💪 11 Habits for a Ripped Physique

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Welcome to The Ripped Report! Here’s what we’ve got for you today: 

• 11 habits to build your dream body

• Dorian Yates’ top 10 bodybuilding tips 

• Is training to failure actually effective?

TRAINING TIPS 

Creature of Habit 

Your lifestyle choices, including how active you are and what you eat, influence your body and well-being over the days, weeks, months, and years. You can either cultivate habits that promote a fitter, healthier lifestyle to build the body of your dreams or fall into routines that undermine your fitness and overall health. 

Once weighing 300 pounds due to unhealthy habits, celebrity fitness trainer Thomas DeLauer completely transformed his life and built a lean, muscular physique. Over the years, he’s developed 11 key habits instrumental in his transformation.

These impactful changes include prioritizing protein intake, walking more, reducing alcohol consumption, and following the 80/20 principle for balance. Discover how to incorporate these 11 habits into your daily routine and start building a stronger, healthier body today.

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BODYBUILDING 

“The Shadow’s” Bodybuilding Secrets

Six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates is widely regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders in history. Since retiring from professional competition in 1997, "The Shadow" has dedicated himself to sharing his training knowledge with aspiring athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Whether your goal is to build muscle, enhance your body composition, or elevate your training routine, Dorian’s advice remains a gold standard in the fitness world.

We’ve explored some of his most impactful bodybuilding strategies — the same ones that earned him six Sandow trophies — and the principles he still follows to stay lean and strong well into his 60s.

His tips include using music as a motivator to lift heavier, incorporating cardio on rest days, prioritizing post-workout carbs for recovery, and even making time for naps to enhance recovery and performance.

TRAINING 

Failure Is Not an Option 

Training to failure — performing as many reps as possible with a weight until your muscles give out — is a widespread technique among lifters aiming to maximize muscle growth. But how effective is it? Does pushing to failure yield better results than sticking to a prescribed rep range with a challenging weight? Exercise scientist Dr. Layne Norton dives into this question by examining recent research on leg training.

He highlights a 2024 study that compared the effects of training to absolute failure versus stopping just one or two reps short of it. Participants trained twice a week for eight weeks, performing leg presses with one leg and leg extensions with the other.

Read on to discover what this study and other research reveal about training to failure for muscle growth. We'll also explore recommendations for using this technique with heavy free weights and machine exercises to optimize your results.

THE RESULTS ARE IN

In Tuesday’s edition of The Ripped Report, we asked you to vote on who you think will win the 2025 Mr. Olympia. Here are the results:

THE DROP SET

All-Natural

• Natalie Hays is currently sitting at the top of female natural bodybuilding. Learn how she became a bodybuilding powerhouse and see her training with Dr. Mike Israetel. 

• Men’s Open bodybuilder Rafael Brandao eats 8,000 calories daily to put on muscle. Here’s his off-season dirty bulking diet.

• During an overhead press, the push press adds your lower body to the equation. This is how this power movement improves shoulder strength. 

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