A shredded body is all that we dream of but only a few people only get to achieve this. Upon learning how they did it, it is due to these three main steps – a well-balanced diet, strength training, and cardio.
Although, let us accept the fact that cardio is too exhausting for various people. In addition to that, it doesn’t really get to what you’re aiming which is not skinny, but a lean body.
A body with those buns, bumps, puffed chest and hard biceps for guys and hourglass shape, flat, sexy abs, lean arms, tough thighs, and well-rounded bumps for ladies. Yes, cardio is effective in burning calories, but it is also burning what is essential for keeping your muscle mass and form the physique you wanted.
So, take note of these ways to get your body ripped with no cardio needed.
1. Why Eating Clean Helps To Lose Weight
You need a meal that’s invigorating and it doesn’t have to be like a crazy, unhealthy bunch of food. You just need a meal with the right nutrients to fuel up your body for training such as foods rich in protein and fiber.
Also, just because you will eat healthy food doesn’t mean it has to be boring. There are a lot of great recipes to choose from online on how to make your healthy food exciting to eat. The most important here is to have a calorie deficit.
Ideally, the recommended starting point is lessening your calorie intake by 500 from the usual number of calories you eat daily. This means that your body will consume fewer calories it will compensate by burning fat.
The 500 caloric deficit is a good starting point since it will allow you to measure how much you are comfortable with. If you are not having any issues, then start seeing results very quickly.
The eating-clean healthy lifestyle has some positive points: it is a balanced diet that focuses on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fats, and proteins; it also encourages you to control portion sizes and does not prohibit any food group.
However, the plan also recommends taking nutritional supplements and even questionable medical treatments, which some experts warn about.
What are the Eating-clean principles?
- Eat a balanced percentage of lean protein, complex carbohydrates, and good fats at each meal.
- Get fiber, vitamins, nutrients, and enzymes from fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Supplementation of essential vitamins and minerals to avoid deficiencies and strengthen the immune system.
- Eating natural low glycemic index(GI) foods to keep the insulin at low levels.
- Control your portions.
- Hydrate with at least 2 to 3 liters of water every day.
Key things to avoid:
- Processed foods, especially white flour and sugar and artificial sweeteners.
- Sugary drinks, such as soda, juices, and alcohol.
- Foods with chemical additives and preservatives like food dyes and sodium nitrite.
- Processed dairy such as cheese slices, milk, and GMO foods like soy products.
- Saturated fats, trans fats, and calorie-dense foods with no nutritional value.
2. How Intermittent Fasting Can Help To Lose Weight
Fasting has been a part of human history since ancient times. During times when there was no food supply, people would fast until they could find something to eat.
Since humans evolved to be able to live without food for an extended period of time, fasting has become a natural part of our lives.
One of the most effective diet plans proposed and the easiest one to follow is intermittent fasting. Basically, you have certain days or times that you’re going to eat and there are also specific days or times that you’re going to fast. It depends on what type of intermittent fasting are you going to use, but the easiest one is 16/8. You have an 8-hour window of eating your food, and then you will fast beyond those hours.
The goal is to consume all of the calories and macronutrients that you would've typically eaten throughout the day in a set time interval of 8 up to four hours.
For example, you set your eating time from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., which completes the 8 hours, and then beyond 6 p.m., you will fast. You can still drink non-caloric drinks like water, tea, or pure black coffee, but you have to stop eating after the 8-hour window. So, you just have to do your diet properly, first and foremost.
It is known that fasting can trigger the release of human growth hormone (HGH), which is a hormone that can help metabolize fat and reduce body fat. HGH is also known to reduce inflammation and accelerate weight loss.
Fasting can increase your metabolic rate by 3.6 to 14%, and it can help you burn more calories. It can also help to lose weight by changing both sides of the calorie equation. This is how intermittent fasting can help lose weight without cardio exercises.
3. Why Drinking Lots of Water Can Help You Lose Weight
This should not be taken lightly as it is really significant. Our body composition is made up mostly of water, which just makes sense that you should drink more water than usual since you are engaging yourself in an intensive weights workout or cardio exercise that will dehydrate you a lot and you need to maintain the water composition in your body, or else, this might end up disrupting your diet plan.
Here are five reasons why water can help you lose weight.
