How to Get Toned and Defined

Alright ladies, this one is for you. Guys, read up as well. You'll learn something.

In all my years of training and coaching, there's still one question that I get more than any other.

"I want to get toned and defined. How do I do that?"

Not to fear, girls. I'm here to help. But before I go into detail on what it takes to become "toned" and "defined", I'd first like to discuss what exactly those words mean.

As much as some might not want to admit it, "toned" and "defined" are words that girls have identified with over the years, because "build muscle" and "cut" are words that are more associated with massive bodybuilders who are so big, they can barely wipe their own butt. There is a fear out there that has kept women from wanting to build muscle, and it must come to a stop!

Ladies, listen for a sec. You simply WILL NOT get as big as those guys are. If you prioritize muscle-building, you won't be as big as most average men. Not even close. You don't have the same genetic makeup, and your testosterone is far too low. However, if you do prioritize muscle-building, guess what you WILL be?

Toned and defined!

Now we're talking. So ladies, let go of the fear that you'll get too big and bulky, let go of the fear that tells you you'll look like a guy, and embrace the message that tells you you'll look toned, defined, and absolutely stunning.

So what exactly does it take to get there? It takes two things, both you are probably aware of.

1. Burn Fat

2. Build Muscle

I'm sure you're sitting there thinking "duh, of course Adam. I know that."

I know you do ;). I just want to break them down for you a bit more so you can implement some practices into your life.

BURNING FAT

As you know, the the more fat that you have over your lean muscle mass, the harder it's going to be to look toned and defined. So, the key to seeing all that rock hard muscle is going to be taking down your body fat percentage.

Here are some key factors that play a big role in fat loss:

1. Genetic makeup

2. Basal Metabolic Rate and TDEE

3. Caloric deficit

Going over genetic makeup is easy... Ready? You can't change your genetic makeup. Boom, that one was easy to go over. It's not too encouraging, though. Although you can't completely change your genetics, there are things you can do to improve the way your body uses fuel (calories) like improving your BMR (basal metabolic rate).

BMR is a fancy way of telling you how many calories your body burns at rest. So, if you were to binge watch a show on Netflix all day long from the minute you wake up to the minute you go back to sleep, that's how many calories you'd be burning. Think of your BMR as the engine in a car. If your BMR is low, your engine is like a Prius. It will sit with the engine on FOREVER and won't run out of gas. If your BMR is high, your engine is like that of a semi-truck. If you leave it sitting with the engine on, the gas will go quick (given that both vehicles have the same amount of gas). When it comes to fat loss, a higher BMR is optimal because it'll allow you to handle a caloric deficit in a much healthier way. Having a BMR of 2,000 calories and eating in a deficit at 1,700 calories would be more tolerable (because you could eat more) than a BMR of 1,100 calories and eating in a deficit of 800 calories. Ya feel?

How do you improve your BMR?

One of the best things you can do to increase the amount of calories your body burns at rest, is increase the amount of lean muscle that your body has (more on that later). Muscle takes a lot of energy/calories to maintain, so the more you have, the better. And again, I'm not talking bodybuilder muscle. Even a few pounds of lean muscle can make a difference.

Here's a simple calculation you can do to estimate your BMR: BMR = 370 + (21.6 x lean mass in kg)

Not only is a high BMR important when it comes to fat loss, but so is your TDEE. TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure. Simply put, the amount of total calories you burn in a day. This includes calories burned from BMR, exercise, walking, digesting food, everything that uses fuel. Increasing your total calorie burn or TDEE is another great way to promote fat loss. The more calories your are burning in a day, the easier it will be to eat in a caloric deficit.

Here's how you can estimate TDEE: TDEE = BMR x 1.3-1.7*

*Note - 1.3-1.7 is a multiplier depending on your activity level throughout the day. If you are sedentary, use 1.3. If you are extremely active (like a personal trainer or construction worker) use 1.7.

Once you know your BMR and TDEE, it's time to figure out the size of your deficit.

