Aesthetics Diet And Workout Plan: Getting Cut Fitness Model-Style

Aesthetics Diet And Workout Plan

Millions of people around the world are striving to shed their excess pounds and build a lean and attractive body. The reasons people cite are countless. The most popular one is perhaps aesthetics: a slim, tone and muscular body is a long-standing ideal in Western societies. The way you look matters a lot when others perceive and judge you. However, you need a healthy diet not only for aesthetics. Losing some weight and building up muscle often yield health benefits, unless you overdo it. An aesthetics diet and workout plan is exactly what you need if you wish to improve your health and looks.

Aesthetics Diet Basics

To begin with, aesthetics is a vague term. What you perceive as your ideal aesthetic body may not be the goal of another person. Even within the conventional beauty standards, the variety is huge. For instance, if you’re a skinny man reading this article and wish to gain mass and sculpt the muscled body, you’ll need a completely different regimen than if you’re an overweight individual  aiming for fat loss. Some details regarding these differences are outlined below. Generally, each diet has to follow general health rules for it to be beneficial for your body and not wreak havoc on your health. This means that an aesthetic diet must be balanced. 

A balanced diet is a diet that provides you with all the essential macronutrients and vitamins. If you follow a balanced diet, the risks of chronic diseases like obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer will be drastically reduced (9, 7). The USDA claims that the majority of your daily caloric intake should come from fresh fruit and vegetables, along with whole grains, lean protein, low-fat dairy, nuts, and legumes (11).

Aesthetics Diet Rules

The general rule for every diet aiming at weight loss (not muscle mass gain) is that you need to consume fewer calories than you spend, creating a calorie deficit. Without a calorie deficit, the pounds won’t disappear. This, however, does not mean that you should stick to extremely low-calorie diets that are promising rapid weight loss, as they’re devastating to your health, and their results won’t last (12). You can be fairly sure that you’re losing weight in the right way if you lose 1-2 pounds per week. 

USDA states that an adult moderately active woman requires between 1600 and 2000 calories daily to maintain her bodily functions (11). It means that if you fit into this category, you can consume, for instance, a 1400 calorie diet to get the desired weight loss result. 

If your goal is to gain muscle mass instead of losing weight, you engage in active training, and your calorie intake is 2000 calories, you can increase the number of calories to 2200-2400 calories per day. The number of calories each person needs is highly individual, yet you can calculate the approximate and fairly accurate number using the Macro calculator. 

Another thing with the calorie deficit is that you should consume healthy products fitting into your daily number of calories. That is, you can lose weight eating only cheeseburgers, provided that you sustain a calorie deficit. Yet this is very unhealthy, and will seriously damage your health. The same goes for all single-product diets, even if the product they recommend to stick to is healthy (for instance, the oatmeal). Your diet should provide vital nutrients from diverse sources.

Read More: Different Types Of Diets: The Lowdown On The Most Talked-About Weight Loss Strategies

Aesthetics Diet Food Sources

These products are generally recommended for an aesthetics diet that will help you shed your pounds, rejuvenate your skin, boost immunity, and achieve desired looks. This works for people wishing to gain muscle mass as well, although proportions can vary.

• Whole Grains

Whole grains are extremely rich in complex  carbs and fiber, will increase your energy levels, are beneficial for your gut health as well as assist in the weight loss process and reduction of cardiovascular risks (15).

• Leafy Greens

Leafy greens like kale, collard, spinach, and arugula successfully protect against heart disease, certain cancers, macular degeneration, and type 2 diabetes (5).

• Legumes

Legumes are very rich in plant-based   protein and are linked to reducing the risk of heart diseases, lowered blood pressure, and reduced cholesterol levels (4).

• Nuts

Nuts such as almonds and walnuts improve the condition of your whole body and are a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids omega-6 and omega-3. They are even proven as protection against diabetes and cancer (3).

• Dairy Products

Dairy products such as natural yogurts (without added sugar or artificial sweeteners), kefir, and low-fat cottage cheese provide protein, calcium and improve the digestive tract.

• Sea Fish

Sea fish contains protein and essential omega-3 fatty acids. Seafood maintains your sharp eyesight, rejuvenates and smoothen your skin, boosts your intellectual performance, and lowers the risk of depression (6).

