28-Days-to-Lean Meal Plan
With the right plan and the right discipline, you can get seriously shredded in just 28 days.
Read articleBEING SHREDDED, RIPPED, AND GENERALLY PERCEIVED AS SUPERLEAN IS NOT SOMETHING NEW TO THE REGULAR BODYBUILDER OR THOSE WHO STAY IN A CONSTANT STATE OF RIPTITUDE.
Whether you’re looking to get some difficult muscles to pop or trying to shred every last ounce of fat so your glutes resemble a piece of corrugated steel pipe, dialing in your diet and dialing up your training is a must. But before we delve into the training— and rather than explore the ritualistic approach of pretending bland dry food is exciting— let’s discuss some of the things that help create the chiseled appearance so highly desired by today’s iron warrior.
So while what you do today may be felt immediately, the lasting effects will show up a few days later. If you slowly turn up or turn down the volume, be it with food, liquid, or training, your body will respond as if it were completely normal, since any abrupt change would be much smaller than if you did something drastic.
This is true with both losing and gaining weight, and losing and gaining muscle size. For getting shredded, this is especially important to understand, as you can’t possibly gauge your success daily. You need to be patient. If you begin your cutting phase further out at a slower pace, your body will hold its shape and size, while reducing the stuf you don’t want, like fat and excess water.
Properly dialing in your diet, slowly cutting water, and following this program designed to build and maintain muscle while upping the calorie burn will help you achieve that rock-solid, ripped physique.
Rather than sucking in gallons of water every day and trying to rapidly remove it a day or two before competition, consider trying to remove water over weeks, not days. While it’s not a perfect science, when slowly dropping of your water intake, your body will normalize itself by keeping muscles full and veins pumping. Your vascularity will have you providing Google Maps with updates while your bazookas, wheels, boulders, wings, and pecs will look as though you’ve been stuffing them with steel.
A brief understanding of how the body reacts to water may not only shed some light, but also shred some fat. The process of fluid balance has to do with a pretty cool system known as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which is directly responsible for maintaining sodium and potassium levels and controlling your anti-diuretic hormone.
Contrary to popular belief, taking in more salt (sodium, whatever) doesn’t cause water retention—unless your body needs it. You store water both in the cells (intracellular) and out of the cells (extracellular). Fluid transfer back and forth across the cells has to do with pressures and concentrations in response to sodium, potassium, and fluid levels. If anything is out of whack, the body will compensate.
Interestingly (and unbeknownst to most), if you’re properly hydrated, you could actually eat a ton of salt and not hold any additional water. Why? The aldosterone part of this balancing system will ensure that the salt is removed, sent to your kidneys, and filtered out in your urine. If you consume more water than you should, your body has to continually reset itself and determine where to put water. Thus, the need to keep salt intake low when consuming large volumes of liquid becomes important—and boring, as food tastes better with salt.
When you deplete extracellular water very quickly, you pull intracellular water along with it, flattening out your muscles as you likely aren’t taking in liquid against your losses. Over time, the body will figure it out though and replenish the missing stores.
If trying to time stage appearance, you really need to know your body, as this is tricky physiology. Thus, if your timing is off, not only do you look flat, you look small and soft. If you can time this perfectly, you’ll look like a fine, chiseled diamond.
So when you’re looking at yourself in the mirror, although you’re doing everything correctly in your mind, your body is saying otherwise, and you continue to look flat or bloated or soft. Of course, your mind is telling you to cut more and work harder, when in fact quite the opposite should be done.
By slowly reducing your water intake over time, your body adjusts the amount of water needed between cells and allows the muscles to hold on to more of it. Then when it comes time to deplete, the amount of exchange is small and easy to manage; and even if it’s mis-timed, it shouldn’t pose a major problem with your physique.
Check out the suggested water-reduction plan to the right. You drop 6–12 oz of water each day from your normal water load and stay at that new lower level for a full week, before taking your next drop.
