Everybody wants to get ripped and shredded with chiseled abs in the middle. But it is not easy to reach this stage. Along with hard work and consistency, you need a proper science-based plan to get a ripped physique like “Jeff Seid“.
Lifting weights and eating healthy can give you a decent physique but getting an aesthetic look and ripped body fast is a different game. You have to check your body composition, count calories, balance your macros, and log workouts daily, and that too for months and years.
In this article, you’ll get a step-by-step process to getting ripped fast.
Get Ripped Guide (3 steps to get shredded)
Getting ripped means you should have a decent amount of muscle mass and comparatively low body fat. Ideally, your body fat percentage should be just below 10 or in a single digit.
So it requires both muscle building and reducing fat. Hence it’s a long and slow process. So don’t fall for quick fixes to get instant results. There’s no magic pill for this. Proper science and consistent hard work are all you can do to get ripped fast.
So take out the guesswork and follow these three steps to get shredded.
#1 Do Weight Training to Build Muscles
To get an aesthetic look, you have to have a decent amount of muscle mass. Otherwise, there is no meaning in getting shredded. Most people do the mistake of burning fat to get ripped but they end up looking skinny. Losing fat is important to get ripped, but only if you have some muscle mass.
Without building muscles, it would be like going from a big potato to a small potato. So increasing your muscle mass is very important to get lean. The more muscles you have, the more ripped you will look after losing fat.
In addition to this, building muscles will increase your metabolism and BMR (basal metabolic rate). That means, the more muscles you have the more calories you will burn at rest (1). And to build muscle, you have to do resistance training or weight training.
Building muscles is crucial to get lean and ripped. So first, start lifting weights to gain a decent amount of muscle. The more muscles you build, the more ripped you’ll look after losing fat.
How to Build Muscle Fast?
Muscle building is a slow, hard, and painful process. But you can speed up the process to get faster results by following a proper science-based plan. Here are some tips you should follow to build muscles faster.
Start Lifting Weights
Resistance training is necessary to train your muscles and lifting weights is the best way to do that. So do weight training at least 4 times a week and train each n every muscle with enough intensity (2).
Instead of the conventional approach, train each muscle twice a week. Studies show that more frequently leads to more muscle growth. But too much frequency can reduce your muscle recovery rate which can negatively impact your muscles. Hence, training each muscle twice a week is a sweet spot to maximize muscle growth (3).
You can either train in the push/pull/legs scenario or do split training (two different muscle groups in every workout). You can choose any training method or try something else which suits you best. There’s no hard and fast rule for this.
Do intense weight training at least 4 times a week. And hit every muscle group 2x a week with enough intensity.
Lift Heavy!
For faster muscle growth, you have to keep challenging your muscles. And for that, you have to lift moderate to heavy weights. This helps in maximizing muscle hypertrophy and increasing muscular strength.
Hence, lift moderate to heavy weights in a rep range of 6-12 reps per set. Do most of your sets in this rep range only. However, for some exercises, you can go for a higher rep range. This will increase your muscle endurance too.
Always remember that form is the first and foremost thing during the workout. Lifting weights with incorrect posture and technique may lead to serious injuries. So make sure you don’t compromise your form during heavy lifts. Lift only that much weight which you can lift with proper form.
Do most of your workout with moderate to heavyweights in strength and hypertrophy rep range (6-12 reps/set).
Take a Caloric Surplus Diet
A caloric surplus diet means consuming more calories than you need to maintain your body weight. Now to gain muscle mass, you have to be in a caloric surplus mode.
But first, first your maintenance calories. You can do this simply by calculating your BMR (basal metabolic rate) on google. This will give you an estimate of the calories you are burning daily based on your activity level.
Now to gain lean muscle mass, you need to consume slightly more calories than that number. Hence, add 300-500 to that number and this would be your daily calories to gain muscles.
Now don’t confuse caloric surplus with muscle gain. Taking too many extra calories (more than 500) would just increase your fat gain (4).