Determining the size of your deficit should be a reflection of how soon you want to reach your goal, as well as how you want to live your life while working toward the goal. If you're someone who wants to reach your goal real quick, and will do absolutely anything it takes to get there, a bigger deficit may be better. If you wan to take it slow and smell the roses, a smaller deficit may be better. For example, if you enjoy getting drinks with your friends, eating out a ton, and know you will slack off here and there, decreasing the size of your deficit and prolonging your deadline may be a good idea. Either way, be extremely realistic and honest with yourself. Another thing you may want to consider is the end game. Think beyond your goal. Do you want to get to your goal quick, and then focus in on preventing a rebound? Or, would you rather take a year or so to hit your goal knowing that your new body will be easier to maintain down the road? I say this because usually goals that are achieved with more drastic measures usually take drastic measures to maintain. Think about all the things you have done in the past that gave you immediate results. I'm willing to bet that soon after you got those results, you plateaued, and then eventually put all the weight back on, if not, even more. So, take that into consideration. If your long term goal and end game is a healthy and lean physique that is easy to maintain, I always recommend going slow and steady. Rather than aiming to lose 20 pounds as quick as possible, aim to lose 20 pounds in a year while maintaining muscle mass and developing healthy eating habits. Going that route will make living lean and healthy a lifestyle instead of a regimen.

Being aware of your genetic makeup, your BMR/TDEE, and the size of your caloric deficit will help you create a path toward fat loss. But, all that fat loss isn't going to matter if you don't have any muscle to show off.

BUILDING MUSCLE

As I stated before, muscle is gong to be a key component to that toned and defined look. It will aid in increasing the amount of calories you burn at rest (making fat loss easier), as well as giving you the definition you're looking for at higher body fat percentages. Whether it's a 25-year-old trying to build a six-pack, or a 45-year-old wanting to make her arms and thighs less flabby, I always recommend thickening the muscles in those areas. The thicker and more dense those muscles are, the more they will pop even at higher body fat percentages. When you build the muscles in your problem areas, looking toned and defined will be easier since you won't have to get to extremely low body fat percentages just to see a bit of muscle.

The key factors that play a role in building muscle are similar to losing fat:

1. Genetic Makeup

2. Basal Metabolic Rate and TDEE

3. Caloric Surplus

When it comes to building muscle, genetics play a big role here just as much as they do in fat loss. Certain individual's genetic makeup makes it easy for them to put on muscle, whereas others may have genetics that simply takes more work to build lean muscle. It is what it is. Some of us were born with that, and some of us weren't. We can't sit here and complain about how it's unfair, but what we CAN do is figure out what it takes to build lean mass.

Knowing your BMR and TDEE is extremely important as well, because it'll allow you to calculate how many calories you should eat in a day in order to be in a caloric surplus. More often than not, muscle growth comes from eating more calories than you burn in a day, along with proper training. Only in novice exercisers might you see an increase in lean tissue while in a caloric deficit.

Treat your surplus the same as you would your deficit. The bigger your surplus is, the more risk you run of putting on body fat. So, if you want to stay as lean as possible and don't mind taking your time, make your surplus smaller and slowly increase your caloric intake as your body adapts. Keep track of your weight and make adjustments as needed.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

Whether you're trying to lose fat or build muscle, keeping track of the changes your body makes is going to be essential. One of the ways I do this with my coaching clients is by monitoring weight changes. Whenever I'm working toward a specific goal I do this as well. Each day, I weigh myself first thing in the morning. I keep a log of those weights in my phone, and figure out the average at the end of each week. If my goal is fat loss and I see changes in the wrong direction, I may decrease my caloric intake. If I see changes in the right direction, I'll leave things as is until I maintain/plateau. Knowing exactly what your body is taking in and putting out will enable you to make changes to your regimen that WILL work.

TAKEAWAYS

Looking toned and defined simply comes down to losing body fat, and having dense, lean muscle underneath to show off. If you want to lose body fat, live in a caloric deficit and make adjustments when needed. If you want to build muscle, live in a caloric surplus and make adjustments when needed. No matter what, keep track of everything you're doing that way you can identify problems and make solutions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.

Balancing Your Fitness and Lifestyle Within Your Goals

If you've done some Google searches on "how to lose weight" or "how to build muscle", there are thousands and thousands of results that pop up. From eating chicken and broccoli five times per day to eating whatever you want and doing a bunch of cardio, there seems to be endless "answers" to your questions. Interestingly enough, it's actually not the "best way to lose weight fast" that we're after.

