A Workout to Get Jacked/Ripped in a Month? (The Truth)

We all want to get ripped, and we all want to get there fast. Who loves dieting on bland chicken and rice for weeks on end? You don’t, and your girlfriend certainly doesn’t!

So, can you get ripped in a month? You probably won’t get jacked or ripped in a month unless you already only have 10% body fat. Not to mention, the further you are from there, the longer it’ll take.

Here’s the truth about getting jacked/ripped in a month.

Jacked – What’s That Even Mean?

I’m actually not sure where the term “jacked” originated when looking at the research. It might refer to a “jacked-up truck.” This person has jacked-up muscles pressed to the skin and shirt.

While that’s a perfect example of a difference between what “people” vs. “gym folk” classify, if you ask a gym rat what “jacked” means, the answer is quite simple:

You gotta be big, and you have gotta be lean.

While this might seem like a rather brute answer, it’s true – regardless. You have to have a decent amount of muscle mass to make you look… muscular, and you have to have very little body fat. These two are hard to achieve on their own and even harder together!

Why? Well, these are counterintuitive, and the human body resists change.

This means you’ll have to spend a lot of time building that muscle and then removing the fat between the muscle and the skin. This is why fitness influencers spend months getting ready for competitions or photoshoots.

But does that mean you’d also need months? Or is it going to be a lot faster for you? What if you only eat chicken? What if you did three hours of cardio daily?

Can a Workout Get You Ripped in One Month?

Probably not. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the truth of the matter is you probably won’t be able to lose that much weight in one month – at least not without burning a lot of muscle in the process.

To give you some clarity on what is possible, have a look at this table:

Current Body Fat Percentage	Time to Shreds
>25%	22 – 25 Weeks
20 – 25%	18 – 23 Weeks
15 – 20%	16 – 19 Weeks
10 – 15%	12 Weeks
7 – 10%	4 – 8 Weeks

As you can see, the time varies greatly from person to person based primarily on their current fat levels. So a month to get ripped or jacked will be a long shot for most guys, while a four-month deadline is a bit more realistic.

That said, the time to get ripped can also be influenced by other factors, like:

• Age, Sex, and Training Age will all impact the rate of fat loss, seeing as hormone levels begin to taper off as we age. Men have higher testosterone (which makes fat loss easier), and someone with a decent amount of muscle will lose fat more accessible.
• Stress levels will play a massive role, as too much stress can lead to an increase in cortisol, which will downregulate fat loss and hypertrophy.
• Dietary strictness will play a massive role, too, as someone who can diet harder will see results much quicker.
• Hormone levels such as thyroid and growth hormone will definitely influence your fat loss and recovery capabilities as well.

There are various other factors that will have a smaller influence on how much fat you can lose in a certain time period. However, these are the main factors that will slow down or increase the rate of fat loss.

You might have noticed that I didn’t mention workouts. Why not? Surely doing a lot of workouts will burn a lot of calories – move more and eat less, right?

Sorta. Kinda. For some people. It depends. It varies.

Why It’s Not All About Training

There’s one massive flaw in thinking you’ll burn a lot of calories while training on your mission toward fat loss. You simply don’t burn that many calories while training…

To prove that point, let’s look at this table produced by Harvard showing the number of calories burned in 30 minutes of exercise:

Gym Activities	125-pound person	155-pound person	185-pound person
Weight Lifting: General	90	108	126
Calisthenics: Moderate	135	162	189
Stair Step Machine: General	180	216	252
Bicycling, Stationary: Moderate	210	252	294
Walking: 3.5 mph (17 min/mi)	107	133	159
Walk/Jog: jog <10 min.	180	216	252

As you can see, these numbers are really not that impressive. If your calorie deficit is at 700 calories, you’d need to do 60 – 120 minutes of exercise per day to make a dent in that 700 calories.

The Real “Secrets” to Fat Loss

So, what actually leads to fat loss?

Well, the biggest factor for weight loss is diet. Calories are the biggest determining factor behind fat loss, and failing to hit your overall calorie intake accurately will surely lead to a much harder time trying to lose weight.

Macronutrients play a role as well. For instance, all fat-loss diets have one thing in common – they’re all high in protein.

Next is NEAT or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis – which is just a fancy term for activities you do during the day that aren’t technically exercising. The number of steps you take per day, for instance, would influence NEAT.

Muscle mass will massively increase your Basal Metabolic Rate, too. This is why bodybuilders need to eat so much to sustain their large bodies. So technically, building more muscle will indirectly lead to more fat loss.

Stress has been mentioned before, and I firmly believe it’s one of the biggest reasons why folks find it so hard to lose weight. Stress leads to poor sleep, overeating, cortisol rise, and so many other factors that will lead to fat-loss resistance.

Does That Mean Working Out for a Month Won’t Do Anything?

No, of course not, but there are limitations to what you can achieve. Essentially, you can lose 0.5 – 1.0% of your total body weight per week. This is a good range to remain in because it’ll lead to the most amount of fat loss with the least amount of muscle loss.

Trying to lose more than this could lead to:

• Muscle loss due to poor energy in the gym
• Poor libido and poor overall health
• Increased risk of injury
• Hormonal changes (thyroid hormone reduction)
• On certain occasions, you could limit the fat loss due to increased cortisol

So, what can I do in one month?

Workout & Diet To Get You Ripped Fast

Ideally, you’d do this for way longer than one month. The longer you do this program, the better results you’ll have. That said, don’t extend this past 16 weeks, as this can lead to the issues mentioned above.

