Getting Ripped Is The Last Phase

Getting Ripped is the second and final stage of the 2 Phase Bodybuilding Cycle. You worked hard during the Building Muscle Mass Phase to get to this point by eating the right foods and pushing yourself to the limit in each workout session. Now you have built up a layer of fat over your new muscles and you want to see what they look like by getting ripped.

Everything you have learn and done in Building Muscle Mass has to be put aside to start a new training routine. You have to begin a new diet and you need to include some form of cardio exercise. The weight training will not be as hard as it was when you were training for muscle mass. However, the diet is going to be more strict. How much dedication you put into getting ripped will determine how fast you will see results.

Getting Ripped Training

The weights you lift will be of lighter poundage. Using lighter weights with the combination of more reps and sets will make your body burn more calories and you will start to see more definition in your muscles. The poundage should be reduce by one forth.

Your reps and sets need to be increased. This is where you will take a week or two to figure out how many reps and sets you should be doing. The quickest way to find this out is, keep a record of the reps and sets you do and write down how you feel after each workout. Listen to your body. You are trying to find that sweat spot where you do not over work or under work your muscles.

Isolation Exercises are the type of exercises you need to do in the Getting Ripped Phase. Here are a list of such exercises…

• Thighs Front: Leg Extensions, Sissy Squats
• Thighs Hamstrings: Leg Curls
• Lower back: Hyper Extensions
• Lats: Pullovers
• Traps: Dumbbell Shrugs, Machine Shrugs
• Delts: Dumbbell/Cable Side Laterals, Dumbbell/Cable Bent Laterals, Dumbbell/Barbell/Cable Front Raises
• Chest Upper: Incline Dumbbell/Cable Flyes
• Chest Lower: Decline Dumbbell/Cable Flyes, Cable Crossovers
• Chest General: Flat Bench Dumbell/Cable Flyes
• Biceps: Dumbbell/Barbell/Cable Concentration Curls, Incline Dumbbell Curls, One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curls
• Triceps: Pulley Pushdowns, One Arm Dumbbell/Cable Triceps Extensions, Dumbbell Kickbacks
• Forearm: Barbell/Dumbbell Reverse Wrist Curl, One Arm Dumbbell Wrist Curls
• Calves: Donkey Calf Raises, One Leg Dumbbell Calf Raise
• Abdominals: Crunches Various Types

You will now be doing 2 or more types of exercises per muscle. Example… when working on your Triceps, you can do Pulley Pushdowns and switch to Triceps Extensions.

Another trick in getting ripped during your workout is to lessen the time between sets. This will help your body burn more calories during the workout and help burn them afterward when the muscle is in recovery.

Getting Ripped And Cardio

When you were building muscle mass, you did not need to have cardio because all of your energy went into your weight lifting. But now that you have to burn a lot more calories to lose the fat, you need to incorporate cardio into your daily workout routine.

The best kind of cardio to burn fat is High Intensity Interval Training also known as HIIT. This method is very simple to understand but hard to do.

To fully understand how to do HIIT, here is an example using running as the exercise. Let say you were running 5 miles. For every last quarter of each mile, you should run as fast as you can with out stopping. Therefore, the process is jog ¾ of the mile and sprint ¼ of the mile. Doing this five times would equal five miles.

HIIT can be done with swimming and biking. It is just the process of pushing your endurance to the max for a period of time while having periods of lighter efforts in between.

Getting Ripped Diet

So far you have become accustomed to eating more than your body burns everyday. Now your goal is to consume less calories than your body burns. Your carbohydrates and calories are lessened but your protein intake should remain about the same. Some foods which are good to eat when getting ripped are…

• Fish
• Chicken
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Water.

If you do not eat the right types of food in the proper amount, you will not get ripped. Therefore your diet is the most critical part of getting ripped.

Next is Conclusion of Mass vs Ripped which is the last of this 4 part mini article series of Building Muscle Mass and Getting Ripped.

Henry Chervenka

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