Why Get Shredded – Unlocking the Powerful Motives Behind the Pursuit of Fitness
Benefits of Being Shredded
Very rarely do we stop to ponder the powerful motives behind our actions. Instead, we focus on what we want, when we want it and how to achieve it. We never address the ‘why factor’ and thus, we don’t tap into the burning desire that will push us to success. When you dig deep and embrace the true intentions behind your fitness pursuits, you gain a sense of clarity. You understand why you’re taking the steps that you’re taking and you become deeply anchored to your goals.
This keeps you on path and centered, as opposed to wavering between different goals, workout programs, and nutrition plans. You also begin to gain perspective and start to accept that the only logical reason behind getting in shape is to enhance your life in a multitude of areas. To obsess about your training and dieting is to undercut the very benefits that getting in shape provides.
The Secret Benefit of Being Lean
If getting six-pack abs had no inherent advantages, would you relentlessly pursue it? Of course not! Sure enough, we’re not dieting and training for the sake of it. We are doing it largely for the unanimously accepted pros of being in amazing shape. You see in improving our shape, we look better, when we look better we feel better, and with this newfound positive energy, people begin to respond to us better.
As people are responding to us more favorably and we’re getting more attention, compliments, and respect, we feel even better about ourselves further reinforcing this new identity that we have created. This quickly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that completely changes the way we look at ourselves, the way we feel and our level of confidence. This upward spiral allows us to develop so much confidence, happiness and positive energy that we begin to destroy life in all areas!
We walk through life with a sense of ease, gracefulness and self-assurance and invariably other areas of our life begin to excel. What’s more, when you’re improving in all areas of life and you’re creating the life of your dreams, you become so deeply grounded in yourself. This is not externally based on how you look, how hot your girlfriend is, or what car you drive. This is the type of pure core confidence that is internally based!
Deep Level Understanding
It has been manifested from accomplishing your goals and understanding on a deep level that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. And in doing so, you realize that true fulfillment and reward comes not from the end destination but from the adventure. Sure you might get a temporary high when you finally reveal a six-pack, but this largely doesn’t compare to the deep changes you went through in achieving the goal.
Therefore the reason why we’re training is to live the life of our dreams! Hence the Kinobody tagline, Transform Your Physique & Live the Life of Your Dreams. When you can develop a physique that is absolutely breathtaking, there is nothing that you can’t do! Through utilizing a workout program that helps you get shredded, you realize that with patience and hard work, you can excel at anything!
Conflating Your Fitness into Your Lifestyle
To experience the incredible benefits of transforming your physique, you need a lifestyle approach to fitness and nutrition. If you’re working out all the time and constantly obsessing about your nutrition, fitness will become a burden on your life, which in itself defeats the very purpose of getting in shape.
Too often people put way too much mental energy into their diet and training. They become way too tied to the end destination and put everything else on hold until they reach this arbitrary endpoint. What happens here is absolutely destructive!
You let other aspects of your life unnecessarily suffer at the expense of your fitness efforts. What’s more, all this extra mental energy saps up your will power and quickly leads to a lack of motivation. Therefore I recommend putting as much attention into your nutrition and training as required and then move on with your life.
Focus on the big picture
Focus on the big picture and for god’s sake stop trying to be perfect! It will only end up biting you in the ass. I believe in concurrent lifestyle improvement! In other words, focus on improving two or more areas of your life at the same time. You see as you improve your shape and eat healthier, you’ll have more energy and vigor to pursue other goals. Don’t let this go to waste!
Socialize by going out and meeting new people, learn how to defend yourself, learn to dress better, read books and start meditating to become more deeply conscious and present. There’s no reason why you can’t build your lifestyle around improving yourself on a weekly basis in a number of different areas. But first, you must determine what you value and what’s important to you. Think of yourself as your own video game character.
You can upgrade yourself through an effective shredded workout plan and you can invest time into learning and developing new skills. As Bruce Lee said, view each day as an opportunity to improve yourself both physically and mentally.
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Hi Greg! I’m 50 years old and I had a triple bypass operation last spring. I’m finally able to hit the gym again. I’ve lost over 50 pounds on my own due to the cardiac diet, 10k steps a day and doing a daily cardio regiment – I’m up to 45-60 minutes of elliptical a day. Is this program for me, or should I come back and try it after a year or two? Thanks for your time.
Hey man, you also like Tyler Durden (Fight Club) ? He’s my biggest inspiration.
Of course!
Greg,
I was going over your get shredded manual just now, and there seems to be cardio only on two days (excluding the 3-5 mile walk on fast days). Can i add additional cardio on the other days as well to speed up fat loss? If so, what kind of cardio should i do? The 45-minute cardio you recommend in your manual on low calorie days? Thanks for the help.
– Hasan
Yes you can add cardio if you’d like. But don’t rush the fat loss, take your time.
Hows it goin Greg,
Just a question about the rep range in your strength and density workouts. Im confused about how to to change the rep range when you plateau.
