Training

Lose fat and build muscle at the same time

Fat loss is easy, but improving body composition - losing fat AND building muscle - is a little more complicated. This requires smart nutrition and the best training methods.

A lot of people who focus on "fat loss" see their exercise program with weights as a way to burn more calories, and so they assume the key is to do more reps and more sets. You're right, you definitely need to increase energy expenditure, but not at the expense of the growth stimulus the muscles are exposed to.

It's more important to focus on increasing training density than training volume. Training density refers to performing more repetitions per unit of time. In other words, you should rest less during your training sessions. This will keep the metabolic rate high both during and after the training session. It will also promote a hormonal environment that is conducive to fat mobilization. And if you plan it right, you'll still be able to promote muscle growth. Here are the best methods.

Method 1: Loaded Carries - carrying weights

Loaded Carries stands for nothing more than carrying weights in different ways. It could be walking with weights in your hands (Farmers Walk), carrying weights in the crook of your elbows (Zercher Carry), holding a barbell, two dumbbells or two kettlebells above your head and walking with that weight (Overhead Carry) or pulling/pushing a weight sled. You can also use other equipment such as sandbags or wheelbarrows.

Loaded Carries make the body work in a way not found in any other exercise: they combine a strong need to stabilize the trunk, dynamic movements, isometric tension in the muscles, as well as the need to fight a "micro-oscillation" - an insignificant but constant change in position that forces the body to stabilize the load.

Loaded Carries will...

• Reduce body fat: Loaded Carries burn body fat, promote an optimal hormonal environment and improve insulin sensitivity in muscles.
• Increase muscle mass: Loaded Carries keep the muscles under tension for a fairly long period of time, initiate muscle contractions to combat "micro-oscillations" and cause the muscles to stretch under load.
• Improve muscle hardness: The whole body has to work to maintain stiffness in order to remain stable and combat "micro-oscillation".
• Improve heavy basic exercises: Loaded Carries can possess a significant impact on performing heavy basic exercises by strengthening the core and making it more stable.

Two ways to use Loaded Carries

On your own: Perform one set of a Loaded Carrie exercise as if you were performing a regular exercise. Each type of load/length will have a positive effect on body composition, but you should use the method that best suits your goal.

Load parameters for loaded carries/weight sleds

A good option for hypertrophy development is to perform a loaded carry exercise with a regular exercise with weights in the superset

If improving body composition is your goal, any of the last three categories would be effective. If your main goal is to build muscle in combination with some fat loss, sets of 50 to 80 meters with 90 to 120 seconds rest are best. This will have a maximum impact on muscle mass while burning some fat at the same time.

If you are more concerned with fat loss, the last two variations can be used. The only difference is the mindset when you perform them. Regardless, you will be working for one minute (up to 90 seconds) with a comparable rest period. You will still achieve some muscle gain, but fat loss will be maximized.

For more variety: combine 2 or 3 different Loaded Carries in a circuit or use Loaded Carries in combination with other metabolic exercises (rowing ergometer, sprints, jumping rope, mountain climber (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmwgirgXLYM), etc.) This approach allows you to work out at a higher density - you can basically work out for 10 to 15 minutes without rest, which is especially true if you use exercises that work different muscle groups.

For example, you can do 5 circuits consisting of Sled Pulls (40 meters), Battle Ropes (30 seconds) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__bv4D7ii_0), Farmers Walks (40 meters) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pGG5DYqK9Q) and Crunches on the Swiss Ball (12 to 15 repetitions). Another effective circuit consists of 50 meters with the weight sled, 50 meters of sprinting, 50 meters of farmer's walk and 50 meters of walking (the rest phase) performed six times in a row.

Method 2: Upper body/lower body - alternating sets

By performing exercises in rapid succession that target muscle groups that are far apart (e.g. thighs and shoulders), the body must quickly adapt the blood flow to the working muscles. The constant need to adjust blood flow makes the heart and cardiovascular system work extra hard. This is good for mobilizing body fat and cardiovascular health.

Stay in a slightly lower repetition range so that you can use fairly heavy weights while still benefiting from a metabolic boost and the positive effects on the cardiovascular system. Aim for 6 to 8 repetitions per set, although you can also perform 10 to 12 repetitions for some exercises. Pair two exercises and pause for around 20 to 30 seconds between them.

