Off-Topic: How to get ripped and stay that way #6packguide

Since i'm getting at least 3 messages a week about wat do i eat, how do i train, wat do i have to do in order to get a 6pack etc. i thought it was time to write up a stickie and link people to tis post if those questions come up in future.

The good news is that it is actually quite easy to get ripped and 6packed if you a) know what to do and b) are diciplined enough to do it.

The bad news is it is literally impossible to get ripped if you a) don't know what to do and/or b) you are not diciplined enough.

So far so good. For my story i can say i was always facinated by fitnessmodels, ripped bodies, 6packs, etc. I started working out seriously when i was around 19 and at teh german forces bc i just couldn't take teh bs anymoar. I was seriously underweight and people picked on that whereever they could and i wasn't supersatisfied too so i thought i should change something. While my fellow comrades were drinking in teh evenings i was eating 6-7meals a day and hitting teh gym at least 3 times a week. I went from 68kg while being 1.87m to 83/84kg in maybe 10weeks, gaining alot of muscles and obv. alot of fat as well.
I was looking way healthier than before, could finally fill out some t-shirts, etc. Still there was no definition whatsoever, i had a solid body but was far away from a goalbody.
This should stay like that for many years unfortunately. Was weighing always around 80kgs back then, went to the gym at least 3times a week, etc. but not much changed.
After my army time was over i moved to another city for my studies and i tried to get that godamn 6pack for teh summer every fucking year without any success. I was working out like crazy, go running 45minutes every 2nd day, cut down alcohol at least a bit - sure, i was losing some kg's in teh process but teh 6pack never really showed up.

teh turning point

Teh turning point pretty much was when a girl i had something something with back in teh days commented under that picture something like "you always had a solid body but it's weird that you just cannot figure out to get a 6pack and get really ripped". Oh boy that comment got me hooked, i will show you darling, you just wait. In the moment reading this i was quite pissed bc that exact body seemed to be enough for her back in teh days but in retrospect i'm quite happy she wrote that and got me thinking.
Since i always had alot of luck in my life it wasn't much different that time so that i had a spare room in my student flat and a sports-student moved in with me. We both were working out alot, we did alot of cardio together and we liked to party. Win-Win. After 2weeks or something like that i told him that this should finally be teh summer i get ripped. I think it was teh year 2008 now. Teh guy was laughing hysterically when i told him i want to get ripped. I was like "dude, we working out 3 times a week, we go running 3 times a week, we don't even do party that much anymoar, why the fuck not???" "bc with your nutrition it is literally impossible to get ripped..." Boom, another turning point. Nutrition, huh?
He told me in order to get a 6pack i basically need to change my entire nutrition and cut my carbs intake by as much as possible. Back then i was eating shitloads of pasta and decent amount of pizza etc. I obviously didn't really believed a word he said bc i always thought i already had a somewhat decent nutrition and blamed everything on poor genetics but since i failed in reaching my goal for 4 consecutive years why not trying his method...
8weeks later you could see first signs of teh pack coming through, 12 weeks later i was literally ripped like shit.
This is 6weeks after cutting carbs out of my nutrition and after that turning point picture:

Those are about 3-4months after teh change of nutrition during my peak in summer 2008 while being 25ish (72-73kg iirc):

I want to clarify here that i have neither studied sports nor nutrition and i don't even think i eat extremly healthy but what i do works 100% of teh time if you apply it right aka are diciplined enough to roll with it for a couple of weeks/months.

You can split teh program into 3 parts, training, cardio and nutrition, once you reached your goal you might not even have to do cardio anymoar (i wasn't running a single time since i came to Malta in beginning of may and i'm still peaking while my body doesn't gain or lose any moar weight). In my opinion nutrition is significantly moar important than both other parts and if your nutrition is not sound you will not reach your goal while if your training or cardio might not be 100% you can still reach your goals if your nutrition is right. I would say training 20%, cardio 20%, nutrition 60%.

