Bulking up is the easy part for bodybuilders. Basically it involves eating large amounts of protein, lifting heavy weights for high numbers of repetitions and sleeping all the time. Ask around and you’ll find that these are pretty much all the things that bodybuilders love: meat, lifting and sleep. You can even eat cake when bulking and not feel guilty!
Getting ripped on the other hand is unfortunately not quite so simple. To get ripped you need to burn your fat to reveal lean muscle underneath. This means performing high octane cardiovascular exercise for long periods of time that get you sweaty and hot, and it means avoiding all the foods you love. You can still eat protein so long as it’s lean, but forget all those sandwiches or that cake…
And unfortunately a lot of bodybuilders just aren’t cut out for getting cut. We’re attracted to bodybuilding because we’re good at adding bulk and lifting heavy weights. If we wanted to cut down to a leaf then we’d probably have become long distance runners instead.
To properly cut down and reveal those abs, veins and striations then you’re going to need to make sure you’re using the right approach. Read on and we’ll look at some of the most useful and powerful strategies that will help make getting ripped a bit less of a pain.
How to Eat
As with bulking, eating plays a very big role in your ability to cut. Of course the primary goal when cutting is to reduce your intake of calories and you can do this by eating less. What’s also important to remember though is that the type of calorie is also very important. Calories that come from proteins for instance are far preferable to those that come from carbs.
In fact, if you eat protein early in the day, this can actually encourage your body to burn more fat and store less sugar subsequently (as well as preventing cravings). For breakfast eat a big protein meal and you’ll find it helps your body to a big degree.
For other meals you should continue to stick to largely lean protein sources and should avoid ‘fast carbs’ which are the carbs that taste like sugar. You do need some carbs so continue to eat whole bread and pasta, just avoid the cake.
Anabolic Running and Other Forms of CV
Anabolic running is essentially interval training where you will alternate between intense sprinting and light jogging. When you sprint you will be putting yourself in an anaerobic state which triggers the release of growth hormone, but at the same time you’ll also be forcing your body to use up stored energy so that when you return to that light jog, your body will be forced to burn fat reserves for energy.
Also good CV is to join any class or activity you enjoy. Something like rock climbing or martial arts are great for getting that ripped look like Bruce Lee.
And don’t forget to continue with your other workouts. Compound movements like squats and the bench press might not be aerobic in nature, but their ability to stimulate testosterone and growth hormone make them invaluable tools in cutting away the excess flab.
