How To Workout To Get A Lean And Chiseled Body
Click Here To Go To ShreddingProgram.com
(opens a new window)
Training To Get Lean And Chiseled
When the goal is to achieve a highly lean and defined state, training must be aimed at maintaining strength and muscle mass, while undergoing a calorie deficit to burn fat. That is the key! Unfortunately, most people kick up the lifting volume and cardio sessions when aiming to get cut. This is a recipe for over-training and strength and muscle loss.
You see, as a natural, your body is only good at doing one thing at a time. When you’re performing a high number of workouts, exercises and sets, your body has to replenish itself from all the glycogen depleting training. It also needs to adapt to handle such a high work load. As a natural lifter, these two requirements impede your ability to build strength and rebuild muscle fibers.
When you throw yourself into a calorie deficit, your body has no chance at recovering. A calorie deficit is also a recovery deficit. Therefore, when cutting, the goal should be to reduce training volume to the absolute essential.
Lift only three times per week, four to five exercises and two to three sets per movement. Reps should be in the 4-10 rep range with long rest periods for maximum strength potential.
If you’re maintaining your strength throughout a cut, then you are maintaining muscle mass while getting leaner. This is what creates the hard and dense look, and training only 3 times per week helps with this big time.
What most people don’t realize is that you can’t train the fat off and you can’t train your muscles to become ripped. Fat loss is really all about nutrition. You can do tons of intervals, CrossFit and P90X, but if you’re not tracking your calorie and macro nutrient intake, it’s likely that all of this exercise is going to result in a greater appetite, off setting the calories burned entirely.
(This becomes especially true when you start to break under 12-15% body fat and your body becomes more sensitive to calorie deficits.)
Furthermore, you can’t make a muscle more defined. You can make it bigger or smaller and you can make the fat covering the muscle greater or lesser. Being absolutely lean and chiseled requires that you build up a solid amount of strength and muscle while keeping fat to an absolute minimum. The most effective way to go about doing this is to focus on solid strength training to build strength and muscle, and let your nutrition handle most of fat loss.
It’s really as simple as that, but don’t make it out to be easy! The lifts should be done with maximum effort. That means you’re striving to get as many reps as possible with a heavy weight. Very few people actually know what it feels like to do this. You must create maximum tension in your muscles and fight to get every last rep. This is something that you will hone through consistent training and striving for weekly personal records.
Besides this, all of your progress is going to come down to nutrition. Staying in a calorie deficit to force your body into burning fat while hitting the appropriate number of macros. The next article will be dedicated to this very subject.
In the mean time, make sure to watch the video above!
Once you do, head over to ShreddingProgram.com to see the BIG NEWS on what I have coming out soon!
42 Comments
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
as a rule of thumb what % of body weight should one be lifting (squats/deadlifts,etc.) before you start to really tear the muscle down? One guy told me only at double your body weight can you seriously work the muscle…that seems high.
Another guy told me weight doesn’t matter it’;s the number of rep’s….
So much contradicting info.
It’s all wrong. Assuming your pushing the envelope and training close to failure, you will work the muscle hard and tear it down. A guy that can squat 3x bodyweight will get little benefit out of squatting double bodyweight.
Hi greg
Bought the Greek God program in December but never made it to the webinar, where can I get go to access it?
Thanks
Alan
It’s available in the membership portal – kinobodyelite.com
Hey Greg, I love your site, posts, workout, and podcast man, keep it up!!
Quick question though, I thought you could make a muscle more defined by training for tension and strength (myofibril) as a opposed to pumping it full of fluid (sacroplasmic) as Pavel discusses. I don’t pretend to know everything an my cup is always empty and it’s not about what people think is true but what is actually true. I remove my bias from the equation. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks man!
Yes, I used to think along the same lines as you. But in reality, it’s 99% about body fat and muscle size. Take a look at strongman and powerlifters and olympic lifters that are overweight. They have virtually no muscle tone. Whereas you can look at fitness models that do predominately pump based training and they’re completely defined and shredded.
So you should do heavy strength based lifting, but not because it’s going to increase muscle tone. You should do it because it’s far more effective and it will build more muscle in the long run and create a better looking physique. But as far as muscle tone is concerned, it really comes down to two things – body fat levels and muscle mass.