Read more: How To Setup Macros In 3 Simple Steps?
To gain muscle mass, you have to take surplus calories. So first find your BMR and consume 300-500 extra calories to build muscle without gaining much fat.
#2 Reduce Calories to Lose Fat
During the gaining phase, you’ll also gain some fat along with the muscle. Now to get a ripped and shredded look, you have to burn that extra layer of fat over your muscles.
In order to lose body fat, you have to be in a caloric deficit phase. That means you have to eat less than you need to maintain your body weight. By doing this, your body uses the stored fat for fuel. Hence, cutting calories is an efficient way to lose body fat.
Now cutting calories doesn’t mean starving yourself. This will cause a negative impact and you may lose your lean muscle mass too You have to do it smartly. So, to reduce the risk of losing muscle mass, don’t cut your calories too low (5).
So how many calories should you take to lose fat? Find your BMR and cut 300-500 calories from that.
Common mistakes while burning fat
If you have a serious goal to get a ripped physique fast, you have to consider the other things too.
Setup macro distribution smartly
Just calculating calories is not enough, setting up a proper macro ratio is also important. On average, take 30-40% of your calories from protein, 15-30% from fat, and the rest from carbs.
It’s not a hard and fast rule to eat in this ratio, you can change as per the results you are getting. Check out the full article to design a diet plan for yourself and ditch your trainer.
Read more: How To Calculate Macros For Cutting Diet
Don’t do too much cardio
Most people do the mistake of doing too much steady-state cardio for losing fat. Researches show that this can affect your muscle mass negatively. Hence, add some HIIT (high-intensity interval training) to your training routine.
Read more: Does Cardio Kills Gains (3 Cardio Mistakes Killing Your Gains)
Don’t do high reps for fat loss
Some people think that lifting light weights for high reps helps in burning more fat. Let me tell you it’s just a myth. High rep range just trains your muscles for endurance. It is not related to burning more fat at all.
Instead, do strength training with heavyweights. This will help you in retaining your hard-earned muscles and boosts your metabolism also.
Apart from this, if you are on a keto diet, then you can use this supplement to fasten your fat-burning process.
Read more: High Reps vs Low Reps: Which is Better?
#3 Track Your Body Fat Percentage
Your body weight is not the best indicator of your progress hence measuring weight is not enough. As it doesn’t tell you how much muscle mass or fat mass you’re gaining or losing. Thus, tracking your body composition or body fat percentage is a crucial part of the process.
As you know that getting ripped is a combination of building muscles and losing fat. Therefore, you need to check your body fat percentage to decide what to do first (gain muscle or lose fat).
How to calculate body fat percentage?
There are several techniques to check body composition, but the simplest and cheapest way is to do it manually. I suggest you use a body fat caliper for that. You can easily get it on amazon. However, for accurate results, get a good approximation by taking multiple readings.
You can also check your body fat percentage by 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.
Tracking body fat percentage gives an accurate measure of muscle mass and fat mass. Also, it helps in deciding whether you should do bulking or cutting.
What To Do First: Bulking or Cutting?
One of the most common questions people asked to get ripped “what should I do first, bulking or cutting?“. Especially the skinny fat people remain in this dilemma of bulking vs cutting. To decide what should you do, go with your body composition or body fat percentage.
Check your body composition first. If your fat percentage is 15% or more, then reduce it by doing fat loss. And if it goes below 10%, then start gaining phase.
How To Get Ripped Fast – CONCLUSION
Well getting a ripped and shredded physique is a very long process. However, you can speed up the process by doing things smartly. If you follow this research-based article explaining how to get ripped fast, then I’m sure, you’ll reach your goal soon.
Remember, building an aesthetic physique requires hard work and dedication. There is no shortcut or magic pill to achieve that. So don’t fall for any scams running on social media.
Just start building muscles. And after gaining a decent amount of muscle mass, remove that extra layer of fat over your muscles to get shredded.
Thanks for reading this far.
