The ultimate athletic physique is one which carries muscle, yet at the same time remains lean. You can gain muscle and get leaner at the same time by doing the following:
1. Lift weights heavy and hard for muscle gain
Gaining muscle in the quickest way possible is going to require lifting weights for repetitions in the 6-8 range. You want to find a weight which is heavy enough where you can only perform between 6-8 reps and no more. This rep range is the best for fast muscle gain. Of course you want to make sure your form is good and you are not sacrificing safety.
2. Do cardiovascular work throughout the week.
In order to get lean you are going to have to do at least 30 minutes of cardio exercise, 3-4 times a weeks. This will burn off the fat, and keep it off. The key is not doing cardo too hard or too often. This would interfere with your muscle gains.
For example, you will see individuals who work out in the gym, but also do heavy running. Their physique seldom changes, and they never seem to gain any substantial muscle. Most of their hard work lifting weights becomes null and void for muscle gains due to their strenuous running routine which breaks down the muscle rather than rebuilding it.
3. Watch your carbohydrate intake.
As far as diet, you will have to watch what you eat and not consume junk food continuously. But beyond that what you really should focus on is cutting out those heavy carbohydrates like breads and pastas. These add a ton of calories to your diet and definitely won't get you lean, rather they'll add fat and all your hard cardiovascular exercise work won't get you lean if you keep consuming heavy carb foods.
An easy route to take to accomplish all of the above is simply getting on a muscle building program which promotes more muscular development while at the same time gets you lean and athletic looking.
