Rest two to three minutes before beginning another set. Complete a building muscle phase for four to six weeks. Choose a longer period if you wish to gain the maximum amount of muscle. Complete four to six weeks of a fat-burning phase. Do this by continuing to lift weights, but increase your repetitions to 15 each set.

Rest for 30 seconds to one minute after each set. Keep your heart rate high to continue burning calories throughout the entire workout. Include cardiovascular training three to five days a week.

Do a combination of moderate- and high-intensity cardio. Aim for 30 minute sessions. Do running, incline walking or cycling for your cardio. Participate in a group fitness class step aerobics, spinning or kickboxing to keep yourself motivated.

Decrease the amount food you are eating to reveal body definition. Your body-weight goal will determine how many calories to cut each day. Reduce your caloric intake by 3, calories weekly -- per day -- to lose 1 pound. Limit sugar and saturate fat.

Replace with lean proteins, vegetables and fruits. Consume a moderate amount of whole grains. Keep your water intake high. Drink water throughout the day and during each workout session. Limit any consumption of sports drinks or other high calorie beverages.

So if you're ready to start sculpting your body, keep reading! Muscle definition is a visual outcome of having strong muscles. As you work out, your muscles become stronger and they become more defined. To achieve muscle definition, it's important to focus on training exercises that target specific muscle groups and build strength in those areas.

Eating the right foods can help you to achieve muscle definition faster. When trying to define your muscles, focus on eating a well-balanced diet that is high in protein and complex carbohydrates while limiting sugar and saturated fats.

This will ensure that your body has the nutrients it needs to build muscle. Our meals are made for your needs. Choose today which plan best fits your lifestyle.

It's important to get enough rest between workouts in order for your body to repair and recover. Without proper rest, your muscles won't have time to recover properly, which can result in slower muscle definition progress. RELATED: 12 Awesome Ways to Measure Your Non-Scale Victories.

Know your macros. RELATED: What the Heck Are Macros? The IIFYM Diet, Made Simple. Be thankful for that T. Meaning testosterone , a hormone that plays a large role in muscle growth. The good news: Getting a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night can help speed the muscle building process for men and women, McCall says, since the body undergoes important changes during the REM portions of your sleep cycle.

Hit the weights, not the pavement. Going for a long run and other endurance activities will deplete your body of the carbs your muscles need to store for recovery. Instead, focus on activating your larger, fast-twitch muscle fibers in your glutes , back and hamstrings.

RELATED: Hypertrophy Training: The 3 Laws of Building Muscle. Now you can take a rest. If circuit training is your jam, move on to another exercise that works a different major muscle — like pull-ups to target your back — and go again until the targeted muscle is completely fatigued.

If you're strength training on a four day rotation, split your core over each of the 4 days and do 2 upper-body days and 2 lower-body days. Take 36 to 48 hours of rest between strength-training sessions. If you are doing your exercises correctly, you will tear a lot of muscle fibers.

Your body needs time to repair your muscles and rebuild them so they are stronger. For example, you might do upper body 1 day, lower body the next day, You typically can do core strengthening exercises with only 24 hours of rest before the next strength-training session.

Adequate rest also means getting adequate sleep. Your body is rebuilding muscle while you sleep, so make sure you get between 7 and 9 hours of restful sleep each night. Choose the right weight amount.

You should be strength training with a weight heavy enough that you can only complete an exercise with correct form for 12 to 15 repetitions. The argument used to be that you used heavier weights to gain mass and did higher repetitions with lighter weights for tone and definition; however, modern training suggests there is a happy medium.

Combining bulk or power training with high-rep strength training also can work well to get you the definition you want. For example, you might do a heavy, power upper-body strength training session on day one.

The next day, do a similarly heavy lower-body strength training session. Take a day off, then do an upper-body strength training session with lower weights at higher repetitions.

Follow up the next day with a similar lower-body session. Focus on good form and technique. Move slowly through the pushing and pulling motions, emphasizing quality over quantity. Especially if you're just starting, don't worry about how many reps you can do.

Instead, make sure you have solid, consistent technique. Think in terms of actively lowering or pulling back the weight, not simply dropping it. Get a personal trainer or an experienced weight lifter to check and critique your form. Keep in mind that poor technique and sloppy form doesn't just mean your training is less effective, it also puts you at risk for injury.

Do supersets, alternating between push and pull motions. Organize your strength-training routine so that you're doing 3 or 4 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions of each exercise.

Rest for 30 seconds to 1 minute between each superset. When you alternate between pushing and pulling motions, you work different parts of the muscle.

This gives the portion of the muscle you previously worked a little extra time to recover, so you can take a shorter rest break between sets. Bring your muscles to fatigue. When you push your muscles to the max you stimulate hypertrophy, which increases the volume of your muscles.

This not only builds muscle mass, but also will improve their definition. If they don't, you need to add more weight. Make sure you're doing simple exercises, such as pushups or dumbbell presses, that you can control and complete in good form even when your muscles are exhausted.

Work as many muscles together as possible. Don't work your biceps without working your triceps, shoulders, back, and chest.

You won't achieve good resting definition unless your whole body is being worked hard. Ignoring surrounding muscles in favor of the major ones, such as biceps, can lead to muscle imbalances that will significantly increase your risk for injury.

