No More Skinny Fat: How To Get Ripped Once And For All
No More Skinny Fat: How To Get Ripped Once And For All
What Is Skinny Fat?
If you haven’t ever heard the word skinny fat before, it sounds almost contradictory.
How can someone be skinny and fat at the same time?
Well, it is very much possible.
While our classifications of ‘skinny’ and ‘fat’ are subjective, being skinny fat is very common.
You could have a healthy weight and BMI, and still not have the body composition you want.
It is basically a situation where you look decent with clothes on, but have a layer of fat to lose underneath.
To make this worse, you lack muscle mass.
This means that you are in an awkward situation now where you end up getting skinnier if you diet, and you end up putting on more fat if you decide to go on a bulk.
Skinny fat guys usually have some fat to lose to see their wonderful abs, but at the same time, they want to build bigger biceps and rounded shoulders!
Skinny fat girls usually have some fat to lose to get a slim waist, but at the same time, they want to build bigger glutes and legs!
All in all, people feel stuck and end up not making any progress for years on end.
In some cases, people actually put in the work and still fail to escape ‘skinny fat’.
While most fitness influencers are going to tell you that you are almost cursed for life, I’m here to tell you that you can still make a change.
While your transformation won’t be as easy as someone who can eat and ‘burn off’ whatever they want, you still can transform yourself and get the lean body you’ve always dreamed of.
Follow along with what I tell you and you’ll be seeing results in no time.
Let’s begin with how you got skinny fat in the first place.
How Do People End Up Skinny Fat?
The problem with most people giving skinny fat advice is that they pretend as if skinny fat has a fixed definition while in reality, this isn’t the case.
In fact, I don’t think skinny fat is a fixed point.
It is a range and you have to understand where you lie on the spectrum.
Some people are skinnier than fat and some people are fatter than skinny.
If this sounds confusing, stick with me, as we’ll dive a little deeper into this later.
All I mean to establish is that skinny fat doesn’t have a fixed definition and so is the case with how you become skinny fat in the first case.
Most coaches only talk about one of the cases, but in my opinion, there are more.
Let’s start with the most common one.
1. You were overweight at some point in your life.
You ended up losing that weight without implementing proper nutrition and training.
You can do random things and diet your weight down, but if you truly want to get a ripped look, it’s going to take a little more than that.
In this case, people usually lose muscle along with fat.
At the same time, they fail to cut down to a very low body fat percentage.
Thus, they end up at a point where their muscle mass is low and they are still holding on to fat.
This results in the often dreaded ‘skinny fat’ look.
While most people pretend as if this is the only way to become skinny fat, there are a few more.
2. The second situation is when you have been lean, but you let go of diet and exercise as you grow older.
Maybe you just develop unhealthy habits.
Whatever the case, you end up packing on fat, while your muscle stays the same, or even decreases!
In this way, this situation also leads to the skinny fat look.
The difference in the first and the second situation is where you lie on the spectrum I stated earlier.
In my experience, people in the first case are usually fatter than skinny, and people in the second case and usually skinnier than fat.
But this isn’t something set in stone.
Your body composition can vary so it is up to you to determine where you stand.
If you can’t point out where you are currently, there is nothing to worry about.
The fix to this is the same in most cases.
We are not done yet.
There is one more category of people who end up skinny fat.
I’m actually surprised because I haven’t seen anyone talk about this group of people.
3. These are the people who actually eat ‘healthy’ and train hard in the gym.
Despite this, they fail to escape the skinny fat look.
They are stuck in vicious cutting and bulking cycles that make them end up at the exact same place every time.
No matter which category you classify yourself in, there is something in common that all skinny fat people do that actually makes the problem worse.
You see, being skinny fat isn’t that bad all by itself, but making this mistake is what makes it a daunting experience.
The Biggest Mistake Skinny Fat People Make
One of the misconceptions is that skinny fat people are lazy.
While this could be true, I feel this is an overgeneralization.
I believe that skinny fat people work hard and that they are ready to work even harder.
This sounds desirable but this is often the biggest mistake skinny fat people make.
Bad fitness advice is to be blamed for this.
The biggest mistake skinny fat people make is that they try to go even more aggressive with hopes of fixing the situation.
Here’s what they end up doing:
1. Increase Cardio
2. Decrease Calories
While these sound like appropriate steps to take if you wish to lose weight, they don’t always work out in your favor, especially if you have no idea of what you’re doing.
This section of the article is not to discredit hard work.
You surely have to work hard, but you have to put that effort into doing the right things.
You could work as hard as you want while planting apple trees, but they’re never going to grow into mango trees.
The point here is that hard work needs to be accompanied with the right approach to make the kind of progress you want.
How To Fix The Skinny Fat Problem?
Well, the fix is pretty simple.
You lose fat and build muscle.
But this is exactly what frustrates most skinny-fat individuals.
Which way do you go first?
Is it better to get lean first and then focus on building muscle or is it better to build muscle first (which will result in some fat gain) and then get lean later?
The answer to this question is actually tricky and hence cannot be generalized.
Remember the spectrum we spoke about earlier?
Based on where you fall, the answer could vary.
That said, if you have absolutely no idea with what to do next, take my word for it and go for a cut.
Why Cutting First Is A Better Choice?
Firstly, if you have made up your mind on bulking already, don’t just do what I say.
In most cases, if you don’t aren’t happy with what you are doing, you’ll end up spinning your wheels and not make progress in either direction.
There is no right or wrong way, as long as you aren’t in an unhealthy body fat range.
But if you are confused about what way you should go, here’s a few reasons why I recommend cutting first.
