How to get shredded this year and the best supplements to take

Now that we are coming through the winter many people are thinking about shedding that winter weight and getting their bodies in shape for warmer weather. This is the time of year when people start thinking about how to get shredded. 

It is about good health, but it is also about looking good. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look healthy and strong now that warmer weather is on the way. So as we think about how to get shredded, we need to think about strategies for how to make that happen. 

There are some primary pillars for how to get shredded. Nothing good comes easy, and you need to take the steps necessary to get the body you want. Exercise and diet are going to be key parts of how to get shredded. But there are also some supplements you can take to help you get shredded.

What are the five pillars to understand to get shredded? What steps can you take to get shredded? And what kinds of supplements are out there to help you get shredded? This guide will help you on your way to getting shredded for the coming summer. 

5 pillars to understand how to Get Shredded

There are some key features for how to get shredded. Some of these are things everyone is familiar with because there is no way around them. When it comes to getting your body in shape, diet, and exercise will always be the main goals for your fitness plan. To get shredded, you need to exercise. And to perform effective exercise, you need to eat right. The five pillars to understanding how to get shredded include:  

Diet

Athletic performance is sustained by proper nutrition. To get your body shredded you must feed it the necessary nutrients and remove the indulgences like sweets, unhealthy fats, and carbs. You also need to focus on things like iron, vitamin D, and zinc. The fact is, a shredded body comes from exercise, and exercise requires a healthy diet. 

All available research shows that a healthy diet makes everything else possible for obtaining the kind of look and feel you want. To get shredded, you need to right diet. What is more, a proper diet provides the fuel you need for the increased physical activity necessary to get shredded. Some of the exercises required to get your body into this kind of shape require things like increased antioxidants to reduce the inflammation that comes with high-intensity exercises. 

The diet necessary to get shredded ultimately comes down to consuming adequate amounts of macronutrients and consuming them in the proper balance. You will need to focus on:

• Carbohydrates: These provide the fuel you need to increase physical activity and physical performance.

• Protein: This is the essential building material of muscle—the kind of muscle you are after if you are trying to get shredded. Protein is also necessary for recovery from exercise and to maintain the health of bones, joints, and ligaments. 

• Fat: fats keep you satisfied and off junk food. They provide cushion for bones and joints. Fats also help with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like A, E, D, and K.  

Exercise

We would all love a shortcut to having a shredded body, but the fact remains that exercise is key to getting the body you want. Muscle definition, the kind of muscle definition that is the sign of being shredded, comes from working those muscles. 

Building on the nutrition you gain from a proper diet, you can begin to lay out a sustainable exercise plan and realistic fitness goals. Most trainers suggest you determine realistic goals. Write these down so you can stick with them. Professionals suggest that workouts should not last more than two hours. The goal is to get fit without exhausting both your body and your patience. Limit weight training to no more than one hour. And keep cardio at about a 45-minute limit.

To get shredded you will want to keep your workouts within what is called the fat-burning zone. You can easily do a shorthand estimation of your heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. Then multiply this number by 0.7 for beginners and 0.75 for more advanced athletes.  From this, you can work at 0ne minute bursts of high-intensity training on things like the treadmill to boost metabolism. Some trainers recommend scheduling your workouts first thing in the morning since this appears to be the best time to burn fat. 

Hydration

Staying hydrated is essential to any fitness program. Whether you are simply looking to stay healthy or looking for that shredded physique, hydrating is the key to all fitness programs. This all sounds completely obvious, but consider the consequences of not drinking enough water. If you are not properly hydrated you run the following risks:

• Your body temperature and heart rate may rise. When the total amount of water in your body is below the normal level (hypohydration) your body can’t properly regulate heat.
• You may feel more fatigued than usual.
• You may not be able to think clearly – your motor control, decision-making abilities, and concentration may be impaired.
• Your body’s functions may slow down – this includes gastric emptying, so you may feel uncomfortable in your stomach.
• Your performance in sport or exercise may not be as good as it could be. The impact is even worse when you’re active and dehydrated in hot conditions.

Staying hydrated is an essential feature of a proper diet, and you cannot achieve your fitness goals without drinking enough water.

Sleep

As with staying properly hydrated, you need to also make sure you are getting enough rest. The temptation these days is always to keep pushing ourselves, but the fact is, without good sleep, you cannot get shredded. 

To build the kind of muscle necessary for a shredded body, you need to provide the muscle groups with enough rest to do the work of muscle protein synthesis. Downtime is part of the process of building lean muscle. 

Sleep makes it possible for your metabolism to burn fat. Clinical research has demonstrated that the proper balance of physical exercise and sleep is the most effective way to burn fat. Getting shredded depends on the perfect alignment of less body fat and increased muscle. To get to this state of physical fitness requires good sleep. 

Supplementation

Supplements are part of just about all athletic programs. While fitness programs, including those geared toward getting shredded, rely primarily on a balanced diet, the kinds of high-intensity training that goes into achieving a shredded body often demand that people supplement certain types of nutrients.

Protein supplements are used to build muscle. A variety of vitamin and mineral supplements help maintain nutritional loads that increase exercise demand. There is a range of supplements that can work toward getting shredded, and these will depend on your body type. Your physical condition as you begin working out, and your overall goals. 

Tips to Help You Get Shredded

As we noted above, there are no magic ways to get shredded. You are going to need to exercise and focus on your diet. But some helpful tips for getting shredded include: 

Stay Hydrated

Your muscles are over 70 percent water. This means hydrated muscles are stronger muscles. To get this, you need to stay hydrated. This is especially the case as you increase your physical activity. 

