How to Get Ripped in 5 Months (Step-By-Step)

Five months, ey? I can get you ripped in that time… Granted, you aren’t starting from above 30% body fat. See, the more fat you have, the longer it will take to get ripped – obviously.

That said, it can be a bit more complicated, so let me explain what I mean!

Really, What Does Ripped Even Mean?

Now, before we give you the tools to change your body (and life), we should probably take you to school and explain what all these terms mean.

Being “ripped” is actually not set in stone. What does that mean? Well, your ripped might not be my ripped. I remember reading a headline that said The Mountain from Game of Thrones was ripped at 440 lbs.

He barely had abs, so I wouldn’t personally describe that as ripped. But you might.

And that’s okay! You have to realize that you should aim to be the best version of yourself and that trying to attain something impossible will only lead to disappointment. More on that later.

For all intents and purposes, we can describe “ripped” as a male with less than 12% body fat and a female with less than 17% (men naturally have lower fat levels). Both should still carry a decent amount of muscle mass.

So, now that we know what it means to be ripped, we can delve into how to get ripped, the best route to take, and the secret to getting there ASAP…

Step 1 – Be Realistic

First off, there is no secret. Despite what Instagram or YouTube influencers would have you believe, there simply is no replacement for hard work.

Losing fat means you have to go hungry for a while. It means making sacrifices. And it means moments in life will probably be less enjoyable.

So, before we start, answer the following questions:

1. Are you okay with eating less food for the following 4 – 5 months? Correction: less and healthy food?
2. Are you fine with spending a decent amount of time per week in the gym training and doing cardio?
3. Are you financially capable of buying healthy food and working out 5 – 7 times per week?
4. Are you (and the people) around you mentally fine with you having lower energy levels due to the fact that you’re dieting?

If you answered “yes” to all of these, then we’re off to the races!

Step 2 – Get Your Diet In Check

Step 1 – or rather, step 2 – is to get your darn diet in check if you really want to get ripped in the next few months!

No more donuts, no more Kung Pao chicken, and certainly no more all-you-can-eat pizza! I’m only kidding. However, we do need to make sacrifices. Losing fat will take some effort, but it needn’t be harder than it has to be.

Here’s your “hack” list to lose some pounds:

Hack #1 – Hit Your Calories

Hitting your calories will make a difference since eating in a deficit is the only way to lose weight. Simply calculate your maintenance calories here, and subtract 200 or 10%, depending on which one comes first.

Hack #2 – Get a Handle On Your Macros

Macronutrients also play a role! Well, one does. Protein is this magical macro that will not only help you build tons of muscle, but studies have shown it also aids in fat loss.

Aim for 1 – 1.2 grams per pound of body weight per day. Split the remainder of your calories between carbs and fats however you’d like. (Carbs and protein both have 4 calories per gram, whereas fats have 9 calories per gram.)

Hack #3 – Aim to Lose 0.5 – 1.0% of Your Bodyweight Per Week

This is good enough to keep you motivated but not so much that it’s unsustainable. When weight loss stops (which it will), you can either reduce calories again or introduce some cardio (more on this later).

This is part of the reason a goal of 5 months is more realistic than, say, six weeks to get ripped.

Hack #4 – Learn To Cook!

You shouldn’t be eating the same bland foods day in and day out. Try different spices, low-calorie sauces, and cooking methods to find good combinations.

Hack #5 – Try Carb Cycling

Since we do have a lot of time to play with, I’d highly suggest you make use of carb cycling. Simply put, you eat more on “heavier” days, while on rest/lighter days, you eat less. The total calorie deficit across the week is still enough to have you lose fat.

Here’s an example of carb cycling:

Is this method going to help you lose more fat than a normal diet? No, but it can help with adherence and strength on those heavier days.

Speaking of, here’s the workout!

Step 3 – Train your A*s off

Ah, my favorite part! The part where you slap on some headphones, blast Slipknot, and just let the stress of the day melt away! Or Adele – I won’t judge!

Training for fat loss is no different from training for muscle. “What makes the muscle will keep the muscle.”

Essentially, you should aim to get stronger from week to week. Why? Well, strength builds muscle!

Long story short, the more mechanical tension you apply to the muscle, the more it needs to react and the more it needs to adapt.

So how do you increase tension? There are various ways, but the ones that are the easiest are simply adding load or increasing the number of reps.

Here’s an example:

As you can see, we added load to the first set and then added reps to the last set! This is a massive progression, and if done consistently over the course of 5 months, you bet your a*s it’ll show in your physique.

Let’s look at the whole 5-month program.

Month 1 & 2: Volume Accumulation Phase

Simply put, this is the phase in which you’ll predominantly use volume as a means of progression. You’ll add sets weekly, and rather than increasing load weekly hit the upper limit of the rep range first before adding load.

* Note: Each week, add one single set to each workout. You should be doing around 8 more sets at week 8.

Month 3 & 4: Volume Holding Phase

Unlike the first two months, these months are all about throwing around bigger weights! You should be trying as hard as you can to get stronger, granted your form doesn’t go to crap.

And repeat. Yes, you’ll be doing far less volume, but because you’ll be pushing so much for strength, you’ll need the extra room for recovery.

Month 5: Burning Off the Last Pounds

Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT the time to drastically increase volume or intensity sets to “burn” more calories. Quite the opposite, actually. This is the time when you should really be careful about how you lift and the moves you pick.

You’ll notice a lot of the movements will be supported or take your back out of the equation. Rest plenty between sets and give it your all. It’s okay if you don’t get stronger at the same rate as you usually did, as your food should be pretty low by now.

Remember, you’d probably also be doing a lot of cardio at this point, so the volume is quite low. However, because the volume is so low, you better make sure every set is as good as it could possibly be. Don’t miss.

Ripped in 5 Months Conclusion

And there you have it! A fully personalized plan for you to lose weight as fast as possible that hopefully gets you ripped in 5 months.

To get ripped in 5 months in just 3 steps:

1. Be realistic.
2. Get your diet in check.
3. Train your a*s off.

It certainly is possible for most. However, use the 0.5 – 1.0% calculation to create reasonable and realistic expectations of yourself.

Lastly, above all else, aim for consistency. It’s okay to mess up here and there – happens to the best of us. But that’s not an excuse to fall off the rails entirely and waste days or weeks because you missed calories on one day!

Get back on track ASAP, and just aim to be consistent.

You got this.