Can You Get Totally Shredded in 14 Days?
I did an extreme diet for 14 days and exercised like a mad man to try to see how shredded I could get in just 14 days. The results were interesting and this article goes over my experience crash dieting, working out and trying to keep muscle on my frame.
My starting stats and ending stats
| DATE | Weight | Waist | Bicep Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/02/2021 | 175.8 | 37" | 13.75 |
| 01/15/2021 | 160.3 | 34.25" | 14" |
| Difference | -15.5lb | -2.75" | +0.25" |
My Thought Process
If Ketosis burns fat and you can eat all the fat you want. What would happen if I just didn't eat except for a 200 calorie can of sardines every night for 14 days? I figured I would go into ketosis but instead of feeding my body fat, letting my body use the fat that it had in reserves and hopefully get a decent cut in 14 days. I chose Sardines because they are slightly better than tuna with mercury content and they had a decent amount of protein (15 grams) in can.
The reason for eating protein was to try to prevent my body from taking protein from my muscles after I depleted the glycogen stores in body to create glucose since the brain needs glucose to function.[1]
I also loaded up on creatine taking 15 grams in the first 3 days and 5 grams per day for the duration of the experiment.
I did light cardio every morning for 10 minutes at low to moderate intensity on my exercise bike that I bought from Amazon. I did resistance training almost everyday and did HITT training about 3 times per week following the advice from the book The One Minute Workout, which I highly recommend for those pressed for time and want to get fit efficiently. For resistance training I mainly used a pair of 25lb Amazon Basics rubber dumbbells, and the Weider X-Factor door gym. I also have a pull up bar in one of my closets where I did pull ups and leg raises. It's literally a heavy duty closet bar , screwed into the door frame but I swapped out the mounting screws with 21/2 inch screws.
My Motivation for Trying This
The main reason was to kick start my goals for 2021 of getting to a place physically I have never been before. When I'm in shape and have some abs visible my weight is around 155lb. I wanted to get down as close to that as possible to then slowly build up my musculature with a healthy diet and exercise. My goal is, in the next year to year and half to weight around 170lb and still have abs visible. This will be tough but this is the journey I'm planning on taking.
Other Considerations
Other considerations to get ripped in 14 days included trying to shed my excess fat as quickly as possible and the fact that you don't necessarily loose muscle mass and in fact, you can increase muscle mass while on a restricted calorie diet. Essentially what I did was I fasted for 14 days to get the results that I achieved. There is also a suggestion that fasting might help you grow more muscle because of the high amount of HGH (human growth hormone) that is secreted while your fasted which inhibits muscle protein breakdown.[2] There isn't a whole lot of studies on this but since I'm optimist and a little reckless I can infer what I want from the studies that are out there.
What My Exercise Routine Looked Like
Trying to get shredded in 14 days and calling this a "routine" would be an enormous overstatement. However, I did exercise almost everyday but I am a novice when it comes to exercises and routines.
Only working out at home also had an impact since I had to get creative with the gear I had on hand. Somedays I did a lot (for me) others day I took it easy. Day 4 was by far the hardest since I was fatigued probably from transitioning into ketosis and lack of calories, and tired from lack of sleep.
The Routine:
| Exercise | Weight | Sets | Failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/02/2021 | |||
| Pull ups | None | 10x, 10x, 10x | No |
| Overhead standing press | 25lb | 25x, 18x, 17x | No |
| HITT (Cycle) | None | 10 minutes | Yes |
| 01/03/2021 | |||
| Push ups | None | 46x, 23x, 18x, 22x | Yes |
| Goblet Squats | 25lb | 22x, 20x, 18x | No |
| Hip Bridges | 25lb | 25x, 25x, 25x | No |
| Donkey Kicks | 25x, 25x, 25x | No | |
| HITT | 10 minutes | Yes | |
| 01/04/2021 | |||
| Leg Raises (Supine) | 1 minute, 1 minute, 1 minute | No | |
| Pull ups (legs at 90 deg) | 5x, 5x, 3x | Yes | |
| Pull ups | 10x, 10x, 10x | No | |
| Dumbbell Curls (per arm) | 25lb | 21x, 17x, 15x | No |
| 01/05/2021 | |||
| Goblet Squats | 25lbs | 20x, 10x | Kind off |
| 01/06/2021 | |||
| Cable Fly | 60lb | 10x, 10x | No |
| Cable Fly | 120lb | 10x, 10x | No |
| Standing Cable Row | 210lb | 10x, 8x, 8x | No |
| Bottom up Cable Fly | 60lb | 12x, 10x, 11x | Yes |
| Dumbbell Curls | 25lb | 21x,16x,11x | Yes |
| HITT | 10 minutes | Yes | |
| 01/07/2021 | |||
| Cardio Stationary Bike | 10 minutes light | No | |
| Overhead Dumbbell Press | 25lb | 34x, 19x, 17x | Yes |
| Standing Cable Chest Press | 90lb | 28x, 23x, 18x | No |
