RX BIKINI Bod. A bod like Jessica Biel.

I don’t really like to talk about celebs and bikinis, but Jessica Biel’s bod is unreal, and she looks beyond amazing in a bikini. So when my husband forwarded me an article, appropriately titled, “How to get a body like Jessica Biel” I had to share.

Below are some of the excerpts and tips from world renowned strength coach, Jason Ferruggia. Any of them sound familiar? :) Jason knows his stuff, read on…

While many females ask me about how to get a body like Jessica Biel, the fact of the matter is none of them will ever come close because they have a fear that they will end up looking like Hulk Hogan in a matter of weeks so they shy away from lifting weights that will actually do anything. This is a fear that is completely unfounded. Females simply don’t have the hormonal profile to build muscle at the same rate as males; not even close. And, trust me; it’s not even that easy for most males. If it were there would be a lot more 250 pound muscular dudes walking around.

The principles that make up an effective muscle building program for a male are exactly the same as those that make up an effective training program for a female. Below are a few things you need to do:

• Lift heavy – No matter what you have been brainwashed to believe from watching Oprah or reading US Magazine, girls should not be lifting soup cans and three pound dumbbells with the thought that it is actually going to do a damned thing. You need to challenge yourself and give your body a reason to actually change. Kickbacks with a couple water bottles aint gonna cut it.

Lifting heavy weights in the range of 8-15 reps (with the occasional sets of 5-7) should be the basis of your training. Contrary to popular mainstream belief, high reps do not burn fat or help you improve muscle definition. Heavy weight training burns far more calories than high rep nonsense with light weights ever could. You have to understand that it is not how much you sweat or even how many calories you burn during the workout that is important but rather how many calories you burn in the 24-48 hours after your workout, during the recovery period. Lifting heavy elevates your metabolism to a much higher degree and forces you to burn far more calories all day long than light weight, high rep training does.

• Use big compound exercises- Females should not be relegated to the butt blaster and the abductor/ adductor machine while avoiding squats and deadlifts at all costs. If you want to gain muscle and burn body fat you have to focus on the basics. These include military presses, bench presses, bent over rows, chin ups, dips, squats, deadlifts and all their variations. Isolation exercises like flyes, leg extensions and triceps kickbacks are a waste for most females and do very little to build lean muscle or burn fat.

• Follow the rule of progressive overload- Some people, both male and female, do the exact same workouts with the exact same weights over and over again for months or even years and never get anywhere. It’s no wonder why. Once you do something new, your body will do all that it can to adapt to the stimulus so that it is prepared for it the next time and does not suffer the same shock and trauma. So if you bench press 65 pounds for two sets of ten reps today, your body will rebuild itself bigger and stronger to prepare for that challenge again in the future. When you do it again next week you have not presented a new challenge for your body to adapt to and thus nothing will happen. You need to continually challenge your body. You can do this by adding more sets, decreasing your rest periods, or most importantly and most effectively; increasing the weight.

Females should not be afraid of getting stronger or increasing their training poundages. I never understood why more females didn’t have the desire to get stronger. What could be a better feeling than looking sexy and feminine yet being incredibly strong? A friend and client of mine named Megan possesses this attitude and is obsessive in her quest for strength. Not only does she look great but she can out lift a lot of men in the gym. It has to be an incredibly empowering feeling.