Long and lean
Long, lean muscles are the envy of many men and women. There are some people who are just predisposed to this body style at birth and there are others who are not. The process involved goes further than doing miles worth of running and restricting your calories to one meal a day. Not only does that approach not work, but it is also not healthy. What is healthy though, is working hard, eating right and training properly.
Instructions
1. Get rid of the junk. Eliminate deep fried foods, refined foods, processed foods and foods that are high in saturated fats. While you're at it, also eliminate the high calorie beverages and excessive amounts of alcohol.
2. Eat every 2 to 3 hours. In these meals, eat a balance of protein, carbs and healthy fats. Include nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, low-fat dairy and lean sources of protein.
3. Perform cardio. Do cardio three days a week in an interval format. This means alternating between high intensity and low intensity. Here's an example: Perform a 10 to 15 minute warm-up run. Now run hard for 30 seconds and do a recovery run for 60 seconds. Alternate back and forth for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Do weight training. Perform circuit-style weight training three days a week on alternating days of your cardio. Work your chest, shoulders, back, triceps, biceps and legs, in that order.
5. Perform the exercises. Do one exercise for each muscle consecutively with 45 to 60 second rest periods in between. Go all the way to the end, wait 60 seconds, then repeat the whole sequence again three more times. So you will be doing four total circuits. Do 12 to 15 reps and use weights that are as heavy as you can handle, yet still get a minimum of 12 reps.
6. Go to yoga class. Performing yoga will help to elongate your muscles and increase your flexibility, all in one. It will also increase your range of motion which will allow you to move your muscles further when you are doing weight training. This in turn can contribute to lean muscle mass.
7. Let your body recover. Take one day off to recover but don't take it completely off. Do a minimum of 30 minutes of light exercise. This can be fast paced walking or it can be playing catch with a friend.
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