So, you've been working out your tail off for the past months trying to pack on as much muscle size as you possibly can. And, actually, it worked, but maybe not in the way you'll prefer. Now, you are huge, that's a fact, but you are not the big mass of muscle you wanted to be. Along with all of that solid, lean muscle you've gained, you notice that you've also packed on some excess body fat in the process.

And no matter how "huge" you might be, nobody wants to walk around with a soft, smooth and flabby body. After most trainees have finished their "bulking" phase, they decide that it's time to "cut down" and strip off the excess body fat that they gained due to their high calorie, muscle-building diet. How do they usually go about this? They lighten up the weights and perform higher reps.

This has always been a widely accepted method of "cutting down" and if you ask most trainers in the gym they'll tell you that "heavy weights bulk up the muscle and lighter weights define the muscle". Do you want to know the reality behind the "light weight and high reps" method of obtaining a ripped and defined physique? It is completely, totally and utterly dead wrong.

It couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, there is no logical basis for this way of training whatsoever, and whoever dreamt up this downright ridiculous way of thinking has caused the vast majority of lifters to waste their time and impede their progress in the gym. Let me clear this up once and for all: you cannot spot reduce. In other words, it is physically impossible to target fat loss from a specific area on your body. Performing bench presses with light resistance and high repetitions will not magically burn fat off of your chest or cause it to appear harder and more defined.

You can use the bench press, squat, standing curl, pull-up, military press, and deadlift to stimulate the most muscle growth. There are no special, secret weightlifting exercises that will "define" your muscles or cause them to become more "ripped". Training with weights builds muscle mass, end of story.

So what's the right way to "define" a muscle? Muscle definition only involves your diet and body fat percentage. Body fat reduction can be achieved in two ways:

1) Modify your diet. Try eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. In this way you will keep you body in a constant fat burning state because your metabolism will be raised, in a natural way.

2) Perform proper cardio workouts. Reduce your body fat simply by burning off all the excess fat you can. To maximize your body's fat burning capacity and also minimize the muscle loss that inevitably accompanies a fat burning cycle, focus on shorter, 15-minute cardio workouts performed 3-5 times per week at a high level of intensity.

That's all folks! Leave behind the notion of "light weight and higher reps". Just follow these simple instructions to achieve the muscle definition that you are looking for.