Example:

1. Leg press 10 repetitions
2. Pause for 30 seconds
3. Dumbbell shoulder press 8 repetitions
4. Pause for 30 seconds
5. Leg presses 10 repetitions
6. Pause for 30 seconds
7. Dumbbell shoulder press 8 repetitions
8. Pause for 30 seconds
9. Leg presses 10 repetitions
10. Pause for 30 seconds
11. Dumbbell shoulder press 8 repetitions

You can use any exercises you want, but for the best results, use the following rules:

1. Use one upper body and one lower body exercise per exercise pair.
2. Try to avoid exercises with a strong postural component such as squats, deadlifts and bent-over rows. If you are not used to high-density exercise, you may find it difficult to maintain proper posture when you get tired.
3. You can use isolation exercises, but perform them at the end of the training session or pair an isolation exercise with a challenging exercise.
4. Start with 3 exercise pairings per session until you become more efficient at a high density workout and then consider increasing to 4 exercises.
5. Control the eccentric or negative part of the movements and perform them quite slowly.

Method 3: EMOM with alternating exercises

EMOM stands for "every minute on the minute". This 4 repetition method focuses more on strength, which is why you should use 70% of your maximum and only heavy basic exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, standing barbell shoulder presses, pull-ups, barbell rows, front squats, etc. Pair one upper body and one lower body exercise.

You must start a new set every minute. For the odd-numbered minutes, perform exercise 1 and for the even-numbered minutes, perform exercise 2.

Example:

• Start: 4 repetitions of squats
• 1:00 4 repetitions bench press
• 2:00 4 repetitions of squats
• 3:00 4 repetitions of bench presses
• etc.

Your first option is to perform an entire training session using this approach. This means performing 2 such pairs in your training session for 14 to 20 minutes each. Start with 14 minutes and work your way up. Pause for 5 minutes between each pairing and do nothing else during this training session - apart from perhaps some lighter training for abs or other small muscle groups for no longer than 15 minutes in total.

The second option is to perform a regular (but slightly shorter) training session with weights and finish it off with an EMOM pairing for 14 to 20 minutes. This would be your training finale.

Method 4: Elimination circuit with increasing repetitions

This is almost like a game. You put together a circuit of 5 exercises that covers the entire body. All of these exercises must be multi-joint exercises:

• 1 Squat variation
• 1 horizontal press (barbell or dumbbells on flat or incline bench)
• 1 exercise with hip flexion (a deadlift variation, an Olympic weightlifting exercise, etc.)
• 1 vertical press (barbell or dumbbell shoulder press/push press)
• 1 pulling exercise (pull-ups, rowing)

Perform all these exercises as a circuit. You can allow yourself 60 seconds (beginners), 45 seconds (slightly advanced) or 30 seconds (advanced) between stations. Use about 60% of your 1RM weight for each exercise.

Begin your first circuit with 5 repetitions of each exercise. After completing each circuit, increase the number of repetitions per exercise by one more repetition while maintaining the same weight:

• Round 1: 5 repetitions per exercise
• Round 2: 6 repetitions per exercise
• Round 3: 7 repetitions per exercise
• Round 4: 8 repetitions per exercise

You probably won't have much trouble adding one repetition per round until you reach about 8 repetitions. At this point, fatigue will accumulate. For some exercises, you may not be able to add another repetition. If you are no longer able to perform the required number of repetitions on an exercise, skip this exercise and continue the following cycles with the remaining exercises.

What will happen is that you will get less rest between two executions of an exercise, which will inevitably lead to you having to remove another exercise from the cycle. Continue in this way until there are no more exercises left. You can then dip your head in a bucket of ice water.

Method 5: Metabolic complex sets for strength/mass

This method is also very suitable for improving athletic performance. It combines three exercises that are performed as a complex (i.e. all three exercises are performed one after the other with only short breaks). All three exercises target the same muscle group.

The first exercise is used to build strength, which is why you should choose a heavy basic exercise of which you perform 3 to 6 repetitions per set. The second exercise is a hypertrophy exercise, of which 8 to 12 repetitions are performed. The third exercise is a metabolic exercise, of which sets of up to 60 seconds are performed.

Here are some examples:

Lower body example 1

Lower body example 2

Upper body example 1

Upper body Example 2

Method 6: Active rest between sets

This simple method is based on never really taking a break during your workout. This means that you do some light training or activity between exercises. This activity is not so intense that it prevents you from performing your actual exercises at a high level - this activity is simply to keep your heart rate elevated.

An effective method is to perform abdominal exercises between upper body exercises or postural exercises such as pull-aparts or rotator cuff exercises between lower body exercises. You could even do something like forearm training or calf training. Just make sure that the exercise you're using doesn't interfere with performing your main exercises.

Example:

• Perform the first set of your main exercise. Do not pause for more than 15 to 20 seconds.
• Perform active recovery training for about 45 to 60 seconds. Do not pause for longer than 15 to 20 seconds.
• Perform the second set of your main exercise.

Continue in this way.

