By Brett Cohen
NYC Personal Trainer

 

This Summers Forecast-Your Hottest Body Ever
(with 100% chance of success)!

 So, the holiday season is over. You’ve had time to reflect on why you didn’t get the body of your dreams last year and you’ve made a resolution to get the body of your dreams this year. Well, here are my 7 tips on how to get your hottest body ever by this summer (with 100% chance of success)! Oh, just in case you’re not sure what svelte means, the definition is; ‘slender or graceful in figure or outline; slim.’ Who wouldn’t want that? 

Tip #1-Reject Your Resolution

So many people ‘resolve’ to make changes in their lives at this time of the year, but sadly the vast majority of those resolutions fail and they fall back to their normal routines. You often hear things like, “I want to lose weight”, “I want to be more healthy”, or “I want to get strong”. But these statements are abstract, unmeasurable, and undefinable. They are simply expressions of will or intent. Reject your resolution! They don’t work! Instead, work on setting goals. Those same three phases expressed as goals could be: “I will lose 20 pounds of fat by June, 1st.”, “I will drink half my body weight in ounces of water every day”, “I will do 20 push-ups by March 1st.” Bottom Line: Having a goal give you a direction to go in and helps you know whether you’re on the right path. Goals are: Specific,Measurable, Affirmative, Realistic and Time Bound. “Goal setting is a roadmap to help you get from wherever you are to wherever you want to go.” -Brian Tracey

Tip #2-Catch Your Zzzzzz’s

Research has shown that people who sleep less than seven hours a night are up to 75 percent more likely to be obese. Sleep is when your body repairs itself, and a lack of sleep can wreak havoc on your body fat and your hormones. A lack of sleep will cause and increase in the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin, and a corresponding decrease in leptin, a hormone that helps you feel full. Bottom line: people who sleep more weigh less, so make sure you get your shut-eye. 

Tip #3-Wash it Down With Water

Approximately 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated. In 37 percent of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger. Being dehydrated is a no-no if you want to have a svelte body. Even mild dehydration will slow down your metabolism by as much as three percent. Dehydration takes away from your exercise performance which leads to decreased results, fatigue, and increased cortisol levels, the stress hormone that breaks down muscle tissue and stores body fat. If you aren’t drinking enough water you’re holding onto water. How much should you drink? The best recommendation is to divide your body weight in half and drink that number in ounces every day. If you have a diet soda habit, now is the time to cut it out. Diet soda does not help you lose weight, and studies show it may actually contribute to weight gain. Bottom Line: Drink mostly water throughout the day. You can squeeze some lemon, orange slices of lime to give it flavor. 

Tip #4 Set Your Priorities
Let’s face it, we’re all busy. Most of us don’t have an unlimited amount of hours to workout, so that’s why it’s so important that you prioritize your training and spend the time you do have wisely. Bottom Line: If fat loss is your goal then you must follow the hierarchy of fat loss when choosing your exercises.

 

Tip #5- Ax the Aerobics
When it comes to fat loss, most people (especially women) have their workout priorities flipped upside down. Women typically make steady-state aerobic exercise their priority. But steady-state aerobics is the least effective method for achieving fat loss. Aerobics is actually a state or intensity at which you docardio. Cardio (short for cardiovascular), refers to any exercise which involves the heart and lungs. So, to clarify, all aerobic exercise is cardio, but not all cardio is aerobic. Bottom Line: This is important to understand because steady-state aerobic exercise only burns calories during the workout. You’ll only burn about 10 calories a minute if you’re working out pretty hard.

Tip #6- Rev-up Your Resistance
Resistance training (a.k.a weight training) increases and maintains lean muscle tissue, and unlike aerobic training, resistance training boosts your metabolism long after the training ends. If you want to have the hottest body every by summer than strength training should be the cornerstone of your workouts. Even better, create a full-body circuit that will create a metabolic disturbance  by breaking down muscle, up-regulate fat-burning enzymes and shake up your systems so much that have your body sizzling off calories for hour after it’s over. Bottom Line: If you want a svelte body, resistance training offers you the most benefits towards achieving that goal.

Remember the difference between cardio and aerobics? All aerobics is cardio but not all cardio is aerobic. If you like cardio, here’s your chance to HIIT it Hard. This cardio is performed at intense levels where you are increasing your heart rate to a point where you can’t carry on a conversation and you can’t hold that intensity for more than a minute or two. It requires that you pair it with periods of recovery. There is no specific formula to HIIT, it all depends on your current level cardiovascular development. The protocol could be a 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of work to recovery periods. HIIT training also elevates your metabolism for hours after you finish because you consume a great deal more oxygen than if you had just done a steady-state workout. This extended caloric burn is know as Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption or (E.P.O.C). HIIT also significantly lowers insulin resistance and causes skeletal muscle adaptations that result in enhanced skeletal muscle fat oxidation and improved glucose tolerance. Bottom Line: HIIT is considered to be an excellent way to maximize a workout that is limited on time. Ever see a fat sprinter?

Brett’s Bottom Line: The truth is life can be stressful and complicated, and things come up that get in the way of your workouts. That’s why it’s so important to set realistic goals and find the middle ground between your ultimate physical appearance and what’s realistic for your lifestyle, and it’s something you’re able to maintain. Manage and set your priorities when it comes to your training. Start by figuring out how much time you can commit to your workouts every week, beginning with the end in mind and working backwards.

Brett Cohen is the founder of Integrated Training Systems a fitness & wellness company located in New York City. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Education, is a C.H.E.K Institute Exercise Coach, Holistic Lifestyle Coach, and Golf Performance Specialist, as well as National Academy of Sports Medicine Personal Trainer, and Titlelist Performance Institute Golf Fitness Instructor.
“Intelligent Exercise-Incredible Results”