Skip to main content

Top tips to help you get lean

 

Want to swap your fat for muscle? Trainer and high performance manager of Oakleigh Chargers Football Club Ben Sharpe and director of MP Studio Luke Archer share their lifestyle tips to help you lean out.

1. Get enough shut-eye: aim for 7.5 to nine hours of sleep per night for optimal recovery and hormonal balance. 

2. Office know-how: manage your stress levels, increase your calorie burn and reduce your chances of muscle wastage by going for regular walks throughout the day, or asking the boss for a stand-up desk. “If a person is sitting at a desk all day, their energy requirements are much less than someone who has a physically demanding job,” says Archer. “We generally switch off our muscles, sit back, slump or have no need to use our muscles. And which group of muscles do we switch off most? The glutes – which are the largest muscles in the body.”

3. Eat well, eat often: eating smaller meals more often will aid in boosting the metabolism, while plant foods are important to insulin sensitivity. “The more your plate looks like a rainbow of colorful fruit and vegetables at every meal, the faster your results will come,” says Archer. 

4. Hydrate: drinking cold water regularly throughout the day can boost your metabolic rate by up to 30 per cent according to Archer. “Our body is made up of 70 to 80 per cent water – so it’s no wonder we need it so often to function properly,” he says. 

5. Prioritise strength-based training: your lean muscle mass has the greatest impact on your ability to burn fat, so be sure to incorporate three to four full-body weight sessions per week. A weighted circuit with lower loads, higher reps and limited rest will keep the heart rate elevated to increase muscular endurance while burning body fat.

 

NEXT: Working out but not seeing results? Here are 10 ways to boost your calorie burn at the gym.

 

 

{nomultithumb}

 


Read more ...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

VIDEO: Swiss ball dumbbell chest press

Improve your upper body strength with this Swiss ball workout. WH&F Head Trainer Nikki Fogden-Moore demonstrates. Read more ...

How to avoid dry skin

  Are you prone to dry skin ? If you think your diet has nothing to do with it, your face may beg to differ. The Suspects: Alcohol , Coffee , Poor Diet In the short term, alcohol can cause dehydration , which can cause dry skin. “For women, the recommendation is no more than two standard drinks a day on average,” says dermatologist Ann-Maree Kurzydlo, who recommends limiting consumption and alternating alcoholic drinks with water. “One or two alcohol-free days should be had per week.” Caffeine is a diuretic and can also lead to dehydration of the skin - so steer clear of energy drinks as well as tea and coffee. Meanwhile, dietitian Dr Joanna McMillan says diet can also play havoc with skin. “A lack of fats in the diet can lead to dry skin, whereas good fats such as oily fish, avocado and olive oil deliver fat-soluble nutrients, are anti-inflammatory and promote skin health,” she says. “Certain nutrients are important for the skin including vitamins A, C, E and many antioxidants. ...

Health and fitness with Lauren Hannaford

  We chat to Lauren Hannaford ( @lozhannahford ) about her top fitness tips, how she stays motivated and her fitness mantra.   After competing as an elite gymnast for more than 20 years, IsoWhey -sponsored athlete Lauren ‘Loz’ Hannaford turned her fitness sights to gymnastics coaching, modelling and personal training. While touring the world with The Wiggles (yep, she once performed on stage as Dorothy the Dinosaur), Hannaford learnt the importance of the ‘do anywhere, anytime’ workout for boosting her health and wellbeing. “I always remind myself of how much more energised and vibrant I feel all day after I sweat myself through an awesome workout.” Her top tips Write it down - “This is a great way to believe you can do it. There is something about writing it down that makes it become real. When it becomes a real commitment there is no room for self-doubt or sabotage.” Focus on process, not outcome - “I encourage [my clients] to have their specific goals but to ultimately make...