Back in 2019 I was a psycho.
Well not a complete psycho, I wasn’t exactly Christian Bale, getting panic attacks because my business card wasn’t glossy enough.
Maybe more just a little unhinged. Why you ask?
Because I woke up one day and decided I needed to cut down to 7% body fat.
No competition, no mid life crisis (I was 29), no charity to support, just because I wanted to challenge myself.
I remember lots of my friends and family used to laugh at me because my diet wasn’t exactly very creative.
My 7% Body Fat Meal Plan
Breakfast: 3 eggs, which gradually became just 3 egg whites.
Lunch & Dinner: 150g of lean chicken breast, 130g of basmati rice, 50g of green peas.
Hydration: Enough water to piss like a camel… +4 litres a day.
Not a drop of alcohol.
Was it fun? If you enjoy watching paint dry, sure. Did it work? Absolutely.
As my training picked up, I would dial some of this up or down, less carbs, more protein, but for 90% of the time, that was the foundation.
And I stuck to this religiously for over 6 months.
Training: Progressive Overload Worked Then, And It Still Works Now
As for training, my approach was the same: boring but effective.
No magic workouts, no special routines, no specialized Lycra to make me look more shredded than I actually was.
I started training once a day, built up to twice a day, and was eventually working out three times a day, 5x a week.
You don’t need to be this extreme, it’s just how far I was willing to go.
I used a combination of cardio and strength training, and I would continually increase the weights or cardio distance whenever I got comfortable, so I was never comfortable for very long.
Progressive overload worked well then, and it probably still works well now.
I also protected my sleep like my life depended on it.
The Lesson: Boring Wins
At the beginning, people kept making fun of me because they’d thought I’d lost it.
I had a screw loose.
I didn’t know what I was doing.
As time went on, and I had the results to show for it, people started lining up to ask me for advice.
“How did you do it?”
“What’s your secret?”
“I want to get lean too!”
My answer then is the same as my answer now.
Protect your sleep.
Eat clean.
Train hard. Progressive overload.
Keep it simple.
So, when I say boring wins, maintaining the fundamentals is all most people need, I know because I’ve done it.
You can get extraordinary results just from doing the basics right.
That can work for you too.
Do you agree or disagree?
How is your training going? What is working for you and what isn’t?
Do you agree modern fitness advice is unnecessarily complicated?
I’d love to hear your comments.
If you enjoyed this, check out the difference between an extreme diet with fixed timeline and a sustainable, healthy lifestyle.
FAQ:
How long does it take to get shredded?
Depends on what “shredded” means to you, your starting point, what you’re willing to do and how consistent you are. My journey to 7% took me about 9 months give or take.
What is the fastest way to get shredded?
There is no shortcut, but the fundamentals don’t change: maintain a calorie deficit, eat enough protein, train consistently and recover properly.
Do you need a complicated diet to get lean?
No. The fundamentals matter more: calories, protein, consistency.
Do you need to train three times per day?
No. That was me intentionally going all-in, you don’t need to do the same.
Is getting to 7% body fat healthy?
Ask a doctor. Living at 7% body fat is certainly not easy. And most people would probably hate the lifestyle you need to maintain that forever. I remember sometimes screaming into the abyss like a lost sheep. 7% was my test. You can decide yours.