Next week sees the start of our four week Summer Shred at the Evolve gym.

To celebrate the fact that we’re about to take a new bunch of eager, nearly-in-shape folks to the land of abs, based on personal training methods, we thought we’d get biblical on your ass with our…

Ten Commandments of Getting Shredded…

1 – Thou Shall Achieve a Small Daily Calorie Deficit

When you strip away the nonsense and gimmicks, fat loss is always going to be about consuming less calories than you use on a daily basis.

But how much of a deficit? It doesn’t have to be massive. In fact, too much of a deficit will lead to muscle wastage and leave you without the energy to lift. We suggest aiming for a 200 calorie deficit to begin with. But of course you’ll only know that if you …

2 – Thou Shall Record Thy Baseline Measurements

You need to know where you’re at right now, if you want to make decent progress.

For one, you should be checking those measurements every two weeks. That way you won’t give yourself a chance to stop making progress. But you also need to know your stats to work out your calorie intake, and then ensure you have your deficit.

For a ballpark figure, take your weight in pounds and multiply it by eleven. Then, minus 200 from the result. There’s your deficit.

3 – Thou Shall Eat The Same Things Every Day

This is not about moderation, about 80/20, or being moderate. This is about getting shredded as fast as possible. So once you’ve got your calorie goal, plan the meals using the boring, basic bodybuilding foods that get you there and eat them every day.

Food is not entertainment right now, it’s fuel.

4 – Thou Shall Pre Track Your Food Intake

Before breakfast enter all the food in your plan for that day into a tracking app like MyFitnessPal and then stick to it religiously. This it impossible to go over board on your calories or macros.

Tracking. Is. Everything.

5 – Thou Shal’t Not Drink

Yes, it’s boring. Yes, you’ll end up saying no to fun stuff. No, no one wants to live like this long term.

But we’re not talking about balance. We’re talking about the insane dedication it takes to get ripped in a hurry.

6 – Thou Shall Train As Many Muscles As Possible Per Session

When fat loss is the goal, sessions need to have a huge metabolic impact. Big, multi-joint exercises like squats and presses are a must.

You don’t necessarily have to do full body sessions every time, but you should hit large muscle groups. Now is not the time for an “arms day.”  An upper body/lower body split is a great option for most.

7 – Thou Shall Train As Early As Possible

If you can only train in the evening, train in the evening. But there’s a magic to getting your session in early in the day. You’re fresh, energised and there’s no possibility of sacking it off when you’re knackered and broken after a long day of work.

8 – Thou Shall Move As Much As Possible

Your phone already measures how many steps you take each day. Make sure they’re at least 10,000.

This barely counts as exercise, but it prevents you from unconsciously limiting your daily activity while in a calorie deficit. A large proportion of the population are “compensators”, meaning, when left to their own devices, they’ll eat more food and move less while undertaking an exercise regime. These people account for the massive variations in results you tend to see in fat loss studies.

9 – Thou Shall Respect Thy Sleepy-Time

Fast fat loss is a gruelling battle. You absolutely must be rested or you will reach breaking point and quit. It’s not if, it’s when.

Get eight hours a night. Do it!

10 – Thou Shal’t Not Wimp Out

This is hard. It’s uncomfortable. Fat loss doesn’t care if you’re tired or not in the mood or don’t fancy another serving of dry chicken.

If this is what you want you’re going to have to suck up some discomfort for the duration. If you don’t want to do that, then don’t, but be honest with yourself.

To be clear, we’re not maniacs about this. We think personal training on the whole should be enjoyable and allow you to do fun things in life while feeling comfortable in your body. But the question was, “how do I get shredded?” And that’s what we answered.

If that sounds good, check out our 6-week, or 12 week body transformation programme, and drop us a line today.

We also do Personal Training in two locations across London.

Words by Zack Cahill