So far for example. Im doing 5, 6, 8. I started out doing 5 reps then 10% less on 2nd set and then drop another 10% on third to get my base weights. For example
5 reps- 90kg
6 reps- 80kg
8reps- 72.5kg.
When I could then do 90kg for set 1 id increase to 92.5 kg and then when I could do 80kg for 6reps id increase the weight on the second set..and so on. But then eventually id up the weight on the first set and id only get out say 3 reps but id stick with that for the next workout amd get out 4 then the folkowing id get out 5 then increase the weight. Mean while although I was gradually adding reps to the first set my 2nd and 3rd sets would be increasing in weight. Is this the way to do it? Or do you keep increasing the weight as the reps go down and then when you cant get out at least 3 reps of the weight on your first set,, you decrease it and increase the rep range to say 6,8, 10.
I re-read and felt that I was possibly doing it wrong. I always changed the rep range only when the weight I was lifting for the first set didnt go up in weight or reps for 2 consecutive workouts.
Thanks man
Hey man
Iv written out a plan regarding my workouts and goals for the year and Im interested to hear what you think.
Im starting out ato 157lbs at 6ft with bf% of 8-10.
For 4 months lm going to follow your strength and density workouts from your program aiming to eat in a calorie surplus that allows me to gain about 0.5lbs week. I aim to increase my key lifts by 17.5-20kg over the 4 months while gaining around 8 lbs of muscle.
I am then going to spend 1-2 months losing any bodyfat iv gained and try and lower my bodyfat to 6% by losing no more that 1lb a week while maintaining strength.
I am then going to spend a month maintaing my new leaness and allow my skin to tighten.
Then I am going to switch to your superohero physique part of your course and do each of the levels for 1 month leading upto summer (total of 3 months) in attempt to gain 6-8lbs without increasing bodyfat through sarcoplastic growth and any additional size from further strength gained. Hopefully leading to a bigger body with a slight shrink wrap effect.
Any comments man would be great! Cheers
Sounds like a solid strategy! Not sure if getting down to 6% is even quite necessary. I guess it depends on your genetics, some people look incredible at 8%. Other people need to get to 6% for their abs to pop out. But all I’m saying is if you think you look great at 8% don’t bother going lower.
Hi Greg!
Ive been following your kinobody muscle building program for a long time now. I had great gains in strength and gained muscle while minimizing fat. Your course is the best course Ive ever tried. Im currently working out 3x per week but for the next 2-3 months, my schedule in school is gonna be real tight. i can only be able to work out 2x a week. Ive read that you’ve been working out 2x a week for the past months. What kind of split do u suggest and what of exercises, sets and reps would u recommend?
thanks in advance! cheers!
Thanks a lot Aaron! Means a ton. I would follow the program as is but just do 2 workouts per week! You’ll at the very least maintain your strength and size. And likely, you’ll make strength and muscle gains but at a slower pace.
Greg,
Could I get a decent lower body shape and tone by just focusing on pistol squats and calf raises? HOw many should I do of pistols?
Thanks,
Ed
Yes for sure! 2-3 sets of 8 pistol squats per leg is solid.
hi greg, i have been able to add weight every workout to my chin ups for about 5 months, im now doing chin ups with 33kg attached, but the last two weeks it´s been difficult for me, im only able to do 4 reps on the first set and today i only did 3, my second and third set i manage to hit the prescribed reps, what should i do now? im really frustated about this.
thanks in advance
You’ve been adding weight for 5 months which is awesome! Now I would do a different variation and drop the weight slightly. So do hands facing eachother instead now and use a weight you can do for 6 reps on your first set, 8 reps on your second set and 10 reps on your last set. Do this grip for 6-8 weeks before going back to hands facing you.
Hey Greg,
What do you think would be Super Hero measurements and weight for someone who is 5’8″? Shoulders, Chest, Waist, Weight?
Thanks,
Ed
Waist around 0.45 or 0.46 times height in inches. Shoulders = 1.6x waist. Chest = 1.4x waist. Weight around 175 lbs or so.
Greg,
If I am only doing 2 sets per exercise vs. 3 will this be sufficient in slowly building muscle as long as I progress with added weight on my lifts?
Workout A is incline barbell press, standing barbell press, lateral raises, and seated overhead tricep extensions with a dumbell.
Workout B is weighted chins, bent over dumbell raises, barbell curls, deadlifts, and standing calf raises.
How does this look?
Thanks,
Ed
Yes, you can gain size with 2 sets provided that you’re getting stronger. I actually prefer to do only two sets these days. I’ve gained some solid muscle size and strength just adding strength with two hard sets.
I think this works well if you have a strong mind to muscle connection. Therefore you can really work that muscle with only two hard sets. For beginners, it sometimes takes more volume just to feel the muscle working.
Hi greg
I really want to improve my own bodyweight exercises would you think it be ok to train on them on none lifting days eg, pull ups, chin ups, muscle ups, pistols.
