What type of training you should do, what you should eat (and avoid eating) and other tips to achieve your goal for the summer: define muscle
Scoring CR7-style muscle every time you score a goal is one of the goals of some people who get crushed in the gym day in and day out as well.
First of all, you should keep in mind that defining muscle is not an easy goal to achieve, because in addition to being a long process, it requires a combination of training and nutrition measured practically in detail. Anyway, here we are to help you and explain the steps so that each of your workouts counts in reaching your goal.
Before starting, it is important to know that muscle definition is achieved by reducing the percentage of fat, as this is located between the skin and muscle. That’s why we must reduce the layer of adipose tissue that covers the muscles so that the shape of these can jump out into view every time you take your shirt off at the beach this summer.
How can we reduce the layer of fat that covers our muscles?
In order to reduce fat, as we have mentioned before, it will be necessary to combine the nutritional part with the type of training and respect the breaks to avoid extreme fatigue. You must bear in mind that no matter how many kilos you manage to lift during each session, if your calorie intake is not controlled, you will not be able to define muscle.
HIIT training, your best ally
Traditionally it has been considered that the best option for burning fat is to combine cardiovascular training (running on a treadmill, elliptical, stationary bicycle, etc.) with strength training (lifting weights). detected that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) produced better results in terms of loss of body fat, burning up to 6 times more fat than cardiovascular workouts.
This type of training consists of mixing short periods of time of very intense training (around 80% – 90% of our heart rate), with other periods at moderate intensity (60% – 70%). It is due to the high intensity with which the exercises are performed that the loss of fat is greater, in addition to being more efficient, since the sessions tend to be shorter.
Control what you eat
Without a doubt, the type of nutrition you carry out throughout this period will be the detail that will make the difference. If you want to define your muscles, what you have to do is modify the percentages of the main macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) in the following way:
- Reduce calories from carbohydrates: Distribute them throughout the day, mainly during breakfast, lunch and after training.
- Increases protein intake: the reduction in carbohydrates will be offset by increased protein to avoid muscle destruction. Calories from protein do not cause insulin peaks (unlike carbohydrates), so it will not be an impediment to reducing fat. Above all, eat quality protein: lean meat, blue or white fish, seafood, eggs or this list of foods rich in vegetable protein.
- Eat healthy fats: avoid saturated fats present in butter, creams, fatty meats, fried foods or most processed products, and opt for unsaturated fats that provide foods such as avocado, salmon, tuna, sardines, nuts, olives, sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
Although these are the main nutrients you should include in your diet from now on, don’t forget to always add a ration of vegetables and fruit to your dishes. Spinach and chard (and other green leafy vegetables) provide folic acid, iron and chlorophyll, help produce red blood cells to oxygenate the blood and therefore the muscle.
On the other hand, the fruit will help you digest proteins more easily and reduce muscle inflammation after an intense workout.
Rest long enough between each session
Following a training routine compensated with adequate rest is another factor to take into account to achieve your goal. You should consider that, if you have chosen HIIT training as a method to define your muscles, it is not without its disadvantages.
The main one is that, due to the over-training to which our body is exposed, the central nervous system can be affected and cause muscle damage, mechanical stress or metabolic stress.
To avoid these consequences, you should take a minimum of 48 hours of rest between each high-intensity work session. Keep in mind that in these cases, the maxim of “less is more” prevails, so with 2 or 3 weekly workouts you would have enough.
Choose activities well
There are directed activities in DiR gyms that allow you to train at high intensity in order to burn the maximum number of calories. One of them is Aprima’t, which combines cardiovascular and muscular training blocks; Body Pump, where the bar and the discs take the main protagonism of the session;
Total Hiit, the training created specifically to define muscle; Jambox sessions based on boxing movements at the highest intensity; Cross Training that you can do in the DiR Box or the recently launched Bootcamp, the high intensity training that combines sound, lighting and the motivation of our technicians to give it all in each session.
As you can see, you have to choose between different options. It’s as easy as finding yours and getting started as soon as possible, don’t waste your time! If you are not yet a member of DiR, you can download here a free invitation to try any of these activities or our facilities.