• Fruits And Berries

Fruits and berries are rich sources of vitamins and minerals. They can help smoothen your skin and protect your body from inflammation and disease.

• Healthy Foods

Healthy foods should not contain artificial preservatives and colors. 

You should also avoid deep-fried and processed foods like chips or corndogs, sparkling sweetened drinks like cola, burgers, mayonnaise and similar heavy sauces and dressings, sausages and processed meat products, sweets, and packaged juices. You should also be careful with animal source proteins. The best natural sources are plants and seafood, while meat proteins are connected to higher risks of heart disease and stroke (10). The best strategy is to make sure to vary protein sources to maximize health.

Risks Of Extreme Dieting

As mentioned before, you should opt for balanced and nutritious dietary plans, like Mediterranean or Vegetarian diets, instead of crash diets aiming for rapid weight loss. 

Crash diets lead to muscle breakdown (that’s why they’re incompatible with training). This, in turn, causes the metabolism to slow down, so you’ll burn fewer calories and gain weight afterward (1). 

Also, crash diets can trigger heart issues, damage your skin, lead to mood swings , leave you with low energy levels and fatigue, as well as trigger mental problems like depression, body dysmorphia, and eating disorders. 

When choosing a diet, you should consider health as your first priority.

Read More: Yogic Diet: Keep Your Body Nourished And Your Mind Clear

A Diet For Performance

If you wish not only to lose fat in a healthy and permanent way  but also wish to gain and build up muscles, read the following considerations (14). 

The more you exercise, the more energy you spend, thus, the calories you require. So, if you’re training more, you’ll need to up your calorie intake in general and protein intake in particular. For your training, a ratio of 30% protein, 50-60% carbs, and 10-20% of high-quality fats would be optimal. 

If you wish to lose weight while gaining muscle, it can become a bit tricky. That is because you’ll need to hold on to your muscle and bone weight while getting rid of excess fat. Yet the body is not used to breaking up some tissue (fat) and rebuilding another (muscle) simultaneously. Still, weight training helps maintain muscle while losing extra fat. It is important to note that although you need to consume extra calories to build up muscle, overeating is not recommended. You should always listen to your satiety signals (when you feel hungry or full).

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Aesthetics Bodybuilding Diet: The Timing

The timing of your aesthetics diet is immensely important if you wish to build up a muscular  and aesthetic body. 

These rules are generally followed by athletes and active individuals  

Before Training:

• You should eat meals that are low in fat and fiber with some protein and loaded with carbohydrates. Fiber can and should be part of your diet in other meals.
• Experiment and find your tolerance for various foods before and during the training. This is important because many people react differently to fiber, foods like beans, milk, various fruits, and so on.
• Eat your main meal three to four hours before your workout session.
• Eat a smaller meal one to two hours before the session.
• Within an hour of activity, liquids such as sports drinks and gels, protein shakes, or foods that are not too heavy may be a good option.

A very small percentage of people experience a blood glucose drop (hypoglycemia) if they consume a high-carbohydrate meal. Adding protein to the meal can prevent the occurrence of this. 

Regarding the foods during the training, it is usually not necessary to consume anything unless you’re engaged in very intensive and lengthy (more than one hour) sessions. If this is so, you can replenish electrolytes with a sports drink or bar.

After Training:

One of the most important principles in exercise, nutrition regards the way you eat after your workout session. The main fuel of an athlete is glucose, which you get from carbs and drinks. If you don’t replenish your glucose sources, they will become depleted and unprepared for the next workout which can lead to fatigue and lower long-term performance. Furthermore, inadequate replenishment after your workout won’t give the necessary boost to muscle growth. 

Most weight trainers don’t use as much glucose fuel as those involved in high intensity or long duration aerobic sports like running and cycling. Still, it is beneficial to keep your glycogen reserves full to amplify your results. Low numbers of reps with more weight develop strength, while lighter weight and more reps grow up your muscle size and endurance, and consume more energy. 