No it will interfere with recovery. Keep things simple and focused. If you build up your lifts you will become extremely strong at bodyweight exercises.
Hello Greg,
Do you mind sharing the proportions and the amount of weight we should lift for the warrior greek god n superhero physiques? Im 5’8 and i weigh 180. My goal weight is 150-155lbs.
Also as an example if i need to bench press 2x my bodyweight would that mean my current weight or my goal
weight?
Thank you my good man!!
Yah base your strength targets on your goal weight. I will probably do an article on this subject in the future, as well, my new workout program for the warrior physique is coming out in a week. In there I included all of the measurements and lifts to aim for.
hi greg, i plan to buy your muscle building course, but i have a question, my main goal is to build muscle , your program will deliver better results in terms of mass gains comparing to a high volume low frequency shedule? i think your program is more like low frequency low volume right? thanks
Well the workout frequency is 3x per week and the muscle group frequency is once every 4-5 days. It’s more of a moderate frequency with relatively low volume per muscle group. You will build muscle like crazy provided that you follow the progression scheme and increase your lifts. This program will get you considerably strong. With strength comes great gains in muscle mass.
Hey Greg! How would you adjust the beach ripped program for women looking to get the holly wood physique?
I’m not a woman by the way…just wondering for my friends who follow the same crappy bodybuilding advice.
The calorie guidelines will work well for women, they just generally will have a smaller energy expenditure. Therefore they would be consuming less calories on the diet plan.
Awesome. Makes much more sense now.
What about my second question re: RPT stalling?
Yah you have the right idea. So if you only get 3 reps, I’d recommend dropping the weight by about 7.5-12.5% on your next workouts. For every 2.5% drop in weight, you should get 1 more rep. And yes, your second and third set will drop as well.
Greg, I’m a bit confused with your strength and density progression on RPT lifts (such as chin ups). For ex. 3 sets of RPT chin ups (5,6,8): In order to progress, do I keep adding 1-2.5 lb. to each of the 3 sets or do I add ONLY to the top set and figure out the next sets by doing -10% each workout? If I do the former, it sort of ruins the 10% gap between sets because the weights get close to each other on the sets.
My next question is with RPT stalling. Let’s say I fail to hit 5 reps on my first set of RPT chin ups. According to your protocol I now move on with 4 reps until I fail and hit only 3. After that, you say to drop to reps of 6-8 for first set. How do I calculate this weight? And if I drop the weight on the first set, does the weight on the 2nd and 3rd back off sets drop as well?
Thanks and sorry, this is a bit puzzling.
If you’re adding 2.5 lbs total to the exercise then you will add weight to all sets. If you can only increase by 5 lbs then you will increase one set by 5 lbs. Yes, it will change the percentages, but the 10% drop is just a guideline. It doesn’t have to be exact. What happens is that when you increase your second and third set by 5 lbs, then your first set isn’t as difficult. Therefore you will have left some extra in the tank for your second and third set.
..Greg…i am a bit confused about ur reply regarding the progression..
the question was for weighted chinups…that if u increase 2.5lbs on ur next workout..then u will reduce 10% of {BW+that extraweight added} on next set…and do subsequent 6,and then further 8 reps…
However if i add 2.5 lbs onmy next workout…and suppose if i am not able to complete the first set of 5 reps then..do i reduce 10% of the weight used for 1st set…and then further reduce 10% for the second set….or i reduce 10% of the weight i used previous workout..
also how many times do i have to try if i stall and not able to get more than 3 reps which is the deadline for chinups,dips..
should the progression be 2.5lbs always or can it be 1lbs also..
please answer…i am not able to figure out what u r saying..
It’s very simple. Don’t complicate it.
If possible, add 2.5 lbs to all 3 sets. Decrease the set by 10% on the second set and an additional 10% on the third set. It doesn’t have to be exactly 10%. If you’re stuck at 3 reps for 2 consecutive workouts then you should drop the weight. And if 2.5 lbs on all sets is too much you can increase by 1 lbs.
Hey Greg
just to add to this, if you start at the high end of the rep range you recommend so first set 8 reps.
Ex 8, 10, 12. Once the number of reps you can complete on the first set starts to drop to say 7 then 6. Would you change the rep change to say 6, 8, 10 and change the weight accordingly to meet the new rep range. Im thinking along the lines you want to keep the second and third set, within 1 to 2 reps rather than be doing 5 reps on your first set and still be on 10 and 12 on your 2nd and 3rd?
If you could clear this up it would be great man!
Yes, that’s exactly right. Your subsequent sets should only allow for 1-2 extra reps.
Hey Greg,
After losing 20lbs of fat and dropping down to around 8% bf at 156lbs at 6ft. I am looking to build muscle at the rate you suggest of 0.5lbs a week. I’m kinda confused to how my body is reacting here: i started out eating 2300 cals everyday and found that i was losing weight. I So increased my intake to 2600 on rest days and 2800 on workout days. i measured my weight day by day here as I am trying to find the ideal surplus to gain fat free mass. I found no fluctuations and my weight stayed the same for that week. I then increased my calories so that i was eating 2600 cals on rest days and 3200 cals on workout days. again i found my weight did not change, it didn’t even fluctuate day to day.