Now if you have two people that are both 8% body fat and have roughly the same amount of muscle mass but one person does strength based training and the other one does pump based training then that’s where you’ll see a difference. The strength based lifter will have a harder denser look and the pump lifter won’t look as solid, his muscles will look slightly puffier. But if the strength based lifter was to go up to 10% body fat, the pump lifter would look much more toned.
Pavel is a smart guy but he himself doesn’t have much in the way of muscle tone. Just looks like an average fit guy. Not to take anything away from him of course
Hi greg
Just got the bootcamp stuff and think there great. If i follow the trainig and diet guidelines from the book with my training days being monday,wednesday,friday could i then also do some own bodyweight workouts on saturday and sunday, nothing intense just 4-5 exercises 3 sets each and 5-6 reps?
I found that doing bodyweight strength training on non lifting days can interfere with recovery. To make this work you need to treat it as practice only and stop well before failure.
Hey Greg,
Bought your Warrior Shedding Program and attended your bootcamp. I really enjoyed it. Love your approach. So many fitness experts expect that you tailor your life to fitness goals and that life should revolve around training. Nice to see someone who takes the opposite approach and believes training should enhance your life, not consume it.
I have two questions. First, should I have any concerns over only hitting each muscle group once a week as in the Shredding Program. I’ve read that once a week isn’t often enough. Secondly, I really enjoy practicing some bodyweight exercises, specifically handstands, handstand pushups, planches, pushup variations, front levers, inverted rows, muscle ups, l-sits, and bridging. You have any advice or guidance on how to program these in? I love doing them and think the ability to move your bodyweight is one of the best measures of relative strength. Also, what do you do for a warmup/cooldown for your training? I know it’s a lot of questions but would love to hear your thoughts. Appreciate that you take the time to answer questions.
Hitting a muscle group once per week actually works quite well. What’s important is that you’re gaining strength. When you finish cutting if you have 1-2 muscle groups you want to specialize on then you can hit them 2x per week. But when cutting there’s no need to hit your muscles more often than once per week.
You can do bridging and l sits on your rest days. I don’t do warm ups or cool downs, only build up sets.
Hey Greg,
So in order to achive the maximum Kinobody look do you recommend getting the new warrior shredding course AND the muscle building program? Truth be told i dont really know what look is best (warrior, greek god, or superhero). Any pointers? I like the fight club look but superhero looks kick ass too! Dont mind getting both programs just want to know if the s&d part of the muscle building program is good enough or i should start with the new warrior course. Please help!! Thanx!!!!!
Hey Alan,
Good question! For an incredible look, great strength and a maintainable condition, I’d go for the greek god look. The first step would be to do the warrior shredding course to lean down to a low body fat while maintaining muscle. The goal would be to get down to under 10% body fat. Then from there you’d want to shift gears into muscle building with the kinobody muscle building course to lean bulk up to the greek god physique.
Excellent!! Thank you for your guidance. Youre fast approaching fitness icon status!! I love seeing how Kinobody is becoming one of the foremost authorities in real fitness. Keep up the great work Greg!!!!
Greg
I ordered your warrior shredding program which is excellent by the way. I was wondering why you don’t recommend the 20 hour fast like you did in the original shredding program. Any help would be appreciated.
I don’t find the longer fasts to even be necessary. I found it more enjoyable to eat higher calories 1-2x per week and not do the 24 hour fast days than to do higher calories 3x per week with 2 x 24 hour fast days.
As well, I don’t like to be in a big deficit on any particular day. Keeping the deficit smaller is better for strength and muscle gain, hormonal functioning and enjoyment. Doing long fasts can take it’s toll. If you wish to do a 20-24 hour fast once per week and you enjoy it then go for it.
Hey Greg
Im doing your muscle building course and im making great strength gains however, I seem to have to eat a ridiculous amounts to gain weight. At least 4000 calories at 160lbs. However I dont lose weight until I decrease calories to under 2500ish. So from about 2500-3700 calories my weight seems to stay the same. Do you think that I could make steady muscle gains by just hitting that higher end of the calories I maintain on, so 3700 cals; this is on training as days I eat 600 cals less on rest days. I feel like im recovering great and the strength is stacking up the weight just isnt budging or do you recommend I persist in increasing calories until im seeing that 0.5 lbs and week weight increase?