Consume about 20 grams of high-quality protein within 60 minutes of a weight session. The closer you intake protein to the workout the better. Intake of high-quality protein promotes enhanced muscle recovery and rebuilding after a training session. Carbs also play a vital role, immediately after exercise, usually, intake a ratio of 3 grams of carbohydrates for every 1 gram of protein. This could be a cup of fruit salad with 7 ounces of flavored greek yogurt or a big glass of fat-free  milk with two slices of wholegrain bread with a bit honey or jam.

An Aesthetics Workout Plan

An aesthetic body involves size, shape, symmetry, and balance. To look like that, you need not only an aesthetics diet but also an aesthetics workout. Here are some general rules you should apply to your workout routine to sculpt the perfect body (8).

Dial In Your Sets And Reps

You can gradually decrease the weight and increase the number of reps to improve your results. 

Begin with performing two warm-up sets to prevent any injuries. After your warm-up, start with a set of 6-8 reps at about 70-80 percent of your maximum effort. As you progress through the sets of each exercise, you can decrease the weight and increase the repetitions. The first heavy sets will shock your muscles and enhance your strength, while the lighter sets with higher reps will help you build bigger muscles. It’s the perfect combination. 

Sample Set-and-Rep Structure

• Warm-Up: 2 sets
• Set 1: 6-8 reps
• Set 2: 8-10 reps
• Set 3: 8-10 reps
• Set 4: 10-12 reps

Although the weight is getting lighter, it doesn’t mean it will be easy. On the last set, your last couple of reps should be really difficult for you.

Train For Proportion And Symmetry

A proportionate body is ideally harmonic, so your legs, for instance, don’t look huge compared to your upper body. Symmetry, by contrast, refers to the balance of strength and size of different muscle groups. For example, your biceps have to be in the proper ratio to your triceps, and your right and left squads have to be equally large and conditioned. 

You need both proportion and symmetry for your body to look impeccably well. One of the great paths to achieve proportion and symmetry is adding unilateral exercises into your daily training. Lifting with one arm or leg at a time will make you equally strong and proportional on both sides of your body. 

You can incorporate these unilateral exercises in your workout (13): 

Single-Arm Front Rack Carry

• Stand holding a kettlebell in your right hand at your right shoulder.
• Keep your chest tall and your torso as straight as possible, then walk.
• Repeat, this time, with the kettlebell in your left hand at your left shoulder.

Deficit Bulgarian Split Squat

• Begin with your legs shoulder-width apart, holding dumbbells or kettlebells at your sides.
• Put your left foot on a bench or step behind you and your right foot on a weight plate or small step.
• Bend your right knee, lowering your torso until your right thigh is parallel to the floor.
• Pause, and then return to the start.

Single-Arm Floor Press

• Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, a dumbbell in your right hand held directly over your shoulder.
• Bend at the elbow and shoulder, lower your upper arm to the floor, and then straighten your arm.

Kneeling Bottoms-Up Press

• Begin with kneeling on your right knee, left foot standing firmly on the floor.
• Tightly hold a kettlebell by its handle in your right hand, bell pointed overhead.
• Then, engage your core and straighten your right arm, pressing the weight overhead.
• Lower back to the beginning.

Quadruped Row

• Locate your hands and knees on a bench, core tight.
• Straighten your right leg behind you, while squeezing your glutes.
• Hold a light dumbbell in your left hand, the arm should hang naturally.
• Row the dumbbell toward your rib cage; while keeping your core tight so you don’t tip to either side.
• Return to the beginning.

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Get Conditioned Enough

Aesthetic bodies don’t have much extra body fat. Without a low or enough body fat percentage, you will be able to see neither trim lines nor muscle definition. 

To stay conditioned, keep your rest intervals quite short. For bigger muscle groups like legs, rest no longer than 50 seconds. No longer than 30-40 seconds rest is your option for smaller muscle groups like biceps and triceps. If you limit your rest, it will make a great difference to your success and help burn body fat due to increased heart rate. 

Even if you are in your off-season, cardio should be an essential component of your routine. Do about 4 sessions of cardio between 20-40 minutes every week to keep your body low in fat and your cardiovascular health in check. Of course, an aesthetics diet will also help you blast away that fat. 

