Health & Fitness World

The Secret of Muscle Definition

15th September, 2009 - Posted by Admin - Comments Off

Muscle is the look to have for the twenty-first century. If you’re a guy, you want the six-pack abs and great definition. If you’re a woman, you want to look firm and have just a touch of definition. Either way, more people are using fitness equipment or home gyms and lifting weights than ever before.

But weight training is only a part of looking ripped. If you’re overweight at all, you’re not going to get defined muscles, and you’re not going to be firm and toned. Body fat jiggles, and it hides muscle. There’s just no getting around it: if you want to look good, you need to be at your perfect weight.

Fat loss is a combination of eating right and being active. Start with your diet. The current thinking in health and fitness circles is that the current wave of obesity in our country is caused by eating too many carbohydrates and not enough protein. Take a close look at what you’re putting in your mouth. Often you’ll be surprised at the number of calories in certain foods you eat. To really get things under control, invest in an inexpensive calorie and nutrient tracking software package for your computer. You don’t have to track everything that goes in your mouth for the rest of your life, but some basic awareness of your diet is the basis for making healthy changes.

Activity is the other half of the fat loss equation. To lose fat, you have to burn more calories than you consume. Many bodybuilders are afraid to do aerobic exercise because they’re afraid of losing muscle. Don’t worry. Unless you’re at your perfect weight, a moderate aerobic training schedule is a necessity for shedding fat. It’s also really good for your heart.

It’s a myth that weight training for muscle definition means lifting lighter weight but doing more reps. This approach will increase your endurance, but it won’t increase definition. Fat loss does that. To increase your strength, lift heavier weights and do fewer reps.