Everyday Habits Of Ripped Men
When you hit the gym are you one of those totally ripped men, or just aspiring to be one? Those sculpted looking guys make it all look so easy and many others look on with a mixture of admiration and envy. So what does it take to get a totally ripped physique? For starters, it takes a whole lot of effort and dedication. Getting ripped and staying ripped is a full-time job.
We’ve looked at the everyday habits of ripped men to highlight the fact that getting that totally ripped form is just the being of a process. The hard work is staying that way. So what does it take to join the ranks of ripped men that we admire from a distance? Try incorporating some of the daily habits of ripped men into your routine and watch your own muscles start to take on the shape you’re hoping for.
Set Goals
Your first step is to set yourself realistic, long term goals. You may want your ripped body before your next summer vacation or it could be your cousin’s wedding in the spring. Occasions like this may seem like a good reason to start, but if you look at them realistically, they are short term goals. What happens when these events pass? Do you keep going or do you revert back to your old habits? Ripped men don’t just set one short term goal. They set daily ones, weekly ones well into the future. They can almost visualize what they are striving to achieve. Then too, they reset and change their goals as needed. Setting goals becomes something they do for every aspect of their lives, and not just when it comes to diet and exercise. Keep a diary of your goals, your process, and your achievements. This is the diary you can also keep your body measurements and other data in.
They Keep A Schedule
Getting a ripped body is a lifestyle choice that doesn’t allow for lounging around watching TV and eating snacks all day. Ripped men set their alarm clocks for the same time every morning. Whether they have breakfast first or go for a run, they keep a pretty regular schedule. Their gym bags are packed and ready to go every day so they don’t waste time looking for things. Even the free time they allow themselves is scheduled. By limiting the amount of idle time they do allow themselves every day, they are less likely to revert back to their old, lazy habits.
Meal Preparation
One sure fire way of destroying all of your body sculpting efforts is a lack of meal preparation. You come home from a hard day’s work and you’re starving. You open the fridge in search of sustenance and there is nothing healthy or appetizing in there. You scrounge around the pantry and all you see is snacks foods. In hungry desperation, you call for a home-delivered extra-large pizza and you scoff it down with a six pack of beer. You convince yourself that this is a one-off thing, but if you don’t have some sort of meal preparation habit, you’ll end up overeating the wrong food on a daily basis meaning you can kiss your aspirations of achieving a ripped body goodbye.
Ripped men plan and prepare all of their meals and snacks so that they stay in control of their calorie intake. That may mean having meat packed in portions in the freezer so it’s ready to cook in a flash. Vegetables are also prepared and packed into portion sized containers so salads and vegetables are also ready to go. Snacks are also planned in advance and can consist of fruit or energy bars, both of which are ready to eat on the run. Most definitely the most important meal of the day for ripped men is breakfast. This all-important meal can be as simple as a bowl of oatmeal or a fruit and yogurt smoothie.
Protein And Nutrition
Building muscles takes a lot of hard work and the right fuel. The main nutrient ripped men consume is protein. Apart from being incredibly filling, it also has a thermic effect. That means your body consumes a whole lot of calories to digest protein-rich foods. Not only that but, protein is also the main nutrient for building strong muscles. For the busy bodybuilder, protein powder is a fast and convenient way to get your daily dose of protein. If you’ve got a blender, a quick meal is easy. If lunch during working hours is when you need a quick protein fix, get yourself a protein shaker and you’ll have fast food that won’t destroy your work in progress physique.
Don’t forget your carbs. Although protein should make up the bulk of your daily intake of food, you need the quick energy burst that only carbs can deliver. Carbs are particularly important pre-workout and after working out. You need the carbs to give you energy during strenuous exercise, and after to replenish your energy levels.
You’ll also have to track your macronutrients. Your body will need an enormous amount of energy, vitamins, and minerals during your body sculpting journey. By tracking the number of nutrients each food source provides, you’ll be certain to feed your muscles everything they need. There are a lot of apps you can download to your smartphone that only require you to input the foods and amounts you plan on eating and it will show you what nutrients are available to you for each meal.
Dig Deep And Stay Motivated
No matter how dedicated you are to getting the ripped body you’ve always dreamed of, you will have days when you just can’t bring yourself to down another protein shake or hit the gym. When this happens to you, don’t despair. It happens to everyone at some point. What you need to do is focus on your goals again. If you’ve been keeping a journal, look back over your notes and body measurements so you can see your progress. Once you’ve seen how far you’ve come, use that success to stay motivated. If you really don’t feel like hitting the gym, just go for a long walk or a short run. Most running shoes for men are comfortable and are perfect for hitting the pavement at any pace.
