Top 5 Ways to Get Fit for Summer and Look Your Best

Summer is the perfect time to feel your best, whether you’re heading to the beach or just enjoying the warm weather. If you’re looking to boost your confidence and energy, now is the time to put in the work and get fit for summer.

I know how it feels. After a long winter, it’s easy to feel a little off your game. As a certified strength and conditioning coach and sports nutritionist, I’ve helped countless people transform their habits to achieve their goals.

The great news is that you have time to make a real difference. This guide will give you five proven, effective ways to get fit for summer, helping you shed unwanted body fat and feel fantastic.

RELATED: Last-Minute Tips for Looking Your Best This Summer!

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to treat or diagnose any condition. It is recommended that you speak with your doctor before starting any exercise program, changing your daily nutrition, or adding any supplements to your regimen.

Key Takeaways

• Sustainable fat loss is achieved through a consistent calorie deficit of 500-750 calories per day, which requires a focus on nutrition.
• Combining strength training with cardio is more effective for changing your body composition than cardio alone. Strength training builds muscle, which boosts your metabolism.
• High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a time-efficient way to burn calories and improve cardiovascular health due to the “afterburn” effect known as EPOC.
• Consistency and realistic goal-setting are crucial for long-term success. Aiming for a healthy weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week is a sustainable target.

Why Does Everyone Want to Get Fit for Summer?

The drive to get fit for summer is a powerful motivator for many, rooted in social, personal, and even biological factors. When the sun comes out, so do lighter clothes and opportunities for outdoor fun, which inspires many people to get in shape for the summer.

Here’s a closer look at the key reasons behind this seasonal fitness push:

• Confidence in Swimwear: Summer often involves trips to the beach or pool. This desire to feel confident in a bathing suit is a major reason people focus on their fitness goals.
• Lighter Seasonal Clothing: With warmer weather comes shorts, tank tops, and dresses. Feeling good in more revealing clothing is a strong incentive to tone up.
• More Outdoor Activities: Summer opens the door to activities like hiking, swimming, and biking. Improved physical fitness makes these activities more enjoyable and easier to perform.
• Social Gatherings: From barbecues to vacations, summer is a social season. Many people want to look and feel their best when spending time with friends and family.
• Motivation from Sunshine: Increased exposure to sunlight boosts Vitamin D, which can improve mood and energy levels. This natural lift often translates into more motivation for exercise.

While summer provides a great deadline, the best approach is to build healthy habits that last all year. Focusing on sustainable, realistic goals is the key to maintaining your health and well-being long after the season ends.

Why Do Most People Fail When Trying to Get Fit for Summer?

Many people start with great intentions but struggle to see their summer fitness goals through. In my experience, failure usually comes down to a few common, avoidable mistakes.

Understanding these pitfalls is the first step toward building a plan that actually works so that you can get fit for summer.

• Setting Unrealistic Expectations: Aiming to lose 20 pounds in a month is not only unhealthy but also sets you up for disappointment. A safe and sustainable rate of weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week.
• Relying on Quick Fixes: Fad diets and “detox” teas often lead to short-term water loss, not true fat loss, and can even disrupt your digestive health. Real progress comes from consistent, healthy habits.
• Focusing Only on Cardio: While cardio is great for burning calories, neglecting strength training is a huge mistake. Trond Nyland, a functional fitness expert, notes that strength training builds muscle, which is crucial for boosting your metabolism long-term.
• Lack of a Solid Plan: Without a structured workout and nutrition plan, it’s easy to make poor choices or skip sessions. Planning your meals and workouts ahead of time is critical for staying on track.
• The All-or-Nothing Mindset: Having one “bad” meal or missing one workout doesn’t ruin your progress. The key is to get right back on track instead of giving up entirely.
• Not Finding Enjoyable Activities: If you dread your workouts, you won’t stick with them. The best fitness plan is one you actually enjoy, whether it’s lifting, dancing, hiking, or swimming.

To succeed, focus on creating sustainable habits, be patient with your progress, and choose activities that make you feel good. Working with a professional, like a personal trainer or nutritionist, can also provide the guidance you need to create an effective plan.

Do You Want to Get Fit for Summer? Try These Tips!

If you’re ready to get fit for summer, these proven strategies will help you look and feel your best. It all comes down to smart nutrition and effective exercise.

1. Lower Your Calories

Let’s start with the most important rule: you can’t out-train a bad diet. To lose fat, you must be in a caloric deficit, which means consuming fewer calories than your body burns. This is the foundation of any successful weight loss plan.

A good starting point is to reduce your daily intake by 500 calories. This should result in about one pound of weight loss per week, since one kilogram of fat is equivalent to roughly 7,700 calories.

To do this accurately, you first need to determine your maintenance calories, the number of calories you need to stay at your current weight. You can get a good estimate by using a free online TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator.

