Training

Workout Plans to Get Ripped

Author: Lee Bell

March 7th 2018

Advanced fitness training programs to get you ripped, lean, strong and beach ready 

Shredding body to get ripped fast is the name of the game here.

It’s all about dialing in for single digit body fat, building some athletic muscle and getting in the aesthetic game.

These advanced workout plans will not only get you ripped, but fit too.

It’s a fast route to body transformation. You’ll be ramping up your metabolism, hitting the gym with unrelenting aggression and making changes that just won’t go unnoticed.

All in as little as 6 weeks.

Let’s get on this…

What does this program cover?

Goal:Fat loss, muscle conditioning, fitness
Aimed at:Intermediate to advanced
Program duration:6 weeks
Workout duration:30-60 minutes
Equipment needed:Barbell, dumbbell, kettlebell, body weight, resistance machines

Workout Routine to Get Ripped

This is no beginner plan.

We’ve designed these advanced muscle building, fat obliterating workout plans for the seasoned lifter that wants to take their physique to the next level.

We’re turning the dial right up to ripped freak here. 

And we’re not apologizing about it either.

If you’re new to muscle-crunching, tough and challenging training schedules, these workouts aren’t for you. They’ll chew you up and spit you out faster than a bodybuilder chugs his post-workout protein shake.

Instead, you’d probably benefit from something more directed at a beginner-intermediate level such as our gym workout routine for weight loss.

But if you’ve got a good year or more of experience in strength training, and are looking for a new challenge to transform your physique, you’re in the right place.

Let’s get absolutely ripped using cutting edge techniques

In this guide we take you through every aspect of body transformation. From diet and lifestyle, to fat-shredding workout plans to get you ripped.

There’ll be no stone unturned in this journey to six-pack abs, defined muscles and athlete-level conditioning.

Using a combination of strength-based circuits, high-intensity weight lifting techniques and high-tempo cardio, you can’t fail. And factor in controlled-nutrition and calorie planning and you’ll be shredding fat like the pro’s from today onward.


Eat to Get Ripped Fast – Diet Advice

If you really want to get that chiseled, ripped look you’ll have to start in the kitchen.

While it’s not impossible to get fit and lean without a controlled diet, nailing a healthy, nutritious diet will speed up the process dramatically.

Even with minimal exercise, the right diet will shred body fat.

Add some intense workouts into the mix and you’ll smash fat with a targeted, double-barreled attack.

Get you calories right and accelerate fat loss

Fat loss begins with calorie intake.

You might track your food already. Or might be one of the lucky ones that has seen decent progress without really trying to control what you eat.

We’ve worked with numerous bodybuilders, athletes and physique models, and one there’s one thing that the successful ones have in common – they know that controlling energy intake is the key to single digit body fat.

The importance of calories

When you eat more calories than you burn off, your body is left with a surplus of energy. Instead of getting rid of this extra energy-rich nutrition, it stores it for another day. It does this by working its way into your fat cells and clinging to your hips, belly, chest or arms.

And unless you give it a reason to, it’ll stay there forever.

But something wonderful happens when you reduce your calorie intake – you liberate those fat cells and force them to leak out this extra energy to make up the difference.

Referred to as a calorie deficit, reducing your food intake so that you consume less than your body burns each day is the most important step to getting ripped.

You don’t have to starve though.

Lower isn’t better when it comes to a deficit.

If you want to approach your fat loss slower and more gradually, 20% lower than maintenance will work well. The rate of shredding might be slower, but it’s easy to follow and you’ll not be overcome with hunger.

If you’re low on time or wanting to supercharge your shred you could hit a 40% deficit and watch the fat fly from your physique like the dust from a clapping powerlifter’s hands.

but while it’s fast, it’s also a tough approach.

You’ll feel hungry a lot and low on energy.

It’s all about tailoring the approach to what works best for you.

Note: if you’re unsure of your daily calorie needs you can work out your maintenance energy requirements using the calorie calculator at the bottom of this article.

Focus on protein to get ripped and stay lean

Does this mean you’re going low carb?

No.

It means that when planning your fat loss diet you should prioritize protein and nutrient-rich foods first.

And work your carbs around it.

Protein is the most important nutrient to focus on when the plan is to get ripped. Not only is it the nutrient with the highest satiety value, it also helps to maintain lean muscle mass during a calorie deficit.

