –

Get strong, seriously.. You can never be to strong. The stronger you are the more muscle your going to have, the more muscle you have the lower your body fat is going to be.

And that goes for women especially, naturally women have less muscle then men so I believe it’s more important for women to train to get strong.

Generally, I would recommend 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. This is a very general guideline but a good place to start.

I do personalised training program’s based on individual goals, visit my services page on my site for more info.

* Use Cardio as a last resort –

One of the most important things for dropping fat should be muscle preservation.

As mentioned above the more muscle you have the less body fat will be present, a very high percentage of women I work with simply do not have enough muscle many  women refuse to lift weights and are stuck to the treadmill like lab rats running around in circles.

It’s well known that cardio burns muscle, so do I think the ‘run club’ you attend where you run at a slow, steady pace for sometimes over an hour is a good idea? No I don’t- especially if you want to get lean, remember muscle preservation.

If you want to do cardio I would recommend sprints, sleds, prowlers, ropes etc all of those things offer resistance and will help you build lean muscle also.

As a rule of thumb, I would recommend you concentrate on nutrition and strength training first then when you have those two things down pat I would recommend you introduce cardio start with 1-2 days per week, keeping them short and sharp using the exercises I mentioned above.

As a part of my Personal training program’s, I use “finishers” if you have trained with me you would know exactly what I’m talking about. “Finishers” usually last know longer then 5 minutes and well “finish” the session in a very short time frame, it’s not uncommon to see a clients heart rate at 180 beats per minute during this part of the session and trust me that’s a lot higher then what it would be during a “run club” in a fraction of the time.

* Progress –

Don’t rely on weight scales to monitor your progress, use other methods such as taking progress pictures, body measurements or get in contact with us and come try our Wedderburn body fat scales where we can pin point all types of progress for you including body fat%, visceral fat, total body fat kg, total muscle mass kg, bone mass kg, total body water.

These scales didn’t come cheap but Ryan and I know that they’re going to help us and our clients go to the next level in regards to body composition and assessment. We are currently one of very few people in Sydney using this type of technology the only thing more accurate then these scales is a Dexa scan which are pretty expensive and not widely available, feel free to get in contact if you want to get assessed.

* Life style –

Stop yo yo’ing around and make some lifestyle changes. Make working out and eating well a part of your life.

Does that mean you have to be 100% spot on with nutrition and training all day, every day… No, not at all. You should be able to enjoy yourself as well as getting/staying in shape. Make allowances in your nutrition plan though, if you know you’re heading out for dinner make room for that in your plan and select the best option for you when you’re there.

If your plan insists you have to skip social events in order to stick to it, you’re doing it wrong.

* Consult –

Lastly, if you get stuck or don’t know where to start seek professional help. Find a good coach with a good track record of getting results. What I would suggest is find a coach that  uses a bit of logic and teaches you as much as possible, extreme protocols never work long term and if it seems to good to be true it usually is or on the other hand if your coach is telling you to eat only steamed chicken and broccoli you’re doing it wrong. Gain health as well as gaining a lean summer body.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and feel free to leave a comment.

Cheers,

Dean.