I am doing your strength and density workout in the program, I am seeing strength gains and my idea was to aim for maintenance cals on rest days and 600 cal surplus on strength training days (1800 cal weekly surplus) I wonder if you know whats happening here? My next step was going to be add another 600 cals to workout days but keep rest days at 2600 as it seems to be maintaining my weight on those days. So id be on 2600 rest and 3800 workout days. (seems quite high..)
Diet looks like this:
workout day – bcca’s and coffee before workout. workout. then i have my biggest meal around noon containing a protein shake and then massive amount of carbs in the form of pasta with tuna and a light sauce. later in the day around 3pm i’ll have a protein shake with some added fats and some almonds . then for dinner some grilled chicken, vegetables and rice with some added fats.
Rest days are similar with less carbs in the first meal to reduce the cals for the day. all adding up to the recommended macros.
I wanted to get your advice before increasing the cals again. for my weight it seems pretty high. i can gain fat pretty easily eating junk, but it almost seems that if I’m strict with my diet and eat clean that it takes a lot more to gain weight. its almost like eating clean increases my metabolism. any help man would be appreciated. Cheers dude
I would stay at 2600 rest and 3200 lift for 2-3 weeks. Focus on building strength on your lifts. If you’re still not going 0.5 lbs per week at that point, it’s likely that you’re building muscle while losing fat. From there you can go up to 2800 on rest and 3400 on lift days. Keep raising calories every 2-3 weeks if you aren’t gaining weight. You may actually be burning 2500-2800 calories per day. Therefore you will need to average 2800-3200 calories per day.
Now I realized I replied not in my own thread – sorry Mike ;) OK, so if you drink 4L+ I probably should start to think about water a bit more… Because I drink less than 1L on the rest days. It feels OK for me, I feel no thirst, but I might not recognize the right signals… Or might it be that I don’t need so much water in my climate (not so hot all the year round)?
Again wrong thread… I’m hitting the wrong button cuz I browse web without images at work…
I would definitely be consuming at-lesat 2-3 liters of water. No need to meticulously track water intake, but having several glasses of water throughout the day should get the job done.
Hi Greg!
I just wanna ask. How do you compare dragon flags vs hanging feet to bar leg raises? Which builds core strength more? Which sculpts the abs more?
thanks Greg!
Feet to bar straight leg raises will build the abs better! Dragon flags is more of an isometric movement. It will strengthen the core but it won’t build as much muscle.
Ok, so that’s exactly how I used to think… My question originated of a statement of one folk who’d recently said to me that one has to drink 2l of water each day… I didn’t care, but I preferred to make sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t force himself to drink 2l of water on non-workout days just because it’s said so :)
I probably drink 4+ L to be honest. But for me, there’s no sense in tracking water intake. I naturally drink plenty of water and listen carefully to my thirst.
Hi Greg,
I was recently wondering how much liquids should I drink daily (both workout and non-workout days), what to drink at the gym (isotonic drinks or pure water?) and should I take coffee and other drinks into account when summing up my daily liquid intake, or should I just count pure water?
By the way thanks a lot for all the inspiration and motivation – when I’ll reach it (6 months, hopefully), I’ll send you some pics where you led me :)
Best regards from Poland!
I don’t really stress out about my water intake. Use your thirst to guide you and make water your primary beverage. Avoid caloric drinks and soda’s. NEver let yourself go thirsty.
Greg, I really liked this particular article and I am more inspired to pursuit my fitness goals in result. A clearly mature attitude towards achieving your goals. It goes deep as well. Deep admirations buddy, continue doing what you are doing, it is going great : )
Thanks a lot man!
Hi Greg,
Normally the places I go out to have drinks mixed with standard soda. Do i have order diet or can I just cut my calories for the day? In essence do I have to be an “alcohol-nazi” in order to prevent unpleassant fat gain?
I don’t recommend combining alcohol with sugary soda. That’s not ideal on a diet. Drink that shit on the rocks or with club soda. That said, if you stay in a deficit then you’ll be fine, but adding pop to alcohol will make that difficult to do.
Also in your lastest video you commented on alcohol incuced food-binge as undoing an entire week of progress. Is it because alchol makes food/calories more fattening or is it because you overeat when you are drunk or both?
Both! If people are consuming 8+ drinks and usually in a high calorie format (beer, or liquor with juice/soda) then there body has to burn off all the alcohol calories before even processing the additional food calories. Plus when you’re very drunk, it’s easy to eat way beyond what you know you should.
Hi Greg!
What are the good great and godlike standards for weighted dips, standing barbell shoulder press, flat bench press, deadlifts and squats? Sorry if its quite many to ask.
thanks in advance! i love your reads!