| Cable Fly | 140lb | 25x, 25x, 22x | Yes |
| Bottom up Cable Fly | 120lb | 8x, 7x, 6x | Yes |
| Cable Curls | 150lb | 7x, 6x, 6x | Yes |
| Dumbbell Curls | 25lb | 12x | Yes |
| 01/08/2021 | |||
| Cardio (Stationary Bike) | 10 minutes light intensity | No | |
| Pull Ups | 14x, 9x, 9x | Yes | |
| Standing Lat Pull Down | 180lb | 25x, 26x, 27x | No |
| Pull ups round 2 | 8x, 7x, 7x | Yes | |
| Standing Cable Row | 180lb | 22x, 25x, 22x | No |
| Cable Fly | 180lb | 20x, 22x, 25x | No |
| Pushups | 35x | Yes | |
| 01/09/2021 | |||
| Rest | |||
| 01/10/2021 | |||
| Cable Kick Back | 60lb | 25x, 25x, 22x | No |
| Goblet Squat | 50lb | 25x, 22x, 21x | No |
| Hip Thrust | 25lb | 30x | No |
| Hanging Leg Raises (90 deg) | 15x, 10x, 10x | Yes | |
| 01/11/2021 | |||
| Cardio (Stationary Bike) | 10 minutes moderate intensity | ||
| Overhead Dumbbell Press | 25lb | 30x, 23x, 17x | Yes |
| Cable Fly | 180lb | 22x, 16x, 14x | No |
| Bottom up Cable Pull | 60lb | 8x, 8x, 7x | No |
| Top down Cable Pull | 45lb | 10x, 10x, 10x | No |
| Dumbbell Curls | 25lb | 16x, 12, 6x | Yes |
| Hanging Leg Raises (90 deg) | 10x, 10x, 14x | No | |
| HITT | 10 minutes | Yes | |
| 01/12/2021 | |||
| Pull Ups | 25lb | 4x | Yes |
| Pull Ups | 9x, 7x | Yes | |
| Reverse Lat Pull Down | 60lb | 20x, 15x, 15x | No |
| Lat Pull Down | 90lb | 24x, 30x, 26x | No |
| Pulls Ups again | 4x | Yes | |
| 01/13/2021 | |||
| Rest | |||
| 01/14/2021 | |||
| Goblet Squat | 50lb | 25x, 18x, 19x | No |
| Cable Kick Back | 75lb | 20x, 15x, 15x | No |
| Romanian Deadlift (dumbbells) | 25lb | 5x, 5x, 8x | No |
| Push ups | 40x, 20x, 20x, 20x | No | |
| Dumbell Shoulder Press | 25lb | 20x, 18x, 14x | No |
| 01/15/2021 | |||
| Cardio (Stationary Bike) | 5 minute moderate intensity | ||
| Push ups | 20x, 25x, 20x | No | |
| Dumbell Shoulder Press | 25lb | 20x, 16x, 13x | No |
| Dumbbell Curl | 25lb | 13x, 12x, 10x | No |
| Tricep Extension (25lb total) | 25lb | 25x, 20x, 13x | No |
Hardest Part of The 14 Day Experiment
The hardest part of trying to get shredded in 14 days was definitely the first few days of only eating a tin of sardines in the evening. At first this did satisfy the hunger pangs but it was really tough the first few days because my body felt fatigued but I couldn't fall asleep normally and sleep soundly the first few nights which intensified the negative side effects of the fast.
After eating sardines for so long I will probably never eat a single tiny fatty fish of sardine ever again in my life. On day 10 I tried to have my sardine dinner and just opening the can disgusted me. I tried taking a bite but had to spit it out. I went the last 4 days with no food. I only had water creatine, and seltzer. Those days were not too bad.
Results:
My results were stated at the top of the article and unfortunately my pictures on day one were taking a little far away and the room was dim. However I did see improvement in my abs and chest and things are still continuing to improve. I definitely look smaller in my later pictures but i was carrying around a belly that was very visible when I would sit down. The results were not as drastic as I had hoped visually but the numbers do speak for themselves. Here are some before and after shots. The first gallery is before the second is after. The last picture is me in the beginning of 2020 for funzies.
So Can You get Shredded in 14 days?
After these 14 days the answer is an obvious no. If you were already pretty low on fat and had exceptional muscle definition then 14 days might put you at that sweet spot where you look shredded. If you are like me and you were hovering at around 23% body fat at the end of 14 days the best you can probably hope for is around 18%-20%. It's a good way to kick start a healthy lifestyle if you're ready to commit but you can probably do the same thing in just slightly longer time by adjusting your diet and figuring out a healthy way to live.
SOME PITFALLS
When you go into extreme calorie deficit mode, known in some parts of the world as starvation, your body starts to conserve more energy and your metabolism slows down.[3] Had I returned to my old eating habits the day was done I would probably gain all the weight right back and then some.
Where do I Go From Here?
My plan is to return to eating lighter, less calorie dense foods. Also substituting some of my favorite things like blue cheese dressing for its lighter counter parts. Rice and pasta for more vegetables, ground beef for lean ground turkey, eggs for egg whites.
For working out I will have to move my workouts from my house which is very convenient to a gym. I can't keep pressing the same weights 100x and expect great results. Starting February I will start a new gym membership and post monthly progress reports.
With out a complete change of eating habits this would have been a futile exercise of getting into better shape. I hope you stick around and transform your body and your life with me as we focus on what's important to living a healthy man's life!
