thePULSEWant that sculpted, muscular look? Your body is what you eat
November 2003 – In a country where over half the population has been statistically classified as overweight or obese, there seems to be a constant struggle for individuals to maintain a healthy lifestyle. A majority would be content just to shed some of those extra pounds, while a smaller percentage reach for what is the holy grail of fitness; the look of being lean and defined.
From a fitness professional’s standpoint, the term “lean” can be defined as the amount of an individual’s body fat. The percentages should be less than 10% of total body composition for males, and less than 15% percent for females. From the rest of society’s viewpoint, being lean can perhaps be defined as the sculpted muscular look of models who adorn the covers and pages of countless health and fitness magazines sold everywhere from supermarkets to book stores.
And, while it may seem difficult or even unobtainable to attain this type of physique, it isn’t, as long as the individual is willing to work hard and make sacrifices to achieve his or her goals. It may not happen overnight, and for some it will definitely require a major lifestyle change, but the possibility exists for everyone as long as they understand the controllable key components involved.
These ingredients are easily manipulated and could be, for a majority of people, the two most dreaded words in the English language: diet and exercise. But, if changing the way your body looks is paramount, these components are of mutual importance. You cannot get the desired change without both. While it is possible to lose weight by changing dietary habits, and to change one’s level of fitness through exercise alone, it is near impossible to change the muscularity of a person’s physique without a combination of both a healthy diet and consistent exercise.
If there has to be a starting point, it is an individual’s diet, and the reason is simple: what a person consumes on a day to day basis greatly affects how he or she looks. Nutrients, like carbohydrates, fats and protein, play a role in how the body burns stored fat, and how the body stores excess calories. It is the removal of stored fat that enhances a body’s muscularity, since the fat is layered between the muscle tissue and skin, and is mutually exclusive from both.
While carbohydrate intake is important for the body’s energy production, excess consumption can result in increased fat storage. Researchers have found that meals high in carbohydrates cause insulin spikes in the blood stream, which inhibits fat metabolic processes. The result can prevent the body from burning its own fat stores especially in individuals who possess high body fat.
Drinks containing high fructose corn syrup or sucrose and snack foods that are low fat but high in carbohydrates will also result in this type of metabolic response.
Also playing an important role in energy production is the intake of dietary fats. While excess consumption may increase stored levels, it is essential not to restrict fat intake to very low levels. Dietary fats are necessary for the production of hormones, and play an important role in the burning of body fat.
A lean-conscious individual should start removing the following food items from his or her daily shopping list: red meat, high fat dairy products, fried foods, lunch meats, fast foods, pizza, chips, cookies, alcohol, white breads, and anything with copious amounts of high fructose corn syrup. Instead try to substitute the following: fish, chicken, ground turkey, vegetables, fruits, olive and peanut oils, low fat/no fat dairy products and whole grain rice, breads, and pastas. The process of getting lean won’t happen over night — such dietary measures can mean a major lifestyle change.
The next necessity for getting lean is exercise, which can be broken down into different types: aerobic exercise, flexibility training, and weight training.
Aerobic exercise, which is classified as any exercise that is continuous and lasts longer that twenty minutes, is the lynchpin of fat loss. Any aerobic activity (running, jogging, rowing, swimming, using a stair climber or a stationary bike) 4 to 5 times a week, causes the body to tap into its fat stores during the activity and begins the process of burning excess calories. The burning of calories also doesn’t stop when you finish exercising, since your resting metabolism is increased.
In order to achieve the lean muscular appearance that so many people long for and so few are willing to attain, a combination of flexibility training, and weight training should be incorporated weekly depending on individual goals.
Including some type of flexibility program in your fitness regimen will help promote leaner, longer muscles. This can be accomplished through Yoga or Pilates classes, or through the development of a personalized stretching program that focuses on the total musculature of the body.
Some recent research at Adelphi University indicates that weight training with free weights or machines only once or twice a week yields significant changes in muscularity. The good news is muscle tone can be developed just as well with brief infrequent workouts, instead of spending countless hours pounding out reps.
In the end, the road to getting the desired look of lean muscularity may not be easy, but the freeway is open to anyone willing to commit to a healthy, low fat diet and a consistent exercise plan.
John Rinaldo is president of NorthCoast Fitness, (508) 450-0044, www.northcoastfitness.net.
