Who doesn’t want a body like Ranveer Singh’s? If you’re ready to get ripped, stop focusing on killer diets or rigorous workouts. Learn how to get lean with these tips:
- Start off with cardio: Cardio is any form of exercise that gets your heart rate up and amps up blood circulation. The benefits are many: increased metabolism, improved hormonal profile and recovery ability and stronger heart health. One must aim for a minimum of 20 minutes for three days a week.
- Focus on strength training: For a lean body, one must focus on doing two sessions of strength exercises for each body part in a week. The ideal number of sets per body part can be: 9-12 sets for major muscles and 6-8 sets for minor muscles. The number of reps per set should be between 6 and 12.
- Adjust your protein intake: A lean muscular body necessitates the requisite amount of protein. Try and consume 1.6-2.2 gms of protein per kg of body weight. But although protein is an extremely important part of your diet, make sure you ingest enough complex carbohydrates and natural fats as well.
- Up your fibre intake: What makes fibre so desirable? It’s a kind of carbohydrate the body can’t break down into glucose to use for energy. Soluble fibre attracts water and slows down digestion, keeping you satiated longer. Insoluble fibre promotes regular bowel movements and aids healthy digestive function. Fibre also slows the release of carbohydrates. Make high-fibre foods such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, green leafy veggies, hummus and beans a part of your diet.
- Opt for HIIT: High-Intensity Interval Training – short intense bouts of exercise interspersed with gentler paced ones – is extremely recommended. Not only does the body burn more calories during HIIT workouts but you also continue to burn more calories and fat in the 24 hours after an HIIT workout. Try Tabata to stimulate muscle-building hormones, which helps in building lean mass, and strengthens the cardiovascular system.
- Don’t overdo things: Don’t diet yourself to death. Eating healthy is the best way to get that dream body. Don’t go beyond your body needs when it comes to cardiovascular exercise. Overtraining may make your body adapt to cardio – meaning it will learn to burn the fewest amount of calories possible in an attempt to run farther and longer using less energy.
Lean is better than bulk. Bulking up needs you to consume a lot of calories, which lead to unnecessary fat storage around the muscles. The result is a bloated-up appearance with no muscle definitions.
So make sure you get shredded in super-quick time and are the fittest you can be.
Written by Saravanan Hariram
“If you make a career out of your passion, you won’t have to work another day.” That’s a belief Saravanan “Sharu” Hariram has held, and since bodybuilding have always been deep interests, it is no surprise he chose to make fitness his profession.
A champion bodybuilder, Sharu realized early on that he loves teaching and helping others achieve their health and fitness goals. That’s what makes him an ideal partner for HealthifyMe. Apart from American College on Exercise (ACE) certification, he has also been endorsed as a nutrition and fitness trainer by Fitness One India and DSW Fitness (USA).
Sharu’s goal is to stay fit at any age, and he believes that everyone else should aim for the same. Make small changes to your diet, and exercise, and give it 21 days to become a habit, he says. To lead a healthy life, he believes your mind must have control over your body and not the other way around. So think healthy, and stay fit.
