So your goal is to get beach ready for the summer!
You’re not alone, everyone wants to look good in their beach attire!
The Christmas season was not kind to your waistline and you’re now conscious of the upcoming season of holidays.
It’s no cliché that all summer bodies start in the winter. It does take some foresight and if you’re coming across this blog and planning to go away within the next few days it’s unfortunately too late.
In order to plan you need to give yourself time. Afterall, we want to do this healthily without the use of those diabolical and unsustainable diets or worse starving yourself – it’s simply not worth putting your health at risk!
That being said, let’s have a look at how we get ‘beach lean’. Just so you know, this is possible without losing your hard work muscle building and affecting your metabolism.
Firstly, you need to scrap the idea that doing tons of cardio and starving yourself is going to get you those desired results. You’ll end up like those joggers we see far too often, as slim as they may seem, they have an unbelievable amount of fat considering the amount of exercise in which they engage – yep, that’s skinny fat.
Did you know that skinny fat is not just a term thrown around loosely in the fitness community but has a correct scientific name – Metabolic Obese Normal Weight (MONW). This is when your body weight and/or BMI seem normal, but you have more fat and not enough muscle mass recommended for best health.
So now that you understand you need to lose weight but not muscle, let’s look at the How?
The most effective and sustainable way to get beach lean is to embark on a strict calorie deficit nutrition plan. If you didn’t know already, this is what bodybuilders do when they prepare for competition – granted in a much more extreme and aggressive form than I suggest but it’s obvious to see that this approach can provide outstanding results.
You need to analyse your current nutrition plan (if you have not done so already) and become clear on your average daily calorie intake. I would then suggest a calorie deficit of no more than 25%. So, if you currently consume the general recommended daily calorie intake of 2000 calories, then you will reduce to no less than 1500 calories.
This reduction should not require drastic changes but will take dedication and time. You need to be eating a high protein and carb diet to maintain muscle mass and have energy. A low carb diet will not work for you if you already lead an active lifestyle.
There are a few strategies you can adopt to support your goals:
NUTRITION
• Don’t drink your calories – avoid fizzy drinks, fruit juices, coffee and alcohol
• Reduce highly processed foods – cut out the likes of fast food, desserts and sugary cereals
• Home cooked meals are golden – preparing your own meals will allow you to better control your calorie intake. What’s more, this will save you money and allow you to use the calories in meals you actually enjoy.
EXERCISE
• Compound weight training not cardio – people assume maxing out on cardio is the way to go. However, increasing/including compound weight training such as squats, cleans, bench press and deadlifts will encourage greater fat loss whilst maintaining and/or building muscle.
• Working out at about 75 – 80% of your one rep max will give you the best results.
• Increase your frequency (how often you work out) if possible, without jeopardizing your rest and recovery days.
So, we have touched on planning, allowing time and the tools you can use to get beach lean. Like most things you want in life it takes dedication to obtain you goals. Don’t lose sight of the end goal and congratulate yourself along your transformation journey.
