Well, chances are, the problem AND solution lie in one of three areas. I call these three fitness areas the "Must Do's" of building muscle, losing fat, and achieving a great physique.

Here are the three "Must-Do's" for a great body and superb

fitness levels.

Must Do #1

You MUST perform some type of resistance (weight) training to ensure lean muscle growth and strength increase. Building lean muscle (toning the body) is done by weight

training and proper recovery/nutrition.

It starts with the stimulation of muscle growth from the stress of resistance training and ends in growth of lean muscle tissue from rest and proper nutrition.

Optimally, you should try and weight train 3 to 4 times a week, sufficiently training each muscle group once each week. If you train a muscle group (i.e. biceps or triceps) with intensity and proper resistance, once a week is all that is needed for adequate muscle stimulation.

Must Do #2

You MUST perform some type of aerobic/cardio workout to ensure calorie/fat burning and the raising of the resting metabolic rate (burning calories throughout the day at rest).

You cannot tone up the body and develop any type of defined physique if your muscles are covered by layers of fat.

Doing intense aerobics/cardio three to four days a week will help the fat burning process and will also help speed up the body's metabolism to be more efficient at burning calories.

Many people mistakingly assume that you only burn off calories while performing aerobic exercise.

Truth is, you are burning calories during the exercise AND you are conditioning the body to burn more calories even after the cardio session is done.

Intense, brief (15 to 20 minutes) cardio sessions help raise the body's resting metabolic rate (the metabolism) so that you burn off more calories even while resting.

I speak with many weight lifters that are not happy with their physiques and it usually is because they forget to include intense cardio sessions in their routines.

For effective fat burning, 3 to 4 sessions (15 to 20 minutes each) a week is sufficient.

Must Do #3

Besides weight training and aerobics, your nutrition is the third "must do" if you want to build muscle and lose fat.

You must eat properly throughout the day for you to see any worthwhile results. Eating a small, well-balanced meal/snack every three to four hours will help speed up the body's metabolism so that it becomes more efficient at burning through the food you eat.

Doing this means you will be eating about 5 or 6 times a day.

Make each meal a high-protein, moderate-carbohydrate, and low-fat choice. Foods like chicken breast, turkey, fish, low-fat dairy products, and lean red meats are excellent protein sources.

Carbs should come primarily from vegetables as well as whole grain breads, cereals, pastas, rice, and legumes.

Nutrition is the most important of the "must do's" of a great physique. It doesn't matter how much or how often you work out, it can all be ruined by poor eating.

The next time you are not satisfied with your current levels of fitness and the condition of your physique, I can almost assure you that the answer lies in one of the three "must do's" of fitness:

To build muscle and lose fat, you have to focus on intense cardio, moderate weight training, and proper nutrition.