Time for some pillow talk!
In this article we are going to cover how people in the fitness world shred their bodies to create a strong, lean physique in a matter of months.
When I first got into the fitness industry, I was fascinated with how fitness-show competitors could take their bodies from average to godlike in a matter of months … and for the record I’m still fascinated.
With consistent training and an organized diet these people were walking around in bodies that most people only dreamed about. To be honest, most of them are probably on some sort of drug to enhance their physique (not being naive), but not all of them are. And truthfully, they all work hard for their physique and deserve to look great.
If you have ever seen a person with abs and a ripped body (man or women), they have a low body-fat percentage. Men will look shredded with a body-fat percentage around 3%-8% and women will look really lean (not “toned”) at 10%-15% body fat. Women will always be a little higher in body-fat percentage because their bodies need a certain amount of fat for reproduction. So how do they get so lean?
Diet is the key.
Yes, their training in the gym is a massive deal but you don’t get lean with the greatest beach bodies of all time without a great diet (unless you have impeccable genetics).
From a muscle-size perspective, it takes a long time to add muscle and a proper diet. When these fitness-show competitors are leaning out they aren’t building muscle. Even though they are training in the gym, they are working on maintaining what they have and sculpting their bodies for the show. They are also doing a lot of cardio. This helps them burn more calories and continue to burn fat – lowering their body-fat percentages.
One of the reasons we created this article was to give the normal person who wants to lose weight a peek into how the elite do it. By doing this you can tweak their program to make it your own and see what you’re made of.
As mentioned above, the elite can shed large amounts of body fat in a matter of months. Typically, three months is the time allotted for show prep. Do you have three months? I think you do.
Food and Macros
Let’s start with macros. In order for you to burn fat you need to be in a caloric deficit. Throughout the day your body burns a ton of calories through several processes. These processes include basal metabolic rate, non-exercise activity thermogenesis, exercise and thermic effect of food. The elite set their macros (proteins, fats and carbs) with these processes in mind and hit them every day. Their macros are set based off of their age, sex, weight, activities and goals. You can set your own macros and track them by using an app (like MyFitnessPal) or a website that will run your numbers for you. You can also calculate your own numbers for better accuracy by using BMR equations like the Muller Equation and then determining how many calories you need to cut weight and lean out.
Once you have your macros set (example: 2,000 calories = 175g protein, 175g carbs, 67g fat), you have to eat the foods that hit those numbers every day. One of the biggest and easiest ways to do this is to food prep. They will spend one day making three to five days’ worth of food. This gives them the nutrients they need and makes it easier to stick to their diet. From there it’s about training.
Resistance Training
For training they want to hit all the muscles in their body for esthetic purposes. For this, they do resistance training (lift weights) 5-6 days a week. The reason for this amount of training is because they have to train certain body parts each week and you can only do so much in a day without overtraining and getting diminishing returns (your body becomes catabolic and you start losing muscle). But for most people who aren’t bodybuilders, any good workout program will help you look fantastic.
Cardio
Cardio is also a major factor in their preparation. You’ll see a lot of them train first (because weights are the most important) and then cardio after. As they move along in their contest-prep schedule, they will increase the amount of cardio they do. This can be duration or even two cardio sessions a day. Two of the most popular forms of cardio for contest prep are the elliptical and the stair climber. For the normal person, you don’t have to do two-a-days. You can do something like this:
Week 1-2
Sunday: OFF.
Monday: Resistance training plus 20 minutes cardio.
Tuesday: Cardio 20-30 minutes.
Wednesday: Resistance training plus 20 minutes cardio.
Thursday: OFF.
Friday: Resistance training plus 20 minutes cardio.
Saturday: Cardio 20-30 minutes.
Week 3-5
Sunday: OFF.
Monday: Resistance training plus 25-30 minutes cardio.
Tuesday: Cardio 30-45 minutes.
Wednesday: Resistance training plus 25-30 minutes cardio.
Thursday: Cardio or resistance training plus 25-30 minutes cardio or OFF.
