Trying to shed a few pounds before beach season? Read on to ensure you aren’t ignoring any of the three building blocks of fitness.

The best way to attain optimal fitness is to divide the task into its three basic components: proper nutrition, cardiovascular training, and muscle strengthening. But remember, simple is not the same as easy!

1) Nutrition: avoid simple carbs;  seek protein and moderation

When developing a healthy eating plan, focus on making small changes you can maintain. Begin by avoiding simple carbohydrates whenever possible. These quickly absorbed, calorie-dense molecules occur mainly in refined sugars and white flour and are found in most prepackaged, processed foods. You should even avoid eating sweet fruits after the early afternoon due to their high sugar content.

Instead, consume the complex carbohydrates found in whole grains and try snacking any time on a plate of green veggies, such as broccoli or cucumber. Replace the calories missed from eliminating your sugar fixes with the filling, slow-to-digest proteins, found in nuts, legumes, and lean meats. These will also help you maintain a healthy muscle mass.

You can also lose weight by eating only until you feel about 60% full, even if that means adding an additional meal or healthy snack each day.

2) Cardio Training: burn baby, burn

Cardiovascular exercise is %100 required in any fitness routine because it helps to burn off extra calories, even later when you are at rest!

It’s also great for your heart.

You can choose from using the stationary bike, treadmill, stair climber, and other pieces of indoor equipment. Or you can get outside and go hiking, walking, or cycling, and much more.

To achieve the best results, significantly elevate your heart rate for 20 to 50 minutes at least four times each week. To do so, keep your heart rate, measured in beats per minute (bpm), above about 70% of your maximum heart rate, which can be determined by subtracting your age from 220.

So, if you are 45 years old, that would mean maintaining around 120/bpm for at least 80 minutes per week. Not so bad after all, huh?

3) Strength Training: scrawny is not sexy

The final key to attaining beach body fitness is a regular strength routine. This rule applies every bit as much to women as to men.

Your lifting program should feature exercises for every major muscle group, including your chest, back, limbs, and abdominals.

You can get good results by performing your strength routine as infrequently as twice weekly. But if you’re serious about muscle gain, you can consider strength training up to five times per week, just be sure not to neglect your cardio program.

To improve tone, perform three sets of about 12 moderately challenging repetitions per exercise. For bulk, do three sets of up to eight difficult reps, or until failure.

It takes commitment, but completing the triangle of fitness always provides excellent results. And beware: if you ignore any of the three components, the triangle will be incomplete and your results will be severely limited.

If you feel you would benefit from assistance in designing your own fitness program, consider contacting a personal trainer today!

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Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer and owner of Karp Personal Training in Vancouver, B.C.  For further information call (604) 420-7800 or visit their web site www.karpfitness.com.