Pro Tip: Use a nutrition tracking app to make this process easier. Tools like MyFitnessPal and Cronometer have massive food databases and barcode scanners that simplify logging your meals. Cronometer is particularly known for its highly accurate, expert-curated database.

2. Play with Your Macro Ratios

Once your calories are in check, the next step is to optimize your macronutrients, which are protein, carbohydrates, and fats. The right balance can accelerate fat loss while preserving the lean muscle you work hard to build, helping you get fit for summer.

For fat loss, a common recommendation from organizations like the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) is a ratio of around 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 30% fat. However, you can adjust this based on how your body responds.

• Prioritize Protein: Aim for around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (or 1.6-2.2g per kg). Protein helps you feel full, preserves muscle mass during a deficit, and has a higher thermic effect of food, meaning your body burns more calories digesting it.
• Adjust Carbs and Fats: See how you feel on a lower-carb or lower-fat approach. Some people thrive with fewer carbs, while others feel fatigued. Just ensure your fat intake doesn’t drop below 15-20% of your total calories, as healthy fats are vital for hormone function.

3. Increase Your Cardio

Cardio is an essential tool for creating a calorie deficit and improving your heart health. If you’ve let it slide during the winter, now is the time to bring it back. Combined with a proper diet, it will accelerate your fat loss and help you achieve that lean look.

A great goal to start with is the guideline from the American Heart Association: 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week. This breaks down to just 30 minutes, five days a week.

This type of exercise is often called Low-Intensity Steady-State (LISS) cardio. It’s effective for burning fat and is gentle on the joints, making it suitable for all fitness levels.

• Incline Walking
• Jogging or Running
• Cycling
• Using the Elliptical

Remember to keep hitting the weights hard during this time. The combination of strength training and cardio is what preserves muscle while shedding fat, giving you a strong, toned physique so that you’re fit for summer.

4. Try HIIT Cardio

If you’re short on time and want to maximize your results, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is your best friend. You might not love it during the workout, but you will love the results. HIIT involves short bursts of all-out effort followed by brief recovery periods.

The main advantage of HIIT is the “afterburn effect,” or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). This means your metabolism stays elevated for hours after your workout, burning extra calories long after you’ve left the gym. Studies have shown HIIT can lead to greater fat loss in less time compared to steady-state cardio.

A Classic HIIT Protocol to Try: Tabata. Developed in the 1990s by Dr. Izumi Tabata, this protocol is brutally effective. It consists of 8 rounds of 20 seconds of maximum effort exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest. That’s a gut-busting workout in just four minutes!

You can apply this to almost any exercise, like sprinting, cycling, or bodyweight movements. For example, sprint on a bike for 20 seconds, rest for 10, and repeat eight times. As the weather gets nicer, take your HIIT sessions outdoors for some fresh air and a change of scenery.

5. Utilize a Fat Burner

Once your nutrition and training are dialed in, you might consider a fat burner for an extra edge. However, let me be clear: a fat burner is a supplement, not a substitute for hard work. It won’t fix poor nutrition or a lazy lifestyle.

Quality fat burners work by using ingredients that are scientifically shown to boost your metabolism and help your body burn more fat for energy. They can also help reduce appetite, which is incredibly helpful when you’re in a caloric deficit.

Look for products with proven ingredients:

• Caffeine: A well-known stimulant that can boost your metabolic rate and increase fat burning.
• Green Tea Extract (EGCG): The catechins in green tea, particularly EGCG, help promote fat breakdown by increasing the effects of fat-burning hormones like norepinephrine. In some studies, the combination of green tea extract and caffeine burned significantly more calories than a placebo.

Use these five strategies consistently, and you’ll be well on your way to getting fit for summer. Be patient, stay dedicated, and the results will follow.

Before you know it, you’ll be fit for summer!

Get Fit for Summer FAQs

How long does it realistically take to get fit for summer?

While you’ll start to feel better within a couple of weeks, visible changes take more time. Most experts agree that you can make significant changes to your health and fitness in 3 to 4 months. With a consistent plan, you can realistically lose a noticeable amount of fat in 2-3 months.

Should I focus on lifting weights or cardio for fat loss?

You should do both. Cardio is excellent for burning calories and creating an energy deficit. However, strength training is essential for building and maintaining muscle mass. More muscle increases your resting metabolism, meaning you burn more calories even when you’re not exercising. A combination is the most effective approach for changing your body composition.

What are the best exercises to get fit for summer?

Focus on compound exercises, which work multiple muscle groups at once. These are incredibly efficient for building strength and burning calories. The best ones include:

• Squats: Targets your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and core.
• Deadlifts: Works your entire posterior chain, including your back, glutes, and hamstrings.
• Push-ups/Bench Press: Engages your chest, shoulders, and triceps.
• Pull-ups/Rows: Builds strength in your back and biceps.

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