How to get ripped 101

I did not make this, repost from the deleted MGTOW 2 subreddit

I just wanted to briefly encourage others to take care of their physical health. I let myself go during college from a ripped athlete in highschool to a chubby workaholic/alcoholic by the time I graduated. I am currently losing around 2lb per week and am down around 30lb so far and starting to slowly look like my former self. If you are not taking care of yourself physically I can assure you that if you start you will feel better, be treated better, and overall be more productive. However I have noticed that many people have trouble starting because of how complicated fitness appears. Why does it appear complicated you may ask? Because a whole bunch of companies try to sell you useless shit that you don’t need. Thus here is a clear and comprehensive guide to getting in amazing shape so you can spend less time watching YouTube videos on fitness and more time becoming chad.

1) Assess your current point, are you very skinny or around 12% bodyfat or less(assess bodyfat visually from images online)? If so then skip to step 7. For the other 90+% of people who are not 12% bodyfat or less and are not absurdly skinny just follow the steps as is.

2)To lose weight you need to be in a caloric deficit, it is that simple. However we do not want to lose weight, we want to LOSE FAT while minimizing muscle losses. To do this use an online calculator to determine how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight. Then subtract 500-1000 calories from this depending on what kind of shape you are in. The more fat you have the closer to a 1000 caloric deficit you can go. But if you are closing in on 10-12% bodyfat a smaller caloric deficit is better because you will maintain more muscle. Based on this caloric deficit plan a diet (I use a spreadsheet but you can use an app like myfitnesspal to track calories) where you get roughly 1g per lb of protein and fill the rest with healthy carbs and fats.

3) Get the idea that you are going on a temporary diet and that you will see super fast results out of your head! You want to pick a diet that you are comfortable eating indefinitely. Of course once you switch to bulking you will be able to eat more, so you might have to deal with occasional hunger while cutting, but you should ENJOY the healthy food you eat! Look at it as a lifestyle change not a short term diet. My diet includes stuff like: a chocolate peanut butter protein shake (pb fit and fudge flavored protein powder), French or peanut butter toast, and air fryer fried chicken. All healthy and all great sources of protein, I may post recipes later. I did the plain chicken rice and broccoli thing back in highschool but now that I know how to cook my fitness diet is way more enjoyable. Also hotsauce > women just sayin.

4) Pick a workout routine and STICK TO IT DAMN IT. Don’t switch your routine a bunch of times trying to find the super secret technique that will allow you to get big or abs in a month, it won’t happen unless you are not natty or have top 1% genetics. The most important thing here is to ensure you hit each muscle at least twice a week to maximize growth (some studies say 3 times I think two is plenty), and that you focus on mind muscle connection and not ego lifting. If you don’t feel an exercise in the right muscle group then lower the weight or switch the exercise. For example I don’t feel barbell bench well in my chest, I feel it mainly in my front shoulders and I have tried literally everything to make it work. So I do dumbbell bench instead, with the dumbbells slightly twisted and I am able to get a better chest workout like that. Basically pick a routine, modify it as you learn, and stick with it for at least a few months before saying it doesn’t work.

5) Gauge progress for motivation. Weighing yourself alone is not a good metric. I suggest weighing yourself every morning after you take a dump and comparing your average weekly and monthly weight. However, even better than that is taking weekly progress pics. You might be able to build some muscle while losing fat so it is possible the scale stays similar but you see a difference in the mirror. My weight will fluctuate sometimes as much as 3lb daily so don’t let a scale discourage you, stick with it and keep getting stronger. If you are lifting and dieting right you will see progress! Optional is to measure muscle size with a tape measure, this is also a good idea when bulking if you can be bothered to do it (I can’t).

6) Now stick to the above until you are down to about 10-12% bodyfat, or even eight if you want to go there. I suggest cutting first for a couple of reasons. First, it will allow you to look better faster than bulking and allow you to see progress when your muscles grow so it is way more motivating. Second, when you are low bodyfat your body will gain more muscle compared to fat when you bulk and utilize nutrients more efficiently. Finally, you will have more testosterone at a lower bodyfat level and will not become a fatty after your bulk!

7) Now we want to bulk to build muscle. All you do now is what you were doing previously but you eat in a calorie surplus. Start with a 50 calorie surplus and if your strength gain is stalling you can gradually add 50 calories to this. However, a surplus beyond 300 calories is highly discouraged as you will likely gain quite a bit of fat along with muscle. Keep in mind we still want at least 1g/lb of protein intake here, though .8g/lb isn’t that much worse if you can’t get enough (it isn’t that hard to get 1g/lb though). I suggest bulking until you are satisfied with muscle mass or you hit around 18% bodyfat. This process could take 1-2 years as gaining muscle is very slow. Expect to gain 8-12 lb of muscle a year if you have good genetics or 6lb if you have poor genetics. Keep in mind this is a LOT of muscle, look at 10lb of lean meat if you don’t believe me. Also keep in mind that you will see progress clearly over time, you won’t wake up two years from now ripped instead you will look better and better every week leading up to it. (Caloric surplus suggestion edited after considering constructive criticism by aleksi134)

8) once you are satisfied with your bulk go back to cutting, but do a caloric deficit on the lower end of that range. Feel free to repeat cutting or bulking to get that physique you want.

