Get Shredded, Stay Shredded
1. Resistance Training 6 Days a Week
Lifting weights is the cornerstone to losing body fat. By shocking your muscles for an hour a day, 6 days a week, your body turns into a lean muscle building, fat burning machine. When you build lean muscle, your metabolic rate increases. Your metabolic rate increases because your body requires more energy to move the more muscle mass you are carrying. This is why once you get in shape it is allot easier to stay in shape.The key to lifting weights 6 days a week is you need to lift only 1 body part per day, this enables that body part to rest and recover until the next time you lift that body part. This way of lifting means each portion of your body get some love and attention and means you won't become disproportionate.
2. High Protein, Low Carb Diet
The No.1 factor to getting shredded is your diet. Look to eat 5-6 meals spread out throughout the day, each meal should include 30g+ of protein. By eliminating the carbohydrates in your diet as much as possible it allows your body to burn off all the excess carbs and not store them as body fat. Your body will use the protein for growth, recovery and repair all day, everyday. Your most important meal is your post workout meal. Make sure to consume liquid protein via a whey protein shake with water and ice no longer than 45 minutes after your workout. This allows the protein to go straight to the muscle region you just exhausted and start the repair and growth process. Don't rely on supplements, rely on hard work and raw natural foods.By consuming a high protein and low carb diet all year around it means you will stay lean, muscular, and shredded all year round.
3. Cardio & Calories
To lose weight you must have a caloric deficit, end of story. A caloric deficit is burning off more calories than you consume, by doing this everyday your body will be losing weight everyday. If you consume more calories than you burn off each day, you will be gaining weight everyday. Cardio is not only great for health health, and aerobic conditioning it also allows you to create that caloric deficit. The reason is because cardio burns the most amount of calories in the shortest amount of time, whereas lifting weights burns more calories over an entire day. When you step of the treadmill or stop cardio, you immediately stop burning calories. When you lift weights, you will then keep burning calories through out the day because your body is working overtime to repair all the damage you did to the muscle fibers. Cardio should be done at 60% heart rate, this is optimal for fat loss. If your heart rate is too high, then your body will not use your stored fat for energy because it is too hard to break down that quickly to use, so your body will first use the carbs in your body and then it will use your muscle mass for energy. When your heart rate is at 60% max, it allows your body enough time to attack the stored fat and break it down as it does not the energy so rapidly.
4. Go To Sleep On An Empty Stomach/Rest
When you eat a large meal and then go to sleep, your body cannot use all the food for energy so it stores it as body fat. You should go to sleep with only protein and water in your body with very minimal carbs left. This allows your body to burn fat overnight instead of store fat. A great way to ensure you sleep on an empty stomach is by doing your cardio at night. The slow cardio at night will ensure you have no carbs left in your system. The 8 hours of sleep can be extremely beneficial as your body has the optimal time to use the protein to repair and grow your muscles. Sleep is so important for rest, motivation, growth and wellbeing. Your results will be hindered if you do not take rest and sleep seriously, you need 6 hours every day but aim for 8 hours.
5. Water and a Cheat Meal
You need to consume and drink a Gallon of water a day i.e about 4 litres. Your body is 60% water, so it thrives on water. Staying hydrated has numerous benefits but a big benefit is helping you stay lean and lose weight. It makes you feel fuller and fills you up but has zero calories so it tricks your body into not craving carbs and not feeling hungry. Cheat meals can be beneficial to shock and disrupt your clean diet. Just like your body needs variation and change to cause growth, so does your diet every known and then. I recommend a cheat meal every 12-15 days, not every week. This keeps your body guessing, this meal should be high in carbs and be foods that stray from your regular meat, vegetables, fruit, and water diet.
Those are my rules and guidelines, I believe they will get you in the best shape of your life and keep you there. Stay healthy my friends.
If you want a sample high protein, low carb diet Click Here
If you want a sample exercise program Click Here