How to Get Shredded
Unless you’re a professional athlete or competitive bodybuilder chances are you are not able to dedicate your entire life to building your physique. Many see this as a hindrance – how can you possibly overhaul your entire body from clay to steel with other responsibilities on your plate?
It’s entirely possible my friend. I’ve done it and thousands upon thousands of over people have done it too, if you know how to get shredded it can be done. Time management and preparation are key – during the first year of my transformation I was working 3 jobs (totalling around 56 hours per week).
The 2 key principles you need to follow (in my opinion) to successfully transform your physique while working 40+ hours per week include:
Prepare 80% of your meals in advance
Failing to prepare your meals when you’re running a tight schedule is a recipe for disaster (no pun intended!) – skipping meals leads to either binging later or substituting poor foods in place of your regular meals, not to mention getting (decent) food on the go is expensive.
On Sunday prepare 80% of your meals for the week so they’re good to go as soon as you need them.
Here’s an example of yesterday’s meal preparation the week for me:
Measured 5x 1 cup of oats, handful of almonds & assorted seeds + cinnamon seasoning into zip lock containers.
Prepared 5x chicken breasts with baby spinach & basmati rice.
Prepared 5x serves of extra lean beef mince with sweet potato & broccoli.
Preparing my breakfast, lunch and dinner for Monday through Friday took me all of 1 hour, the remainder of the meals I eat throughout the day are quick and convenient requiring essentially no preparation (e.g. almonds, protein bar, greek yogurt).
I will hit my exact macronutrients this week because I prepared in advance. All it takes is an hour. Don’t try and get your meals in on the fly besides it never turns out how you envisioned (or intended!), I know because I’ve been there.
Get your workout done in the morning
Get to the gym or run through your bodyweight workout first thing in the morning. If you start work at 8am be in the gym at 6am, if you start work at 6am there’s no reason (provided you go to a 24 hour gym) that you’re unable to train at 4am. At the end of the work day training doesn’t sound particularly appealing does it? Get it out of the way first thing in the morning as you’ll have a better workout and will be setting yourself up for success later in the day as you feel mentally unstoppable.
Finito
And that's how to get shredded on a busy schedule!
At the end of the day it comes down to how bad you want it, the 2 tips I’ve listed above are not rocket science, however preparing your meals in advance and waking up early to drag yourself to the gym even when you don’t feel like it requires a large amount of conscious effort. If you’re serious about forging that Spartan warrior physique you’ll do it. If not you’ll dismiss my advice with an excuse you validate to yourself.
Everybody wants but not everybody gets.
If you want to transform your physique then do it. It’s not easy and it won’t happen overnight.
I’m willing to spend an hour each weekend in the kitchen and an hour in the gym early each weekday morning because I know what results it nets me.
“If it’s important you’ll find a way, if it’s not you’ll find an excuse” – Click here to tweet this