Tis the season to....Start thinking of SUMMER?!
For most of you the season for bulking is coming to its end, but for many of us it means an all out panic to get shredded! For those dirty bulkers and yes, even for those clean bulkers who went a little “hard” trying to pack on mass...We have the solution! First and foremost for those of us who want to get leaner than lean for summer is….Nutrition! Sure we can put on the weight but can we get it off? And not only that but can we maximize fat loss and muscle retention?? Most certainly my bros. What we want to do here is make sure we give ourselves enough time to be able to lose half a pound to a pound of body weight a week...MAX. Anymore than this and you’ll surely begin to start losing that hard earned muscle. What i like to recommend to my clients is what i call macro manipulation. In this stage of the shred diet we change the ratio of our macros ( carbs, proteins, fats) slowly decreasing the amount of carbs we consume a day and upping our protein and fat intake. Depending on your current macro split (ie 30% carbs, 40% proteins, 30% fats) i would recommend dropping 3-5% of your carbs and adding it to your fats. The next step in our shred diet is lowering our daily caloric intake to be in a caloric deficit. Now while it may be possible to lose fat just by manipulating our macros, we won't see significant results until we are in some kind of caloric deficit. This is where we want to be careful because cutting calories too much will result in muscle loss. Try to maintain a caloric deficit of about 250-500 kcals under maintenance. For those of you asking “can i just eat whatever then as long as i hit my macros and total daily kcals?” the answer is NO! Well in all reality, yes you could, but i hope you're not expecting to see positive results! So with that said guys, and ladies, stick to healthy nutrient dense food choices. Good sources of carbs like brown rice, white rice (jasmine rice is my favorite), potatoes especially sweet potatoes for the reason that they are a lower GI food, green veggies, fruits are ok but try to limit them to pre and post workout meals. Proteins such as chicken breast, lean turkey, lean red meats, fish, eggs, cheeses. Fats like almonds, walnuts, flaxseed, avocados, olive oil (in moderation, of course). If there was a ‘one size fits all’ approach to nutrition we’d probably all be ripped super heroes, but unfortunately nutrition just like exercise programming is all trial and error. If you see you're dropping weight to fast add an extra 50-100 kcals a day, if the fats not coming off or if it is but very slowly, more aggressive carb restriction is in order and maybe more of a caloric deficit (try cutting out an extra 50-100 kcals a day). Please remember that losing fat and getting shredded is a process and not something that happens overnight so keep monitoring your weight (i suggest keeping a weekly log) and assess yourself in the mirror daily and at the end of the week if you dropped .5-1 pound your right on track! If not, reassessing macros and calories should get you back on the wagon. Our next topic...you guessed it, EXERCISE! If you're reading this chances are you aren't new to working out especially if you were bulking and now looking for some summer shred motivation. So with that said i'll keep this short and sweet. If you're like most that have bulked you noticed and increase in strength right? Well you're in luck! Strength gains = Muscle mass gainz! So now that you're stronger and bigger it's time to reveal those strong muscles and get that definition and separation of muscles we all want. With our diet in check and our mind determined, it's time to hit the gym with intensity...and VOLUME. Yes volume. This hypertrophy style approach will ensure we retain as much muscle as we possibly can. Important note people, while we are in a caloric deficit we will notice some loss in strength. Some very little and some quite a bit more. Keep your head up and remember that someone who's super lean and cut looks ten times bigger than the bulky strong dude. Okay so volume. Depending on your weekly body split and approach, i recommend 3-4 exercises per muscle group with 4-5 sets of 8-15. This will maximize muscular hypertrophy and give you one hell of a pump! Just remember how ever you decide to split muscle be sure to allow enough recovery time between each session of that same muscle group. Also doing high volume maximizes your caloric expenditure every workout. Last but not least, and probably the most disliked but crucial….CARDIO! If you're serious about getting shredded you will have to do some cardio. I recommend to start out with 2-3 cardio sessions per week done before your weight training or anytime on non weight training days. What i mean by that is 4+ hours before your weight training. This is to ensure you are getting the fat burning benefits of your cardio sessions with the minimal muscle loss that occurs when you are in a caloric deficit plus caloric expenditure of doing cardio. 30-45 minute cardio sessions should be enough but some might need up to an hour depending on your metabolism. After a week or two of cardio 2-3 times per week go up to 4 days for two more weeks and then 5 days a week until you have reached your body fat % goals. I hope this article will help some of you and give you some type of foundation to build off of….thanks and I wish you all great success in achieving a lifetime of health and fitness!