Water is a natural appetite suppressant
When the stomach seems full, it sends a signal to the brain to stop eating to induce a feeling of fullness and reduce hunger. A person may also think they are hungry when they are really thirsty. Drinking a glass of water before you eat anything can help cut down on unnecessary snacks.
In a 2014 study of 50 overweight women who drank 500 ml of water 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, in addition to their usual water intake for 8 consecutive weeks, participants lost weight, fat, and BMI.
Water increases the burning of calories
Some studies show that drinking water can help burn calories. In a 2014 study, 12 people who drank 500 ml of room temperature cold water increased their energy expenditure and burned 2-3 percent more calories than usual within 90 minutes after drinking water.
Water can also temporarily increase resting energy expenditure or the number of calories burned at rest. Drinking cold water can further increase the efficiency of calorie burning as the body expends energy or calories by heating them.
Water helps to flush waste from the digestive system
When the body is dehydrated it cannot remove waste such as urine or stool properly, water helps the kidneys filter out toxins and waste, while the body retains waste products, important nutrients, and electrolytes.
When you are dehydrated, your kidneys will retain fluid. Dehydration can also lead to hard or lumpy stools and constipation. Water traps waste, softening or thinning hard stools. Water also helps the body recover from digestive problems such as diarrhea and indigestion.
As digestive waste builds up in the digestive system, people may feel bloated, heavy, and tired. This bloated state can add inches to a person's waist. Drinking enough water is a good way to avoid a build-up of waste that can add a few extra pounds.
Drinking water can reduce your total liquid calorie intake
Adding liquid calories is easy by drinking soft drinks, juices, 3in1 coffees, or drinks that contain sugars. The authors of a 2012 study found that replacing two or more high-calorie drinks with zero-calorie drinks per day for 6 months resulted in an average weight loss of 2 to 2.5% in a group of obese women.
Results from a large study found that men and women who replaced one serving of sugary drinks with water or a low-calorie drink every day for 4 years gained less than 0.49 kilograms (kg) compared to the same group.
Water is needed to help lose fat
Without water, the body cannot properly metabolize stored fats or carbohydrates. The process of lipid metabolism is called lipolysis. The first step in this process is hydrolysis, which occurs when water molecules interact with triglycerides (fats) to form glycerol and fatty acids.
Adequate water is needed to burn fat from foods, drinks, and to store fat. A small 2016 review found that increased water intake led to increased lipolysis and fat loss in animal studies.
With the above information, hydration is definitely one of the most important things to consider in your journey to help you to lose weight without cardio.
4. Weight Loss Supplements
If given that you did both the diet plan and work out well, but want to increase your body's efficiency in losing fat without cardio, it’s time for you to consider having supplements for weight loss.
These have ingredients that work for your metabolism, lessen your hunger which helps you to even stick more with your diet plan, greater energy even with less calorie intake, and the result you lose more calories which helps you to lose fat while keeping the muscle mass for your desired aesthetic build.
So what is a fat burner?
The term "fat burner" is used to describe "Dietary supplements that are claimed to burn excess fat or increase energy expenditure from your body.” This term described for fat burners has a wide range of functions and can mean a lot, especially in pill form. Most ingredients are derived from plant extracts and some are synthetically made but be wary of fat burners which are not approved and regulated by the Food and Drug Association as this could be more harmful to your health.
How do fat burners work?
Some of the key ingredients used in fat burners are designed to change hormonal production in the body and start breaking down adipose fats and use them as an energy source. This provides energy for exercise and other calorie-burning activities for the body to produce energy without having to do extra cardio.
What are common fat burner supplements?
Caffeine
The most commonly used ingredient in fat burner supplements is caffeine. Caffeine in high doses can be dangerous, but the natural caffeine found in coffee or tea is safe in moderation.
Coffee without added sugar or additives is packed with beneficial antioxidants. A study has shown that caffeine can actually increase metabolism by 11%.
Green Tea
Green tea is praised for its health benefits. This includes helping you lose weight by burning fat. Green tea naturally contains some caffeine, but the really powerful ingredient in green tea is an antioxidant called catechin. A review recommended that catechins work together with caffeine to improve metabolism and thermogenesis. This is the process that allows your body to burn fat for energy.