1. Possibility of RECOMPOSITION
You can’t build muscle and lose fat simultaneously, right?
Wrong.
Building muscle and fat at the same time is possible, especially if you are a beginner and/or are weak.
This is known as body recomposition.
The truth is that most skinny-fat individuals are weaker than average when they start out.
If they focus on getting stronger while losing fat the right way, they can build muscle along the way.
While this won’t be as much as the amount of muscle you could build while bulking, it’ll still be enough to positively affect your body composition.
Again, this won’t work if you slash your calories to half.
We’ll get back to how you can structure your nutrition later.
2. Cutting is a SHORT TERM process while bulking is a long term process.
While cutting is a slow process, building muscle is a lot slower.
If you aren’t happy with how you look, get rid of the fat first.
For example, losing 24 pounds of fat is possible in 12-24 weeks.
At the same time, building 24 pounds of muscle could take you 1-2 years.
3. Getting lean is more MOTIVATING.
Let’s be real, if you want to look aesthetic, being lean is key.
Not only does rocking a lower body fat percentage look better, but it also sets you up for a longer gaining phase, which means more muscle!
There’s a higher chance of you bulking for longer when you start at 12% body fat versus at 18% body fat.
4. You have no business bulking if you don’t know how to DIET down.
I don’t know why nobody talks about this, but people tend to use bulking as an escape from reality.
Don’t try to use it as an excuse to eat whatever you want.
While you can still make progress eating a lot and training hard, you will not be able to get lean if you never learned how to follow a proper nutrition protocol in the first place.
Why do you think there are so many skinny-fat transformations with decent muscle mass but very few who get truly ripped?
In my opinion, it is better to learn to diet down first.
If you know how to handle your nutrition, gaining will be a breeze and you can cut down any excess fat you gained in a few weeks.
It will also prevent you from panicking when you gain weight while you bulk.
These are my reasons for why cutting first is better, but if you don’t feel too ‘fat’, don’t be afraid of entering a gaining phase first.
My Instagram post describes what I’m saying pretty well.
Let’s talk about how you can get ripped once and for all.
Here’s How You Can Be Consistent While Losing Weight And Get Ripped!
How To Go From Skinny Fat To Ripped?
Whether you have had failed diet attempts previously or you’re completely new to this, pay close attention to this part.
Follow these principles and you will get ripped. Period.
I know it is hard to believe such things because false promises are very common in the fitness industry.
But what I’m going to tell you now are ‘principles’ backed by science and not just random ‘fitness plans’.
In fact, you can eat as ‘healthy’ as you want and workout as much as you want, but if you don’t follow these principles, you will not see the results you want!
Let’s begin.
1. Nutrition
If your goal is to look lean and defined instead of soft and flabby, being precise with your nutrition is going to be very important.
The best to fix this problem once and for all is to track your calories.
This might sound difficult, but it actually isn’t.
Losing fat is simple.
You have to create a calorie deficit, i.e. eat lesser calories than you burn.
You can set up your nutrition here and use the calculator included.
Then, your next step is to hit your deficit target daily.
Another important thing here is to get enough protein.
This will help you preserve muscle, and maybe even build some, while losing fat.
As for carbs and fats, you can be flexible.
This means that you can even eat chocolate before bed!
As long as you hit your calorie and protein goal, feel free to add in the food you crave.
Eating carbs at night won’t get you fat.
If you don’t know how to track your nutrition, check out the step by step instructions HERE.
Once you have this nailed, you’re already way closer to your goal than you can imagine.
A tip - Don’t use traditional cheat day and use strategic refeeds instead.
This will make sure that you stay on track and get the fastest results possible.
Another thing to keep in mind is the tradeoff between the speed of fat loss and the chance of building muscle while cutting.
Recomposition is only possible when your calories aren’t very low.
Thus, a good place to be at is a 300-500 calorie deficit.
2. Training
While nutrition is important, just eating protein will not be sufficient to build you muscle.
You have to train as well, and train with the intent of getting stronger.
Progressive overload should be the goal of every workout if you wish to build muscle while cutting.
This is very important and many people focus on just getting a pump and others focus on advanced techniques like super slow reps for more time under tension.
As a skinny-fat, you’ll see the fastest progress by getting stronger over time.
A simple example is someone who can’t do a single pull up or push up.
If this individual builds up to a set of 10 strict pull-ups and 20 strict pushups, all while dialing in his/her nutrition, he/she will end up building muscle while losing fat.
While the body is a lot more complex than this, focusing on getting stronger is your best bet as a natural.
As long as you don’t make these common training mistakes and try to achieve progressive overload, you will see progress over time.
This matters more than what program you’re using as a beginner.
3. Cardio
While cardio is important, it isn’t as important as the first two.
While it can be used as a tool to reach our goal, it isn’t what we should depend completely on.
Try to limit cardio to 2-4 sessions a week.
Whether you do HIIT or low-intensity cardio doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you’re consistently performing it a few times a week to burn more calories.
Check out this article about cardio for fat loss to get a more clear picture of how you can structure it into your routine.
Once you apply these three principles, you will see great progress over time.
The Most Valuable Tip
Re-evaluate your starting point and set realistic expectations.
Going from skinny fat to ripped isn’t a 90-day challenge.
You will have to make habitual changes to transform your body.
This is why being patient is crucial.
If you compare yourself to others, you will feel your progress is slow, and this by itself is enough to derail you.
Stay on track and trust the process.
Follow the principles and you will see results
The mindset component is often overlooked by people, and if you truly wish to get lean, you have to make sure you don’t let unnecessary things affect you.
As I said earlier, it is hard, but it is not impossible.
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