This conditioned look is not something that is usually preserved year around. Granted, many ladies will have a good athletic and lean look all year, but it is difficult and unwise to keep such a low degree of body fat year around.

Fitness competitors put a LOT of work into their physiques. They train all year for muscle size and density, and then diet for months on end to lower their body fat and to get cut. It's difficult to keep such a low body fat and muscle detail all the time. It's really not a glamorous lifestyle, unless you like continual detailed diet and training. I've competed for 7 years, and it is an exhausting chore to get cut, much less stay that way year around. Low body fat wears on you, puts a strain on your immune system, and leads to metabolic downgrade.

It's Not an Overnight Process

The underlying factor in why you and the fitness model or natural bodybuilder looks strikingly different at such a low body fat percentage is due to muscle mass and muscle density. These are components you must build over time. You cannot just "bulk" for three to four months and think you have done the necessary work. You have to build the foundation to sculpt the masterpiece.

Factors that build muscle mass and muscle density:

Time

Intense Weight Training

Limited Cardio

Adequate Nutrition

Sufficient Water Intake

It can take up to a year to build the foundation you need to carve the shapely body you want.

The Finer Details

Once you have the muscle mass and density necessary to carry you through a taxing dieting phase you can begin to lose fat, and then cut.

What many people fail to realize is that cutting is detailing the muscle. You can't detail your muscles if you are 18% body fat. You have to first lose the excess body fat and when you are lower you can finely detail the muscle, a process known as cutting.

Cutting is a similar format to building muscle, you just have to tweak your diet and cardio that sparks fat loss and not muscle loss.

Factors that Propel Fat Loss

Losing body fat and cutting requires eating properly and eating on time. This means no skipping meals and no overeating.

Losing body fat and cutting requires cycling your carbs and/or calories.

Losing body fat and cutting requires you to incorporate re-feed days.

Losing body fat and cutting requires you eat real food and avoid restaurant food.

Losing body fat and cutting requires you to incorporate progressive cardio. This has to be closely monitored to ensure you are not doing too much cardio or not enough.

Losing body fat and cutting requires you to be on an outlined program that must be followed.

Conclusion

Losing body fat and cutting is a chore to say the least. It's not easy, but the rewards are endless. The most important thing to remember is to be you, and don't compare yourself to anyone else because everyone is different. Various body types and shapes will appear dramatically different, even at the same body fat levels. Therefore, set goals and images for yourself based on what you know you can do.

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