A Simple Guide for How to Get Lean
A Simple Guide for How to Get Lean
By: Brian Wargula

How to Get a Lean, Chiseled Body

Here’s the lie: you have to be young to get a lean, chiseled body. The truth is that there are some tried and true tricks for building lean muscle, no matter what age you are or how out of shape you may imagine yourself to be. Just like any other fitness goal, getting lean takes time and dedication. The first place to start is by deciding what your fitness goals are. Everyone starts from a different place, so it's key to consider if you are trying to lose weight, lose fat, bulk up, or get lean by increasing your muscle mass while trimming your body fat.

The first step towards how to lean down is to reasonably define what your lean goals will be. This makes following a plan much easier. There are two primary facets of getting lean:

  • Calorie Consumption/Nutrition
    • Find the balancing act between eating enough calories to support muscle growth and switching your macro balance to avoid fat gain.
  • Exercise
    • The right combinations of cardio and strength training are key. That is because too much cardio can impede on muscle gain.

No matter where you’re starting from strength training is key. Making sure that you have the right diet to support your fitness goals will get you there faster, as well as help ensure that you feel your best while getting there.

5 No-Nonsense Tips to Get a Lean and Toned Body

Getting lean might be easier than you think! It just takes time, dedication, and little trial and error to find what works best for your body. The most important thing to do is to remember that it takes time to find the winning combination that works for you and your body. The same ways to get lean and cut will not always work for everybody and it is important to use your body measurements as key indicators. Do not let the scale define your success! As always, when embarking on a new fitness/dietary routine, it's important to talk to your doctor or nutritionist first.

Follow these tips for a short cut to get your lean toned body:

1. Add Compound Strength Training Moves

Incorporating more compound moves into your strength training routine is a must if you want to build healthy amounts of lean muscle. They are designed to work multiple muscle groups at once, so you’re getting more out of a set than you would with a move that targets a single muscle group.

Compound moves come with benefits compared to their isolation counterparts. Main benefits:

  • Burn more calories
  • Gain more muscle mass
  • Leads to a more lean muscular physique

2. Switch Up Your Cardio Routine

This might be the only thing standing in between you and the flat stomach of your dreams! You might need to rethink your cardio routine and how often you do cardio in order to get your super lean body.

Here are some ways to switch it up, guaranteed to help:

  • Interval cardio training: short bursts of intense cardio burns more fat during the same duration than steady-state cardio.
  • HIIT Workouts: Switching quickly between these short bursts of exercise helps keep your body in a fat-burning state for up to 24 hours after you workout.
  • Try them all! Don’t pigeonhole yourself into one kind of cardio workout. More variety is where it's at for how to get lean without weights. Here are a few cardio-killers to work into your routine:
    • Rowing
    • Spin
    • Swimming
    • Kickboxing

    3. Lift Heavier

    It's a common misconception that this can lead to bulking. Increasing the amount of weight during your lifting sessions actually adds to how rapidly you can build more lean muscle. For a lean figure, building lean muscle mass means you need to work at breaking down your muscular tissue during your strength training. Hence lifting heavier and pushing your muscles to the max. Focus on these tips as you venture into strength training:

    • You know you’re reaching your limit when you can only do 2-4 sets before your muscles tucker out.
    • Lifting 70-75% of your one-rep max activates a different type of muscle fibers.
    • Developing and growing these type 2 “fast twitch” muscles promotes lean muscle growth.

    4. Reevaluate Your Diet

    We all have bad habits, but sometimes foods we eat regularly can actually lead to bloating, and stubborn fat. Take a look at your day-to-day consumption an think about what your macros look like. For how to eat clean to get lean, you may want to increase your clean protein intake for starters. Here are some other tips on what to eat to get lean and toned:

    • Eliminate added sugars
    • Ditch the “bad fats” and high cholesterol foods
    • Cut back on processed carbs and starches

    Cut some calories––dramatic calorie deficit may actually trigger your body to go into a starvation state. Swap caloric and sugary drinks for water. Boosting your water intake not only supports your workouts, but also keeps you from eating extra calories by making you feel fuller, longer.

    5. Supplement Your Nutrition

      Diet alone might not be enough to support your lean muscle development. Incorporating additional supplements can help you to get slim lean muscle. A healthy diet is a great place to start, but sometimes you need a little extra boost. Health supplements can help you achieve your lean muscle mass goals in a few ways:

      Get the Lean, Fit Body of Your Dreams with Exercise & Complete Nutrition

      Anyone who wants to get lean can do it by following these 5 tips. When it comes to ways to get lean and cut, its all about identifying goals that are realistic and achievable for your unique body. While compound weightlifting moves, HIIT cardio, and extra strength training are key, fitness can only take you so far.

      The real secret of the lean muscular physique lies in your diet and nutrition. Making the most out of every calorie you put into your body will make all the difference in how you see yourself transform into a lean and toned body. Having the right dietary supplements can help push you past the finish line.  When your body gets the right amount of metabolism support and protein it needs to feed your muscles post workout––you see results.