More realistically, losing a significant amount of body fat takes two to three years. Nevertheless, six to twelve months is a reasonable timeframe to achieve a ripped body. For more precise results, it's better to aim for a four-year timeframe.
You're Not Eating Well Enough
Make sure that your diet is free of excessive sugar, empty calories, and mounds of carbs. Instead, you should be eating plenty of protein and vegetables. If your diet isn't up to snuff, you'll keep a layer of fat over the muscles that prevents that ripped appearance.
Getting shredded requires a combination of building muscle and losing fat, so depending on where you are in your fitness journey, this can take a while. There is no quick fix for getting defined abs; you cannot spot reduce fat or out-train a crappy diet.
Unlike extreme methods, our 7-Day Shred is a nutrition and cardio plan similar to what a bodybuilder or physique competitor would use to achieve peak condition before a contest. It will give your muscles a hard and dry look without sacrificing your health in the process.
Getting ripped naturally isn't an easy task and it requires consistent effort and plenty of sacrifices. It CAN be done, but prepare yourself for a challenging journey with a few frustrations along the way.
A Little Goes A Long Way
In reality, all you need to do at this point to start dropping fat is to reduce your calories by 10 percent. That's all. Just 10 percent, focusing on reducing a higher amount of calories from carbs first. So by reducing 10 percent, you're at 2,700 calories per day to start losing weight.
That's right – you can cut without doing traditional cardio. There's no denying that sprints or HIIT can really help you melt body fat as it ups your metabolic rate to burn more calories, but for those determined few who want to avoid cardio entirely you can still get a ripped physique.
While in a growth phase, we typically recommend consuming about 2.2g of protein per kg of bodyweight (1g per pound). However, during a cut, you should actually up your intake slightly, somewhere in the range of 2.3g/kg-3.1g/kg (1.1g/lb-1.5g/lb) (Helms et al. 2014; Ribeiro et al. 2019).
Eat frequently, every 3-4 hours, and aim for 6 small meals during the day. Try not to lump your calories into 3 big meals, as it will make you feel sluggish. Eat a minimum of 20-30 grams of protein at each meal.
Having a "ripped" physique should not be equated with being fit and healthy, according to two personal trainers. In fact, the stereotypical "fitness" image of a six-pack and low body fat levels can often be due to bad health.
Getting shredded is one of the toughest things you'll do, but the rewards are completely worth it. It'll teach you a lot about yourself and the lessons you learn will carry over to all parts of your life. When you're in real shape, there's no better feeling.
Still, if you have been lifting weights for several months and have begun to build muscle mass, you can start getting ripped in three months through a combination of increased exercise intensity and diet modifications. To develop visible cuts, you must combine high muscle mass with low body fat.
Cutting calories too quickly can also negatively affect hormones and metabolism ( 5 ). To decrease body fat, athletes should eat about 300–500 fewer calories per day but avoid eating fewer than 13.5 calories per pound (30 kilocalories per kg) of fat-free mass per day (2, 3 ).
While the process of getting ripped can take a long time depending on how you workout and what your diet looks like, intense training can certainly produce results in around 2 months. During this time you can expect to see weight loss or gain (depending on your goals) and a basic change in your figure.
Assuming you're cutting calories and lifting weights three to four days per week (three is the minimum amount that most trainers say you need to see progress), you only need about three cardio days per week to see your abs.
Because getting bigger and stronger is harder to do and takes more time than it does to lose body fat. What's more, having more muscle mass and strength provides a much bigger return on investment than just losing body fat. When you increase muscle mass and strength, losing body fat becomes easier later on.