The real question is this:  What is the most optimal AND practical way to reach our health and fitness goals?

After all, what's optimal can't be the solution unless it's practical too. 

The Dangers of Extreme Sacrifice

When it comes to health and fitness, one of the first things we think about is our physical appearance. When we do this, we tend to associate EVERY SINGLE DECISION along our fitness journey based on how it will affect our bodies. We make extreme sacrifices with other important things in life in order to achieve those goals. Why, though?

Well, extreme sacrifice is sexy and it sells, believe it or not. When people go on diets, they want to be acknowledged for their amazing will power and discipline. It's more "difficult" to go on a restrictive diet and reach their goal and the recognition they receive from their extreme sacrifice is what keeps them going. Although they won't admit it, it makes them feel juuuust a bit above everyone else. But what's so wrong with the extreme sacrifice?

Nothing is "wrong" with the idea of sacrifice whatsoever. If there's anyone that understands living like no one else so that later I can live like no one else, it's me. Trust me. But when it comes to balancing health, fitness, and an enjoyable lifestyle, things can get a bit shady. Using extreme sacrifice to reach a health and fitness goal is unhealthy when the following things happen:

1. It begins to negatively affect your relationships.
2. Husbands and wives begin to neglect quality time with their spouses because they feel like they have to be in the gym for 3 hours each day.
3. People begin to distance themselves from their social groups because their new training plan says they can't go to happy hour on Thursdays anymore. 

These are all extremely similar. When this kind of sacrifice damages the relationships in your life, there needs to be a change. The above examples are a few of many that I have heard of. Some others that really concern me are parents not being completely present at the dinner table because they "need" to have kale salad instead of mac and cheese or else they'll lose everything that they've worked for. Families getting read of weekly ice cream trips in the summer because dad has to eat "clean" is another one I've heard of. Even moms feeling like they have to cook even more because they can't eat anything that their family is eating. It makes me so sad to hear things like this.

It Doesn't Have to Be That Way

People, reaching a fitness goal doesn't require a crazy amount of sacrifice. Although the fitness industry has been lying to you and telling you that you have to live like a competitive bodybuilder in order to look great in your swimsuit, I'm here to tell you otherwise. 

"Adam, are you telling me that reaching my goal is going to be really easy and I'll hardly have to put in any work?" No, that's not what I'm saying at all. But what I am saying is this:

Properly balancing your health, fitness, and lifestyle is going to be the best way to reach your goals. Why? Because getting the best mix of optimal and practical is what delivers results. 

How Do I Find Balance? 

Over the last 5 years or so that I've been in the fitness industry, I've discovered that the ideal balance between optimal and practical has these three components:

1. A complete understanding of where the individual is starting.
2. A complete understanding of where the individual is wanting to be.
3. A very good understanding of where the individual's priorities are. 

So, in order to begin creating a plan that allows you to have a great balance between health, fitness, and lifestyle we need to figure out where you're starting point is.

The Starting Line

Where are you coming from? Have you been sitting on the couch without physical activity for the last five years, or have you been doing hard resistance training for the last five years? Either way, your starting point is going to have a big impact on the training plan that you choose. I can't place a new client of mine on a similar program that I am doing if he/she hasn't exercised in years. Although the chances that their body will adapt are high, their changes of hurting themselves and having a negative experience are even higher. 

The same thing goes for nutrition. I weigh 215 pounds and my body maintains its weight at roughly 2800 calories. Although I'm working to put on a few more pounds of muscle this year, would it be smart for me to follow the same plan that Ronnie Coleman was on? Absolutely not, because he is eating 6,000 calories every day during the offseason, he had wayyyy more muscle mass than I do (which means he burns more calories) and he also was on a healthy dose of anabolic steroids while he was competing. Similarly, putting a 110 pound female client on a similar regimen to mine would be absolutely ridiculous. Pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?

Ronnie gets it.

