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For years and years, people have been obsessed with the perfect physique. The 80′s featured the ‘roided look and spandex gym wear and the 90′s featured fad diets and aerobics. Today, men and women’s perception of physical attractiveness has changed. Women have been trying to tell us for years. They don’t want the skinny marathon runner or the bulky bodybuilder. They want the athletic-looking guy with a natural amount of muscle. Hollywood knows this and that’s why all the leading men or “studs” are sporting the athletic look a la Matthew McConaughey, Will Smith, etc.
Athletic Physique Training
Strength training using semi heavy weights to within the high rep ranges of 8 – 10 and using negative reps to break down the muscle fibers is a thing of the past. The new and more efficient way of training is to combine strength training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). The “lean athletic look” method of strength training differs from the public’s perception. It involves using heavy weights within the rep range of 3 – 8 without breaking down the muscle which is what bodybuilding is essentially about. For some weird reason, people still believe that a bigger muscle is a better muscle. If you watch lean athletes,
you will see that they are not overly muscly. This is on purpose because too much muscle can actually be a detriment and make them less efficient in their movements (Note: Bruce Lee, one of the greatest martial artists and athletes in the world, is a great example of this). Therefore, we see that a stronger muscle is indeed, a better muscle and the best way to train for strength is to use the full-body, compound exercise-filled workouts. Breaking down a muscle and one body part a day per week is no longer the best way to strength train: it’s outdated. This process is lengthy and unnecessary. Use full body movements for 30 – 45 minutes, 3 times a week and you will see results and cut your workout time down. This is very similar to the way Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training advocates to train for body transformation. Click here to learn cutting edge advice for elite fitness Bruce Lee was so ahead of the curve and his body was proof of that, he was ripped!
Lean Athlete Workout
Every workout should begin with a full-body warm-up (I wrote an article on the best way to warm up for activity) and this should be specific to the activity being performed, and since strength is the goal, we could begin with a few bodyweight exercises (push-ups, split squats, etc.) to get our muscles warm and ready us both physically and mentally. After that, we head on to the workout. Note, the workout can be designed anyhow you want it as long as you target the whole body.
Sample Workout
- Squats/Dead-lifts
- Physio-ball leg curl
- Incline bench press
- Lat pull downs
- Bicep curl to press
- Triceps pull down
- Plank for 2 minutes (if possible)
Full body workouts give you the pleasure of less time but more quality because you could hit all muscle groups in as little as 45 minutes compared to the norm of an hour plus. It also gives you time to add in intervals to complete the workout, therefore giving you the best of both worlds. (Craig Ballantyne’s whole approach is to accomplish more in less time i.e more efficiency. His workouts are tailored to anyone and everyone and can help with all your fitness goals. I have been using his techniques for a few years now and they have saved me time on many occasions and they are tough but tough gives results.)
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