Aim to work an entire muscle group with each exercise. If you don't know a lot of different exercises, sign up for a few sessions with a personal trainer.

They can help you create a well-rounded workout. Don't just work the muscles you see in the mirror.

You may not think about working out your back because you can't see it, but remember that everyone else can! Part 3.

Make diet a priority. Generally, you should eat more protein and lay off foods that are high in fat and simple carbohydrates. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day, try to eat 5 or 6 smaller meals, so that you're eating once every 2 to 3 hours.

Plan your meals so that 40 percent of your calories are coming from protein, while you limit fats and carbohydrates to 30 percent each. At least 85 percent of the carbohydrates you eat should come from vegetables, with the rest coming from complex carbohydrates such as fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.

Eat or drink a protein-rich snack before and after your workout. Protein helps rebuild muscle and will help ensure a faster recovery. Try a protein shake, an apple with peanut butter, chicken, nuts, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. Whole food typically works better for your pre-workout snack.

A protein shake may work better post-workout, especially if you find it difficult to eat after an intense workout. Whey protein is one of the best sources of complete protein, because it includes all the essential amino acids you need to rebuild your muscles. You can buy whey protein in powder form and blend it into shakes yourself, or you can buy pre-made protein shakes at grocery or health food stores.

Eat ancient grains. Quinoa, spelt, oat bran, amaranth, and other ancient grains are high in protein and minerals, which may help to promote muscle growth by supplying your body with the necessary nutrition. You also can find bread made from these grains at organic or natural grocery stores.

Drink more water before, during and after a workout. Dehydration decreases your performance and can put you at risk for injury, as well as make recovery more difficult.

While strength training, you shouldn't lose more than 2 percent of your body weight in fluid. The difference between the 2 weights is the amount of fluid you've lost. For each pound of fluid you lose, you must drink between 20 to 24 fluid ounces to mL of water to replace it.

Replacement of lost water is sufficient to keep you hydrated provided you were hydrated to begin with. To determine this for certain, check your urine. If it's clear, you're well hydrated.

Pete Cerqua. Incorporate more protein into your day. We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full price—wine, food delivery, clothing and more. Claim Your Gift If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you.

Support wikiHow Yes No. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 1. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Judge how your muscles begin to contract while resting. When your muscles feel harder, you will begin to get definition. As you burn fat, the muscles will start to look sculpted.

Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Stretching muscles prevents skeletal misalignments that can wreck your posture, so be sure to include at least the big muscle stretches a couple of times a week, after exercise.

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How to. How to Build Bigger Biceps at Home According to the Experts. How to Gain Muscle When You're Skinny. Expert Interview. More References About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: 9. Updated: January 8, In other languages Español: definir músculos.

Français: obtenir des muscles bien dessinés. Русский: придать мышцам рельеф. Italiano: Definire i Muscoli. Nederlands: Spieren definiëren.

Frequency: Twice a week. Duration: 10 to 15 minutes not including warmup and cooldown. Protocol: Intervals. Intensity: High. Example: Stationary cycling. Warmup: 5 minutes of light pedaling. Work interval: 20 seconds of pedaling as fast as you can.

Recovery interval: 40 seconds of light pedaling. Total reps: 10 to Cooldown: 3 to 5 minutes of light pedaling. Do this when you're trying to gain definition. Frequency: Two to four times a week. Duration: 15 to 20 minutes not including warmup and cooldown. Example: Rowing.

Warmup: 3 to 5 minutes of light rowing. Work interval: 45 seconds of hard rowing. Recovery interval: 90 seconds easy. Total reps: 7 to 9.

Cooldown: 3 to 5 minutes of light rowing. The incline bench press works primarily the upper region of your chest. It also involves your front deltoids, triceps, and serratus anterior — a small but important muscle that helps move your shoulder blades.

Add the incline press to your chest workout after your flat-bench or pushup routine. Three sets of eight to 12 repetitions will help you build a larger chest. A common mistake: sitting too vertically, which incorporates your shoulders too much in the move, preventing you from lifting more weight. Position the bench at an angle between 45 and 60 degrees.

Also, a lot of men like to lower the dumbbells so they're next to their upper chest. Don't — this puts too much stress on the shoulder joints. Lower the weights farther forward, in a plane that intersects your body just below chest level, until your elbows form degree angles and the weights are at shoulder height over your upper arms.

Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie faceup on a bench. Place your feet flat on the floor, draw your abs in, and push your lower back into the pad. Press the dumbbells above you in a slightly arcing line toward the midline of your chest.

It's not necessary to clank the weights together — that can cause shoulder impingement, plus it annoys the rest of us trying to work out. Keep them 1 to 2 inches apart. Squeeze your chest muscles at the top of the move. Then reverse the same slightly arcing motion to lower the dumbbells under control.

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Rule 1: Change the Cycle You don't lift the same way all year, so why should the frequency, intensity, and duration of your cardiovascular workouts stay the same?

RULE 2: Separate cardio from lifting Serious lifters worry that cardiovascular training will impede their ability to recover from intense strength training. RULE 3: Don't make an impact Your body has enough to contend with in repairing the damage that lifting inflicts on it. RULE 4: Ignore the "fat-burning zone" It's a myth that you have to work out continuously for 20 minutes before you begin burning fat.

BULK CYCLE 12 weeks Do this when you're trying to add muscle.