Yes stay at 3700/3100. It may take 3-4 weeks before the weight starts increasing. Don’t rush the weight gain and don’t obsesses about scale weight. Measure your waist and your lifts. If your waist is the same and your lifts are going up then you’re improving your physique.
Cheers for the reply man, just to make sure im getting this right. You will gain muscle as long as you are increasing your lifts and eating enough to recover properly, even without a calorie surplus.
Yes definitely! I’ve seen this time and time again.
Hey Greg,
If I have been dieting and getting fairly lean( veins in the lower ab region, arms, etc.) yet my face is not any more angular or chiseled than before, should I continue to lose fat, or is it some type of genetic set point? Would it be to pursue a super low bodyfat or gain more muscle and minimize fat gain? So many questions…
I wouldn’t worry about getting any leaner if your abs are already very visible. It’s possible that your face holds more fat. Don’t worry about getting your face super angular.
Alright, so aim for steady progress in strength and muscle at a rate of about 2lbs/month while being proud of my youthful face. You can’t flex cheekbones anyway!
Exactly
Hey Greg, I wasn’t able to watch the entire webinar; where can I access the recording?
You will be sent the recording, pdf’s and videos on saturday.
Hi Greg, how would you contrast this with your muscle building course? Would you build muscle at a slower pace with this bootcamp? Thanks.
Hey Lucas,
Well the workout course in this program will be aimed at maintaining strength and muscle while stripping off the fat. So volume will be lower. That being said, it’s very often that you will see a slow increase in muscle size while cutting. Many of my clients gain around 5-6 lbs of muscle over the course of 3 months while dropping 15 lbs of fat.
Greg. How is this program different from your old shredding program info (Training routine and diet )? Thanks
This is a completely updated program! You’ll find that it’s much more enjoyable to follow than the last program and even more effective. My clients have been absolutely loving this approach. As well, this is much more in-depth. My original shredding program was a concise 20 pages. The new one is over 80 pages and includes many different areas of interest from drinking alcohol, to psychology and eating out.
Greg,
Is this a good workout for someone in their 40’s who is at a sticking point in their fat loss program?
Thanks,
Chris
Definitely! Whether you’re 18 or 60, you should following a sensible strength training program based around progressive overload. That means making steady progress in weight lifted or reps performed each week.
Congrats brotha!! Stoked for you.
I know this is going to help so many guys.
Hi Greg,
I really want to get a ripped body and yesterday I signed up to a local gym for the next 3 months. I’m very interested in getting in this event but I want to know something. Is this boot camp meant mainly for those who are already at a low body fat who want to look more ripped and shiseled?
I’m 5′ 9″ and currently weigh 90kgs (198 lbs) :( I’m really overweight, I used to be 75kgs but gained ALOT in about a year… Anyway, I want to lose all this fat and see my abs first time, can this boot camp help me or would you recommend some other program for me or should I opt for your private consultation?
I really need your help man! I’m totally lost!
Yes, this bootcamp can definitely help you. The approach that I will be teaching will allow you to drop fat in an enjoyable and effective way. In the new shredding course I teach you how to structure the weekly diet plan if you’re overweight or if you’re trying to lose those last 5-10 lbs to get to single digit body fat.
Hey,
Can your new program be used for guys new to weightlifting?
Yes, I’ve worked this program with a few clients who didn’t have any strength training experience. Provided you learn the proper exercise technique, you’ll actually get great results. Pure beginners will be able to build muscle while dropping fat from the diet.
Hey Greg,
I just read through the KinobodyBootCamp site and I was wondering if the Warrior Shredding Program will be available after Thursday? Also if it is available after, will the price remain the same?
Thanks man
Yes, it will be available after. The advantage of getting it now is that you will get access to a live webinar and if you can’t make it, you will get the recording of the webinar. This will not be available to people that purchase the program after the webinar.
Will the training videos be included afterwards as well?
Yes, you’ll be getting those on sunday
If we’re unavailable at the time of the live online bootcamp is there a way to access the info later?
Yes, everyone who signs up for the bootcamp will get a live recording of the event.