Fat burning, despite popular belief, is more than just lowering calorie count and driving up calories burned. By continually stripping, your body begins to panic and then it conserves. It begins to find other sources of energy and holds on to fat. The result is that you become skinny fat. Now, most of you probably don’t have that problem, but you’ve seen those people and the analogy does fit. To prevent muscle loss, you need to maintain enough calories and continue to lift hard.
A good shredder program, like this one, challenges you to build muscle through strength moves at strength loads, sets, and reps. The burn side of the cycle works on speeding up the pace and the volume to help torch your fat, get a great pump, and maintain your size by alternating sessions between light- and heavy-loading phases. Then, to ensure that you become lean and hard, the program alternates between low-threshold true fat-burning endurance sessions and high intensity cardio killers.
Rather than trying to do everything in a single session, or thwarting your own progress by cannibalizing every set with cardio in between, you address each component on its own and allow for good, solid recovery between exercise sessions. Now, I’m not suggesting that a fast-paced, intermittent weightcardio session is bad, I’m simply providing an alternative method for pushing the body hard and refining your physique.
Some of the elite will swear that cardio is way overrated—I’m one of those (not elite, but of the opinion that cardio is overrated). Others will suggest it’s as essential as the meals you eat. Truth is, we’re uncertain of which is actually better, even though both are very well understood in terms of science.
The basic science suggests that low-threshold training is the true mechanism for fat burning. That’s substantiated by the term “aerobic” and the fact that fat burns in the presence of oxygen, which only makes it to the exercising muscle when the intensity is sufficiently managed. Great news—except that, while fat is the primary source of fuel, the overall calorie burn is far less per minute of work.
Which means, for high-calorie burning at low threshold, you’d better be prepared to make a long and boring commitment.
But, for most of us, this just simply doesn’t happen.
For those who like that feel of sweating profusely, go for it, but be aware that overdoing highintensity cardio will compete against your strength and size gains. For those who want to strip the fat, go low and slow, but be aware that you can’t meet the calorie demand of a slice of cheesecake through low intensity exercise unless you’re prepared to spend several hours walking it off.
Rather than ascribing to a single method, I suggest using both. For high-intensity cardio, do 20–30 minutes of interval training with 15–30-second bouts of all-out energy followed by 30 seconds to a minute of either rest or very low intensity exercise.
For the low- and slow-fatburning routine, do 30–45 minutes at no more than 60% of your heart-rate max—which means a sub-140 bpm heart rate (and for those in your late 30s and beyond, stay below 130, even 120). Choose your favorite cardio device and alternate each day in opposition to your weights—so, low intensity on the heavystrength days and high intensity on the lighter-volume days.
And for best results, do your cardio at a different time from your workout.
One thing I always suggest—again, contrary to the larger thought stream—is to keep carbohydrate sources high rather than low. I’ve heard of people doing fewer than 60 grams of carbs a day. I surpass that in breakfast alone. Your body needs the fuel. Your mind needs the energy. Your sanity needs the sugar rush. When your body is starved of it, it will try to store what you give it. Instead, keep carb sources up, and your body will learn to process them properly.
Of course, it’s not that easy. First, don’t go crazy. Second, keep fast-sugar consumption to a minimum, except around your workouts or in the morning. And third, complement your meals with carbs—don’t sit down to a carb-only snack unless it’s less than 100 calories.
Use a strength-training regime for the heavy days, performing sets of no more than 8 reps, and provide plenty of rest between those sets. On the volume oriented, faster-paced days, stick to 12-rep sets and keep your rest at less than 90 seconds. If you substitute exercises, make sure to cover all the angles when it comes to pushing and pulling. In other words, don’t do a barbell bench, machine bench, and dumbbell bench. Instead, mix it up as our program does.
Make sure you hit your strength training hard and provide enough time to get the rest you need. Then make sure not to skimp on volume on your so-called lighter days. They’re not easier, they just use lighter weights—don’t confuse the two. Be sure to alternate days of strength and volume, and if you need to adjust the program, at least stay on the alternating workouts.
