6 Ways to Get Leaner Muscles, Revealed by a Trainer

Mistake 1: You're ignoring your hips

P's sessions always start off with a full-body hip stretch, and after sitting at a desk all day, it feels amazing.

"Hip tightness happens to all of us," he said. "It's accelerated when we sit at a desk, run, or do a cycling class. When your hips tighten, it inhibits the ability for your butt to work, causing the inner thighs to never activate to their full potential — this sort of dysfunction can lead to bulking." According to P, having hip mobility is key to having the body perform correctly and having "sleek natural physique."

Solution: I love SoulCycle just as much as the next chick, but I limited my rides to twice a month while doing Bodies by P. What I learned from P is that going from sitting at a desk to a bike was only adding to my hip stress.

"Try to avoid workouts that destroy your hips like cycling and HIIT workouts," he noted. "[Before and after any workout] take time to fully stretch; really focus on opening up the hips before you work out."

P recommends doing a forward lunge on one knee while reaching your arms up, similar to a Crescent Lunge. Repeat eight times and then switch legs.

Mistake 2: You’re focused too much on concentric movement

First let's get the science out of the way: there's an up (concentric) and a down (eccentric) part to almost all exercises. If you're working out with P, you're focusing more on the downward movement, which helps to lengthen the muscles. P said that the upward motion of exercises tend to contract and shorten a muscle. For example, when doing a biceps curl in bodybuilding, more attention is on bringing the weight up and the muscle shortens in this movement.

While concentric movement isn't inherently bad, "these movements are what creates the most soreness, bulkiness, and burn," said P. "To recover from breaking down the muscle fibers in this way, the body grows larger and overdevelops. As a result, you can end up bulking and looking like a bodybuilder." Basically the opposite of long and lean.

Solution: "If you want a sleeker and toned appearance, work out with longer ranges of motions," he said. "I like to take an exercise to its end range and not bring it all the way up," he said. "For example, when working the biceps, I will have my clients extend their arm out straight in front of them, and on the squeeze, they bring the weight to the halfway point, stopping when the hand is even with the elbow at a 90-degree angle."

Here's a how-to for performing a right-angle biceps curl similar to what P does in his own classes.

Mistake 3: You're training like a fighter

"I grew up swimming, and one thing I always noticed after years of being on coed swim teams was that men and women's bodies are different in major ways," P said. "Our bodies are not made to take on the same things, and they react differently to different stimulus." P noted that when he swam, he would lose weight and his body would slim down dramatically, but the women on his team bulked in their upper body.

The same philosophy applies to boxing — a hot workout right now in NYC. "[The] majority of girls coming from boxing gyms have gained weight outside their natural range, bulking excessively, and tend to have a lot of pain in their neck and lower back," he said. "When you box like a fighter, you use a lot of joints to push through the motions [and create impact], which can cause [muscle] swelling."

Solution: Here's the thing: when I train with P, we sometimes do boxing movements. He just tweaks the punching slightly. So if you love to punch, you don't have to give it up! "I try get my clients to push through their chest, arms, and stomach with [lighter] 8-ounce gloves. Low resistance with controlled movement will almost always equal toned muscles."

As someone who has tried it, this method of boxing feels more like stretching your arm and pushing against resistance vs. hitting something aggressively.

Mistake 4: You're using explosive movements

Before P, I often took high-energy kickboxing and HIIT classes. Soon into my workouts, P explained why these might have been causing some of the injuries I've experienced.

"Explosive fast movements feel good, but they create a different reaction in your muscles," he said. "They activate fast-twitch fibers, which tend to overdevelop muscles dramatically every time. Take Olympic sprinters for example: a sprinter's legs are always more developed [compared to] long-distance runners [who rely more on slow-twitch muscle fibers]."

Solution: Since I stopped doing intense cardio, I don't miss it. I still take hip-hop dance classes when I want to break a sweat. Another great cardio exercise for getting lean is fast-paced walking, especially if you can do it outside and clear your mind at the same time.

"My advice is unless you're training for a sport or competing to be a sprinter, explosive, fast movements aren't necessary," he said. "Find balance, slow down your movement, and focus on how your muscles function; learn to feel your body. That will help create the most natural-looking physique."

Mistake 5: You're exercising in one plane of motion

If you've spend most of your workouts on all fours, pulsing your leg in the air for five minutes — and still don't feel like you have shapely legs — you may want to rethink your workout.

"Every muscle and every joint in the body rotates, flexes from side to side, and extends forward and backward," P explained. "[If] you're working the muscles in a very limited plane of motion, you're missing out on all the other movements they can do. Hitting the same muscles the same way repeatedly can lead to an overdeveloped, disproportionate, and unnatural shape. This limits your body from reaching its full potential for a long, lean, proportionate physique."

Solution: P advises that whenever you are focused on a specific area, work it from different angles. "When I single out a muscle, I know it works in three planes of motion, so I try to rotate it, flex it left or right, extend, and contract it."

Mistake 6: You're breaking down your body

I've said it before, but not feeling in pain all of the time has been amazing for my overall health and mood. "We all love to feel sore after a workout," P said. "It makes us feel accomplished. Soreness is nothing more than a result of breaking down your muscles. As a result, the muscles adapt, rebuild, and become larger."

There's another problem with aggressive workouts: your grumbling stomach. Who hasn't taken a Spin class and then inhaled a burger and fries? "This also makes you unnecessarily hungry," he added. "Now your body needs more calories for that repair process. It all results in more muscle, more swelling, and more weight gain. It is bodybuilding 101."

Solution: "Focus on lightweight, low-resistance, and muscle activation," he advised. "I slow everything down and use natural body motions. The light resistance helps to activate muscles without tearing them apart."

Unlike boot-camp classes, P actually allows (and suggests!) taking breaks during class. "My goal is to prevent the body from breaking down and to make sure all the muscles are working in sync and individually," he said. "This helps to tone the muscles and keep them strong without forcing your body to put on weight. I always say, 'When you work out, you want your muscles singing, not screaming.'"