Method 7: Walking

An hour of brisk walking every day can do wonders for your body composition. Sure, you could do jogging or HIIT, but if you're training really hard and maintaining a calorie deficit, doing too much intense exercise could have negative effects such as an overproduction of cortisol.

Walking, on the other hand, will not increase cortisol levels. It might even lower cortisol levels as it helps you to switch off and relax. Even if it doesn't burn a ton of calories, it can still make a significant difference. A fairly brisk walk can burn up to 350 to 400 kcal per hour. Over the course of a week, this adds up to 2400 to 2800 kcal. One pound of fat is about 3500 kcal. Even if this calculation is of course not completely accurate, the fat loss could add up to an additional 4 to 5 pounds within 12 weeks.

Never rule anything out in advance because it's not "hardcore". I walk for an hour every morning when I'm in a fat loss phase and sometimes I take a second walk in the evening. Every little helps!

From Christian Thibaudeau | 07/25/16

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/the-7-best-workouts-for-fat-loss

Resistance training with low weights and restricted blood flow, a technique known as Kaatsu training, increases strength and is especially valuable during a rehab phase.

A study led by Daeyeol Kim of the University of Oklahoma found that six weeks of low-intensity interval training (30 percent of maximum) performed on an ergometer in combination with blood flow restriction increased aerobic capacity, power output and knee flexion strength. The study used relatively untrained college students as subjects, so it is not clear whether this technique works for well-trained athletes.

(Journal Strength and Conditioning Research, published online September 25, 2015)

Here's what you need to know...

1. If you're serious about losing body fat, then you need to make time for proper nutrition. If you don't have that time, then make that time!
2. Far too often people trying to lose body fat use intense metabolic training with weights and HIIT (high intensity interval training). Fat loss programs require you to alternate between different strategies such as metabolic training with weights, strength training, bodybuilding and strength plus conditioning training as needed.
3. When designing a weekly plan for your workout, keep in mind how different training styles affect different physical systems and therefore recovery. You need to plan some distance between different types of stressors such as nervous system stressors, joint stressors, spinal compression and metabolic stressors.
4. If you are trying to burn fat, you should alternate between different types of non-lactate stimulating conditioning workouts, which consist of short, intense efforts, and lactate producing conditioning workouts, which consist of longer duration efforts.

Do you want to lose body fat quickly and stay slim? Then stop using those mainstream fitness workout programs designed for your grandmother. A real fat loss workout should build calluses on your hands. Here are eight rules for effective fat loss training plus a sample workout plan that puts these rules into action.

8 rules for a fat loss workout

1 - Prioritize nutrition

Yes, this is a training article, but nutrition is by far the most important factor in fat loss. If you are serious about losing body fat then you need to make time for shopping for food, preparing meals, doing the washing up and keeping a food diary. If you don't have time for this, then you need to make the time! Reduce time-wasting activities such as social media, surfing the web, playing games on your phone or watching TV.

If you have really eliminated every possible time waster and are still pressed for time, then exercise less to have time to take care of your diet. Yes, that's right, exercise less! In my fat loss programs, for example, I have scheduled Tuesdays and Saturdays as shopping/meal prep days. You can still exercise on these days of course, but if you're really pressed for time, then you should sacrifice your workouts on these days to take care of the top priority for fat loss - your diet.

When it comes to what you eat, there's no rule that says you have to follow a specific diet perfectly. You probably already know yourself which foods will cause you problems. However, there are aspects of certain diets that are worth adopting. For example, you can adopt some aspects of the Paleo diet (natural, single ingredient foods, meat, fish, eggs and vegetables) without unnecessarily sacrificing other foods that are not Paleo but still support your training goals, such as high quality supplements like fish oil, BCAAs, protein, pre-workout nutrition and some starchy carbohydrate sources like rice.

2 - Choose heavy multi-joint exercises

Regardless of your goals, effective training starts with choosing the right exercises. The best exercises for fat loss are the best exercises for almost any goal. The heavy multi-joint exercises are the exercises you should be doing.

3 - Get stronger

While most people understand that getting stronger is important for building muscle and increasing performance, the relevance of this to fat loss is often overlooked. If fat loss is your goal, then you want to burn as much energy as possible. To do this, you want your body to be as energy inefficient as possible. One of the big problems with cardio for fat loss is that the more of it you do, the better you get at it and the more energy efficient you become. The opposite is true with resistance training. The better you get at resistance training, the more weight you can move and the more energy you will use. Dedicating some of your training time to getting stronger will allow you to perform all other forms of your training (e.g. metabolic training with weights, conditioning training) at a higher level and this will make these forms of training even more effective in reducing unwanted fat.

4 - Build muscle

Almost everyone who is trying to lose body fat should build some muscle mass. Most people know this, but it is necessary to repeat it over and over again. Even a few extra pounds of lean muscle mass equals a lot of extra calories burned day after day.