DAY 1: Heavy chest, shoulders, triceps, low-slow cardio
DAY 2: Light back, biceps, traps, HIIT cardio
DAY 3: Heavy legs, low-slow cardio
DAY 4: Light chest, shoulders, triceps, HIIT cardio
DAY 5: Heavy back, traps, biceps, low-slow cardio
DAY 6: Light legs, HIIT cardio
DAY 7: Rest
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(Warmup) FLAT BARBELL BENCH PRESS: 2 sets; 10, 6 reps; 120 sec. rest
FLAT BARBELL BENCH PRESS: 5 sets; 8, 6, 5, 5, 5 reps; 120 sec. rest
INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS: 4 sets; 8, 6, 6, 5 reps, 240-300 sec. rest
CABLE CROSSOVER: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
BARBELL SHOULDER PRESS: 5 sets; 8, 6, 5, 5, 5, reps; 180 rec. rest
WEIGHTED DIP: 4 sets; 8, 6, 6, 5 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
DUMBBELL FRONT RAISE: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
TRICEPS PUSHDOWN: 4 sets; 8 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
LOW-SLOW CARDIO: 30 minutes
(Warmup) WIDE-GRIP LAT PULLDOWN: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
WIDE-GRIP LAT PULLDOWN: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
NEUTRAL-GRIP PULLDOWN: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
ONE-ARM DUMBBELL ROW: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
STRAIGHT-ARM PULLDOWN: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
DUMBBELL SHRUG: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
BENTOVER LATERAL RAISE: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
BARBELL CURL: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
PREACHER CURL: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
SEATED ALTERNATING DUMBBELL CURL: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
HIIT CARDIO: 20 minutes
(Warmup) SQUAT: 2 sets; 10, 6 reps; 120 sec. rest
SQUAT: 5 sets; 8, 6, 5, 5, 5 reps, 240-300 sec. rest
HACK SQUAT: 4 sets; 8, 6, 6, 5 reps; 180-240 sec. rest
LEG PRESS: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
STIFF-LEG-DEADLIFT: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
LEG EXTENSION: 5 sets; 8, 6, 5, 5, 5 reps, 180 sec. rest
LEG CURL: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
STANDING CALF RAISE: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
DECLINE WEIGHTED SITUP: 4 sets; 8 reps; 120-150 sec. rest
HANGING LEG RAISE: 4 sets; 12 reps; 120 sec. rest
LOW-SLOW CARDIO: 30 minutes
(Warmup) FLAT DUMBBELL PRESS: 2 sets; 10, 6 reps; 120 sec. rest
FLAT DUMBBELL PRESS: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
INCLINE BARBELL PRESS: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
INCLINE DUMBBELL FLYE: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
DUMBBELL PRESS: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
CABLE LATERAL RAISE: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
CABLE FRONT RAISE: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
SKULL CRUSHER: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
TRICEPS ROPE PUSHDOWN: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
HIIT CARDIO: 20 minutes
(Warmup) BENTOVER ROW: 2 sets; 10, 6 reps; 120 sec. rest
BENTOVER ROW: 5 sets; 8, 6, 5, 5, 5; 240-300 sec. rest
CHINUP (palms facing in): 4 sets; 8, 6, 6, 5; 180-240 sec. rest
LAT PULLDOWN: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6; 120-150 sec. rest
SEATED CABLE ROW: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6; 120-150 sec. rest
T-BAR ROW: 5 sets; 8, 6, 5, 5, 5; 180 sec. rest
BENTOVER LATERAL RAISE: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6; 120-150 sec. rest
BARBELL CURL: 4 sets; 8, 8, 6, 6; 120-150 sec. rest
PREACHER CURL: 4 sets; 8; 120-150 sec. rest
LOW-SLOW CARDIO: 30 minutes
(Warmup) SQUAT: 2 sets; 10, 6 reps; 120 sec. rest
SQUAT: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
STEPUP WITH DUMBBELL: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
SMITH MACHINE LUNGE: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
LEG PRESS: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
LEG EXTENSION: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
LEG CURL: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
STANDING CALF RAISE: 4 sets; 12 reps; 75-90 sec. rest
ROPE CRUNCH: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
DECLINE SITUP: 4 sets; 12 reps; 60-75 sec. rest
HIIT CARDIO: 20 minutes (if too burnt, do cardio on off day