The ONE thing you need if you want to get extremely lean.

No, its not a secret supplement or magic pill. Not even a special diet protocol or cardio regime. It's time and plenty of it! Give yourself adequate time to get in shape and allow for potential hiccups and plateaus in fat loss. The further away from your desired shape the longer you need to give yourself. You will always need to lose more body fat than expected to get to those extreme levels of conditioning. And it will always take longer than first anticipated, factor these in to your plan. Lets say you think you have roughly 10kg of body fat to lose, add 2 kg to this total straight away. So that's 12kg and you plan on loosing a steady 0.5 kg each week which works out at 24 weeks of dieting. Again, add 3 weeks to this at least to give yourself room for error.


2 PICTURES SHPWCASING CURRENT CONDITIONING.

CONDITIONING AHCIEVED IN 2013, albeit with tan and post carbohydrate increase.

I still have more body fat to lose, I underestimated how long it would take me to get into the conditioning I desire. I started the diet with too much bodyfat, I have been dieting steadily from January and still probably have another 1-2kg to drop. That's why I love natural bodybuilding, its one massive journey of trial and error. The process of getting shredded will never be perfected, but by giving yourself enough time you can substantially increase your chances!

For a helping hand along the way, contact me via Facebook or rossi01@hotmail.co.uk for online coaching enquiries.

Ross Newham - Natural Aesthetics

Building a better body.

There is a massive difference between having a good body and being muscular. Muscularity at the cost of aesthetics is pointless. Guys on the ifbb stage continue to get bigger and bigger, yet look less aesthetic with every 5lb gained. An extra inch on the arms at the price of an extra inch on the waist is simply not worth it in my eyes - and does little to improve the look of the physique as a whole. 

Proportion is also something that is often neglegted. Common mistakes are forgoing triceps training for biceps. Shoulders being too large for arms and shoulders being too wide for chest/back thickness, as well as the legs being too wiry for the upper body. Of course this is a matter of opinion and also something that often seems to be exaggerated by steroid usage; where muscle growth is extremely fast in certain areas (shoulders,traps etc) which leads to disproportion is the trainee is not careful.

Posture is also often overlooked. Its extremely important for creating a visually impactful physique, something that is clearly seen and recognised by non-lifters. Posture can create vastly different quality aesthetics in equally muscled physiques. Two guys could have the same muscle mass; one with great posture, one with hunched shoulders, tight traps and a caved chest, the former will always look better. This also relates to proportion, as spending too much time training a certain area can cause postural imbalances. There are certain exercises that one can perform on a regular basis to help posture. Simply training the body with compound movements will drastically reduce the risk of postural problems. This teaches the body to move as a unit and can help to create a flowing, well - rounded physique.

Overhead press with full lockout is a must. The bar should travel upwards, arms fully straightened, to finish level with the back area of the head. This will sort a lot of upper body posture problems. 

Wall pushes can help with developing the technique and mobility to perform the overhead press properly. Simply stand back facing a wall, heels, bum, shoulders and head touching and slide hands upwards against the wall to the overhead positions; keeping elbows and knuckles against the wall.
Simply practising keeping the back arched rather than rounded will improve posture. Learning to draw the shoulders back, keeping chest high and out - will create a more confident and attractive physique. Deadlifts, bent rows and low row will help with accentuating this.

We shouldn't just strive for muscularity in the gym. Muscularity doesn't equate to a nice physique, as seen by some of the monstrosities in your local gym. Rather, focus on attaining an aesthetic physique by keeping in mind the pointers I've just discussed.

Natural Aesthetics