Friday: Resistance training plus 25-30 minutes cardio.
Saturday: Cardio 45 minutes.
Now let’s talk about diet.
Diet
Maybe you don’t need to train like the elite fitness professionals but you can definitely eat like them. Diet is so important and what they eat really isn’t that hard to stick with. Yes, it will get old at some point – or maybe it won’t – but either way it’s worth trying and being creative with. The key here is that these diets are big on protein, fats and carbs but with calorie restriction. This means that they cut out fat when needed. They do this by opting for low or non-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, white fish, chicken, leaner steaks, etc. We all know fat is good, but the idea here is limit calories where you can. This will also allow for more consumption of protein throughout the day without going over your calorie goal.
It is worth noting that these cut diets are very restrictive but effective. They are effective because they lack variety. They basically eat the same meals throughout the entire duration of their prep but in different quantities. Remember, variety creates complexity and complexity is the enemy of execution. Keep things simple and you’ll find more success.
Supplementation
This is critical for restrictive diets. If you are on any diet that limits you to certain foods then you should be taking a multivitamin. Becoming malnourished because of a strict or faulty diet is detrimental to your short and long-term health.
Breakfast
For breakfast, it’s going to be some combination of eggs, oatmeal, protein shakes, protein bars, fruit, Greek yogurt, etc. You can do chicken and steak here if you like that kind of thing for breakfast.
Lunch & Dinner
For lunch and dinner, you will find lean steak, chicken, white fish (it’s the leanest … meaning less fat) and turkey as the primary protein. Tilapia is SUPER popular for their diet. It’s cheap and packs a ton of protein. For carbs you’re looking at jasmine rice (it has more fiber and breaks down easier than regular white rice), brown rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc. For vegetables it’s all about the greens. You won’t find much of any other vegetable in their diet. Green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, squash, spinach, etc. are massive staples. When picking out veggies, try to avoid the ones high in sugar. You want the most bang for your buck with fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Dessert
This brings us to dessert. You know we are all about the desserts! Unfortunately, when it’s prep time you don’t get a lot of this. This is one of the reasons that the post-show meal is so awesome and glorious. The meal is planned out of excitement. After the show is over you immediately eat whatever you want. For some of our friends it’s chocolate cake, Pop Tarts or burgers. So, what can you eat during prep? One of the most popular snacks is rice cakes with almond butter on top. You can use peanut butter but almond butter has a better nutrient profile because it contains more monounsaturated fats, which are considered heart-healthy fats. Peanut butter contains more saturated fats but is still a decent source of protein. Other desserts are plain Greek yogurt (with fruit, protein powder or both), protein muffins, protein bars, Ezekiel bread with fruit spread (jam) or nut butters and almonds to name a few.
Beverages
Regarding beverages, water is king. Hydration is super important. Coffee and other low-calorie caffeinated drinks are also a massive hit and a must. They help suppress your appetite while also giving you something to sip on and ingest when you’re really hungry or bored. Coffee also acts as a great vessel for supplements like creatine or protein.
Cheat Meal
You won’t get a cheat day on this kind of diet but you will get a cheat meal. Once a week you can eat and drink whatever the f*** you want for one meal. I personally always wanted burgers, fries and red wine every Sunday but that was my thing. You can make this meal whatever you want but it cannot be the whole day – it’s only a cheat meal.
In true Cheaterie fashion we made you a cheat sheet in the form of a menu in case you wanted to add some version of the fitness-show prep diet to your weight-loss journey. You do not need to do this at all to lose weight. There are lots of other ways. But we think giving you some insight as to how the elite fitness pros do it would be insightful for your journey.
Side note
Know that this diet is a temporary fix to obtain and physique goal. You can cut a lot of weight while you are on it but when you go back to eating normal you will put weight back on. This type of dieting is not a lifestyle. It’s a temporary restriction to achieve a goal. If you do something like this and lose weight, great! Your next steps should be to determine what type of physique you would be happy with long term. Create good eating habits and incorporate exercise that keep you at that level.
