Get Ripped and Toned for Summer

It’s almost Summer, at this time my focus and energy goes up as it’s almost the season for board shorts and any excuse to go around topless. It’s in these next couple months that you can really put in some hard work and reap results for the rest of the summer. So with most peoples primary focus to get ripped and toned what need to be done?

Steps that need to be taken

I’ve said it before but I will say it again, DIET has to be impeccable. I’m sure it’s been hard as it’s been Easter and copious amounts of chocolate have surely been on offer but the time for cutting out those excess fats and carbs has never been better. To keep your diet in check make sure you write down what you are going to eat each day, so you can shop for foods you need in advance. I also think having something on paper makes it easier to follow. As with anything to do with losing fat and getting lean exercise is going to be cardio intense so 6 meals a day for both men and women will be needed. This way your body is going to have constant supply of energy and you won’t need to turn anything into glycogen or fat for storage. Ensure you have a big supply of egg’s and meat, with brown rice and pasta, not forgetting plenty of vegetables and get cooking.

The next step is obviously getting an intense gym routine in place, the first few weeks are key. It’s going to be gruelling there is no doubt about it but cardio needs to be done every morning. Either before or after breakfast and no later than 8am so no lie ins i’m afraid. A good 40 minute cardio session every morning is going to work wanders for getting ripped and toned for summer. This has to be followed up with a good high intensity gym workout, with a few interval sets on the rowing machine etc. Also you should increase the number of reps you do on each exercise, and to go to exhaustion on your last couple sets. The workouts should start to tire you both physically and mentally.

To help motivate yourself I recommend writing down your goals on a sheet of paper or on a powerpoint slideshow and looking at it everyone morning the alarm wakes you up. Also get a playlist of your favourite songs that really get you pumped, and play that when you wake up. If it’s possible get a gym partner to really push you, until it’s almost cruel.

Some workout examples

Super sets are a brilliant way to workout to get toned and ripped. A super set involves starting at a high weight say 80kg on bench press then doing 8 reps and then lowering the weight to 60kg and doing 8reps etc. Until you get to 20kg (just the bar) and then do 8 reps. This is also know as a drop set, and further incorporations can be included when you workout 2 main muscle groups. This time do 8reps on bench press then 8 pull ups. 6 reps on bench and then 6 pull ups. These are excellent for getting ripped up.

Some excellent bodyweight examples can also be done, incorporating crunches, pressups, planks, ab twists, and box jumps. A good one to start with is 15-20reps on each of these 5 exercises.

If you want any more info please leave a comment or talk to me on twitter.