By: Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

If you do a lot of cardio trying to get ripped, you are wasting your time. Same with high repetition sets. High repetition sets do not get you cut or ripped.

This is a myth, and there's a much better way to sculpt your body, get ripped, and finally achieve the elusive 6-pack.

But again, let me repeat, you won't succeed with high-repetition sets using light weights. And don't even worry about the "pump", but that's another article for another day.

Getting ripped is all about nutrition and intensity. We want to be able to see our well-earned muscles and our 6-pack abs.

And that's why we get lured into the belief of the cutting exercises. Because it causes a burn in our muscles, we generally think, hey, this must be burning fat. But it's not! It's just a fatiguing sensation.

If you are using a high-rep, cutting program, I doubt you are getting the results you want. You don't need to be in the gym too long.

There is a better way to burn fat. A faster way. And a smarter way. It doesn't involve "toning" workouts or "Cutting exercises". What you need to do for fat loss, and getting cut, is to focus on the same exercises that helped you build muscle in the first place.

So forget the pec-dec, and stick with dumbell presses. Say goodbye to leg extensions, and keep using squats and lunges. Next up is the shocker! Use intervals to cut fat fast!

Instead, we'll use interval training to burn fat and boost our metabolism in less than half the time as a normal cardio workout. Only 20 minutes of interval training done 3 times per week resulted in weight loss in one Australian study.

On the other hand, three 40-minute cardio sessions did not cause any weight loss in the same study. Shocking results, but it just goes to show you the power of intensity.

No more slow boring aerobics. That means saying goodbye to light weights and high reps and long slow cardio. Goodbye, nice to know you! If you want to get ripped muscles, diet hard?

First, you need the proper dietary changes to promote muscle gains and body fat reductions. Nutrition is the most important factor for fat burning and getting cut.

If your nutrition sucks, and you eat fast food or skip meals, you are in big trouble. There is no workout good enough to overcome bad nutrition. Next, focus on multi-muscle strength exercises and finish with interval training to burn more calories out of the gym.

Basic exercises such as squats, pushes, rows, and pulls done for 3-4 sets of 8 repetitions. If you did a squat, a press, and a row in each workout, and then did intervals, you'd get ripped if your nutrition was good. Work hard! Diet harder.

Forget about slow boring cardio. You need to do short burst exercise instead. Consistency is key for getting cut.

Work hard, and diet harder!