When summer nears, almost everyone starts to plan on the best way to celebrate the season. Some will rush to the beach and show off their shirtless or bikini bodies under the hot sun. Others will get ready for their vacation, while others got plans for their summer family tradition such as family gatherings or summer camping. Regardless of the plan you have, ensure that it includes your fitness goals.
Some may feel like it’s already too late when summer arrives, yet they haven’t started working out. If this is you, do not fear — you can still get those abs a few weeks before summer. This ultimate guide provides you with tips on how to get ripped in summer — get ready to lose those fats and get the abs!
1. Set Your Goal and Start as Early as Possible
Before you start doing anything, outline your fitness goals. When you know what you want, it becomes easy to determine how and why you need to achieve it. It gives you direction and motivation. Remember that getting shredded is not an easy task. Sometimes you will get caught up with other responsibilities, get bored of taking a healthy diet every day, or become fatigued from the daily workouts. While these are some of the challenges you expect to encounter, you must maintain your focus on ‘why’ you started the journey in the first place.
Again, do not wait for too long before you start working out for the summer abs. Once your goals are set, plan on how to achieve them. They say that a goal without a plan is just a wish or a dream. Therefore, prepare your plan, starting from your diet to working schedules. You must commit to these plans religiously, for you to achieve the fitness goals you set — why set the goals anyway, if you are not going to commit? If you can start at least two months before summer, getting ripped is quite a possibility, especially when you are in good shape. If you are not in that good shape, three to four months before summer would be a good starting point.
2. Plan on Taking a Healthy Diet
When it comes to losing weight, you will need to feed your body with fewer calories than it needs — that’s the nutrition formula. And while it may sound as dead simple, it is not always easy for everyone. However, as part of the goals, the diet plans you set must be followed religiously as well. Usually, a balanced diet plan is one with high proteins, vegetables, and a reasonable amount of healthy fats, such as taking nuts or avocados. Sometimes you may consider fat burners, which are dietary supplements that help in burning extra fats in the body. According to websites like OurFitness Life, few fat burners are made from natural ingredients. You can buy them from a local drugstore or online stores from different sellers.
A crucial dietary measure to consider is a gradual reduction of carb intake as much as possible. What happens is that when you are not giving enough energy to the body from carbohydrates, the body is forced to burn its fats to provide this energy. It is one of the best ways to burn fats on our bodies. However, do not avoid carbs altogether — some cabs such as whole-grain bread, green vegetables, and brown rice are suitable for your body. Other dieting practices for body ripping include staying hydrated and eating dinner about two hours before you sleep.
3. Start Your Work-Out and Train Properly
When and how you work out depends a lot on your lifestyle and availability. However, always remember the goals you set before you start saying that you are too tired to work out today. The best workout schedule is not the one that demands training every day or long hours, but it is one that you can comfortably follow. For instance, if you are available to train for two hours in three or four days a week, then commit to that schedule. Every fitness plan must be realistic and consistent for it to bring out any promising results.
During your first training sessions, focus more on movements of multi-joints and start slow. Make sure you include some relaxing time at every interval, and before you start working out, include a few warm-up minutes. Your repetitions can range between 12 and 18 reps. Once you start working out, involving both the upper and lower body — rotating the exercises is a good idea. If you are not sure where to start or the best exercises for your body type, consider hiring a trainer.
4. Monitor Your Progress
You must keep on checking whether you are making any progress by measuring your selected markers. This is why you need measurable fitness goals. Some of the progress markers include your body weight, circumference (on thighs, waist, hips or chest), pictures, or body fat calipers if you can get them. You can take these measurements every week, or two weeks, and after one month. How and when you measure it depends on you — but you must ensure consistency so as to get reliable feedback. It will help you understand whether you are indeed getting ripped, or you need to add more efforts to see results.
After a few weeks, say three weeks in workout, consider making some changes both in your diet and training schedule. For instance, you can increase carb intake a little bit so as to get supplementary energy to hit the gym more vigorously. However, ensure that you still maintain the calorie deficit. On workout, plan on how to increase your training sessions and time per week. Keep measuring your progress gradually, and every time you need to tweak the plan, go ahead and do it. Sometimes you may need to slow down while other times you need to up your game, which is why you must understand your gradual progress.
The Bottom Line
Did you think that you can never get abs like your favorite celebrity? Now you know that everyone can get ripped and get those shredded abs. It takes sacrifice and commitment. Follow these tips keenly, and when you feel like you need professional help from a trainer or a nutritionist, do not hesitate to ask.