Athletes work hard to perform at their peak — and stay lean as a result.
Both Lyuda and I have a sports-centered background that has allowed us to crystalize our lean body approach. I was a top player on the Harvard tennis team and competed on the pro tennis tour, and Lyuda was a Wilhelmina model who needed to be fit, toned, and agile on the runway.
We realized over time that training like an athlete is the only way to build a fit body now, and for the future. That’s what inspired us to create Mission Lean in the first place. We wanted to cut through the clutter that currently exists in the fitness space and so we put together all of the precise routines that work the body in its entirety to preserve health, wellbeing, fitness, flexibility, muscle tone, and strength.
What does training like an athlete mean? It means taking care of your body in a careful and calculated way – building it up without injury and maintaining the right routines day in and day out so you create an unbreakable base for the rest of your life. These rituals can be broken down into 4 components:
1) Completing a warmup. This will allow you to perform at your peak during a workout and avoid the injury risks associated with working out when your muscles and tendons are cold.
2) Having a stretching routine. You want to target each and every muscle group so you stay healthy, flexible, and limber. Most people hate this so we created a routine that you can just automatically complete without thinking about it.
3) Training with functional moves. This is so important because you want to be working out your body in a holistic way instead of isolating muscle groups. This way you can get in a killer workout in less time, keep your heart-rate elevated throughout, and build incredible muscle tone and strength at the same time.
4) Eating the right foods. This is important for general health, but also for getting the most out of each and every workout.
Start incorporating these into your daily life and you will be lean in no time.
Jon Pearlman is a former standout tennis player at Harvard, ATP-ranked touring pro, and author of The Lean Body Manual. He founded Mission Lean to share his unique formula for lean body fitness and nutrition, an approach that took over a decade to develop and perfect. He is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist.
