Shredding month is over! Let’s sum it up!

DIET

Your diet will always be key when training but the way that you alter it in order to shred will go some way to enjoying a success shredding phase.

You should already be getting a high protein diet in during your training but during a shredding phase your carbohydrate intake can be depleted and your protein intake should be making up for any deficiency. A ratio of around 1-3 grams of protein per 1 gram of body weight will see your efforts start to show some real results in your body’s shaping.

An easy way to get in enough protein during this difficult phase would be to eat smaller meals throughout the day and snack on high protein filled foods. Aiming for around 3-6 meals a day should increase your metabolism and see your hunger pans disappear as you add vital nutrients to your body and keep it feeding at the correct times.

A moderate fat intake will be good news for your diet and a watchful eye on any added sugars from foods should keep at bay any unnecessary calories or unwanted pounds! Keep any sugars natural where you can and try to take in a lot of complex carbohydrates if you require an energy kick during your, no doubt, high intensity training.

TRAINING

A training regime will always differ for each person and the journey to find the best schedule for you should be a fun one. There are standard points to stick with and we will look at them here.

A focus on cardiovascular training/increased reps will always play a key part in shredding extra weight and unwanted fat but there are ways to go about it that can help you see quicker results. Steady state training will see some loss in unwanted weight but is difficult for some people to carry out for various reasons.

If you are somebody that struggles to do prolonged physical training then you can use interval training to kick start your shredding and your cutting of body weight. Interval training is carried out for generally a similar overall time to that of steady state but with a lower intensity.

The increased rounds of exercises and reduced rest time help to keep the body working harder in shorter bursts which keeps your metabolic rate higher. Within this you can introduce several body parts into the exercises and keep the training varied.

LIFTING

When lifting during a shredding phase your emphasis should change from the maximum lift possible to a lower weight, which we explore here…

Any weights you lift should be pretty radically reduced in the overall weight and the amount of repetitions should be increasing in your overall workout regime. You can aim to go from 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps all the way up to 8-10 sets of 20-50 reps at a much lower weight. The increased rep range and lower weight should see your body’s muscles working harder to get the sets completed and you should have a focus on the proper contraction of the muscle. All of this combined will see your muscle groups being asked to concentrate much harder and you should start to see a chiselled effect appear in your physique.

SLEEP

Sleep is always forgotten when training but here is why you should be treating your pillow as a friend.

When training, one of the biggest things people tend to struggle with is how to sleep effectively and to give the body a decent rest phase. Without good, meaningful rest your body won’t have the required time in order to repair itself properly and have a better chance to perform for you. So try to make sure you are getting a solid 7 hours minimum and hit the hay early!

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Photo Credit: JCAllsop Photography