How to get lean body.

Three steps to a lean body

You love lifting. You love the plain challenge and the simple rewards – beating your previous best and feeling a great pump afterwards.

RULE #1: CHANGE THE CYCLE

You don’t lift the same way all year, so why should the frequency, intensity and duration of your cardio workouts stay the same? They shouldn’t.When you’re trying to add muscle, keep your aerobic work to a minimum – say, once or twice a week for 15 to 20 minutes. This will limit your energy expenditure and allow your body to concentrate on building muscle.When you’re trying to get lean, increase your cardio training to two to four times a week to help strip away excess body fat. At all times, alternate your cardio methods so your workout’s not too boring – treadmill running one day, rowing the next, cycling the day after that.

RULE #2: SEPARATE CARDIO FROM LIFTING

Serious lifters worry that cardiovascular training will impede their ability to recover from intense strength work. However, it all depends on when and how you do your cardio training.Keep your cardio days and strength training days as far removed from each other as possible. That way your cardio won’t hinder gains in strength and size. For instance, doing a tough cycling workout after you hammer your legs with squats and lunges isn’t a good idea if your goal is to build bigger legs. Save your cardio for the next day or even two days later, to rest your legs.If you must do cardio and weights on the same day, choose a form of aerobic work that emphasises body parts your weight-lifting didn’t focus on that day.

RULE #3: DON’T MAKE AN IMPACT

Your body has enough to contend with in repairing the damage that lifting heavy weights inflicts on it. The last thing you need to do is break it down further with high-impact cardio training.Concentrate on cardio workouts that minimise microtrauma – the small tears to muscle fibres that are part of the process of building new muscle. Running on hard surfaces like asphalt or concrete can be traumatic to muscles and joints. Skipping can cause similar problems.Your best bets for low-impact exercise are swimming, cycling and using an elliptical machine.

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