The Top Three Techniques to Get Cut Muscles

When it comes to body building, there's really only two things that most people are concerned with: size and tone. If you're like most men, you probably want to add some size but, you don't want to be huge. We'll leave that for the meatheads. What you're looking for is lean, muscle or what I like to call, theHollywoodphysique. With so many different techniques out there, what is the best way to get cut muscles with out sacrificing your lean figure?

Well a lean, cut figure can be achieved by doing three things: cardio, weight training and eating right. Sounds simple enough, but the truth is that there's a little more than meets the eye here. If you're going to use this strategy to build lean muscle, its important that you do the right exercises in the right order and make sure that your diet is clean.

Cardio

It used to be that cardio was the bane of every body builder's existence. For anyone looking to bulk up, this was the first exercise to get thrown out the window. Alas, gone are the days of the Incredible Hulk, lean is in and bulky is out. Unless you want a layer of fat over your muscle, cardio is a crucial element to sculpting your lean physique.

The best way to incorporate cardio into your routine is to make sure you do it after lifting weights. You want to make sure that the bulk of your energy is spent doing the hard work first. Unless you have a lot of fat to cut, three days a week should be sufficient to get those cut muscles. If you're not into the treadmill or elliptical rider, try other forms of cardio like swimming, spinning or martial arts.

Weight Lifting

Ok, so a lot of people will tell you that if you want to get cut muscles, you've got to do high reps with low weights. However, you are actually better off using either plyometric exercises or circuit training.

Plyometrics involve using your own body weight along with quick movements to build muscle. If you've ever trained for a football team, you are probably already pretty familiar with what this involves. These exercises can be as simple as doing push ups, squat jumps or even crunches. You might even be asking yourself "can push ups build muscle?" If you're not sure, try plyometrics for yourself and see.

Circuit training on the other hand, involves using a series of weight machines in a continuous order with little down time. What both of these lifting regimens have in common is that they require continuous movement with very little rest time between sets.

Diet

Your diet is the final factor which will make or break you when it comes to getting cut muscles. The fact of the matter is that, if you are still taking in more calories than your body consumes on a daily basis, you will not lose body fat. Therefore, a low fat, high fiber, high protein diet is crucial to your success.