For weighted dips I would say bodyweight attached for 5-6 reps is godlike. For standing press I’d say bodyweight for 5-6 reps is godlike. Flat bench I’d say 1.65x bodyweight for 5-6 reps is godlike.
I don’t focus heavily on getting very strong on squats and deadlifts. I feel that doing so and it’s likely that you will add too much muscle to your legs than what looks good. Once you can squat 2x bodyweight for 1 rep I would suggest focusing on building power and speed with box jumps, sprints, speed squats, sprints or hang cleans.
Hi Greg!
i would really want to train for a muscle up but i am doing your kinobody muscle building program. is there a way i can introduce muscle ups to the program like maybe instead of ABA BAB, i will insert a workout C for training muscle ups or what do you suggest?
thanks Greg!
Just by building up your strength on weighted chin ups you will improve your ability to perform a muscle up. I’d suggest working up to 0.33x your bodyweight on weighted chin ups for 5 reps before training specifically for the muscle up. Then you can practice doing the muscle up 1-2x per week.
I can already do 0.3x bw for 5 reps. So if i practice muscle ups 1-2x per week, on what days will i do it? i am currently doing specialization routine on M,W,F. i tried doing muscle ups the other day at the end of workout B, and i was surprised that i was able to do it sooner than i thought but my muscle up is uneven. one arm goes over the bar first before the other arm. i guess this is just normal for beginners. i am working on performing muscle ups with good form :)
You can practice them at the end of your strength workouts, however, you may be fatigued and that would reduce performance. For that reason, I’d suggest practicing them at some other point in the day on your strength days. You could do them on rest days but you’d have to be careful not to interfere with neural recovery.
Hey Greg,
How many meals per day would be good to achieve Warrior Physique? 2 or 3? Also, do you think fasting twice per week for 24 hours to drop fat would be better than fasting every day until lunch for 2 meals per day?
Ed
It won’t really matter if you’re eating 1 meal per day or 5. Achieving the warrior physique is a matter of attaining a low body fat through proper calorie and macronutrient intake. I would suggest eating at the meal frequency that makes this as easy as possible. Two or three meals per day is probably best. And yes, it would be better to fast everyday until lunch then once per week for 24 hours.
Hi Greg!
I am doing ab exercises on off days just as you have recommended in your book. Will training for elite core exercises like planche, dragon flag, human flag, front lever, back lever, elbow lever, and alike on off days interfere with recovery? Im not going to train all of these at the same time. i might start training elbow levers, and then if i master them, i move on to train a harder core exercise and after mastering it, i’ll go on to the next. i am a big fan of calisthenics! :)
thanks in advance!
Yes they will interfere with recovery for the most part. Also I feel that you are spreading yourself too thin trying to learn too many movements. Focus on only one or two.
Ex: Front Lever and Human Flag. Just make sure not to do them the day before a big upperbody lift day and you’ll be fine.
Then you can work on the back lever and dragon flag. Avoid the planche, it’s way too technical, not worth the time investment unless you’re a gymnast.
Unrelated to your article (which was, as usual, a great read), but since I’m about to start Visual Impact, I was wondering: what diet do you recommend while doing VI? I’m somewhere around 10% BF and have been following your Shredded protocol for a couple months. Thanks, man!
I don’t necessarily recommend a particular diet style. The main thing will be tracking your calorie/macronutrient intake. Phase one will be higher in calories and carbs, phase two more moderate and phase 3 should be lower. So you might do a lean bulk nutrition plan in phase one, a recomp in phase two and a cut in phase 3. I’d go with my beach ripped diet for phase 3 and check out the how to build muscle and lose fat article for phase one and two.
Thanks for the advice! So would you recommend maintenance or maybe even more during phase I?
Yah. For lean bulking something like 16.5 calories per pound works. For fat loss you can bring it down to 12 calories per pound and for maintenance 15 is usually good.
Hey Greg,
When your increasing your calories for doing superman training (high volume), do you keep your calorie surplus geared towards gaining 0.5lbs a week, as you would doing strength geared muscle building (lower volume)? I know that you can gain muscle weight faster in the form of fluid but do you need more calories for this type of quick gain?
Yah, aim for 0.5 lbs per week. If you can increase calories by 100-200 and not gain fat then go for it. But start at about 250-300 over maintenance.
Hey Greg,
Can you give me some good leg exercises to tone quads, glutes, and hamstrings that won’t put on too much mass? Do you do direct leg work? I would inc. this on my Back and Biceps day.
Thanks
Ed
Avoid going to failure and you’ll be fine. I like to do pistol squats, calf raises and romanian deadlifts.
Hey man,
Over the summer iv lost around 20 lbs going from around 14% bf to around 7-8% or so the calculators iv used are telling me. I am looking a lot leaner and my strength seems to be very good in relation to my weight. I am 155lbs at 6ft. Barbell shoulder press 70 kg for 5 reps. incline bench 95kg for 5 reps. weighted chin ups using 40 kg for 5 reps. I have just recently hit this new weight of 155 lbs and i don’t think I look quite as lean as i thought i would. I was wondering whether it takes time for your skin to shrink to this new size even when i was not massively over weight to begin with?
