TLDR: What you need to know

• If you want to get "ripped" (aka see more of your muscles, and having less body fat), the biggest mistake people make is working out, and then feeling like they've "earned" or "deserve" any extra amount of food. An alternate to this is they feel like they "need" a protein recovery shake.
• Instead, if you want to get ripped, you have to work out and then not eat any extra food.
• The reason is to get ripped, you have to lose fat, which means you need to lose weight. The only way to lose weight is by eating less calories than you burn.
• Lifting weights really doesn't burn that many calories, so you should not eat any extra.
• Lifting heavy and then having "the same" diet will lead to visible results.

Ray's Take

People tell me all the time that they want to get "ripped." How do you do it?

The answer is really simple, you have to lose body fat. That's it.

Your muscles are already ripped, you just need to remove the fat on top of your muscles to see them more clearly and be "ripped."

Here is me:

On the left, I was in college and 165 lbs - I didn't think I was "bad" but not one person ever said i was "ripped" or "huge."

On the right, I had graduated college, medical school, and business school and was 150 lbs - Many people said I looked "huge".....even though I was 15 lbs LIGHTER than in college. I didn't do DEXA, but I almost guarantee I had LESS muscle than in college. But people still felt I was "huge." Think about that.

The takeaway is that to look "ripped" or "huge," the solution for most people is to simply lose fat.

How do you do this?

Simple - Exercise and don't eat too much. For me, I like lifting heavy. You can do zone 2 (cardio) or zone 5 (high intensity) if you like and it will work too***

"Don't eat too much" means you have to be in a calorie deficit. Fancy people call this "calorie restriction" (CR).

We have many strategies to utilize CR that do not feel like restriction at all (see this, this, and this), but for now, lets just say if you want to get ripped, you should exercise and NOT eat anything extra.

Feel like you "earned" or "deserve" a burger, slice of pizza, ice cream, or even a protein shake is a mistake.

Don't do it. Just do your exercise, and follow the same nutrition plan you were previously on. If you are in a calorie deficit, you will see results soon.

***Lifting heavy is the best way to maintain or even build a small amount of muscle. If you only do cardio and you will lose muscle, which is bad.

Cool thought experiment for normal people - Protein shakes

I used to go to Barry's Bootcamp on Sunday afternoons and had a couple observations.

1. Virtually no one that goes to Barry's is actually ripped
2. Barry's is really hard! It is a very good workout!

For this thought experiment, let's assume everyone that goes to Barry's actually wants to be "ripped."

Why was this?
Simple - no one who goes to Barry's ever loses enough fat to have their muscles show.

Why not?
Simple - they were eating too much.

Who is to blame?
The person of course, but Barry's doesn't help.

You see, after each class, Barry's makes available a protein shake bar, where you can get a protein smoothie after your very hard workout.

I saw so many people ordering these things, which depending on the order, would have 600 calories or more.

This is insane. Let's think about this.

You just went as hard as you can at Barry's, which for guys lets say you were able to burn 500 calories in 50 min (this is a lot). Women even less.

After the class, you had a protein shake that was 600 calories.

The actual biology is a bit more complex, but lets just say that over the last hour (workout + shake slurping), you consumed more calories than burned.

Was the workout good for your VO2 max, mitochondrial health, cardiovascular health, and longevity?
Yes

Did you just help yourself get more ripped?
No

For getting ripped, I could argue that taking a nap or an easy walk without the shake would have been more effective bc you would have been in a calorie deficit napping or walking.

Let me be clear, I'm not saying don't have a protein shake. Protein is very important and you should get 0.5-1g per lb of body weight (which is hard). But if you have one, just stick with one scoop of whey protein in water or unsweetened almond milk. That's about 120 calories with 30-35g protein. Barry's + that would be ideal.