Protein Powder
Protein is an essential ingredient for fat burning. It not only improves your metabolism, but it suppresses appetite by decreasing the production of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates hunger. According to a 2017 study, participants who regularly ate a high-protein diet had a significant weight loss, but even those who did not follow a high-protein diet consistently increased their protein intake still lost weight.
The main reason supplements can work still has to be combined with a caloric deficit to lose weight without cardio. There’s no evidence that fat-burning pills or supplements can effectively burn fat but used in a combination of caloric deficit, proper rest, and strength training in return can increase metabolism and burn more calories which is the focus for the next topic.
5. Lose Fat By Increasing Reps In Your strength Training
Losing weight by increasing your reps may sound impossible. However, increasing exercise repetition can lead to more caloric expenditure. So strength training can help achieve that aesthetic figure that you wanted.
Strength training helps build muscle, and muscle burns three times as many calories as fat by some estimates. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. It also doesn't end after you leave the gym. Your muscles continue to burn calories for the next 24 to 48 hours while it works to fix it, this is what is called the Afterburn Effect. This is the same case with high-intensity cardio exercise.
It is also time for you to push your strength further to the next level to get shredded. If normally, you do 3 reps per set, it’s time to increase those reps from 4-5 or up to the number of reps that you can manage per set. You can also add weights to add difficulty to your weights training.
Imagine how this could be more exhausting than cardio, and that’s why it is recommendable. It is the type of training you would want to maintain as you will gain the muscle mass you need to get shredded while slowly melting the stubborn fats. So, basically, you should step up your game with your fitness program, so you would be able to get results sooner.
FAQ's
Can I shred without cardio?
Are you looking to shred without cardio? Believe it or not, it is possible to reach your fitness goals through a combination of strength training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
By focusing on exercises such as weightlifting and bodyweight movements. You can burn fat, build muscle, and achieve the physique you desire.
Also, adding circuit training can make your workout more effective. Consulting with a professional trainer can help you create a personalized workout plan that fits your needs and goals, without relying too much on cardio.
Remember, everyone's body is different so it's always best to consult a professional before making any drastic changes to your workout routine.
Is calisthenics better than cardio for fat loss?
Other than the normal weights training, another form of exercise which involves high reps using only your body weight is called calisthenics workout. This is involving compound movements such as push-ups, pull-ups, muscle-ups, front and back levers, planche, and bar work.
Since this type of workout only requires body weight and core strength, a high amount of reps is required to be able to maximize muscle activation. Notice most calisthenics athletes have shredded muscles and most of them hardly do any cardio exercise.
Calisthenics and cardio both have their own unique benefits when it comes to fat loss. While cardio burns more calories during the workout, calisthenics builds muscle which leads to a higher metabolism, burning more calories throughout the day.
Ultimately, the best exercise for fat loss is the one that you will stick to and enjoy. Incorporating a combination of cardio and calisthenics into your fitness routine can lead to the most effective results.
Can you get a six pack without cardio?
Getting a six-pack is not only about cardio, it requires a combination of strength training, proper nutrition, and consistency. While cardio is important for overall health and weight loss.
Building muscle through strength training is crucial for achieving defined abs. You should focus on exercises that target the core, such as planks, Russian twists, and leg raises.
Also, aim for a balanced diet that includes plenty of protein, healthy fats, and vegetables. Additionally, consistency is key; sticking to a consistent workout and nutrition plan over time will help you see results.
Remember, everyone's body is different, so consult with a personal trainer to create a personalized plan that works for you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cardio is not the only option when it comes to shedding fat and getting into shape. By incorporating strength training, proper nutrition, and other activities such as HIIT and circuit training.
You can effectively shred fat without spending hours on the treadmill. Remember, consistency is key. Stick to a routine that works for you and don't be afraid to switch things up if you hit a plateau.
Your dream body is achievable even without cardio and using the knowledge and exercise techniques mentioned above can help losing weight quicker. You just have to stick with healthy living and upgrade your capability.
And always consult with a certified personal trainer to create a personalized plan that fits your goals and preferences. With these tips in mind, you'll be on your way to achieving a leaner, stronger body in no time.
Remember, it's not about perfection, it's about progress. So, don't be hard on yourself, celebrate your achievements and keep pushing for more.
Hi Team,
i am Ajay from Delhi India...