When you diet hard you run the risk of losing muscle as well as fat.

And because more muscle equals a higher metabolism, it’s important you do everything you can to retain muscle mass.

Shooting for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight will optimize fat loss during your deficit [1].

Your next aim is to fill in the remaining calories with carbs and fats.

Although the specific ratios of these two macronutrients will differ based on individual preference, aiming for the following amounts will keep your diet plan looking solid.

  • 1.5 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight
  • 0.4 grams of fats per pound

Follow a flexible approach for diet adherence

The final point to make regarding your diet is to avoid overly controlled eating plans. While the bulk of your foods should revolve around lean protein and high-nutrient vegetables and grains, you can be more flexible with so called ‘cheat foods’.

If you have a few hundred calories left and you’re absolutely aching for a slice of pizza or a bacon double cheeseburger, then go for it.

Just not everyday.

Don’t make it a regular thing as you’ll be going for foods that are inherently lower in vitamins and minerals. But rewarding yourself with high-calorie foods every now and then will definitely help you stick to your diet.

Just don’t go over your calorie count or you’ll be chasing your tail.

Bodybuilder in blue shorts performing dumbbell press-ups on the gym floor

Key Points:

  • Achieving a calorie deficit is an absolute must for fat loss.
  • To get ripped you should prioritize protein intake before carbs or fat.
  • Eating a well-rounded and nutritious diet will boost health and performance, but leave room for more flexible cheat meals too.


Get Ripped Workout Plans

Now that you’ve sorted your diet plan, it’s time to nail your workout strategy.

We’ve already warned you that this is no beginner program.

But just in case you skipped that bit…

This is an advanced fat shredding workout plan to get ripped and build athlete conditioning. 

Based on a 5-day training split, this cardio-strength hybrid workout schedule should be run for 6 weeks before deloading or taking a week off for recovery.

  • Day 1: Strength circuit and cardio
  • Day 2: Lower body and HIIT
  • Day 3: Strength circuit and cardio
  • Day 4: Rest
  • Day 5: Strength circuit and cardio
  • Day 6: Lower body and HIIT
  • Day 7: Rest

Here’s how each element works:

Strength circuits

To get the best results, you’ll need the best training systems.

High-intensity resistance training (HIRT) is an advanced lean body fitness system that uses punishing, weights-based circuits to combine hard cardio with strength training.

As a time-efficient but calorie-torching workout, you plan 2 or 3 mini-circuits consisting of large, compound exercises. You choose weights that allow you to squeeze out your reps, and then blast through as many total reps and exercises as you can in a pre-determined time-frame.

There’s no rest until the timer goes off though!

Research shows just how effective HIRT is.

For example, one study saw that when high-intensity resistance training was pitched against traditional weight training, HIRT significantly increased calorie burning [2]. Not only that, metabolic rate, respiratory ratio and fat oxidation were higher too.

HIRT will also boost your maximal fitness too according to a paper published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise [3].

In your get ripped plan, you’ll be completing as many reps of the 5 exercises in circuit 1 as you can in 15 minutes. You’ll rest for 5 minutes and then do the same for circuit 2.

Each workout is different too to keep you interested and to target different muscle groups each time.

That’s 30 minutes of all out war against your fat cells.

Cardio

If you’re anything like us you’re probably not a fan of cardio.

The thought of plodding along on a treadmill for hours and hours on end, facing a wall with only a semi-motivating poster of a 1970’s bodybuilder to look at just doesn’t float your boat.

But don’t panic just yet.

Because what we’re asking you to do here is just to supplement your HIRT sessions with a 20-30 minute moderate-intensity workout.

You can do it on the bikes, the rowing machines, even outside on the sidewalk if you prefer.

Keep you heart rate to around 70% of your max (around 7 out of 10 in terms of difficulty).

You’re just trying to squeeze every drop out of energy you’ve got left and edge ever-nearer to those single digits of body fat.

Lower Body Training

There’s no real secret science to leg day.

It’s hard.

It’s brutal.

And above all – lower body training will get you ripped because it burns huge amounts of calories.

You’ve got big muscles in your lower body, and they requires a high level of energy to get them working during high-volume strength sessions.

You should expect some pretty challenging exercises in your lower body training schedule.

