Many say life begins at 40. Life may not be as it used to be in the past. But it is not the end of the world. If you are over 40 and wish to live the lean lifestyle or if you want to get lean and stay lean, nutrition is king and training needs to be strategic.
I often ask my clients what has been their best decade of life, and everyone over the age of 30 says, their 30s.
Those in their 40s say their 40s and those over 50 say, the 50s! So, I guess that means life only gets better! 🙌💪👊
The bottom line, make sure you in good physical shape, and even more optimal mental state.
You can shed stubborn fat and increase your strength at any age. And nothing changes from your earlier years.
The most crucial would-be to stay safe, work smart, not hard and heavy.
Here at ADC, we get asked what do we believe to be the best strategy for getting lean and living a lean lifestyle no matter what age you are?
Would it be a new approach to nutrition?
Perhaps it might be a different way of training?
What do you think???
Getting lean is all about a sustainable lifestyle shift rather than anything else.
When I say sustainable, I’m not talking about a quick fix diet plan or training plan that only lasts for 12 weeks, and then you’re back to old eating habits and can’t wait to stop the training nonsense that’s running you into the ground.
I’m talking about a lean lifestyle shift that’s sustainable over the long term, something that becomes part of your life, like brushing your teeth and something you enjoy that doesn’t end up consuming your entire existence.
I’ve always approached fitness completely different from what the mainstream advises when trying to get in shape, mostly because I’ve studied with the best mentors.
Everyone is just so busy these days, and I’m sure it is no different for you. You’ve probably got a lot on your plate right now, demanding career, family and all this means that you don’t have time to train more than 2-3 times per week without running yourself into the ground.
So how can you lead a lean lifestyle without spending hours in the gym?
The answer comes from two of the most effective strategies that I know to help you achieve and maintain a lean body.
Strength training and nutrition.
When you have those two things dialled in correctly, there’s not a lot else you need to do to get and maintain a lean body.
Of course, you have to know what exercises are best to use and what set and rep ranges work best, but once you have this nailed it’s simply a matter of time before you get the lean physique you crave.
Work with your body in a sustainable and enjoyable way, and you’ll be rewarded with a lean lifestyle and strong body.
Sure, the fitness industry over complicates everything to make you believe you need more protein, more workouts, more cardio and more of the latest fat burning pill, but honestly all that is just marketing.
It’s in their best interests to get you training more often, the more you train, the more likely you are to consume their protein shakes.
And, the more you fail with your training, the more likely you’ll think the answer lies in some miracle fat burning supplement when it doesn’t.
You can get to lead a lean lifestyle with only 2-3 strength training workouts per week
What?
It sounds like a marketing ploy, doesn’t it?
Get lean with only 2-3 weights workouts per week; you must be kidding I need way more than that to shift all this fat?!?
But the truth is if you are building a nice natural amount of muscle that increases your metabolism even at rest and you’ve got your nutrition dialled in so that you are losing 1lb of fat every week, there’s not a whole lot else you need to be doing.
As a youngster, I was a skinny kid and hated it. Being skinny is no different than being overweight.
I did not feel great about my body,
I lacked self-confidence,
I wanted to be lean.
After years of trying different training and nutrition methods, I managed to find the right solution for me, and that helped get me started in the fitness industry.
It wasn’t enough for me to use do it for myself. My mission is to help as many people live the life they wish to lead through improved health and wellness.
Through trial and error and using myself as a guinea pig, I was able to discover what worked and perhaps equally as important, what didn’t work.
I felt like a mad professor locked away in my secret laboratory (i.e. my private studio ;-) and the research has resulted in my Lean Lifestyle System.
I might not be the biggest guy in the gym, but I believe the more natural, balanced and lean look is what not only looks the most pleasing but makes you feel at your best as well.
What’s wrong with what you see in the magazines?
All those pictures you see in the magazines, i.e. men with ripped abs that look great, the problem is they’ve trained for a short period just to look good for that day!
I know this as I used to do it myself when getting in shape for a fitness model competition.
I’d train very hard, limit my calorie intake and carbohydrates, look great for competition day and then burn out and crash a few days after!
All that excessive cardio and skewed eating might get you lean. Still, it’s certainly not sustainable over the long term, ask any fitness model, most look good for the few days of the year and then either blow up like whales or spend their entire lives maintaining their physiques!
Both approaches are useless, and I knew there had to be a better approach.
I knew I had to create a brand that not only teaches everyday men and women how to get lean, but how to stay lean for life while being able to eat the foods you want without feeling like you’re on a diet.
Is staying lean possible without dieting?
