It’s that time of year for some really good fat loss workouts isn’t it?
So now that I’m through competing with Crossfit for now and I got the rest of the summer to look towards with upcoming weddings, pool parties, boating and 10 year Anniversaries (High School), it’s time to really crank up the fat loss and start to focus on getting SHREDDED.
I’m sure if you’re like me, you want to look good in the summer time right? When the suns out its time to get the guns out and show off your body a little bit.
In my mind, if you’re going to be training, you’re going to want to perform at a high level as well as look good.
Am I right or wrong?
If it weren’t for that, training would just be plain silly. What would the point be if it weren’t to help you perform better or to stay and look healthy?
Just yesterday I tried to go down to the local pool but I was turned away! Not once but twice! One pool was dirty from an overnight pool party which was probably filled with piss and other stuff I didn’t want to be swimming in anyways and the other pool was closed due to the pool filters being on recall.
I took this as a sign that I wasn’t supposed to be at the pool that day so I went back home and chilled out in the nice air conditioning.
Sometimes things just don’t go your way ya know…
So, Let’s talk about fat loss workouts.
What are they and how should you do them?
Before I get into the nitty gritty, let me just put down some key point to focus in on while incorporating some INTENSE fat loss workouts into your training program.
1) Still keep HEAVY lifting within your workouts – I would focus on having your heavy lifts in at the beginning on your training sessions. SO things like Deadlifts, Front and Back Squats, and Heavy overhead pressing movement. Keep these at reps of 6 or below for more sets.
2) Keep your sessions short and to the point – With any type of training, we’re looking for QUALITY, not QUANTITY – use effective means of training at HIGH INTENSITIES so you can get in and get out.
3) Drink a sh*t ton of water. NO JOKE! You should be pissing clear every time you use the john as this will not only help your body lose more water weight, you’ll also be a better fat burning machine as you’re body will work more efficiently when it’s hydrated.
4) Cut out your sugars and processed grains. You ever hear the statement, “Abs are made in the kitchen?” It’s true! If you eat right, you’ll have a much better chance at getting ripped up. I would suggest you just go Paleo but just keep it simple and eat LEAN and CLEAN.
Now, if you can follow the 4 points from above plus throw in a few of the fat loss workouts I talk about below, you’ll be on your way to a RIPPED up body or closer version of it…
When thinking fat loss, we need to start to think about a few things. The main things we need think about are INTENSITY and overall CALORIE BURN.
Here’s a fact: The higher intensity you train at, meaning, the higher you get your heart rate to, the more overall calories you’ll burn not only during the training session but after the training session has ended as well.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the afterburn effect before, RIGHT?? If not, this just basically means that when you train at a high enough intensity level, even after your done training, you’ll continue to burn tons of calories at a high rate, even hours after you’ve finished training.
So there’s definitely an afterburn effect going down after you do some intense bouts of hill sprints or barbell complexes VS. the very low afterburn effect you would get from running a mile at a long, boring, and slow pace.
So, with that in mind, we’re after HIGH INTENSITY for SHORTER amounts of time. If you’re going at an extremely high intensity for a long period of time, there’s a few things going on:
A) You’re a freak and can just train at a super high level for a long period of time (over 45 mins)
Or
B) You’re not training at a high enough level for it to be considered “high intensity”.
Fat loss workouts in my mind should be all out go until you can’t go any longer for them to be the most effective.
I know low intensity methods like walking in the AM on an empty stomach can work effectively but I would rather spend my time sprinting or throwing around some sandbags or kettlebells then walking on a treadmill…
That’s just me though 😉
So, let’s dig into some different types of super effective and fun fat loss workouts.
One of my favorites and most time fitting fat loss workouts would be the TABATA protocol. I’ve wrote about this more extensively in an earlier post if you want to check it out HERE.
But these are great. Pick a high impact movement or two and just get cranking. In 4 mins, you’re done! If you feel like you can do another 4 min tabata right after that one, you probably didn’t go hard enough…
Regular sprinting, Hill sprinting and prowler pushing are some more very effective fat loss workouts in themselves. Just find a track, football field, or nice hill and do about 10-20 all out sprints with short rest breaks. If you have access to a prowler, go for it! If you don’t, I used to hit up plate pushers to simulate pushing the prowler. I got a video of me doing it way back when I was still training at the “globo gym”. It’s towards the end of the video. I’m happy those days at the globo gym are over. If you don’t have access to a gym floor for those, just get in your sprints.
Another type of fat loss workout I really enjoy and know works hella good (I just said hell good) are 30-30 intervals. Basically you’re training for 30 secs ALL OUT with a 30 secs break between movements. The reason I like these so much is because you can choose movements and go up a little bit more with your weight than you normally would for most interval training circuits. You don’t have to stick around with strictly bodyweight stuff when you have 30 secs of rest to help you recover.
Obviously, if you’re a beginner, you’ll want to start with mostly bodyweight movements for this type for fat loss workout but if you’re advanced, you can try throwing in some more heavily weighted movements.
For the particular fat loss workout I posted for you below, I choose 5 different movements all rather light as I’ll go heavier later in the week. I repeated through this circuit 4 times for a total of 20 mins.
1A) Kettlebell Swings (80lbs)
1B) Ring Dips
1C) OH Drop Lunges
1D) Strict Pull Ups
1E) Wheel Roll Outs
As you can see, it’s a good mixture of weighted and non weighted movements. The 30 secs will give me enough time to make some sort of recovery so my form stays tight.
If you’re form is going to sh*t, lower the weight or increase the rest period. Shoot, you could even do a 20 sec work period with 30-40 second break if you wanted to get a bit heavier with your movements.
It’s all in what you want to try to get done. Typically I stay in the 30-40 sec work period range coupled with a 20-30 sec break. I’m going to be messing around with heavier loads for the movements and shorter work periods matched up with longer rest periods to see how that comes out in the next few weeks.
The bottom line for these different types of fat loss workouts is this:
Go INTENSE and go home! Get in and out!
Now, the way I would typically program these types of workouts into my schedule would be like this:
Monday – Heavy lifting + fat loss workout
Tues – Sprints in AM
Wed – Heavy lifting + fat loss workout
Thurs – OFF / RECOVERY
Friday – Heavy Lifting + fat loss workout
Saturday and Sunday – Pick a day to do some sprints or prowler work then hit up the pool! Rest on the other day by the pool again…
Pretty simple plan that I know will get you shredded…
Let’s hear about your plans for this summer! Share your comments below! What are you trying to get shredded for? Pool, beach, weddings???
I would like to know.
Live and Train Aggressive!
“Get YOU SHREDDED” Resources:
Lean. Mean. Strong. Simple Nutrition System