As a fitness trainer, guys in the gym keep asking me the question that “how long does it take to get ripped“. Well, everybody wants a ripped muscular physique but it doesn’t come easily.
Low body fat and some quick pushups can definitely give you a short-term pump. But with proper muscle size and definition, you need to take your training and nutrition seriously with a proper strategic approach.
How long does it take to Get Ripped?
Well, it depends on various factors – your body type, current physique, fat percentage, etc. There are no one size fits.
However, you’ll get a lot of YouTube videos that claim “get abs in 15 days” and all that fascinating lies. Trust me guys, these are all scams.🤷♂️
If you are looking for a “celebrity secret” or “magic pill” to get a lean ripped physique like Jeff Seid, then let me tell you guys, there is no such thing.
The truth is that getting a ripped physique is a long-term process. It requires serious dedication and a proper scientific approach to your training and diet.
In this article, I will give a strategic and realistic approach that how long does it take you to get ripped or shredded? Just keep reading.
Summary: Getting a ripped physique is a long term process. It mainly depends on your genetic makeup and your starting point. You have to be disciplined with your training and nutrition for weeks or even months to get ripped.
Key things To Get Ripped
No matter what your age or body structure is, you need to focus on these two things to get a ripped physique:
1. Increase your muscle mass
Gaining muscle mass is very important to get that shredded look. It would not be a good strategy to start a cutting plan if you don’t have a decent amount of muscle mass. You may get to see your abs but without much muscle, you’ll still look skinny.
It will be like transforming from a big potato to a small potato. So I recommend you to gain some muscle mass first.
Read more: How To Build Muscle Naturally
However, if you are overweight or have a body fat percentage of more than 20% without much muscle mass, then go for a fat loss plan.
2. Decrease your body fat percentage
Now, this part is more important because you can have those herculean muscles – but if there’s a thick layer of fat over the muscles, nobody would be able to see them.
So it is necessary to reduce your body fat to get that ripped dream physique. Aim for a single-digit body fat percentage or at least less than 12%. The less body fat you have, the more ripped or shredded you look.
To reduce fat, if you are following a keto diet then this supplement can be very helpful for you. You can give it a try to fasten your fat-burning process.
Define your Ripped Body Goal
Getting ripped is very subjective.
For some people, it might mean building huge muscles and almost no body fat. On the other hand, some people (like me) might want a lean athletic physique with proper muscle definition.
Hence, first, clearly decide your personal goal and then make a strategy to reach there.
The Timeline
Let’s put aside your genetic structure and understand how long does it take to get ripped on the basis of your current physique.
Someone who has an ample amount of muscle mass with 20% body fat can get ripped much earlier than a skinny guy. The reason is, muscle building is a very slow process as compared to fat loss.
It takes much more time to gain muscle in comparison to losing that same amount of fat.
Let’s have a look at the rate of muscle gain and fat loss…
The average rate of muscle gain
With proper strength & hypertrophy training and with optimum nutrition & caloric surplus diet, you can build muscle steadily.
However, the amount of muscle you can gain in a year keeps reducing with your experience level. That’s why a beginner can build much more muscle mass than an advanced-level athlete at the same time.
| Category | Years of experience | Muscle gain per year |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Less than 1 | 15-25 pounds |
| Intermediate | 1 to 3 | 8-12 pounds |
| Advance | More than 3 | 3-6 pounds |
This was the average range of gaining muscle mass on the basis of your experience level. It’s almost impossible to gain more than these limits naturally.
The average rate of fat loss
Unlike muscle gain, losing weight is a faster process. But again, it also depends on your physique level, more the extra fat you have, more the fat you can lose in a specific time span.
For fat loss, the most important factor is taking a caloric deficit diet. In simple words, you have to consume fewer calories than you burn.
On a rough estimate, 3500 calories make 1 pound. That means, if you consume 500 fewer calories than you need, you can lose 1 pound of weight per week.
The amount of caloric deficit you can healthily maintain depends on your body fat percentage. However, it is optimal to create a 300-700 caloric deficit for an average person.
