Still, in lockdown, are you? Or, maybe you just prefer to train at home to avoid people – I can relate. Well, the only way to get ripped at home without equipment is to do what everyone else does – diet and train.
Quite a lackluster answer, I know, but it’s tried and tested for a reason. Keep reading to learn how to get ripped without equipment from home!
What Do We Mean By “Ripped?”
So, you’ve been spending a bit of time on the Gram. Or you may have seen a really shredded person on the beach – and you want that look. But, before we can actually give you the steps to achieve the said look, we probably need to identify what that look actually means.
Being ripped is more than it seems and would require more than just one thing:
- A decent amount of muscle mass is required to have a look that looks muscly – duh. If you don’t have all that muscle, you might end up looking skinny fat, which not only sounds awful, but it kinda is.
- Very little body fat is needed to have a look that’ll scream, “Hey, I make breakfast without a shirt on.” For men, this would be <10%, and for women, probably be <20%. (Females have a bit more fat on their bodies due to biology.)
Of course, other factors like genetics and hormonal health play a role, but you can’t really change those yourself. If you genetically have great arms, you’re more likely to look good in a vest. If you genetically have “flat” ab muscles (i.e., they aren’t big by nature), you’ll struggle to have visible abs.
This is really all there is to be ripped. You need a good amount of muscle mass and very little fat mass. Seems simple, right?
Well, before we delve into the how here are a few things worth mentioning:
- The more fat you have, the longer it’ll take. If you’ve spent the past 15 months eating like crap, then you won’t reverse that in 2 months. Be very realistic about your goals.
- It’s not “that” healthy. Being lean is okay, but being truly ripped or shredded can have a detrimental impact on your health – especially the endocrine system. Women are very susceptible to this kind of hormonal damage. Thus, don’t stay ripped for too long.
Now that you’ve hit the “I accept the terms and regulations,” and you’ve proven you’re human, let’s get into the actual article: How to get ripped at home.
Step 1 – Build Some Muscle, Bro
So, step 1 is actually not completely necessary for some. Some people may have already been spending more than 10 months doing resistance training or something like that, and they already have muscle mass. For the rest of us, let’s get started *.
* If you’re above 20% body fat as a male or above 30% as a female, skip to Step 3.
Muscle mass is incredibly important because not only will it help us have that great look, but it’ll also help us age better and improve life quality and overall health. Thus, we’d want to spend some time building this muscle mass layer first.
The very first thing you need to realize is that you’ll need to eat in a certain way in order to build muscle mass.
Here are your instructions:
- Eat protein: Protein is still the only macronutrient that’ll convert into muscle mass. Thus, you need it. If you don’t have any kidney illnesses, you can aim for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
- Eat a lot of calories: In order to grow new muscle tissue, you need energy from somewhere to convert into this new matter – you need calories. Calculate your calorie intake with the Harris Benedict Equation, and then add 200 calories to that to place yourself in a calorie surplus.
Once you’ve subtracted the protein from the total calories, you can then split the rest between carbs and fats as you wish. It’d be a good idea to keep on this diet for a good 8 – 12 weeks, and you should aim to gain 0.5 – 1.0% of your body weight per week.
Once you have your diet straight, you’ll need to start training – obviously. If you’re training at home, you might need to be very creative! That’s because, in order to actually build muscle, you need to practice progressive overload.
Progressive overload is the action of doing more over time to increase the amount of muscle mass you have.
This means you might need to do more reps over time, do harder reps, or use heavier resistance. But because you have less resistance than someone in a gym would, you might need to be very creative.
Here’s a program that I would follow:
| Day | Movements |
| Monday, Push Day | Push-ups, shoulder push-ups, incline push-ups, diamond push-ups, and dips |
| Tuesday, Pull Day | Pull-ups, chin-ups, inverted rows, single arm inverted rows, and underhand inverted rows |
| Wednesday, Leg Day | Pistol squats, lunges, jump squats, jumping lunges, and glute raises |
| Thursday, Off | Off |
| Friday, Upper Day | Push-ups, shoulder push-ups, incline push-ups, pull-ups, and chin-ups |
| Saturday, Lower Day | Pistol squats, lunges, jump squats, jumping lunges, and glute raises |
| Sunday, Off | Off |
You might want to include some form of cardio on rest days, like a brisk 20-minute walk around the neighborhood. Or, if you wanted to take some of the guesswork out of calisthenics training, a program like the Thenx app might be a good investment.
Step 2 – Lose Fat, Buddy
Once you’ve spent a good 8 – 12 weeks building muscle, you might want to lose some fat to reveal all that muscle underneath. This will be another 8 – 12 weeks, depending on how much fat you have.
Your training will remain the same, though you might want to change some movements to keep it exciting. Other than that, you won’t be changing your resistance training at all.
