16 May 5 Habits That Will Get You Lean
Do you want to have a lean, fit body?
Who doesn’t right?
Well we’ve found that there’s one driving force that can lead to changing your body composition and fitness. So what is it?
Habits.
If you’ve read this blog much then you know that we’ve seen tremendous improvement in our clients results by focusing on changing 1 or two habits at a time. This is the only way that you’ll get long term change.
So if you’re goal is to get leaner and more fit, here’s my top five habits:
Habit 1: Strength Train and Metabolic Conditioning 3-5 days a week
This could be a post in of itself, but here’s the main take home points:
Do strength training exercises to build lean muscle, increase your metabolism and improve your athleticism.
Metabolic Conditioning (MetCon) is like cardio, but specifically designed to provide optimal fat loss andget you in shape quick.
Usually 2-3 days of strength training and metabolic conditioning 3 times a week is a great balance. At Faster Fitness, we perform our strength training at the beginning of the workout and metabolic conditioning inthe second halfof the session.
For general fitness, a workout like this would be killer:
A1) DB Lunges – 3 Sets, 10 Reps, Controlled pace, no rest
A2) DB Bench Press – 3 Sets, 10 reps, Take 3 seconds on the way down, Rest 60 Seconds
B1) BB or DB Romanian Deadlifts – 3 Sets, 10 Reps, Controlled pace, No Rest
B2) Cable or DB Neutral Row – 3 Sets, 10 Reps, 3 Seconds on the way down, Rest 45 Seconds
MetCon: 4 Sets, 12 reps each for time – DB/KB Swings, DB Overhead Press, Jackknifes
(Google the names if you need help with the exercises)
Habit 2: Have a Meal Plan Template
A meal plan template is like a life long nutrition that you just tweak depending on if you want to lose body fat, maintain, improve performance or reach some other goal.
In the blog “Eating clean vs eating for a goal” we lay out a meal plan, but here’s a quick excerpt to get you lean:
- 4 meals per day
- Meat at every meal.Women: 1 palm size
- Men 1.5 Palm size
- Can swap with a protein shake or bar once a day
- Veggies at every meal. Women: 1 serving, Men 1.5 Servings per meal
- A little fat at every meal.
- Add carbs based on your training. Usually 1 serving of healthy carbs at dinner is good.
Check out that blog for elaboration on meal plan templates.
Habit 3: Cook Your Food For The Week
Save time. Save money (like hundreds each month). And make it effortless to execute your meal plan template. This is arguably the most important habit to execute your meal plan template.
Start out with just cooking your meat and protein sources, and then add to it by cooking or prepping your veggies and other foods. This will make it so convenient that you’ll be only 90 seconds away from a healthy meal.
To save even more time, check out our recent blog: 5 Tips To Save You Time Meal Prepping.
Habit 4: Learn To Say No
If you have all of the previous habits in place, the next biggest thing that could halt progress is simply temptation.
Going out to eat, holidays, family events, alcohol and going out to eat can all hinder your progress considerably.
Get comfortable wth respectfully saying no to certain things. Sure, you can have a cheat meal or two once a week and still make great progress. But it’s a slippery slope so watch out!
And if you’re not quite making the progress that you want, I’d check back to this habit and learn to control your time and nutritional intake a little better.
Habit 5: Sleep more
I bet you’ve heard this before, right?
For good reason.
If you don’t get at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night your metabolism is not running on all cylinders.
If you don’t get sufficient quality sleep you’re likely to:
- Get hungry more frequently
- Eat more food and calories
- Respond to stress worse
- Handle carbs worse
All of those things make it more likely foryou to store body fat instead of burn it, leading to you not loving the way you look and feel.
So aim for 8 hours a night or as close as possible. Consider naps to catch up if need be.
I’m a big fan of Melatonin and Magnesium to decrease stress and assist you to go into deep sleep.
Summary of the 5 habits that will get you lean
Each of these 5 habits are essential to getting you lean and fit. I’d recommend focusing on one at a time to get the ball rolling. By sparking some change this is usually enough to get progress as you follow the progression.
If you want a coach to help maximize your training, set goals and hold you accountable to follow through, click “Request More Information below” and we’ll reach out soon!
