Even if you’ve put off your fitness goals, there’s still time to rock a hot bod. Accelerate your strength, energy, performance, and muscularity with our expert guide to making the most of the beach season!
You’ve said it before: “This is the year I get in shape for the summer!” Yet, before you know it, it’s already July and your master plans have fallen victim to delicious barbecue meals, after-work cocktails at the rooftop bar, and lazy Sundays by the pool.
Sound familiar? Even with part of summer already behind you, you can still turn it all around before September, and we have exactly what you need! The following six tips courtesy of Dymatize athletes Mike Hildebrandt and Alicia Ziegler will serve as the blueprint to help you build your best summer body yet.
Although aesthetics may be your primary target, a calorically restrictive summer diet doesn’t mean you need to put your strength and muscle-mass goals on the back burner.
“Increased protein and exercise intensity are both key components to maintaining and even possibly building strength and muscle while you’re on a more restrictive diet,” says NPC physique competitor Mike Hildebrandt. “Even if you’re eating fewer calories overall, it’s important that you continue to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass per day.
Focusing on compound lifts is the most efficient way to build or maintain strength while cutting calories.
Adding quality muscle is not a guessing game! “It requires daily accountability of your calories and macronutrients combined with regular weigh-ins and body-fat measurements,” says Hildebrandt. “The only way to know exactly what adjustments you need to make is to keep a food journal and compare it with your body-fat measurements.
Prep your meals ahead of time to take the guesswork out of food and make it easier to track.
To preserve muscle tissue and lose fat, opt for high-intensity interval training, or HIIT. This type of cardio combines short bursts of all-out efforts combined with lower-intensity intervals, and it burns more calories in a shorter amount of time than steady-state cardio like jogging or biking.
For instance, if you run outdoors with a stopwatch, you could perform a sprint for 30 seconds followed by a one-minute slow jog. Cycle these intervals for 15-25 minutes, depending on your fitness level.
This summer, swap that hot coffee for an iced version to keep you cool and hydrated.
For especially hot days when you’re active outdoors, Ziegler suggests icing all your beverages and adding frozen fruit for the electrolytes and flavor.
If you’re goals this summer are more about performance than aesthetics, you need to get your sport on. If your sports season starts this fall, you can’t just rely on your overall fitness levels in order to excel. You need to focus on the specific skills you want to improve upon.
Look for plyometric, cable, and bodyweight movements that mimic the actions you’ll perform in your chosen sport, such as a cable woodchop for batting or 90-foot sprints for base-path running. It’s also smart to incorporate on-the-field agility drills, such as dribbling and cone work with a soccer ball.
You’ve heard it before, but it’s too damned important to ignore: Hydration is key. The combination of warm weather and extra activity means your body needs lots of fluid.
Hildebrandt drinks about 0.7 ounces of water per pound of body weight each day to ensure adequate hydration. So if you weigh 175 pounds, drink at least 124 ounces of water over the course of the day. “Studies have shown that being even slightly dehydrated can have a negative impact on your performance, so it’s not something you want to ignore,” he adds.
You have all the tools, now you just need to put these tips into action! Go forth and build your best summer body, and don’t forget to have fun as you’re doing it!