Get Ripped With 3 Simple Steps
Sick and tired of not gaining the results you want? That’s because you’re not working out “smart”. Read this article to find out what you’re missing.
Sets, Reps
Our primary focus will be increasing muscle volume. This means you’ll need to do reps of 8~12. Common mistakes include focusing on doing reps of below 4, which focuses on strength training and doing reps above 14, which focuses on endurance. Complete at least 3 sets per exercise. The 4th set can be an extra to give your muscles an extra boost. Work your larger muscles hard, then isolate out the smaller muscles. You won’t want a disproportionate body (large arms, no chest is common).
It is during this repair that your muscles increase in size. You should be breathing hard, and you should be wanting to quit during the set. When you do feel like quitting, this is where you must exert that one last strength and grind out 1~3 more reps. Take your time during this crucial part; NEVER say to yourself, “Next time”. Take your time to breathe hard. You can even take 3 deep breathes, which is what I personally do when I push myself.
If you can lift the weight more than 12 reps, move up a notch. Repeat the process.
Now let’s move on to the core and legs.
The Core and Legs
Chances are you want to look ripped: You want to have those cut arms, deep chest, and those wide, triangular lats. You want boulders for shoulders and a wash board six pack abs. This image is what most people consider “ripped.” But unfortunately, this image makes you want to work out your upper body and sometimes abs. But if you haven’t seen gains in a while, chances are you haven’t been working out your core and legs.
There are two main core exercises in my book - the dead lift and the squat. Because your core is your foundation, the stronger your core, the stronger your other muscles become too. Your muscles are all interconnected and rely on your core.
While you can isolate muscles in the upper body, you want to do compound exercises like the dead lift for your core and legs. This is especially true since you want your upper body to look more ripped than your lower body.
Your core and legs limit how strong and big your upper body can get. This is why it is important to work your core and legs - by doing compound exercises, you are allowing your entire body frame to grow bigger, and thus gain more upper body muscle.
Now that we’ve covered the work out portion of gaining muscle, let’s talk about the nutrition portion.
Eating Habits
Nutrition is a complex topic, but here are some guidelines and tips:
1. Watch out for eating too much simple carbs like high fructose corn syrup. Too much causes an insulin spike and a subsequent insulin crash that, in a nutshell, promotes fat storage.
2. Ideally, you should eat lean protein with a complex carbohydrate every 3 hours, except when you sleep. Your muscles are in a constant state of creation or destruction. This is why it’s important to maintain a protein supply, which depletes after about 3 hours.
3. Avoid saturated fats. Get your essential fatty acids from foods like soy milk and natural peanut butter.
4. Avoid ice cream; it’s got both simple carbs and saturated fats. It’s a recipe for becoming fat.
5. You need to increase your calorie intake, preferably around 20%. Eat smaller, more frequent meals that, in total, is 20% more than what you usually eat.
6. Your macronutrient ratio should be 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fats.
Here’s a brief summary of what we’ve covered: rep 8~12 for volume gain, use compound core exercises to increase your frame limit, and get your protein and complex carb in smaller more frequent meals.
What Do I Do Now?
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