Train Your Abs

Crunches are not your option. Abs are arguably one of the most attractive parts of the body, but many seem to miss the point trying to focus exactly on these muscles, while it is essential to train your whole core to get those dreamlike six-packs. Here are some exercises you should definitely incorporate in your training (2):

Deadbug

This exercise works on your rectus abdominis, obliques, and transverse abs. 

• Lie on your back with arms extended toward the ceiling and legs bent to 90 degrees with knees above hips.
• Keep your back pressed low into the floor, brace your core, slowly and simultaneously extend and lower your right leg until the heel nearly touches the floor and left arm, and until your hand nearly touches floor overhead.
• Pause and then return to the beginning. Repeat on the opposite side. That’s one rep.

Side Plank

This exercise works on the same muscles as a deadbug. 

• Lie on the side with your right forearm flat on the floor, elbow under your shoulder, and with both legs extended.
• Your body should form a straight line from head to feet, which are either stacked or staggered.
• Engage your core and lift your hips. Continue for 30-60 seconds.

Reverse Crunch

This one is good for rectus abdominis. 

• Begin with lying on the back, legs lifted so thighs are perpendicular to the ground, and knees are bent.
• Press your lower back into the mat, curl knees into the chest to lift your hips off the ground.
• Return to the beginning with control. That’s one rep.

Hollow Rock With Hold

Good for transverse abs, rectus abdominis, and obliques. 

• Sit on a mat with legs bent. For an extra challenge, you can place a yoga brick between your knees.
• Now, squeeze your legs together and engage your abs to lift your legs, so calves are parallel to the floor.
• Then, roll the body backward until your middle back touches the floor.
• Now, with control, engage abs and rock body back to the starting point. Pause here for three seconds. That’s one rep.

Heel Taps

• Begin on the back with knees bent, feet on the ground, and hands by hips.
• Lift chest toward the ceiling, while keeping the neck relaxed and bringing shoulder blades off the ground.
• Tap right hand to the outside of the right ankle, while flexing right obliques in the process.
• Come back to the center, keeping your shoulders off ground, then tap your left hand to the outside of the left ankle. That’s one rep.

Banded Bird Dog

• Begin on all fours, with your hands stacked directly under shoulders, knees below your hips, and a resistance band wrapped around your feet.
• Keep your torso still and core engaged, simultaneously extend right arm straight out in front of the body and left leg straight behind your body.
• Now, bring the right elbow and left knee beneath your torso to touch.
• Repeat on the opposite side. That’s one rep.

Final Thought

To sum up, you should combine an aesthetics diet with a workout focusing on sculpting a perfect body. However, you should always keep in mind that health is your primary focus. So, avoiding the excess of extreme dieting is a must if you wish to feel well both physically and mentally after achieving your goals. An aesthetics diet and your workout would provide even more amusing results if you keep your fluid intake high and sleep at least 8 hours every day.

DISCLAIMER:

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any medical conditions. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!

SOURCES:

1. 9 things that can happen to your body when you crash diet (2018, cosmopolitan.com)
2. The 15 Best Abs Exercises Of All Time (2020, womenshealthmag.com)
3. Almond consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in adults with prediabetes (2010, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
4. Cereal grains and legumes in the prevention of coronary heart disease and stroke: a review of the literature (2006,  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
5. Dark Green Leafy Vegetables (2013, ars.usda.gov)
6. Dietary fish, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption, and depression risk in Japan: a population-based prospective cohort study (2017, nature.com)
7. Healthy lifestyle factors in the primary prevention of coronary heart disease among men: benefits among users and nonusers of lipid-lowering and antihypertensive medications (2006, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
8. Physique Training: 5 Keys To An Aesthetic Body (n.d., bodybuilding.com)
9. Preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes: a common agenda for the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association (2004, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
10. Substituting healthy plant proteins for red meat lowers risk for heart disease (2019, hsph.harvard.edu)
11. The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans ( 2015, choosemyplate.gov)
12. The effect of rate of weight loss on long-term weight regain in adults with overweight and obesity (2016, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
13. This Unilateral Workout Will Give You Full-Body Gains (2018, menshealth.com)
14. What Is a Bodybuilding Diet? (2020, verywellfit.com)
15. Whole grain intake and cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis (2008, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)