Ripped to Shreds in One Month

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Going to basic training for the Army on November sixth, sadly I
Can’t continue to bulk my way until that date.
Basically I have about a month and a half to get lean so I won’t
Struggle too much during the physical training.

I’m planning on running
A low carb diet for the time left and perform very mild cardio.
15 lbs or so should bring me down to about 10-12% bodyfat and I’m
Currently at 15-16%.

Any advice on how to cut down weight this quickly without losing too much
Muscle?

Thanks in advance

2

You can certainly lose a significant amount of weight in a month, but if you lose 15 lbs that quickly I don’t think you’ll be happy with the body composition changes. You definitely won’t go from “bulking” to “ripped to shreds”

3

[quote]pwolves17 wrote:
You can certainly lose a significant amount of weight in a month, but if you lose 15 lbs that quickly I don’t think you’ll be happy with the body composition changes. You definitely won’t go from “bulking” to “ripped to shreds”[/quote]

Yeah unless you are using some serious drugs a 15 lbs drop in a month is going to be a lot of muscle too.

4

If your goal is to perform better why are you planning a strict diet? Wouldn’t it more efficient to improve your conditioning?

5

Aim for no more than 2lbs per week. Your first week might be a bigger drop due to glycogen, etc. Keep your protein on task, keep lifting hard in the gym, and do cardio - every day. There’s lots of running/jogging whatever you want to call it in Boot Camp/Basic if you want to not feel like shit, start going every day.

Good luck and thanks for serving!

I wouldn’t worry about getting shredded. The military will do that for you :-P. Remember its all a mental game, keep your head and you’ll do fine.

6

Honestly, you should try to put on as much lean mass as possible before you go to basic. You will lose a lot of size and strength as the only resistance training you’ll be doing is BW training. Unless you’re really skinny, you won’t even have the opportunity to be in a caloric surplus.

As others have said, worry more about your performance (aka your run time) than your scale weight.

7

Check out the Rapid Fat Loss diet by Lyle Mcdonald, I use that if I need to drop weight in a hurry. There is an old thread on here somewhere that Bricknyce started.

8

[quote]Purple wrote:
Check out the Rapid Fat Loss diet by Lyle Mcdonald, I use that if I need to drop weight in a hurry. There is an old thread on here somewhere that Bricknyce started.[/quote]

Just a heads up, while the RFL is probably the fastest way to drop fat, the diet itself and the (quite frequent) water retention that often masks fat loss, can be a massive mind fuck. This though happens when dieters overdo the weight training on the plan, or add cardio or myriad other reasons.

9

Don’t worry about losing too much weight before you go into basic training. As someone said, focus on your conditioning. Now is not the time to push your body to its limits in terms of fat loss. Being awake all hours, the stress, the field exercises, rations, the physical nature etc will all grind your body down and in doing so, you’ll find you lose a lot of weight. Be prepared though, muscle will go too.

A lot of the bigger lads who I went through training with lost a lot of weight very quickly. The leaner lads, myself included, actually put weight on due to the diet aspect being out of our control.

My advice is to prime your body for the beating it is about to endure. You’ve obviously proved your capable physically if you’ve passed selection (not sure which branch or even country you’re in), so the rest is just a mental game. Enjoy yourself, eat well and take advantage of the luxuries you have before they get taken away.

And although it goes against all muscle building principles etc. I’d advise starting to up your running if you haven’t already. You don’t have to do a lot of long, steady state bollocks although one longer run per week wouldn’t hurt. I’d focus more on the 800m to 2.4km sort of bracket. And it always pays to be good at 100-200m distances too.

This is my first post so I understand if you choose to ignore. However, I am in the Royal Marine’s myself, so I feel I know a little bit about the topic.

Jable.

10

When you figure out how to get ripped to shreds in one month let me know ok? :wink:

11

I remember buying the Weider “Ripped Quick 14 day kit” when I first started training. Long story short, I didn’t get ripped quick, or even ripped slowly. Definitely ripped off though -lol.

S

12

[quote]Jable1066 wrote:
Don’t worry about losing too much weight before you go into basic training. As someone said, focus on your conditioning. Now is not the time to push your body to its limits in terms of fat loss. Being awake all hours, the stress, the field exercises, rations, the physical nature etc will all grind your body down and in doing so, you’ll find you lose a lot of weight. Be prepared though, muscle will go too.

