Ok, you’ve probably been around the block enough to have seen the *stupid* way of trying to lean up your “trouble spots” – by doing lots of isolation movements – so lets get that one out of the way first.
By now, you should know that you can’t spot reduce fat.
At the same time, you should know you can spot build muscle… do we want that?
What Is Being Lean?
When people see your body, there is only muscle or fat. Those are the options. Here is how to tell which one is which:
If it’s jiggly and gross, it’s fat
If it’s tight and firm and hot, it’s muscle
There is no “toned muscle” or “long lean muscle”. There is muscle. Or there is fat. There is more muscle or less muscle. And there is more fat or less fat.
When people say they want to be “long and lean”, what they really mean is that they want “a little more muscle and a lot less fat.”
When people say “nice toned muscle”, what they mean is that they want “a little more muscle and a lot less fat.”
Deconstructing “Long and Lean”
Pilates and danced based workout programs have been lying to women for years by claiming that their programs make “long lean muscles” while weights make women into “super muscle men”. It’s kind of a bummer, given that most women aren’t genetically gifted enough, or willing to eat so little, that they wouldn’t have to weight train.
So that’s the”long and lean muscle” scam: Make women afraid of weights, so we can sell our Pilates program or whatever.
How To Actually Get Long and Lean
The truth is – you can be long and lean. It usually means less fat.
The way you get to less fat:
1.) Full body, compound movements, in circuits (burn fat you have)
2.) Eat less crap (stop making yourself more fat)
The other thing that “long and lean” means, is a little more muscle. Muscle is cool because it’s tight and firm, and it looks good either naked or with clothes.
Most women need a little bit more. Not a whole super lot more, but a little more. So they don’t jiggle.
Here is how to get a little more muscle:
1.) Full body, compound movements, in circuits (to add a little muscle)
For everoyne that is still scared of bulking up – note that we aren’t bodybuilding you – we aren’t doing huge long workouts with super high volume – like 90 minutes of biceps and triceps.
We’re doing just enough that you get a hot, athletic, sexy body.
Smart Trouble Spot Workouts
Could you – being the smart girl that you are – do compound fat loss movements in circuits to lose fat…
…but also focus in on combinations of compound movements that all share a body part that you could tighten up a little bit?
Like, for example, if you wanted a firmer, hotter, 
bikini wearin’, skirt rockin’ butt – you could do a fat loss circuit that’s:
Pushups
Kettlebell Swings
Body Rows
Lunges
And you’d have a great full body fat loss circuit.
Or you could do:
Single Leg Bridge
Kettlebell Swings
Jump Squats
Single Leg Deadlifts
And while those are all still full body fat loss movements, they also all hit your butt.
In other words – you could still be burning fat with big metabolic movements in a circuit, while at the same time add a little bit of muscle.
On top of that, the single leg bridge is a great one to start your circuit with – it’s a glute activator, and it’s a hip flexor stretch. By activating your glutes ahead of time, you use them more effectively in the bigger movements. And by stretching the hip flexors, it’s like taking the breaks off on your butt for the other movements.
A lot less fat + a little more muscle = hotter, better looking butt.
What The Kettlebell Athletes Need
vs. What The Standard Gym Fat Loss Girls Need
Both could benefit from this approach, for different reasons.
The kettlebell athlete girls are used to doing fairly simple, full body workouts, with all compound movements. A really kick ass approach, but could benefit from having some activation movements and some focus to the combinations compound movements.
If you haven’t done this before, you’d be surprised out of how much you would get out of a phase like this. This is the way the women on the covers of all of the magazines train, it works.
What the normal gym girls need is really just more big compound movements. Bigger movements like kettlebell swings, squats, lunges, explosions… just the kinds of moves that make for more effective fat loss workouts.
Go Forth And Be Awesome
The really hardcore do-it-yourself-er readers should be able to take everything I’ve said and run with it. You can spin ideas off of the two circuits I posted above.
And based on what I normally write about – most of you have been doing programs that are like the first circuit, and could really benefit from switching it up and doing two or three phases like the second circuit. Whatever you’ve been doing works for about six weeks, then you need to change.
For most people though – I always recommend getting a program.
All of the moms out there already know Holly Rigsby (from Fit Yummy Mummy). She put together a really kick ass program based on these concepts, where she outlines everything.
Holly is the one that does the transformation contests for moms and stuff – and has gotten hundreds of moms to lose the baby weight and get rockstar lean.
I asked her if I could do a sale for you. This isn’t one of those big sales where a thousand blog authors are all pushing super hard to sell something – this really is a discount just for you and the other readers of this blog. I’ve kind of been hounding her team about it. That’s why I didn’t blog anything last week, I was trying to get this sale to you guys, the secret sale page they were putting together for me wasn’t ready!
So check it out – see if you dig it.
The reason I pushed so hard for Holly to have a sale for you is just that she lays everything out so completely – she teaches in video every movement, she has follow along videos for every workout, she has a follow along video for warm ups, cool downs… everything. It’s just really clear and simple and complete and effective. And I know that clear and simple and complete and effective is good for you.
This sounds interesting, but I’m concerned about equipment required. What do you need to do these workouts (besides motivation)?