No Excuses
Getting a ripped body is a struggle. You find yourself doing fantastic for weeks and then one day you have a hectic day at work, or you spend hours in traffic. The temptation to ditch your workout and diet routine is great and you tell yourself you deserve to because you’ve had a rough day. Stop with the excuses. A bad day is no excuse to throw all your efforts down the drain. Even worse, if you find a lame excuse one day, you’ll find yourself searching for excuses more and more. Get on the treadmill to get moving again and take it from there. You’ll feel better and be more inclined to move on to other exercises as well.
Expect The Unexpected
No matter how much you try to stick to your everyday habits, plans often change unexpectedly. Your lunchtime workout may be put on hold because your morning meeting goes well into the afternoon, you may need to embark on an unexpected trip, or you may wake up with the flu. Life doesn’t always go to plan and there will be days when you simply don’t have the time for your usual routine or you don’t have the energy or the stamina due to feeling unwell. From time to time it’s okay to take a break from your daily routine and habits. Just don’t let it drag out for too long before you get back into your regular schedule again.
It’s Not A Solo Act
Getting a ripped body isn’t easy and there will be days when you just can’t do it alone. Remember that when it comes to a complete lifestyle change that involves a whole lot of commitment to diet and exercise it’s difficult at the best of times and you’ll need to support of your family and friends to keep you on track. Get your friends involved. In particular, find a buddy that is also trying to get a ripped body. You can help each other put together a workout routine, exchange recipes or just have someone to talk to when you feel your motivation levels slipping. They’ll also be there to pick you up or kick you back into gear when you start making excuses to quit.
Start Lifting The Heavy Weights
Part of getting a ripped body is doing a lot of weight lifting. Nothing sculpts muscles more than hitting the weights. Obviously, you start off with smaller weights, but you will gradually need to work your way up to the heavyweight class. You can do almost all of your weight training at the gym, but if you prefer to exercise at home you’ll need a decent amount of equipment. Start with getting yourself a set of hand weights or different weight plates and a bar. It’s a good idea to also get yourself a weight lifting belt for support. A bench press and squat rack are also good additions to a home gym.
Don’t Ditch Cardio
As dull as you may find cardio workouts, they are a necessary part of achieving the perfect looking ripped body. You don’t have to go for a five-kilometer run every day, but 30 minutes of cardio or a 20 minute HIIT session a day is enough to get your heart pumping. You can change it up as often as you need to so you stay motivated and get great results. In fact, alternating your cardio is a great way to stay on track as you will be challenging different muscles with different exercises.
Watch Your Health
Achieving and maintaining a ripped physique takes its toll on the average mere mortal so it is absolutely crucial to keep an eye on your health. Listen to your body. While it is normal to experience a certain level of pain, chronic and continuous pain is different. Particularly when you are first starting out, the pain will be a regular occurrence. In the beginning, you may need to alternate between a strenuous workout and a slightly more leisured one. This will give your body a chance to recover between the difficult workout days, but still, keep you moving and motivated.
Before embarking on any form of rigorous exercise and a change in eating habits that are associated with working on a ripped body, see your doctor for a full medical check-up to make sure the only negative side effects you feel are the small tinges of pain you feel from working muscles that used to be dormant. Once you get the all clear to go ahead with your new bodybuilding lifestyle, don’t forget to schedule regular checkups to make sure you stay healthy.
Good health depends on good nutrition. We all know that. But you also need to make sure you get enough sleep. A lack of sleep will affect your focus and considering you will be lifting weights you need every ounce of concentration at your disposal. A good night’s sleep is also crucial to repairing your muscles after each day of working out and you’ll simply be in a better mood and feel more positive than you would burn the midnight oil watching television all night. Low sleep levels have been shown to increase ghrelin which is the hormone that stimulates hunger. This could result in you seeking out the cookie jar several times a day.
Don’t forget to stay hydrated. Dehydration can result in muscle cramps and if you experience these regularly, you are more likely to abandon your efforts. Keep that water bottle with you at all times. Apart from keeping you hydrated, you’ll also feel less hungry in between meals and will be less likely to snack.
Ripped men definitely have their everyday habits. Include some of these into your daily routine and you too can achieve that highly prized ripped body you’ve always dreamed of.
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