Our 5 Top-Tips for Muscle Definition - that will work every time

You cannot define muscles that aren’t there. Therefore, you must build your muscles before you can define them. Even though this should be the basis of every training plan, many seem to forget it. People go mad when it comes to lifting weights, having picked up incomplete knowledge from the gym, but lifting as much weight as possible is not necessarily the best solution. The most important thing is choosing the right exercises, executing them correctly and having the right setting with the right training stimuli. It becomes dangerous if these factors are not taken into account and the consequences should not be underestimated. In addition to diet, the correct training is of great importance. Another important tip is to focus your muscle building training on basic exercises that use your own body weight like squats, bench presses and deadlifts before you move on to isolation exercises. Why? Because they train the most muscle mass and the largest muscle groups and therefore represent the basics when you want to define your muscles.

Have you managed to build up muscle by following the right training programme? Congratulations! You have completed the first step. Now for the second step: defining your muscles. Working hard to build muscles is of no use if you are still carrying some winter weight and there is a layer of fat obscuring your muscles. Therefore you now need to turn your beer belly into washboard abs. In order to define muscles, you need to aim for a specific body fat content. In concrete terms, this means that a calorific deficit must be created so that your body fat can be reduced. You can achieve this by burning more calories than you consume through your diet and by doing more exercise. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? However, the devil is in the detail.

For many people, constantly counting calories is not only time-consuming, but also simply no fun. It is all much easier if meals are planned or even prepared in advance. This way, you are always one step ahead of the stress of everyday life. Don’t feel like writing long shopping lists and planning ahead every day? No problem, we will gladly do the work for you. The nutrition experts at Upfit will put together a nutrition plan for body definition, individually suited to you and that takes into account your dietary habits, intolerances, cooking times and much more. This way you free your mind for more important things and you won’t lose sight of your goal to define your muscles.

As well as the question of how much you should eat and how much energy you should consume, the type of food you should eat is also crucial. However, since requirements differ from person to person, it is also very important to know what you need. Aside from micronutrients, the three macronutrients that play a particularly important role in muscle definition are carbohydrates, fats and proteins. If you want to define your muscles and avoid your body taking energy from them through ketogenesis and gluconeogenesis and thus breaking the muscles down, a sufficient protein intake is essential. Your main goals, as previously mentioned, are muscle building and fat reduction. Proteins (especially BCAAs) have a kind of protective function. They prevent muscle from being broken down in the event of a calorie deficit. In addition, proteins serve as basic building blocks when it comes to building muscle. Therefore they are indispensible if you want to define your muscles. Whether you are vegetarian, vegan or paleo, Upfit has the right recipes and nutrition plans for every type of diet. We make sure that you take in the right macronutrients in the right dose, so that the process of defining your muscles runs smoothly.

For a long time, extensive endurance runs were considered the gold standard when it came to fat reduction. However in the last decade, high-intensity interval training has become increasingly fashionable. A short but challenging workout, such as Tabata, gets your body going and uses the energy from half a meal. This method of training is supposed to trigger a so-called “afterburn effect”, which increases your basal metabolic rate even after training is over. It must be said, however, that the scientific evidence for this is not yet clear. Do you still prefer to stick to the sports you know? No problem. Not only newer sports trends can be highly intensive. Sports such as badminton, squash, football or even just sprinting at short intervals are characterised by extremely fast and intensive stress phases. They are all super alternatives if you want to define your muscles and are looking for a sport to burn off energy as well as build muscles.

It doesn’t matter whether you have the right training programme, are following a textbook diet or you are generally doing everything right – if you want to define your muscles, one thing is absolutely neccesary: stamina. Listen to your body and, if necessary, let us readjust your nutrition plan for building muscle. If you demand a lot from your body, you have to give something back – preferably through the process of regeneration. This can be between individual training sessions but also through getting enough sleep and rest, for example through meditation, sauna or relaxation. Do something good for you and your body and always remember: walking 90% of the way safely brings you closer to your goal than pushing too much for the first few metres and then having to stop.

Trends and half-truths about muscle definition are always circulating in the fitness scene. Everyone seems to swear by their ‘insider tip’ that has helped them achieve their dream body. Cinnamon, spicy foods and caffeine are supposed to boost the metabolism, while ice-cold showers are supposed to limit the growth of brown fat tissue (so-called baby fat) and thus increase the metabolic rate. There is scientific evidence behind some of these tips, others just turn out to be myths. However, the same applies to all of these tips: they are not miracle cures and cannot replace discipline or proper planning. Nevertheless they can be fun and give us the feeling that we are doing something good for our bodies and are making the most of our potential. As long as they are not harmful and do not distract from anything essential, they can also be used as additional motivators for taking the first step or for perservering until you reach your goal. So spice up your dishes with cinnamon and chili, add ginger to your green tea and have a cold shower.

If you want to define muscle, you have to fight on two fronts. On the one hand you need to build your muscles, on the other you need to reduce your body fat. The right training and diet are your two allies on the path to muscle definition. Create a calorie deficit with enough protein and do intensive training to reach your goal. Nothing stands in the way of your success – show them what you’re made of.