Getting ripped is all the rage these days. What people fail to understand is the basic need to learn about proper nutrition. We brings you the top 5 reasons you are not getting ripped
This one’s obvious. Besides the gym and your diet, how else are you active? Research has shown that post gym, your activity level matters which is to say that if a person sitting on the couch and watching T.V all day and a construction worker both do the same workout then the construction worker will lose body fat quicker because unlike the couch potato, he’s actually moving about the whole day, thus ensuring he/she burns more calories.
If you’re taking fifteen minutes to rest between sets while taking a selfie, you are literally kissing your gains goodbye! Getting ripped means doing low interval and high intensity workouts. An interesting way to increase the overall volume of the workout and fat loss is to incorporate supersets, meaning exercises you do one after the other without rest. Another top tip: Try doing jumping jacks instead of resting but when you do, make sure it’s 30-50 seconds maximum.
Heavy weights promote muscular hypertrophy. So why would anyone for the love of god start training with light weights and high reps? This would only build muscular endurance. Ever seen a marathon runner? Is that the body you would want, because that’s how a body, that’s been trained for endurance, looks like! A well known industry tip: people with means to artificially enhance themselves i.e. steroid users can afford to deal with high reps and light weight. Natural atheletes on the other hand, stretch well and hit those heavy weights.
Let’s face it. No one likes to walk on a boring treadmill looking at the idiot box. But cardio is necessary to put your body in a caloric deficit. There is however a catch. Remember the marathon runner we talked about? Slow paced or lazy cardio as I’d like to call it, involves the slow twitch muscle fibers which do not allow for growth of any muscle and will cause muscle loss with extensive use. An alternative to this is to do aerobic cardio or High Intensity (HIIT) cardio. Examples include box jumps, skipping, sprinting etc. For all those calorie counting junkies make sure you use your cardio to only put you in a deficit and use it as a crutch for a lousy diet.
This is hands down the number one thing that stops you from losing fat. Calorie counting is an art and frustrating but needed. Diets come and go out of fashion but the one thing that remains is calories. You eat less than your maintenance and you will lose weight. The necessary conditions for getting ripped is keeping your protein high and your carbohydrates low. Don’t mess with the fats as those are needed for hormonal production. I would recommend at least 1.25-1.5g of protein per pound of lean bodyweight and 20% of all your calories coming in from fat. Fill the rest up with carbs and time those carbs. Don’t have them at night when they’re not needed and evaluate your bodyfat correctly over months and you will see results.
Do these correctly and I’m sure you’ll never ask again ‘How do I get ripped?’
