Muscle definition: "Getting Ripped"

Muscle definition, or "getting ripped," refers to having your muscles appear more visibly and dramatically. Muscle definition is a function of two factors: 1) percentage of body fat and 2) muscle size. If you want better definition, you have to work on both elements.

First, reduce body fat simply by burning off all the excess fat you can. The way to do that is with lots of very low intensity fat-burning exercise like slow jogging, for example. The key here is to make sure the intensity really is low.

Running hills with a 40-pound backpack is not pure aerobics. The higher intensity will cut into your recovery ability and your weightlifting workouts will have to be pushed further apart. Fat loss is a matter of calories in versus calories out and your objective is just to burn a ton of calories over time, not to burn them all in one day or week.

The second factor is increasing muscle size. And let me dispel a common myth right here. There is no such thing as "training for definition." A muscle can only do three things in relation to size: it can get smaller, it can get bigger or it can stay the same size. There is no way to specifically train it to be "more defined" apart from making it bigger!

And the way to make it bigger is to force it to engage in very high intensity overload. High intensity is defined as "a great amount of work in a short unit of time." So it is better to do six reps with 300 pounds than it is to do 20 reps with 150 pounds. Yet the common gym mythology is "high reps for definition." Bull! High reps means you have to use low weights and that won't pack on new mass.

Sitting on a bench curling a dumbbell all afternoon won't burn as much fat as the treadmill. And when you pick up a weight, make sure it's a very heavy one. If you pay attention to these two principles, soon you'll have the ripped look you desire.

Source: AskMen.com