Training:
I don't do any magic here, obviously i always try to give 100%. Since ages i'm rolling with a 3split work out 3-4days a week, 8-9 exercises á 3 sets at 8-10 reps. I do 2 exercises for my abs every time i work out, in general those are crunches and this one where i don't have a clue wat teh english translation is:

Every now and then i mix it up wit teh prayer but that's about it. Regarding other exercises i try to do as many with free weights as possible bc i think it's moar effective but in general i do wat all others do as well...

Cardio:
When i cut down i go running every 2nd day for 40-45 mins with 120-150pulse. That's it. You can go swimming, you can go on a crosstrainer, it doesn't matter. I like running so that works out best for me. If i really go heavy i run as well for 15-20mins after my workouts but that's not really mandatory and probably will let you lose some muscles after a hard workout bc ur body is already sour...

Nutrition:
Here it comes, teh most important thing. Again, I'm not claiming this is healthy, i'm not claiming tis is easy, but i claim this is working 100% of teh time. I defined now basically every year from 82-85kg down to 71-74 in a couple of weeks for teh summer and it is ALWAYS working if you put in teh effort.

This is mid january in Melbourne with around 85kg (unfortunately or better thankfully i don't have shirtless pics from that time...):

This 10weeks later with around 74kg in Bali:

This is another 2-3weeks later in Malta with 72-73kg (goal reached):

Important here is also to mark that i started seriously going heavy from mid/end march ongoing so that it is basically possible to reach your goal in way less than 13 weeks...

Back to nutrition:
The most important thing is carbs or better as few carbs as possible which basically means:
- no pasta
- no pizza
- no bread
- no chocolate
- no potato chips
- no sweets, etc
- and so on... -> if you buy stuff always look how much carbs teh things have and always go for teh lowest option
If you eat rice or fries as a sidedish only eat half of it or eat vegetables instead.
Another mistake alot of people make is to take too many carbs in with drinks:
- no juices
- only diet products, never normal coke, normal fanta, etc.
- during your cutting down as few alcohol as possible, best no alcohol at all and if alcohol do light beers or mix spirits with diet coke etc. or water, no cocktails, no wine, no champagne...

Another overrated thing in my opinion is fat. There are people advocating a lowfat diet but this will never ever get you to a 6pack unless you cut carbs down as well.

Also important is that if somebody brings cake or some bullshit to teh office bc it is his bday that you wish him a happy bday but once he offers you a piece of cake you tell him "go fuck yourself"

During teh 6 weeks i went heavy my plan was teh following:

- i had a protein shake for breakfast
- chicken or fish with small sidedish as lunch
- chicken or fish with small sidedish as dinner
- another protein shake after workouts
- nothing else
- i don't like meat so i don't eat it but meat, lamb, etc. is not bad either and you can mix up your diet a little...

While this might sound hard you will get used to it fairly quickly and even if you will be sometimes hungry in teh beginning you will not be after 2 weeks into teh program. You will litereally see and feel how you lose weight each single day.

Regarding training and cardio i went to teh gym one day and running teh next one, while going out with alcohol appr. once every 2weeks. I made basically no rest days during that time either.

The good news is once you reached your goal it is really hard to screw up and go back into old habbits. As being said i'm without cardio for moar than 3 months now and my body still stays like it is even though i go out appr. 2-3times a week with heavy drinking and even having a pizza once or twice a week. But remember that my overall nutrition is still sound and very low carb. I'm still going to teh gym 3-4times a week mostly dependant on how often and when i go out bc working out after a night of drinking is not easy.

Those 3 pictures are fairly actual pictures being without cardio and only maintaining with gym and nutrition:

Here's another one i made a time back which shows pretty much all teh way from teh beginning to teh first pack. First picture you see that i fall def. into teh ectomorph body category:

If there are questions or if i have missed some important points just post in teh comments and i will update teh post. I hope this post helps some people to achieve a better body/health/feeling/whatsoever and now i don't always have to write a novel again and again if somebody asks me what i do.

peaze and best rgds from Malta