9) After you have your ideal physique from bulking and cutting (a good metric is 10-12% bodyfat with a fair amount of muscle) you can just eat around maintenance calories and workout to maintain your physique. Another option is to bulk during the fall and winter then cut to be 8-10% for the beaches in summer. At this step you have basically become chad.

If you follow this process consistently you will look like a goddamn Greek god. Of course you won’t look absolutely insanely massive unless you are on roids. But you will be muscular, lean, and feel better than ever. I can tell you from experience both women and men treated me way better when I was in fantastic shape and I had way more energy. That is why I am going balls to the wall to get back into that kind of shape. Not to mention physical exercise is the best way to combat cognitive decline with age (fluid intelligence not crystallized).

Pro tip 1) do not keep increasing caloric deficit if you think you have stalled. If your weight completely stops decreasing for a whole week then I suggest adding in or increasing cardio or if you hate cardio (I am not a big fan but I do a lil) then you can decrease the calories you eat again. But DO NOT DROP FOOD INTAKE UNTIL YOU SEE A FULL WEEK OF ZERO WEIGHTLOSS. Most people get stuck towards the end of their cut because they drop calories too quickly and send their metabolism to the shitter. Not to mention an excessive caloric deficit will result in muscle being burned even if you eat that 1g/lb of protein and lift.

Protip 2) Eat your protein spread out to 3-5 meals. Your body can only utilize a certain amount of protein for muscle repair in one sitting. The literature on this is a pain in the rear to read but I suggest no more than 40-60g of protein in one sitting. I do three meals plus snacks and a shake personally.

Protip 3) DO NOT FEAR CARBS. Ya, I know that vegan chick you used to date or your fat aunt told you that carbs make people fat but they don’t know what the fuck they are talking about. A balanced diet is best. Personally I concentrate my carbs (mainly from white rice, because fuck the extra fiber in brown rice it tastes like shit) an hour or two before my workout because that gives me more energy. If you eat 0 carbs you will have less energy than your typical 100lb male feminist.

Protip 4) get a lot of sleep and get a lot of water. Sleep because it is important for testosterone and recovery (at least 7.5 hours), and water because it is good for energy, not getting headaches, being less hungry when cutting, and your skin.

Protip 5)If you want to stretch before working out dynamically stretch not statically. Personally I don’t stretch beforehand I just do one set of light weight to warmup and then I stretch full body after I finish lifting. Also don’t do any cardio before lifting. Basically static stretching or cardio before lifting will result in you lifting less and thus less muscle growth.

Protip 6) Put your most important exercise first because that will allow you to hit that body part the hardest. My chest grows easily but my shoulders don’t so I start my push day with shoulder press and side laterals and I hit my shoulders hard. So basically put the body part you want to grow the most as your first exercise.

Protip 7) Track how much you lift. Personally I use my notes app to write down weight and rep amount when I am between sets resting. Tracking weight allows you to gradually increase how much you are lifting and to see how much stronger you have gotten when you feel demotivated.

Protip 8) Listen to music while you workout. I gave a lecture a while ago on the performance difference between people when they workout to music vs when they don’t. Listening to music you enjoy with BPM that matches the exercise intensity can really enhance your workout. Especially with cardio, you can see as much as a 15% improvement in endurance.

Protip 9) if you are reading this and going “I don’t want to be some big muscular guy” then my comment is don’t fucking worry about it. Most people won’t become like that because doing so natty is really really hard and once again gaining muscle is slow. Also, you can do body weight exercise if you do not wish to lift and that is also plenty. However, it is easier to gradually overload the muscle through lifting so I suggest doing so if you want to get a ton of muscle.

Tldr: Eat at least 1g per lb of protein. Enter a caloric deficit while trying to lose fat. Enter a caloric surplus while trying to gain muscle. Focus on getting stronger and staying motivated. Lastly, STICK WITH IT AND BECOME THE MAN YOU ARE MEANT TO BE! You aren’t trying to get in shape you are trying to build a lifestyle.

Apologizes for any typos I typed this on my phone this time, feel free to contribute any info or suggestions in the comments. This information is the result of my personal experience and my reading of research papers on fitness over the years. However, I am always looking to learn so constructive criticism is always appreciated.