Given the choice, would more people find a bodybuilder or an Abercrombie model more physically appealing? In my opinion, the bulk of those questioned would answer that the Abercrombie model is far and away the more attractive of the two. Thus, the question remains as to why numerous folks are still interested in the workouts done by bodybuilders. Wouldn’t it be better to emulate a fitness models workout routine to develop lean, defined muscles? So the next thing to consider is what would an Abercrombie model workout look like?
There are two critical components to any fitness routine: diet and exercise. Both have their place in developing the fitness model look. While diet is best for reducing fat, exercise is the most reliable way to gain lean muscle. These can be combined in a multi-phase approach that will help you build a body like an Abercrombie model.
When you think about the defining features of an Abercrombie model, most likely your first image will be of a body with tight, six-pack abdominal muscles and overall lean muscle mass. Before you try to bulk up your muscles, you should focus first on getting yourself some of those six-pack abs. In order to get six pack abs, you need to combine a fat burning, high intensity workout with a restrictive diet. Such a workout should include low volume repetitions of strength training through the use of heavy weights. You will want to try to complete 4-5 sets of 3-5 repetitions, but do not push yourself to the point of exhaustion. It is recommended that you quit lifting when you are one repetition away from exhaustion.
It is possible to divide your exercises into a 2-day plan done twice a week, giving you 4 workouts weekly. The goal here is to avoid that puffed up appearance of the bodybuilder, building smaller, tighter and stronger-looking muscles that are more pleasing to the eye instead. You’ll notice that I did not include any direct leg training above. Remember – you don’t want to get those big, thick legs that you see in bodybuilders – Abercrombie models just don’t have them. It is my firm belief that your legs will become sufficiently lean through workouts incorporating high intensity interval training (HIIT).
HIIT is very important during this first phase. A HIIT regimen done correctly will cause rapid fat loss.
It should really be stressed just how important diet is when you are trying to achieve an Abercrombie model’s body. You can only workout so long and so hard. Dieting is where you can really lose fat fast. Use whatever works for you – daily weight monitoring, calorie tracking or even intermittent fasting – be sure you are consuming a calorie deficit.
Once you have completed the first steps and have realized fat loss sufficient to create defined abdominal muscles, the next phase may begin. How you implement this phase will be determined by your overall goals of this exercise. If you simply want to quickly increase the size of your muscles, you can perform a weight lifting routine to “shrink wrap” your muscles while maintaining the same calorie restrictive diet. If you want to add a lot of muscle mass, then you can gradually begin eating more calories. Be careful not to eat too much though as you can only really add so much muscle without gaining fat.
For those trying to gain a lot of extra muscle mass, you need to be careful to avoid many muscle-building workouts or you will train to failure. Instead of low rep sets, you’ll need to perform high rep sets and ensure your muscles are fatigued on each exercise. If your goal is to increase your muscle mass over a period of time, then be sure to gradually move from training to the point of fatigue back to strength training during this phase. If you train your muscles to fatigue for too long, you will get the puffy bodybuilder look. In order to achieve that lean, defined muscle look you will need to revert back to heavy weight strength training at low repetition intervals.
As you can see, a fitness models workout routine needs to focus on reducing and keeping off fat while toning or even increasing muscle size. An Abercrombie model workout routine would include high intensity exercising to lose fat combined with strength training to build dense, defined muscles. This will lead to a lean, athletic look. Once you have reached this goal, your Abercrombie model workout could then switch to a program that will help you bulk up with some muscle gain, or work to tighten the muscular appearance with a “shrink wrap” routine. After training to failure to increase muscle mass for long time, a fitness model must eventually revert back to low rep, heavy weight strength training to avoid the soft bodybuilder look. Overall, I’d encourage you to set aside the bodybuilding approach and embrace a fitness models workout routine.