You bet it is; I’m living proof.
When I talk about getting lean, I’m talking about body fat of around 9-12% that’s lean enough to see the abs but not so lean your hormone levels will take a hit.
A body that’s truly strong, lean and completely natural and perfectly attainable and sustainable year-round without the constant periods of highs and lows.
That’s what ADC is all about.
So, going back to the 2-3 workouts per week, how is it possible to get lean that way?
Well getting lean is all about building a nice natural amount of muscle through strength training and minimising body fat through nutrition.
Once you’ve got those two things nailed you’ll be well on your way to getting the lean body you want.
Now although a lot of men and women might already know this, not many will cut their training down to the bare minimum, thinking that the more training sessions they clock up, the leaner they’ll get.
But the problem with this approach is too many workouts will overtrain the body making it very hard to recover, and it only takes us longer to recover from our activities. Even more so when over 40 years old.
If you train too often, you won’t be able to get stronger on the exercises that matter, and when you focus on getting stronger on the main compound lifts that are suitable for you, you’ll find it a lot easier to get leaner as well.
Not to mention all the challenges we face each day such as demanding jobs, family and a million and one things to do.
Being able to train every day is something very few of us can do.
But when you cut your training down to the bare essentials and really focus on getting stronger on the most productive compound exercises for you, two to three times per week, training works well.
Are you interested to learn more?
Here’s are the essential points to leading a lean lifestyle for everyday men and women:
- Focus on getting stronger on compound exercises that cover all the major muscles of the body
- Train in a variety of rep ranges, for muscle growth/strength and fat loss.
- Limit training to 2-4 x per week for the best gains in strength and lean muscle
- Eat-in an enjoyable way that supports hormone health and fat loss
- Increase calorie expenditure by including some 30-45 minutes walks at the weekend or 10k steps per day.
- Once you’ve got a sound training and nutrition plan, you’ll be well on your way to getting the lean body you crave
Nutrition for a lean lifestyle
Nutrition is a big part of the equation when it comes to getting and maintaining a lean body. Still, a lot of men either don’t know what healthy foods to eat, how to calculate the correct number of calories or how to break those calories up into the right quantities.
Or worse still, they think excessive protein or fat loss pills are the answer to a lean body.
When it comes to getting a lean body, the first thing you need to know is your basal metabolic rate or BMR, this is how many calories you burn at rest without gaining or losing any weight.
In order to get your BMR, there are many different formulas out there, but the quickest way to get it is to multiply your bodyweight in lbs x 15.
This will give you a fairly accurate figure of how many calories you’re burning at rest each day. Now in order to get lean, you want to be eating at no more than 20% less than your BMR calories.
This will provide you with enough calories to keep you feeling full and losing approximately 1 lb of fat per week.
When getting lean it’s very important to lose fat slowly, those who try to lose fast weight will end up losing more lean muscle than fat resulting in a down regulated metabolism.
Once you have your number, it’s now a case of breaking up your goal calories into 2-3 meals per day.
Note: it doesn’t matter how many meals you eat throughout the day as long as you don’t exceed your goal calories for the day.
Once you know your calorie intake the next step is to ensure you’re having an adequate amount of protein in your diet (approximately 1g per pound of bodyweight) to help elicit muscle growth and repair and to prevent muscle loss while in a calorie deficit.
Whether you have 3 bigger meals or 5 smaller meals it simply does not matter as long as you reach your prescribed calorie and protein intake you’ll still be on track.
Never go too low in calories
Sometimes guys get stuck in a fat loss rut when they’ve been in a calorie deficit for a long period of time. This invariably crashes the metabolism, and I’ve advised them to periodically increase their calories to kick start the fat burning process once more.
Sometimes increasing your calories after periods of long calorie reduction is just what your body needs to start dropping body fat, so don’t start thinking if you do not see fat loss the answer is to restrict your calories even more.
This simple step by step system (here at TEAM ADC we call it the Lean Lifestyle System) has resulted in hundreds of North London men and women achieve their health and fitness goals which are exciting… but we are FAR FROM FINISHED!
We are looking for 15 men and women in Hadley Wood and surrounding areas who are sick and tired of the way they look and feel they are in that ‘place’ where something HAS to change.
If this sounds like you, then this is a must.
We want to hear from you.
If you’re still interested, here’s what you need to do.
Complete the form below and include your reason why you are applying for this program.
You can achieve INCREDIBLE things when you put your mind to it… and we’ll prove it to you!
For more information about our personal trainers please click here.
Best wishes
Chris Varnavas
Athletic Development Club