So many people just go straight to the first few search results when they type in "how to lose weight". I'm not saying that this is a bad thing necessarily. But a result of that is following a plan that isn't made for you. And when you follow a plan that wasn't made for you, you start to live a life that doesn't work for you. Little miss Sally would hate eating as much as I do, and I would be hangry all the time if I tried to eat the amount of food that was right for her. 

I don't expect you to know everything about your nutrition, macronutrient intake, and creating a training plan that is custom-tailored for your goals. That's why I do what I do. Just ask and I'll help you out. My point is this, though. Knowing and acknowledging where you're coming from is EXTREMELY important. And so is seeing your finish line.

The "Finish Line" 

By the way, I've placed quotations around this one because ideally, we don't ever want to finish the race. A fitness journey should be life long. Goals change, but we all should be setting new goals again and again. 

Understanding where you want to finish is soooo important. And there is a difference between having an idea of what you'd like to look like, and real numbers that you can measure. I can't tell you how many time I get coaching applications where the individual's goal is to "build more muscle", "tone up", or "lose fat." I'm not minimizing these goals whatsoever. They're very real goals and they certainly matter to my clients for many different reasons. But before we can move on to implementing a training and nutrition, I always encourage people to make things very specific and measurable. When your goal is specific and measurable, it becomes easier to understand what the process is going to look like from start to finish. Let's make a couple of examples.

Most females want to "tone up" or "slim down". When goals are this broad, it is extremely easy to become lost in the middle of your fitness journey. You'll have a tendency to change habits fast, set your training and nutrition protocols to match women who are at different starting points, etc. But if you make your goals specific and measurable, you'll know that it takes X grams of carbs, fats, and protein to lose X pounds. Make sense? Simply put. Not knowing EXACTLY where you want to be in X weeks will make it easier for you to follow some figure competitor's nutrition guidelines just because she's "toned" like you want to be. 

Priorities

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say "I don't have time." Please, you have time. It's ok that you didn't get something done. It's ok that you fail sometimes. But only if you're willing to admit that whatever it was, it was not a priority. If it's not a priority, you're not going to get it done. Accepting your priorities are vital for a healthy balance of health and fitness in your life. 

It's not appropriate to make fitness your number one priority if that causes you to live an unhealthy live in other ways. Relationships, hobbies, and quality time are all examples of what I'm talking about. Admitting that it's not your number one priority is 100% OK! This is why I touched on the starting line and finish line before I got to priorities. One of my goals this year is to read 20 books. I've only read four so far. Why? Because I haven't treated it as a priority, and I admit that. You're not going to hear me say "I didn't have time." But I will say "it hasn't been a priority."

 If your goal is to lose 10 pounds of body fat in 16 weeks, putting fitness on the back-burner to spend time with your family and create awesome memories is acceptable. If your goal is to compete in a show and you need to drop to 5% body fat leading up to it, there are going to be many moments where you'll have to say "no" to some fun. Will that have an effect on your relationships? Yeah, probably. But only temporarily. You'll have to be a bit more selfish with your time for a few more months and once that show is over you can return to happy hour with your friends and staying up late. You just have to understand that and fasten your seatbelt. 

The most important thing here is coming to terms with how bad you want something, what it's going to take in order to get there, as well as what amount of work you are willing to put in. Certain goals require a certain amount of sacrifice. Am I saying that it's going to be extremely difficult for a mother of three to lose body fat and put on some lean muscle tissue over time? Of course not. But if her goal was to compete in a show 16 weeks away, it would certainly make being a mother a little more difficult because of the sacrifice that is required to do something like that. Figure out what your biggest priorities are. If training and proper nutrition aren't a couple of them, don't be surprised when your lofty goal isn't accomplished. 

The Takeaway

Lately I've enjoyed providing takeaways in my articles. Whenever I read something I like to find a takeaway to apply to my life. So here are yours:

1. Be realistic with what you want, and what you're willing to put in.
2. Don't make some goal and get upset or discouraged when you knew you weren't going to put the necessary work in anyway. It's much better to make tiny goals that you can surely accomplish and let them build on each other.
3. For goodness' sake, enjoy life. It is way too dang short to put memories on the back-burner. Count your macros, train hard, and enjoy this beautiful thing called life. 

Thanks for reading. I really do appreciate it.

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