magine Arnold Schwarzenegger with skinny legs, Sylvester Stallone with spaghetti arms or Angelina Jolie with a flabby backside.
Would it help if I told you these body beautiful stars began with a dream like yours and the desire to make it happen? This only means that owning an attention-drawing body is within your power too!
Let this guide be your first step on the path of better health. The added benefit? It will give you that lean and sexy body you've always wanted!
Before you start, consider these points:
1. Get a physician's approval if you have a past injury or an impairment.
2. Set realistic goals for yourself and stay focused on them. A routine will always be more successful if it has some direction.
3. Give yourself at least three months before making any judgements about your progress. Sculpting your body takes time. So let's not be impatient.
4. Everyone is always looking for a secret to good health and that hot body. That secret can be summed up in one word: Consistency.
5. Perform your exercise routine with 100 percent effort.
6. Adopt good nutrition habits.
7. Follow a fitness-oriented lifestyle day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year!
Now we are ready to begin.
Ladies, hold on to your hearts. Gents, hold on to your wallets. There's a new breed of man and woman about to emerge. And they are gonna be drop dead sexy!
The exercise triangle
Exercise is a three-sided concept:
- Weight training
- Aerobics
- Flexibility and stretching
~ Weight training
This is possibly the most misunderstood of the three concepts.
When most people hear the words 'weight training', they envision men and women who have achieved a body of gigantic proportions and immediately get put off.
But weight training also refers to the type of training that can change your body in ways you never thought possible.
It can make you more muscular and stronger. In addition, it will -- surprise, surprise! -- convert your body into a fat-burning machine more efficiently than aerobics or any other form of exercise.
How does it do that?
One word: Metabolism!
Metabolism is the rate at which we burn calories during the day, whether at exercising or at rest.
Muscles are the body's metabolically active tissue.
Thus, the more lean muscle we have, the faster our metabolism. Those who have lean muscle burn more calories, irrespective of whether they are slaving at the treadmill or sitting on their muscular derrières.
What's the best way to increase our lean muscle mass?
Good ol' weight training!
~ Aerobic exercise
It is defined as exercise that takes place in the presence of oxygen.
Aerobic exercise is a worldwide favourite.
It aids the fat loss process by burning calories during the workout session.
Aerobics is also important to develop a healthy heart and circulatory system. Your choice of aerobic exercise depends on what you enjoy most.
So whether you are tying those shoelaces to head out for a brisk walk or getting ready to take a dive into that pool, it is all good.
Just make sure you DO IT!
~ Flexibilty and stretching
This is an often neglected but very important component of exercise.
Tight and inflexible muscles impair your blood flow. This, in turn, impairs muscle contraction and function.
As muscle tension builds up over the years, it could lead to problems in your spine and joints as well.
So don't forget to S-T-R-E-T-C-H your way to many more pain and injury free years of activity!
DON'T MISS!
The easy steps to a great body!
NEXT
January 6: Learn to eat right
January 7: Mistakes rookies make
Rustom Warden, a personal trainer, has been running his own personal training gymnasium in Mumbai since 2002.
Image: Uday Kuckian
