At the FASTer Way to Fat Loss, we’re serious about fat loss, disease prevention, improved health, and DONUTS. Sound strange? We promise, it’s not! We don’t believe in deprivation. Instead, we designed our science-backed macro cycle to allow our clients to enjoy their favorite treats on leg day, totally guilt-free. We work out a large muscle group--our legs-- which results in a ramped up metabolism, turning our bodies into fat burning machines all day long. That’s why leg day is the BEST day!

FASTer Way to Fat Loss creator and CEO Amanda Tress was recently featured on Good Day New York to discuss the importance of leg day and how you can have your donuts and eat them, too! Check out the video for the full interview. 

Here are four tips to creating lean legs and maximizing your leg day:

Eat the Right Foods at the Right Time

It sounds counterintuitive, but lean legs start with nutrition. In the FASTer Way, we combine intermittent fasting, carb cycling, and whole-food nutrition to properly fuel our bodies and create lean, calorie-burning muscle. We maximize fat-burning and prioritize cellular repair by fasting for 16 hours of the day (mostly while we sleep) and consuming all of our food during the other eight hours. 

In addition to eating at the right time, eating the right foods is also important. We eliminate inflammatory foods like processed and fast food,  gluten, and dairy to optimize our gut health and reduce bloat and brain fog. And guess what? We eat CARBS and lots of them! The keto diet gets all the glory in the marketplace, and while we do practice low carb days in our macro cycle, we also replenish our glycogen stores with healthy carbs to build lean muscle!

Be Intentional with Your Workouts

Running miles on a treadmill will not significantly strengthen and tone your legs. Instead, you will have to engage in both strength training and HIIT on a weekly basis. Strength training either with weights, or using your own body weight, will give your muscles shape as your diet helps them grow. And, the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be, which will help your body shed the unwanted fat that covers up a lean pair of legs.

HIIT workouts will increase your metabolic rate and burn fat long after your workout is over. This will help you look lean and toned in all the right places! The FASTer Way pairs intentional workouts with our macro cycle to optimize burning fat and building lean muscle. 

Take Rest Seriously

You read that correctly! Rest and recovery is essential to creating lean legs. If you are eating to fuel your muscle growth and exercising to shape your muscles, then you will need to rest so you can repair your muscles. Taking a couple of days off each week is critical to building lean legs. FASTer Way clients do one serious leg day each week and one total body day each week with some leg and booty work included.

Enjoy Your Leg Day Treat

While we focus on whole-food nutrition throughout the week, we enjoy a treat with absolutely no guilt after crushing a leg day workout. Working a large muscle group like the legs puts your body into fat-burning mode, which means you can enjoy a treat without experiencing a setback in your results.