My other question is, would someone look more defined if they were carrying more muscle but had the same body fat percentage.
Ex. 2 guys at 6ft. one weighing 155lbs with 8%bf and the other at 170lbs with 8% bf.
My next goal is to increase the calories to maintenance on rest days and 500 above on days I workout and try and build up to 170 lbs over the next year. Any of your thoughts on the above would be great man.
I really respect everything your doing man, and appreciate all your insight. Keep doing your thing!
Awesome man! Those are some fucking great lifts.
Up to a certain point, added muscle will make you look leaner at the same body fat. So yes, you’ll probably look more cut up and defined at 170 and 8% than 155 and 8%. That said, you won’t notice much difference in definition if you were to try and get up to 185 and 8%.
And yes, it will probably take 3-4 weeks for your skin to tighten up and that’s when you’ll start to look much better.
Hey Greg. First off I love the new layout of the site! Quick question: Is horizontal pulling (i.e. rows) necessary if I am already doing weighted chins and deadlifts? (I know you’re not a deadlift fan but as an athlete I find them very useful, especially for my weak hamstrings following a tear 2 years ago)
Good question. And no horizontal pulling is probably not necessary. I spent a couple years with practically no horizontal pulls. That said, I think it’s good to keep your body balanced and healthy. Horizontal pulling may improve shoulder health. As well, horizontal pulls are good for building thickness in the back. Chins build more width.
What about just doing chins as you advocate in your (awesome by the way) muscle building course? Just wanted to get your most up to date view on it. Also do you find your posterior chain strength lacking from the lack of deadlifts/leg work?
I did strictly chins and no rows for a few years and my back development has been crazy. So I don’t think horizontal pulls are necessary.
No my posterior chain isn’t lacking. I spend a few years training my legs and posterior chain hard. The strength is still there! Plus hang cleans, plyo’s and bridges keep it pretty strong.
Great thanks so much! Just a quick point to say how much this site and your muscle building course have helped me. I really owe you one! So thanks a bunch. Just wondering what your exact workout looks like at the minute and what your next big weightlifting goals are?
Thanks dude! Currently I’m lifting 2x per week. Usually about 2 sets per exercise RPT style. On wednesday I’ll do some leg oriented stuff. Usually pistol squats, box jumping and calf raises + abs (hanging leg raises)
Workout A (Monday)
Bench
Seated Cable Rows
Incline DB Bench
Barbell Curls
One Arm Cable Triceps Push downs
Workout B (Friday)
Weighted Chin ups
Standing One Arm DB Shoulder Press
Incline DB Curls
Incline DB Triceps Extensions
Lateral Raises
BTW, have long been wanting to do a 24 hour fast and do the “ultimate fatburning workout” on the same day. Could I do this, say once a week(ex. following a refeed day)? Since i think it would boost my fat loss.
Yah that is fine to do once per week after a high calorie day.
Hey Greg currently i have both of your programs (get shredded and the muscle building course) but I was wondering if it would be better to build muscle then get lean, or get lean then build muscle, also is there a possibility to be able to do both. Thank you, Austin
If you’re over 12% body fat then you should get lean first. Lean down to 10-12% body fat. Then you can focus on slowly gaining muscle while maintaining leanness. If you’re within 10-12% body fat, you can focus on building muscle while leaning down with surplus cals on lifting days and deficit cals on rest days. Albeit, it’s a very slow process to recomp.
My only thought pertaining to doing both would be do i follow the muscle building workout program or the get shredded workout program because based on calorie input I do not want to over do it and not feed my muscles the proper nutrition.
If you’re currently dieting you can do the workout from the shredding program or the strength and density routine from the muscle building course.
Hey Greg, I usually workout after school on monday, but next year i’m gonna be having gym class as my last class that day. Should I move my monday session a day forward or?
Good question. It really depends on what you’re doing in gym class. If it’s fatiguing and interferes with your strength then I’d suggest doing your lift on tuesday.
Thanks! um, if it ain’t too much, should a meal or some BCAA in me before strength training afterwards?
hi greg, i saw your last video about building superman shoulders, i am following your Muscle building course with great results :) so i want to start doing what you sugest in the video
10-15 reps
rest 15
3-5 reps
rest 15
3-5 reps
rest 15
3-5 reps
rest 15
3-5 reps
this is all i do for lateral raises in that workout? or is just one set and should do more? how many sets? and how many rest between sets?
sorry man, i know you have alot of questions to answer, thats why i love this website and the work you put on it, you are allways open to help others giving them the right answers. Keep up the great job.
Hey Shane!
That’s all I do for lateral raises in one workout. There’s no need to repeat that. One activation set + 4 rest pause sets will build your shoulders like you’d never believe. You’d have to do 4-6 sets of 8-12 reps to come close to the effectiveness of the rest pause set up.
