With spring break right around the corner, college students all around the country are scrambling to improve their bodies for a week filled with nights spent with friends that will last a lifetime. I’m going to provide you with three tips on how to get your spring break body as fast as humanly possible.

1. EAT RIGHT

First off, I cannot stress enough how much dieting truly impacts the way your body forms. It is not enough to just go to the gym on a consistent basis. What you put into your body is the sustenance that will continue to fuel you. For example, if you base your diet off of junk food, you will never see any progress because you’re essentially filling your body with trash. It’s important that you treat your body like a temple. Here are three food items that will allow you to build lean muscle. First off we have beef, but not just any beef. Beef from grass-fed cattle is the best kind of beef for building lean muscle for one main reason: conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA acts as a catalyst for shedding body fat and building lean muscle. Another source of nutrition that assists in building lean muscle is beets. Beets are a great source of betaine, which enhances liver and joint repair, along with increasing muscle strength. So for those of us that may have overdone the drinking aspects in college, beets may just be your saving grace. In addition to beets, another food item that boosts your growth hormones, allowing for lean muscle growth, is brown rice. Since the grain is digested by the body relatively slowly, it allows for longer-lasting energy.

2. EXERCISE OFTEN & INTELLIGENTLY

It’s widely stated that exercising is only about 30 percent of the battle when it comes to making your body look and feel as if it is at peak performance. While the diet will be what assists your muscle growth, the exercise portion plays a key factor as it tears your muscle fibers, allowing for growth. The best way to go about building lean muscle at a fast rate is high-intensity interval training (HIIT). While HIIT was originally created by track coaches to train runners, it has found its way into the fitness industry because of its ability to effectively burn fat. For HIIT to be effective, the individual needs to limit rest in between workouts. For example, you can start with minute intervals of rest between sets. But as you begin to work HIIT into your everyday routine, you should slowly start decreasing the amount of time you rest until you’re resting for just ten seconds in between sets.

3. ABS, ABS & SOME MORE ABS

Let’s face it. Everyone, and I mean everyone, can appreciate a good set of chiseled abs or a toned mid-section. While it is a grueling climb to top-ab stardom, the best part about these muscles are that you can work them 7 days a week. Whether it is 10 minutes a day or 30, a little bit truly does go a long way in terms of your mid-section. To effectively create a mid-section that is ogled over by the masses, keep your ab exercises to a circuit style. This high-intensity form of working on abs will more than likely lead to fat loss. One thing to take into consideration when creating a circuit style of ab workouts is ensuring you’re working all parts of your midsection. For the most part, gaining the top-four abs is the easiest when embarking on a quest for the ultimate mid-section. While this may be the case, it is important to focus on the section of abs usually forgotten: lower abs. There are a couple of easy workouts that can be done both at home and in the gym. The first of the two is a football coach favorite; leg lifts! To ensure a proper leg lift make it a point to only allow your legs to be roughly six inches above the ground. Try and hold your legs in this position for as long as possible while keeping your breathing normalized. The next workout that is an easy home remedy are V-ups. For a V-up you’ll place an aerobics ball in between your feet. You will then precede to lift the top half and bottom half of your body off of the ground simultaneously creating a V shape with your body. This will not only strengthen your lower abs but also your entire core. Attempt to make this underutilized but over appreciated area of your body a focal point of your next workout.

With spring break right around the corner, there is not a ton of time to sculpt that aesthetically pleasing body you yearn for. But there is no better time to start making improvements than the present!