See some stats…
Here is the recommended rate of fat loss over body fat percentage. You can manage your caloric deficit accordingly.
| Body fat percentage | Fat loss per week |
|---|---|
| Less than 9% | 0.3 – 0.5 pounds |
| 9% to 12% | 0.5 – 0.8 pounds |
| 12% to 15% | 0.8 – 1.2 pounds |
| 15% to 20% | 1.0 – 1.5 pounds |
| 20% to 30% | 1.5 – 2.0 pounds |
| More than 30% | 2.0 – 3.0 pounds |
To get that shredded or ripped physique, you have to be in the athletic category in terms of body fat percentage. Here’s a chart from the American Council on Exercise showing different body fat percentages on the basis of category and gender:
| Category | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Essential fat | 2%–5% | 10%–13% |
| Athletes | 6%–13% | 14%–20% |
| Fitness | 14%–17% | 21%–24% |
| Average | 18%–24% | 25%–31% |
| Obese | 25% and above | 32% and above |
Now, find your body fat percentage and the amount of muscle mass you want to gain as per your goal. After that, consider these muscle gain and fat loss rate, you can calculate your approximate timeline to get shredded.
How to calculate body fat percentage?
Well, there are plenty of fancy techniques to find body fat percentages. But the easiest and cheapest one is by using a body fat caliper. You can easily order it online.
You can also get it by using the “U.S. Navy method“. For that, you have to accurately measure your weight, height, neck, waist, and hips (for females). Put them in that formula and you’ll get your body fat percentage.
Your Get-Ripped Strategy
Now, after setting a clear goal, you can go on to build your get ripped strategy. The two components of getting a ripped physique are workout and nutrition. Let’s explore them one by one.
Get Ripped Workout
1. Train each muscle twice a week: This helps in maximizing muscle hypertrophy – that is, muscle growth. A meta-analysis issued by the Department of Health Science shows that training twice a week gives better hypertrophy results than training once a week.
Read More: What is Muscle Hypertrophy & How To Maximize it?
2. More sets lead to more growth: According to a study published in the Journal of Sports Science, the more sets you do the more muscle growth you can achieve. But up to a certain limit of course. Hence, do around 10-20 working sets per muscle group per week.
Read more: How Many Sets Should You do for Muscle Gain
3. Train intense or just don’t: According to the American Council on Exercise, an intense strength-training workout in which you train your muscles up to failure is very effective to stimulate muscle growth. Hence, go all out in your training.
4. HIIT: Add high-intensity interval training to your exercise routine. In an equal time interval, HIIT burns more calories than traditional cardio. This also gives you a metabolic boost which leads to more fat loss.
Get Ripped Diet
To get a ripped muscular physique, training and nutrition go hand in hand. You can’t win the battle by focusing on just one thing. To see your defined muscles, you have to achieve a reasonably low body fat percentage. But don’t go less than 5% as this can be harmful. Our body needs some amount of fat too to function healthily.
Here are some diet tips you should consider before designing your plan to get shredded:
1. Take a high protein diet: As you already know that proteins are the building blocks of muscles. Hence, it is essential to eat enough amount of protein to build muscles. Take around 0.8 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
Read more: 13 Best Foods for Lean Muscle Gain
2. Don’t cut too many calories: During the cutting phase, create a caloric deficit of about 300-700 calories. Going too high might reduce your muscle mass. Also, stick to the higher side of protein intake during fat loss. This will help you in retaining your hard-gained muscles.
3. Eat enough fiber and micronutrients: Your diet must be rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. These are very important for proper digestion and absorption of food. Hence, add enough portions of whole grains, beans, legumes, veggies, and fruits to your diet to make it complete.
Read more: How To Set Macros for Lean Bulk in 3 simple steps
Read more: How to set Macros for Cutting Diet.
How long does it take to get ripped – CONCLUSION
So this was the truth about the time you would take to get ripped. Obviously, the results won’t be instant because great things take time. But you can definitely achieve your dream physique if you make a science-based program considering the tips I’ve given.
One more thing – just be consistent and keep sticking to the plan and you’ll definitely see that ripped body in the mirror.
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FAQ’s
If you’re skinny, you should focus on gaining muscle mass first. Within one year, you can gain about 8-12 kg muscle mass easily. Then a 3 months cutting phase is enough to burn that fat you may have under your skin. So about 15 months are sufficient to go from skinny to ripped.
It’s simple, calculate your BMR & eat in a caloric deficit of 300-500 calories. Take 1-1.2 gm protein/lb of body weight, about 0.5 gm fat/lb of body weight & fill the rest of the calories with carbs.
First, lose some fat and reach about 15% body fat percentage. Then start muscle building until you gain a decent amount of muscle mass. After that, go for a short cutting period to burn off that fat under your skin. And you just achieved your dream physique.
Thank you for reading this so far. I hope you liked this article and learned something valuable from this. If you have any queries, feel free to ask in the comments.