You might want to do cardio daily now, but start off slowly. This means 15 minutes daily of low-intensity cardio.
Your diet, however, will change quite a bit. While it changes a lot, it’ll be very simple to make the changes:
- Protein will remain high, at least 1 gram per pound of body weight. You might choose leaner options, meaning swapping chicken thighs for breasts, etc.
- Calories will drop from maintenance to 200 – 300 below maintenance, all coming from fats and carbohydrates.
- Fiber could increase to combat the hunger you will face in this phase.
Other than this, diet isn’t really going to change. To give you an idea of how a meal might change, here’s an example:
| Bulking Meal | Cutting Meal |
| 250g Chicken thighs | 250g Chicken breast |
| 275g Cooked rice | 175g Cooked rice |
| 15g Olive oil | 5g Olive oil |
The cutting meal has far fewer calories, fats, and carbs in it. But it still has the same amount of protein. This means it’ll help in your overarching goal of fat loss.
Overall you should be aiming to lose 0.5 – 1.0% of body weight per week. Once your fat loss stops, you can remove an extra 150 – 300 calories or increase cardio.
Step 3 – Do a Recomp
If you’re at Step 3, you’ve skipped steps 1 and 2 because your body fat is more than 20% for a male or 30% for a female. This means it wouldn’t be the greatest idea to gain more weight, but you do have the opportunity to do a recomposition for aesthetic purposes.
A recomp is simply a phase where you build muscle and lose fat at the same time. This isn’t possible for everyone, and it’ll definitely require some hard work, but it is possible.
Your training will look exactly the same as it does in Step 1. However, you might want to do daily cardio; 15 to 20 minutes of walking or biking should do the trick.
Your diet will be different, though:
- Once you’ve calculated your maintenance calories, you can simply subtract 200 – 300 from there, and those are your weight loss calories to eat daily.
- Your protein can be slightly higher than 1 gram per pound, even up to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight.
- You might want to stay on track with your diet more than someone who’s bulking. This means fewer cheat meals, and you might need a few sugar-free sodas and snacks.
This process can take up to 20 weeks, depending on how much fat you have to lose. You should also be aiming to lose 0.5 – 1.0% of body weight per week. However, don’t be alarmed if your weight loss (scale weight) is slow.
As you start this journey, you’ll begin to gain muscle mass alarmingly quickly. Muscle, logically, weighs something. Thus, you might be losing inches around your waist, but the scale weight will remain unchanged – what the hell?
You’re simply gaining muscle mass. Don’t freak out, and don’t worry. But rather, use these other metrics to gauge your progress:
- Pictures are taken in the same mirror on the same day every week. Make sure the lighting is the same, and you’ll see the changes appearing week to week.
- Measurements around your waist, chest, upper arms, and thighs. This will allow you to see the missing real estate that you’ve lost.
- Strength is also a great indicator that you’re doing something right. If the movements are getting easier as you train, keep going!
One more thing – a little tip if you’re a complete beginner. Invest in some equipment.
If you’re a complete beginner, some of the movements – like a chin-up or pull-up – might be hard. Thus, you could benefit from having a resistance band helping you do those movements assisted in the beginning.
While we’re at it, don’t be afraid to try new things.
Try Yoga, Pilates, running, or anything that you think might be fun. The more engaging and interactive the training style is, the more likely you are to stick to it. If you deeply dislike the training we’ve given as an example, maybe some of the offerings might suit your fancy.
The most important factor is diet, after all.
How To Get Ripped Without Equipment (At Home) Conclusion
What a roller coaster this has been! Going from a high-calorie phase to a low-calorie environment with a strange recomposition phase in there as well. But the truth is, anyone can get really peeled with no equipment.
The three steps to getting ripped without equipment are:
- Build muscle
- Lose fat
- Do a recomp
Yet, the biggest things you will need to focus on are the following:
- Maintaining a diet that has an adequate amount of calories within. This means fewer calories than maintenance to lose weight – or more than maintenance to gain weight.
- Eating a diet that’s high in high-quality protein (so no deli meats!).
- Following a diet that’s healthy and filled with foods, you have no trouble digesting. It would also be wise to have more than 30g of fiber in there daily for gut health.
- You need to train – obviously. You don’t have to do the training we recommended, but along with calisthenics training, these are the best options to get ripped
Other than these measures, there really isn’t much else you need to be doing. Be very conservative and realistic with your goals. If you spent years falling off the wagon and gaining weight, you certainly won’t lose it all in a few weeks.
Make sure the process is somewhat enjoyable. Losing weight is tough, yes. But it shouldn’t be so strenuous that you consider giving up completely.
Choose both foods and a training style that you love, and you have a recipe for longevity.