Hey man,
Just checking I understand. So, do you use your pressing movement on your shoulders in order to create myofibrillar growth, and then all Lateral raises work is targeted with sarcoplasmic growth?
I know that Myofibrillar growth is more resilient and is harder to lose in regards to taking a couple weeks off training for hoilday’s etc. Does the shoulder pressing add to shoulder width aswell, or does doing 3 sets of 8-12 reps like in the first phase of your program cause Myofibrillar growth on the Lateral head? or does it come down to making sure that your always getting in your lateral raises at higher volume to maintain that shoulder width?
Hey Mike!
Good question. Yes, I focus on heavy shoulder presses for myofibrillar growth. Lateral raises will help build up the lateral head and pack in an extra 20% of growth from sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. This is really key for having shoulders that really stand out.
Shoulders can be a stubborn muscle group for a lot of guys so it makes sense to give them a bit more volume then everything else. Most people try to hit every muscle group with high volume, I just like to do this with shoulders. Even if you’re going to be travelling and not working out for a few weeks, you can bring some resistance bands to hit the shoulders a couple times per week. This will help maintain this size.
Hey Greg,
If I am after the Warrior Ripped Physique, what do you think my range of body weight would be at? I am 5’8″. Also, what about waist measurement?
Thanks,
Ed
You’ll probably want to be around 155-160 lbs with a 30.5-31″ waist.
I listened to that podcast and that’s kinda why I posted. I wanted you to know people like me, we are listening!
I never heard anything about the Austin fittest man contest you were supposed to do with Chris. What happened with that, did I miss it? I would love to hear how that went. Thanks, Lisa
Chris had another challenge come up that he had to train for I believe. I never made the trip down to Austin unfortunately.
Great outlook! I am guilty of compartmentalizing my fitness and my social life.. Waiting for “the big reveal” i think its wise to bring in one or two more goals in congruence.. That being said im gonna learn a new talent or social asset to further my journey, thanks for all your inspiration brah
Pretty powerful here Greg.
I love what you mention about Concurrent Lifestyle Improvement. It’s easier to work on improving small chunks of your life than trying to change every aspect of it. Rather than feeling stuck, not knowing how to restructure our lives, the best way to do it is by choosing one or two things and work on those first. In the span of a year a person could transform him or herself in various aspects. In a couple of years you could literally become a whole new and improved individual.
-Sam
Greg, I’m a 41 year old female and love your show! I mention that so you post more for my age group and gender! You and Christopher are thankfully the future of fitness. The fitness industry has gone insane. Your website and podcast help separate the BS. I believe in intermittent fasting/carb cycling and great short workouts, not 4-6000k calories and 4 hours in the gym like Swank, Cavill, and Jackman. Keep up the great work and being a positive role model. Your fan base is older and larger than you think! ;) Lisa
Thanks Lisa, that means a lot! In the latest episode of the RTR we actually had a 61 year old man on who is in amazing shape. It’s a totally interesting episode. Anything that you would like for us to cover in a future episode? Let me know.
Awesome stuff bro!
The Kinobody philosophy is the best thing here… So many people obsess over fitness and nutrition year-round, and in the end never even actually reach their goals. They just stay obsessed.
The fact that Kinobody combines incredible shape with a rewarding lifestyle is why it’s so bad ass.. And not a lifestyle that’s out of reach, but only a handful of months of hard work away.
Thanks Tom and very well said!
Awesome article. There is absolutely no reason people can’t improve in other areas of life while focusing on their fitness; anyways, they’d probably lose sanity by focusing solely on one interest. When I head to college this fall I will take this all heavily into consideration so I can improve myself in varying ways: academics, socialization, fitness, etc.
Is there any way you can write a simple way to deal with nutrition for college students who eat in dining halls? Macros will be tough to hit, but I won’t stress about it, haha. Training will be spot on though because college gyms are great.
PS– I have a quick S&D protocol question if you wouldn’t mind answering it.
Thanks man! Yah nutrition for college students would make for a great article.
Shoot me your question man.
Alright so here’s my question:
I recently purchased your muscle building course and just had a question regarding the bench press. I’ve been flat bench pressing for a long time now, and that is way stronger than my incline bench. Do you think I should completely drop flat bench in favor of incline? I’m down between two different routines for my Workout A day. The first is switching completely to incline bench press; the second is sticking with the flat bench I’m used to but adding only 2 sets of inclines and dropping dips to 2 sets. I think the latter might consist of too many exercises that may interfere with each other. But it might help my strength because of lifting heavier weight flat benching (instead of starting off low again with inclines). I wouldn’t really mind dropping flat bench though if I manage to get pretty strong on inclines. Which one would you recommend? If neither, what changes would be optimal?
