How to Get Shredded For Summer

This week marks the start of March.  That leaves you with three solid months before June 1st.  Now, on the calendar, it may not say it’s summer yet, but chances are that sometime during June, your shirt will be off.  If you start getting ready for this now, then the process will be a lot easier than if you start later.  Trust me.

While this article may not be a complete step-by-step guide to getting ridiculously shredded, you will see some pretty spectacular results if you do everything on this list.

  1. Follow this.
  2. And this.
  3. Keep protein intake high, and start tapering off your starchy carbs now.  This includes fruits, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, squash, and anything with sugar in it.  Work your way down to ketogenic eating (under 10g of total carbs per day) on two of your non-workout days per week.  On workout days, eat (BW x 0.3)g of carbs.  For example, a 180lb man would be eating approximately 54 grams of starchy carbs.  Eat this much carbs post workout.  On the exceptionally brutal workout days (heavy heavy heavy ass lifting), eat (BW x 0.6)g of carbs post workout.
  4. Lift to get stronger.  You can totally change your body composition by lifting for strength and eating for fat loss.  Lifting heavy will keep you from losing your muscle mass that you worked so hard to build during Decembulk.  My tip to you would be to follow the rule of 10 for lower body lifts, and the rule of 15 for upper body lifts.  The rule of 10 would be things like: 5 x 2 reps, 2 x 5 reps, 3 x 3 reps.  The rule of 15 would be things like 5 x 3 reps, 3 x 5 reps, 8 x 2 reps, 2 x 8 reps.  All of these sets would be gruellingly heavy.
  5. Skip breakfast and don’t make up for it.  You know how I feel about intermittent fasting, so I don’t need to justify myself.  Skipping breakfast will easily decrease your total caloric intake, which will put you in the right direction towards leanness.
  6. If you are totally compliant (not cheating on your diet), then take a cheat day once every 2 weeks.  Eat whatever you want this day and as much as you want.  The only rules are that you have to lift heavy weights on this day, and you have to fast the whole day after your cheat day.  This whole process will reset your leptin levels, boost your metabolism, and help you optimize your digestion.
  7. Keep your workouts to under an hour.  This will keep your body as stress free as possible.  Make sure that you are using your time wisely and lifting heavy ass weights (see #4).
  8. Do a 4-6 minute finisher at the end of your workout.  This includes things like: tabatas, 30:30 circuits, regular circuits with complexes, barbell complexes, ladders, wind sprints, sled pushes, etc.
  9. Screw long boring cardio.  It’s not fun to do, gives lackluster results, takes too damn long, does not follow Pareto’s principle, and can potentially set you up for an injury.
  10. If I couldn’t convince you in number 9, then read this:  SCREW CARDIO.
  11. Hill sprints and wind sprints are where it’s at.  Prioritize yourself to have 3-4 lifting days per week.  On a few of your off days, go outside, get some sun and do 10-15 minutes of sprint intervals.  Keep the sprinting under 20 seconds and keep the rest periods between 40-60 seconds.
  12. Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.  This will help keep your hormones optimal for keeping muscle and losing fat.  If 8 hours seems unachievable, work your way up to it.  Having a static bed time is a good start.
  13. Get someone to hold you accountable, motivate you, and support you.  This is the best way to reach any goal.  If you don’t have someone in your life like this, then my online coaching program may be for you.  This is the busy season (everyone wants a beach body) and I’m only accepting 10 spots, so act quick.

These thirteen tips are what I will be following religiously until the end of August.  Experiment by adopting one of these habits each week until you are doing all of them.  Take before and after pictures and send them my way.  I love seeing your progress.

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