First, Let’s Talk About Nutrition

The diet to get ripped fast will be focused on losing fat while retaining muscle mass. This means we have to eat in a specific way to allow the body to react in a certain way:

• Consuming a diet rich in protein, at least 1 – 1.2 grams per pound of body weight will allow for muscle retention (and perhaps even more fat loss).
• Eat slightly below your maintenance calories, around 150 – 250 calories below (so now’s probably a good time to chill with the alcohol). This will create “room” for fat loss. Once fat loss stops, you can either increase the deficit by 150 – 200 calories or add in some cardio in 10-minute increments.
• Split the remainder of your calories between carbs and fats however you please, whichever you find most sustainable.
• Aim to lose around 0.5 – 1.0% of total body weight per week.
• No specific diet (vegan, keto, fasting, etc.) or eating schedule will lead to more fat loss.

When it comes to food choices, you might want to avoid social media, too, as there’s so much misinformation out there. At the end of the day, you have to pick foods you’ll actually enjoy. Following a diet that you truly enjoy is the number one way to stick to the plan.

Here are some of the foods that I like having in my diet:

Protein	Carbs	Fats
Lean Poultry and Fish	Whole Grains	Avocado
Eggs	Fruits	Olive Oil
Whey Protein	Rice (white and brown)	Salmon (fatty fish)
Vegan Proteins	High-Protein Pasta	Eggs

Learn to cook with spices and low-calorie sauces to make your foods enjoyable. This will allow for the greatest adherence to eating to get ripped.

Now, What About Training To Get Ripped?

The training to get ripped fast will – again – be focused on max fat loss while retaining as much muscle mass. This means you’ll be training with heavy resistance, using some cardio, and definitely getting stronger (for as long as you can).

The biggest determining factor behind all of these is going to be how you train, but here are other factors to maximizing your success:

• Training muscles within 3 reps of failure seems to be best for overall hypertrophy; however, it’ll depend on which studies and literature you look at.
• The amount of volume you do per session (and per week) is individual and varies from person to person. That said, you probably need less, not more.
• Any split will work as long as you do it 100%.
• Cardio should be done post-workout – always.

Example Workout Plan to Get Ripped

Monday: Push Day

• Incline Barbell Press, 2 sets of 8 – 12 reps
• Flat Dumbbell Flyes. 2 sets of 10 – 15 reps Lateral Raises (Cables), 3 sets of 8 – 15 reps
• Rear Delt Raises (Cables), 2 sets of 10 – 15 reps
• JM Press, 3 sets of 8 – 15 reps
• Cardio (Incline Walking), 30 minutes

Tuesday: Pull Day

• Pull-ups, 2 sets to failure
• Single Arm Row (Cable), 3 sets of 6 – 12 reps
• Single Arm Pulldown, 2 sets of 10 – 15 reps
• Chest Supported Rows, 3 sets of 8 – 15 reps
• Preacher Curl, 3 sets of 6 – 12 reps
• Cardio (Incline Walking), 30 minutes

Wednesday: Rest Day

• Cardio (Incline Walking), 60 minutes
• Abs

Thursday: Leg Day

• Leg Press, 2 sets of 8 – 15 reps
• Adductors, 3 sets of 6 – 12 reps
• Lying Leg Curl, 2 sets of 10 – 15 reps
• Seated Leg Curl, 2 sets of 6 – 10 reps
• RDL, 2 sets of 10 – 12 reps

Friday: Push Day

• Incline Dumbbell Press, 2 sets of 8 – 12 reps
• Flat Cable Flyes. 2 sets of 10 – 15 reps
• Barbell Overhead Press, 3 sets of 8 – 15 reps
• Lateral Raises (Cables), 2 sets of 10 – 15 reps
• Single Arm Tricep Extensions, 3 sets of 8 – 15 reps
• Cardio (Incline Walking), 30 minutes

Saturday: Pull Day

• Pull-ups, 2 sets to failure
• Single Arm Row (Dumbbells), 3 sets of 6 – 12 reps
• Wide Grip Pulldown, 2 sets of 10 – 15 reps
• Chest Supported Rows, 3 sets of 8 – 15 reps
• Barbell Curl, 3 sets of 6 – 12 reps
• Cardio (Incline Walking), 30 minutes

Sunday: Rest Day

• Cardio (Incline Walking), 60 minutes
• Abs

* Note: Cardio should ideally be low-intensity, as this allows for more calories to be burned before hitting fatigue. HIIT is great, but it makes your recovery a lot worse than it could be if you had just stuck to LISS cardio.

Again, this is just an example of a workout plan, and yours might look vastly different. The point is that you need to do some training with heavy resistance to give the muscle mass a reason to stick around.

If you don’t do enough hard work, well, then your body will simply burn muscle as energy. If you find yourself not getting stronger week to week, make sure your diet, recovery, hydration, stress management, and supplementation are all on point. Also, sleep as much as you can – you’ll need it.

Is There a Workout to Get Jacked/Ripped in a Month?

Can you lose weight in one month? Absolutely. Can you build muscle in one month? Absolutely. Can you do both at the same time? It certainly is possible.

That said, it’s important to have the correct expectations about what you can achieve in a certain time period. If you’ve spent the last 18 months gaining weight and being lazy, you won’t be able to reverse all of that in 4 weeks (1 month).

Crash diets and programs will only lead to poor results, bad relationships with food, and severe hunger (trust me).

This is why any program that promises you’ll lose X amount of weight in Y amount of time is a lie. You cannot predict weight loss, especially not in an environment where the person will be doing weight training as well.

Your weight loss journey is individual. Some may be able to get ripped in one month. However, for most of us, it’ll take around 12 weeks.

In closing, rather than aiming for “how much fat can I lose in one month?” focus on keeping strength high while losing fat sustainably. This not only creates a better mental environment but also allows for more muscle retention – which looks pretty darn good.

And who doesn’t like seeing a ripped person lift some heavy a*s weight?!