Hi I’m currently 119 pounds and 5″6, my fitness goal is to tone and get a bigger butt and get abs, any tips?
I am stick straight with no curves so I really want to try to get a butt, and I have a little too much fat on my stomach and would like to lose it, my problem is if I don’t do cardio and abs like crazy Imy butt just loses all the muscle and stays flat but if I don’t do cardio and abs my stomach still has fat on it, I work out everyday of the week and eat fairly healthy foods
Cardio is good for burning calories. But, if your objective is to burn fat that’s on the body. Cross training is the way to go. Which means you would be doing weight training and cardio. You shouldn’t do intense cardio everyday of the week truthfully. Even marathon runners cross train. Competitive athletes usually only target train intense sessions x2 a week with 3 days of resistance training. Your body needs time to rest and recover. Plus eating the macro-nutrients needed for building or sculpting a butt. Achieving visible abs is with your nutrition.
Hi Alex, As Joshua suggested above, the question I would start with is how’s your diet? Assuming you have no restrictions for diet or exercise then … for someone with no weight to lose the quality of food is very important for composition – ie. do you tend to eat foods that are processed or high in sugar for example? These will hold you back. If the food is high quality, then the next thing is to add some muscle. For that I’d recommend resistance training with periodization (including rest days) to slowly and safely increase volume – squats and deadlifts are the gold standard exercises for the lower body. If you’re eating clean you will have to make sure you’re getting enough calories to build muscle, I usually recommend a caloric surplus of about 300 calories per day as a start. I would recommend using an app to count calories and your macros to make sure you are eating enough and balanced diet. While doing so, I’d recommend minimizing or laying off the cardio, that will help maximize muscle growth.
Thanks so much! I just started eating a clean diet, since you recommended laying off the cardio to maximize my muscle growth, do you think I will still be able to lose fat in my stomach by ab workouts and eating clean, because toning my stomach is important to me too, just like toning my lower body
Hi Alex, yes, in general if you keep the workouts crisp with active rest, if you are able to do so safely (this will get your heart rate up). However, it seems from your last comment that toning may be more important to you than pure muscle growth. If that is the case I would change what I said slightly… I would keep your calorie intake level to your burn, the 300 surplus I mentioned was to help you add muscle. I would still add resistance training and rest into your program but I would then keep the cardio as a component. I’d try to do resistance training 2-3x per week, but not on consecutive days. Good luck and have fun!!
Its not possible to pick and choose body parts that you wish to change…
Focus on food intake/I suggest eliminating all processed sugars.
I would also hire a qualified certified trainer to work with in order to find an intelligent work that suits you along with a Health Coach or Nutritionist.
Only hire a trainer with a Nationally Accredited Certification.!