A lot of the bigger lads who I went through training with lost a lot of weight very quickly. The leaner lads, myself included, actually put weight on due to the diet aspect being out of our control.

My advice is to prime your body for the beating it is about to endure. You’ve obviously proved your capable physically if you’ve passed selection (not sure which branch or even country you’re in), so the rest is just a mental game. Enjoy yourself, eat well and take advantage of the luxuries you have before they get taken away.

And although it goes against all muscle building principles etc. I’d advise starting to up your running if you haven’t already. You don’t have to do a lot of long, steady state bollocks although one longer run per week wouldn’t hurt. I’d focus more on the 800m to 2.4km sort of bracket. And it always pays to be good at 100-200m distances too.

This is my first post so I understand if you choose to ignore. However, I am in the Royal Marine’s myself, so I feel I know a little bit about the topic.

Jable. [/quote]

Good advise is good advise, regardless of the post count, Marine. Nice post.

As a current CQB instructor, I would advise you to focus on your conditioning and not worry about “making gains”. Regardless of what country’s armed forces you are joining, the goal is to make it through basic, not what your bench press max is. One thing you need to know, you will be doing a lot of training in full “Battle Rattle” (vest, helmet, gun, pack, etc). That will add a dimension to your training that will really task your endurance. Remember, you are entering a new world now, where your skills/ conditioning will be used to keep you alive and your enemies fucking dead. It you are serious about being a warrior, then focus on training warrior skills, worry about the size of your arms after basic. Good Luck

13

The RFL won’t do shit for increasing work capacity, so definitely only do that if your goal is to lose fat.

14

[quote]BorntoPose wrote:
I’m planning on running
A low carb diet for the time left and perform very mild cardio.
15 lbs or so should bring me down to about 10-12% bodyfat and I’m
Currently at 15-16%. [/quote]
Three months ago, you were under 11% bodyfat with a bench, squat, and deadlift all around the same, in the 300s. And already into your second cycle. At 19 years old.

Kiddo, I see big trouble in your near future. Your training, nutrition, and work ethic pretty much suck. Best of luck in the military. From what I hear, that’ll either sort you out or it’ll guarantee a tough time.

15

^ I fuckin’ love this guy. He’s like Interpol, he’s got a dossier on everyone.

16

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]BorntoPose wrote:
I’m planning on running
A low carb diet for the time left and perform very mild cardio.
15 lbs or so should bring me down to about 10-12% bodyfat and I’m
Currently at 15-16%. [/quote]
Three months ago, you were under 11% bodyfat with a bench, squat, and deadlift all around the same, in the 300s. And already into your second cycle. At 19 years old.
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_training_performance_bodybuilding_gear/advice_please_16

Kiddo, I see big trouble in your near future. Your training, nutrition, and work ethic pretty much suck. Best of luck in the military. From what I hear, that’ll either sort you out or it’ll guarantee a tough time.[/quote]

I’m betting on short time.

Also, trying to lose a lot of weight before basic is a bad idea all around.

You lose even more when you get there. It sounds like the op needs some life counseling.

17

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
^ I fuckin’ love this guy. He’s like Interpol, he’s got a dossier on everyone.[/quote]

I’ll take that challenge… Chris see if you can do me next!

Though good call on the research. He’s like the Sherlock Holmes of T-Nation.

18

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
^ I fuckin’ love this guy. He’s like Interpol, he’s got a dossier on everyone.[/quote]

X2.You cant hide from CC haha I love it.

19

[quote]Quasi-Tech wrote:
Aim for no more than 2lbs per week. Your first week might be a bigger drop due to glycogen, etc. Keep your protein on task, keep lifting hard in the gym, and do cardio - every day. There’s lots of running/jogging whatever you want to call it in Boot Camp/Basic if you want to not feel like shit, start going every day.

Good luck and thanks for serving!

I wouldn’t worry about getting shredded. The military will do that for you :-P. Remember its all a mental game, keep your head and you’ll do fine.[/quote]

This… 2lbs per week is good much more and you will be zapped…make sure protien is high

20

[quote]Quasi-Tech wrote:
Aim for no more than 2lbs per week[/quote]
But what if your body is primed to lose 5-10 pounds that week? Using blanket statements like this doesn’t take GENETICS into account.

As if all the leanest guys out there all subscribed to this “no more than 2 pounds” rule/limit. I guess they got that lean on accident. This isn’t even science.

I must be doing it wrong.