Whatever the time of year, there’s no better moment to transform your body composition. The Get Lean & Strong programme from EGYM gives you the ultimate toolkit to do just that. If you want to drop body fat while shaping your silhouette, relying on a calorie deficit alone rarely cuts it.

Figure training therefore relies on two main physiological pillars:

1. Maximising fat oxidation and metabolic rate: Dropping body fat is essential for shaping up. Modern research shows that steady-state cardio isn't the most efficient route. Instead, you need dynamic training that gets your heart pumping, keeping your calorie burn elevated long after you finish workout—a phenomenon known as the afterburn effect (Paoli et al., 2012). Building muscle and endurance also dials up your basal metabolic rate, as muscle tissue burns more calories than fat even at rest. Increasing your resting metabolic rate (RMR) through targeted strength training is the secret to keeping weight off long-term (Westcott, 2012).
2. Defining and toning muscle: Scientifically speaking, 'toning' is the combination of fat loss and moderate muscle cross-section growth (hypertrophy). The key is working with lighter weights and higher reps to firm up muscles without adding unwanted bulk. By combining strength-endurance phases (metabolic stress) with muscle-building phases (mechanical tension), your muscles stay firm, tight, and defined (Schoenfeld, 2010).

Combining muscle building and fat loss in a single workout is tricky: fat loss is a catabolic (breaking down) process, while muscle growth is anabolic (building up). Because these processes can compete, traditional fitness plans tend to separate strength and cardio sessions.

EGYM solves this by seamlessly blending strength and endurance into a single circuit. This allows you to build strength and stamina at the same time without the adaptations conflicting, making it the ideal setup for total body transformation (Alcaraz et al., 2011; Camargo et al., 2007; Kaikkonen et al., 2000; Gettman et al., 1982).

By intelligently periodising different training phases, our circuit kills two birds with one stone. To stop your body adapting to identical workouts, the programme is broken down into four consecutive phases. Rotating training methods—varying the intensity and rep counts—keeps your muscles guessing, maximising both fat metabolism and definition.

The four phases of the Get Lean & Strong Programme