1)
Incline Barbell Bench Press 3 sets – 5, 6, 8 RPT
Standing OHP: 3 sets – 5, 6, 8 reps RPT
Weighted Dips: 3 sets – 6, 8, 10 reps RPT
Lateral Raises 3 sets x 8-12 reps
OR
2)
Flat Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets – 5, 6, 8 RPT
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 2 sets – 6, 8 RPT
Standing OHP: 3 sets – 5, 6, 8 reps RPT
Weighted Dips: 2 sets – 6, 8 reps RPT
Lateral Raises 3 sets x 8-12 reps
Thanks a lot and keep up the insightful articles
The second one is too many intense pushing exercises.
There’s nothing wrong with taking time off from flat benching. It’s likely you won’t lose any strength provided that you get stronger on incline. Then again, if you want you can do standing OHP on Workout B with weighted Chins. Then you can do flat bench, incline bench, triceps and lateral raises. Up to you
Hey Greg,
once you’ve completed your journey to getting shredded, obviously the idea is to maintain that the best you can. In terms of lean bulking, would it be effective to eat mainly protein and fats during the day, and then eat all your carbs at night. I find eating carbs makes me very tired and causes me to crave more. The reason I’m asking also is that i train around noon and I’m not sure whether that’s too long before getting the carbs in to ensure energy for muscle growths.
Cheers man
Good question! This really comes down to personal preference. I get too hungry if I save all of my carbs for the nightime. I need some carbs with my first meal, which is usually around 6-7 hours after waking.
If you’re eating a good portion of protein then you shouldn’t get too tired. Maybe start with 0.5g of carbs per gram of protein in that first meal. For example, 40g of carbs and 80g of protein. Very doubtful you’ll get tired or cravings. Eventually you can step it up. If you find that you’re getting cravings, you might have to push through it for the first hour or so. Then you’ll find that the cravings disappear.
Now if it’s easier to save all your carbs for night then do that!
great post Greg!!!
i have started ur superman workout…as u said…with chest and triceps on monday…Back and biceps on wednesday …and shouder and traps on friday…
but in ur “bulk up in hollywood star style workout” u said that we have to hit each muscle twice a week and workout 5times a week…
what should i.do.to.bring up a balancedupper body like you…
note-i am following superman workout because at 85kg i had squatted 115kg and deadlift 147.5kg…doing stronglifts 5×5…making my quads and butts bigger in size and lesser upper body…
now following lean gains as u suggest i have
14%BF at 81kg…21yrs
please help Sir??
i am more dedicated and sincere in following my workout and nutrition than any of my peers…but i dont want that…i want to be like ‘Batman’ christian bale…and get tht super chiseled face…
please help sir..
The bulk up like hollywood a hollywood action star article was actually written a long time ago. I have since changed my stance on workout frequency. I have had the best gains training in this manner with 3 sessions per week.
If you follow the superman workout, you will balance out the upperbody and legs. It will probably take about 6 months to really achieve that hollywood look and you’ll have to lean down to about 9% bodyfat.
Why get shredded…to attract women.
“Too often people put way too much mental energy into their diet and training. They become way too tied to the end destination and put everything else on hold until they reach this arbitrary end point.”
That did it for me, people seem to do this time and time again. I’m just glad there are people like you and chris showing that there is another way.
Awesome post. Awesome new web design. One more “Awesome” for good luck.
Keep it up brotha!
Thanks Dean!
Amen brother.
This sentence hit the nail on the head: “If you’re working out all the time and constantly obsessing about your nutrition, fitness will become a burden on your life, which in itself defeats the very purpose of getting in shape.”
Fitness should enhance life, not detract from it.
Greg,
I really liked the episode on RTR when you discussed this topic. I agree that the three main areas of health/fitness, wealth and relationships are generally where people want to excel. I’ll admit, for me the health/fitness why is currently about looking as great as I can. I don’t think people should be ashamed to admit that they want to look awesome. It’s about day by day inching my way to a better physique. I just know that if I keep it up, over the course of several years I’ll look way better than I would if I had done nothing.
When I get older, I may or may not care about my looks as much. But I know I’ll never stop caring about improving at the things that matter to me. Since my overall health and well-being matters to me (in feeling my best and having maximum capacity to tackle the other areas of my life), I know I’m on this journey forever. I think it’s really important that you brought this up and it’s a question everyone should consider.
Alykhan
Great article Greg. I love how your blog focuses on not just the physical aspect of fitness but also talks about the mental and social aspects of it and making it part of your lifestyle. I actually started listening to yours and Chris’s podcast recently and I gotta say man I’m addicted. It’s so great to have people that I can relate to and that share my goals and are willing to put themselves out there in order to help other people reach their own goals. You guys have inspired me to start my own blog hightechstrength.com that focuses on the same principles that you preach but will be geared more towards people like me that love to talk about technology and video games as I’m a total nerd. If you have time I would appreciate it if you checked it out and left a comment. It’d be great to have a sort of feedback from someone I look up to as much as you guys (also rusty Moore). Anyways great post man, great site and great podcast. Keep em coming as I’m nearing the last episode! Take care.
Dude thanks for the massive admiration buddy. I appreciate it. I’ll have a look at your site