There is no way to build up the kind of muscle you need for a shredded body without drinking plenty of water. As you focus on things like diet and even proper supplements, make sure you keep drinking plenty of water to keep feeding your body what it needs to build muscle and burn fat. 

Choose Quality Foods

You need to abandon junk food and unhealthy snacks. This is the first priority. To focus on quality foods means eliminating junk food, processed foods, and unhealthy fats and carbs. 

Do not skip meals. You may be tempted to skip a meal here and there to get yourself into a calorie deficit. But a shredded body does not come from this kind of diet. To build muscle while burning fat—which is what you do to get shredded—you need to maintain a steady diet of quality foods. 

To get that sculpted look, increase your fiber intake. Vegetables, legumes, and berries are great sources of fiber, nutrition, and the antioxidants you need to repair and build muscle tissue. 

Do not eliminate carbs. Increase specific types of carbs. Remember, carbohydrates are the best source of energy for your body, the same energy necessary to burn fat and increase muscle protein synthesis. Sweet potatoes and quinoa are two great sources of healthy carbs while you are building up. 

Keep Your Protein Intake High

Increase protein intake while working toward a shredded body. To build lean muscle, you need to feed your body the building blocks of muscle. This means increasing your protein intake. 

Most trainers recommend eating 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 175 pounds, you will try to consume about 15-175 grams of protein per day. 

Increasing your protein intake is a great place to supplement with protein supplements. If you are having difficulty eating the right amount of protein in your diet, you can supplement this with a healthy protein supplement that will give you the protein you need to bulk up and sculpt your body. 

Best Supplements to Get Shredded

Creatine 

Creatine helps to increase the body’s ATP storage, which in turn, helps increase energy levels while performing quick, intense movements.

NFS’s Micronized Creatine is free of any additives or fillers. 

Creatine is one of the most researched supplements in sports nutrition and helps to provide your performance with an explosive boost.

Creatine is naturally occurring in the human body (and animal meat) and has been heavily researched for its safety and performance benefits.

There are many misconceptions surrounding Creatine and its use. It is normally thought that Creatine can lead to dehydration and muscular cramping. However, there is no research that can link cramping during athletic events and Creatine use. 

Research shows increased hydration levels in the muscles lead to your body’s ability to handle higher outdoor training levels. Due to increased intramuscular water, your body will start to require high levels of water consumption. Since water has the ability to regulate temperature, taking Creatine will be to your advantage during outdoor activities. Not to mention, it will aid in boosting sports performance.

Whey Protein 

NutriWhey is a great-tasting, naturally sweetened whey protein powder with industry-first flavor options containing pieces of Belgian chocolate (Chocolate flavor), freeze-dried strawberries (Strawberry), and real white chocolate pieces (Vanilla).  

Whey Protein is considered to be the most ‘anabolic’ (the best muscle tissue repairing protein) of the protein sources because it’s higher in BCAAs.

It’s also the protein that is highest in bioavailability, meaning you absorb more of the protein you take in vs other sources. Its rapid digestion time has made it a popular option for use around the time of your workout to maximize recovery.

We’ve included BCAAs in the formula to help aid in muscle growth and support the maintenance of lean muscle mass. BCAAs are proven to prevent muscle loss and help to improve overall recovery.

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) 

The BCAAs (Branched Chain Amino Acids) are three essential amino acids. Essential means these are amino acids that your body can’t produce, and you must get them from your diet. BCAAs have the strongest link to supporting muscle growth and recovery.

The amounts of essential amino acids or BCAAs in a protein source typically determine how valuable that protein is for promoting muscle growth and recovery.

Consuming a concentrated amount of BCAAs will allow you to take in more of these key essential amino acids than what is readily available in food or protein and will help to speed recovery. Plus, with their rapid digestion time, you can consume them during a workout. Think of your protein as the building blocks and your BCAAs as the ‘signal’ to begin building.

Natural Amino also features a Recovery & Soreness Reduction blend featuring CherryPure™, a Tart Cherry extract that is supported by research to help reduce delayed onset muscle soreness.

Caffeine

Free of artificial colors and sweeteners, NFS Pre-Workout will help you blast through your workout session like never before.

The best way to improve the way you feel or perform is to ensure you’re getting the most out of your workouts every time you train. NFS Pre-Workout was created to maximize every workout.

Whether you are in need of extra motivation or looking to improve your performance, NFS Pre-Workout can help. While caffeine can get us going, it has limited effects on our muscular performance and cognitive function, especially when we develop a tolerance.

A great pre-workout delivers more than a caffeine rush. NFS Pre-Workout optimizes your workouts with proven performance-boosting ingredients. It is deliciously flavored with zero artificial sweeteners, colors, or flavors.

How to get shredded FAQS

What are the five pillars of getting shredded? 

Diet, hydration, proper sleep, exercise, and supplements. 

What are the most common tips for getting shredded? 

Staying hydrated, choosing quality foods, and increasing your protein. 

What are the best supplements for getting shredded? 

NF Sports offers Micronized Creatine, whey protein, BCAAs, and pre-workout supplements that contain caffeine, all of which will get you your way to building the shredded body you are after. 

Wrapping things up

Over the winter, it is common to let your exercise and diet routines relax. As a result, many of us come out of the winter feeling a little sluggish and perhaps not looking as fit as we would like. This is a great time to start thinking about getting your body in shape. 

Getting that ripped and shredded body is not as difficult as many people imagine. It does, however, require some effort and discipline. To get shredded, you just need to start increasing your exercise levels, including some high-intensity training and focusing on healthy foods. Eliminate junk food and indulgences and get back to a nutritious and balanced diet.