Squats, deadlift and lunges are the name of the game here.

HIIT

Yeah. okay, it’s pretty cruel to put you through a high-intensity interval training workout plan right after a punishing leg day.

But your fat cells will thank you for it.

HIIT workouts are the most time-efficient fat burners out there.

They use all-out work periods to drive your heart rate up to its max, and trigger fat loss through sheer intensity.

The recovery intervals are used to allow you to rest before repeating the process over and over.

Research shows that to get ripped, HIIT workouts tick all of the boxes.

A study based at Jahrom University [4] for example, demonstrated that when a group of volunteers took part in a 6-week workout schedule consisting of 3 workouts per week, they experienced the following:

  • Significant loss of body fat
  • Reduced weight
  • Improved hourglass figure due to changes in waist-hip ratio
  • Optimized hormone and metabolic profile

Best Workout to Get Ripped

Day 1: Strength circuit and cardio

Circuit 1:

Number ExerciseReps
A1Dumbbell bench press6-10
A2Dumbbell Bent over row6-10
A3Ab curl6-10
A4Dumbbell Shoulder press6-10
A5Inverted row6-10

Circuit 2:

Number ExerciseReps
A1Double Kettlebell swing6-10
A2Double Kettlebell clean6-10
A3Double Kettlebell overhead press6-10
A4Kettlebell renegade row6-10 (per side)
A5Kettlebell snatch6-10 (per side)

Cardio:

ModeDurationIntensity
Treadmill/Bike/Rowing Machine20-30 minutes70% max heart rate

Day 2: Lower body and HIIT

Number ExerciseReps SetsRest Period
1BB Squat8-1233-5 minutes
2BB Romanian deadlift8-1233-5 minutes
3Leg extension8-1233-5 minutes
4Lying leg curl8-1233-5 minutes
5Standing DB calf raise8-1233-5 minutes
ExerciseDurationWork interval lengthRecovery interval lengthNumber of reps
Bike/Rowing machine15 minutes30 seconds60 seconds10

Day 3: Strength circuit and cardio

Circuit 1:

Number ExerciseReps
A1Press-upsAs many as possible
A2Toe-to-bar15-20 per side
A3DB Lateral lunge6-10 per side
A4Pull-ups6-10
A5Mountain climbers6-10

Circuit 2:

Number ExerciseReps
A1Dumbbell floor flyes10-12
A2Dumbbell hammer curls10-12
A3Dumbbell lateral raise10-12
A4Dumbbell clean10-12
A5Dumbbell renegade row6-10 (per side)

Cardio:

ModeDurationIntensity
Treadmill/Bike/Rowing Machine20-30 minutes70% max heart rate

Day 5: Strength circuit and cardio

Circuit 1:

Number ExerciseReps
A1Barbell military press10-12
A2barbell bent over row10-12
A3Barbell floor press10-12
A4Barbell upright row10-12
A5Barbell good morning10-12

Circuit 2:

Number ExerciseReps
A1Barbell military press10-12
A2barbell bent over row10-12
A3Barbell floor press10-12
A4Barbell upright row10-12
A5Barbell good morning10-12

Cardio:

ModeDurationIntensity
Treadmill/Bike/Rowing Machine20-30 minutes70% max heart rate

Day 6: Lower body and HIIT

ModeDurationIntensity
Treadmill/Bike/Rowing Machine20-30 minutes70% max heart rate
ExerciseDurationWork interval lengthRecovery interval lengthNumber of reps
Bike/Rowing machine15 minutes3 minutes (high-intensity)3 minutes (moderate intensity)5

Calorie Calculator

  1. Aragon, AA et al. International society of sports nutrition position stand: diets and body composition. JISSn. 2017; 14: 16
  2. Paoli, A et al. High-Intensity Interval Resistance Training (HIRT) influences resting energy expenditure and respiratory ratio in non-dieting individuals. J Transl Med, 2012; 10: 237
  3. Bækkerud, FH et al. Comparison of Three Popular Exercise Modalities on VO2 max in Overweight and Obese. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016; 48(3): 491-8
  4. Kordi,MR et al. The effects of the six week high intensity interval training (HIIT) on resting plasma levels of adiponectin and fat loss in sedentary young women. Journal of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences. 2013; 11(1): 20-27

     

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