If you have your eyes firmly set on male modeling jobs, particularly fitness modelling assignments through agencies like Talent Management, it is not necessarily the size of your body that you need to be thinking about. Tone and definition are vitally important, but this does not necessarily mean pumping iron every waking hour. In fact, overly large muscles can be a limiting factor, minimising the opportunity to compile a varied portfolio and making you suitable for a relatively small number of jobs.
Instead, a well-planned programme of body shaping and good lifestyle choices is the key. You will need to commit to altering your complete lifestyle if necessary to help create the body you crave but, in practice, what does this mean and what are the best techniques to ensure success? Using inspiration from successful male models from around the world, here are some of the things you need to do.
1. Make a plan
First and foremost, you need to decide what you want to achieve from your dietary and exercise regime. Do you want a washboard chest, bigger biceps, or chunkier thighs? Perhaps you want a combination of them all or maybe you realise that you need to get rid of some wobbly areas before casting agents will take you seriously.
Whatever your aim, be clear about it in your own mind and then set about planning how you are going to achieve it. Accept that changes will not occur overnight and commit to a long-term goal of improving your eating habits, organising your life and working on the areas of your body you want to change.
2. Go for the long haul
Don’t be lured into fad diets. What you are looking for is not a quick fix but a sustainable lifestyle that will benefit your career for years to come.
3. Take a scientific approach
Simply working out how much you need to eat in order to prevent you gaining weight or breaking down muscle is key to achieving a male model body. There are lots of formulas out there which can help you to work out how many calories you need. Following this advice will allow you to maintain your physique and pose, whilst eating 20 per cent less should give you a stripped look.
You also need to think about what you are eating to get the calories you need and try to get a good balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Many experts suggest a good diet involves eating around 2.5g of protein per kilo of your body weight each day and consuming around a third of your calorie intake as healthy fats. The rest of your calorie intake should come from carbohydrates.
4. Remember the liquids
Whilst it is essential to drink plenty of water in order to maintain a healthy body and mind, it is vital to stay in control of any calorie-laden drinks you consume. Calories still count even if you drink them.
5. Change your lifestyle
A great body is achieved by more than just eating better and hitting the gym more. Try to take a whole-life approach. Leave the car at home and walk to work; cut out alcohol on all but special occasions, and don’t use every cinema trip, day out or bad night’s sleep as an excuse to binge.
6. Snack well
If you do want to snack, make sure that you make the right decisions when it comes to the foods you choose. Shun high-calorie, low nutrition foods such as crisps and sweets in favour of items such as nuts, berries, seeds, eggs, and protein bars. Just remember that calories still need to be accounted for even if you eat them between meals.
7. Get enough sleep
You may think that being more active is the most important factor in body shaping but resting can be equally, if not more important. Good quality sleep is essential for restoring the balance of your body, whether through the essential repair of muscles or the maintenance of effective blood-sugar management levels. Poor sleep can lead to hormonal imbalances, preventing both fat loss and muscle growth.
8. Choose the right exercise
It is not just the amount of exercise you do that will dictate your body shape; the type you choose is also extremely important. There is no denying that weight or resistance work has to form a major part of your fitness regime if you want a male cover model body as this is proven to be the best way to burn fat and add muscle.
A very common mistake, however, is simply trying to lift the heaviest weights possible. The fact is, this can involve using momentum rather than muscle power to lift. Controlled lifting and lowering is the key.
Also, try to achieve a good balance between muscle building and calorie burning efforts. Stuck for ideas? You’ll never go wrong with exercises such as squats, chin-ups, deadlifts, pull-ups and dips.
