When asked what made you start working out, most of us will answer by saying we want the perfect body and getting healthy is just a bonus of it all.
You may think well, there is no such thing as perfect? In this case, the opposite is true. With the right mentality, dedication, and training program, you can achieve an aesthetic physique.
You know, like all the guys in Hollywood, bodybuilders, and Greek Gods. With the big arms, buff chest, and a six-pack with that V-taper that makes the ladies go crazy.
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If you are an art major of any sort, you may be wondering how aesthetics plays into fitness. To say someone has an aesthetic body means their muscular proportions are symmetrical and balanced. They have built up their body in a way that is visually appealing.
What you think to be appealing will be different from others. Some may be looking for a body you can only achieve from bodybuilding or you may prefer smaller, toned musculature.
Common characteristics of an aesthetic physique include:
In order to obtain an aesthetic body figure, you will need to update your regular workout routine to include training exercises that are known to improve muscular symmetry of the body.
Therefore, your exercises should aim to cover both your major and minor muscle groups. Instead of focusing on bulking up, you will work at lowering your body fat percentage. To do this, you usually need to eat a caloric deficit and remain hydrated, but we will get into diet and nutrition later.
As with most fitness training programs, there are some important factors you should consider before taking on the challenge of achieving an aesthetic body. One of the more important things to know is that when training for aesthetics, it will be different than your typical functional strength or general health training.
When you are exercising for good overall health, a structured workout program is not as necessary as it is when you are aesthetics training. For general health, the key is showing up to the gym consistently and including some sort of strength training into your routine such as compound exercises, for example.
Meanwhile, for aesthetics, you will need a routine with compound movements, low, medium, and high performing reps, and lots of rests between sets. Your rest time between sets should never extend over 5 minutes.
The amount of time it will take to achieve the “perfect” body depends on your current body and how often you hit the gym each week. Obviously, the more work you put in, the faster you will see results. However, it is best to workout as often as your busy schedule allows.
On average, if you stick with your diet plan and lift weights at least three times a week, you can expect to see results within 6-12 months. If you are a beginner, it is vital that you do not overtrain or overexert yourself as this can lead to serious injury or health complications.
As a novice, you should only be hitting the gym three to four times a week. When planning out your weekly workouts, ensure you are targeting each muscle group at least once a week, but never back to back to allow the muscles to recover.
Another great way to work on your body’s symmetry is to add unilateral exercises, meaning exercises that require each limb to work independently of each other, instead of together in unison. This helps you build muscle mass and strength equally on both sides of the body thus improving your overall symmetry and balance.
In general, the best way to know how much progress you are making is to be aware of your relative strength. The stronger you are compared to your body weight, the more proportionate you will appear. This is why many aesthetic training programs focus on improving your absolute strength.
As we mentioned earlier, you will not only be adjusting your workouts to achieve aesthetic success, you will also need to switch up your diet to ensure you are receiving the right nutrients to repair and build up your muscles.
In fact, the right diet and supplements will help you get the body you want faster. To help you stick to the right foods and supplements, here are 8 of our best diet and nutrition tips for aesthetic training:
To meet your calorie deficit is one thing, but the food you choose to eat needs to be healthy choices. It’s true, you can meet your caloric deficit by eating pizza and burgers.
However, those foods are still bad for your body meaning they aren’t going to do you any favors. To help you increase fat loss and build muscle, include the following foods into your aesthetic diet plan:
Get started with this sample meal plan:
Breakfast:
Morning Snack:
Lunch:
Mid-afternoon Snack:
Dinner:
Another important part of a healthy diet includes the right supplements. Introducing supplements to your diet will enhance muscle growth and helps control your appetite. To complement your aesthetics training, we recommend the following supplements:
To round out your aesthetic physique training plan, you need the proper workout routine. Most fitness professionals will agree that an exercise routine revolving around an upper, lower body split is the best way to symmetrically shred your body while also building up your strength.
You can choose to start off the week with a full body workout if you so desire, but you should never attempt a full body workout every day.
Please note: The exact day of the week you decide to do your workouts doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that you keep a workout schedule of on one day, off the next day, on the following day, and so on to allow your body and your muscles to recover fully.
If you are a beginner, we recommend arranging them in order for most to least difficult to avoid exhausting yourself too much throughout the week. Below you will find an example of a 16-day aesthetic fitness plan to help you build an aesthetic physique:
Day 1: Upper Body A
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Upper Body B
Day 4: Day of Rest
Day 5: Lower Body A
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Lower Body B
Day 8: Rest
Day 9: Upper Body C
Day 10: Rest
Day 11: Upper Body D
Day 12: Rest
Day 13: Lower Body C
Day 14: Rest
Day 15: Lower Body D
Day 16: Rest
At this point, you can decide to repeat this workout plan for an additional 2 weeks, 4 weeks, or 6 weeks, etc. If you are bored or find it is too easy for you, feel free to switch it up a bit. It’s all up to you, just make sure you keep the principles of an upper, lower body split in your routine.
One last note: The workout plan does not include warm-up or cool down sets, which are very important to your recovery. You should never start a workout session without warming up your muscles first to get your blood circulating. Taking the time to stretch after an intense session aids the muscle healing process.
Bro, after reading the details of the workout plan, we are exhausted; but that is a good thing. That means it's an exercise program that will get you real results! Plus, now you know the right diet and supplements to integrate into your fitness plan to ensure even better success.
Remember, it will take a lot of dedication, patience, and strategy to get the aesthetic physique you have always dreamed of! Best of luck. Let us know how it goes.
Note: Get the most out of every workout with STEEL PRE. This clinically-backed formula makes your workouts more efficient and boosts overall gains. Pick your flavor now!