5 - Increase metabolic rate after exercise

Years ago, exercise scientists told us to do long cardio workouts at low intensity to burn fat. However, this was an answer to the wrong question. Fat loss training is not about what burns the greatest amount of fat during a training session, but what burns the greatest amount of fat within 24 hours. Short, high-intensity exercise generates an oxygen debt (also known in nerd-speak as EPOC or excess post-exercise energy consumption) and this results in a metabolic boost that lasts long after the session is over.

6 - Plan your training wisely

When creating a weekly plan for your training, consider how different styles of training affect different systems of the body and therefore recovery. Here are some examples:

1. Stressors to the joints: sprints, jumps, heavy barbell training
2. Compression of the spine: heavy squats, deadlifts, farmer's walk
3. Stressors for the nervous system: speed/power training, heavy training with low repetitions (especially > 90% of 1RM), training to muscle failure
4. Metabolic stressors: lactate training (i.e. doing things that last between 30 seconds and 3 minutes and produce a lot of lactic acid/lactate. Great for fat loss, but takes longer to recover from)

Allow yourself some space between different types of stressors. For example, if you stress something heavily one day, do a lighter workout the next day or choose a different type of stressor. The example plan at the end of the article will show you how to put this into practice.

7 - Rotate the strategies

As with any goal, following an effective fat loss training program will only work for a certain period of time before you reach a plateau. Far too often, people trying to lose body fat only use intense metabolic training with weights and HIIT (high-intensity interval training). Although these types of training are excellent, they won't work forever. Even with a fat loss program, you should alternate between different strategies like the following as needed:

1. Metabolic training with weights: Use moderate weights and moderate repetitions while alternating between upper and lower body exercises or performing full body circuits.
2. Strength training: use more traditional strength training methods that allow you to move more weight as you transition back to metabolic training with weights.
3. Bodybuilding: focus on building lean muscle mass to increase metabolic rate and do some fast walking to burn some extra calories.
4. Strength plus conditioning: focus on getting stronger in the weight room and perform demanding forms of conditioning to increase EPOC (afterburn effect).

The trick is to not only periodize your workouts, but also your diet. When some people do a lower-volume strength training program, they notice that they build fat. This is not because of the training. Obviously, strength training does not cause fat gain. However, if you go from a higher volume workout (the typical metabolic fat loss stuff) to a lower volume workout (such as a powerlifting program) and don't reduce your carbs and calories, then you will build fat.

8 - Get outside

We are made to be outside. While it's not always practical to lug an entire barbell set outside or work out at Muscle Beach, you should still try to do something physical outdoors. Sprint on the cinder track, find a hill and practice sprints, push or pull a weight sled. Grab a sledgehammer and try to smash an old tire to smithereens. You can also consider taking some minimal equipment like kettlebells to the park and do an outdoor training session. Or do what I do - I work out with my barbells in my basement gym and then do farmer's walks on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. Other outdoor athletic activities are also great not only to burn a few extra calories, but also to have some fun, reduce stress, and enjoy the benefits of the perfectly conditioned machine you build in the gym.

The workout plan: Let's put the above into practice

Warm up

Do whatever it takes to get warm and ready for the workout. Foam roller work, dynamic flexibility training and corrective exercises are all suitable, but don't overdo it. Five to ten minutes maximum is plenty unless you have real problems. Doing a few short sprints, jumps or medicine ball throws to stimulate the nervous system is also a good idea

Monday

* Farmers Walk - Use a dead-squat™ bar, Farmers Walk equipment or heavy dumbbells.

Alactate conditioning training (Alactate means that you use the ATP-CP energy system, which does not produce lactic acid (lactate). This type of training consists of short, intense efforts that do not cause burning). Do this later the same day after your workout with weights.

Example options (choose one):

• 40 to 50 meter sprint: 5 to 10 sprints, 90 seconds to 2 minutes rest between sprints
• Sprints uphill or up a flight of stairs (short < 40m): 5 to 10 sprints, 90 seconds to 2 minutes rest between sprints
• Sledgehammer (punches on a tire): Maximum number of hits within 10 to 20 seconds, 5 to 10 passes, 90 seconds to 2 minutes rest between passes
• Pushing or pulling a weight sled (walking or running): 5 to 12 sets (20 meter distance, 1 set = once there and back), 90 seconds to 2 minutes rest between sets

Tuesday: Running and shopping/meal preparation day

Tempo runs on the sports field (Do these if your time allows. Prioritize meal prep otherwise).

How to do them: Find a soccer field. Start in one corner, sprint diagonally at 75% of your maximum speed to the corner on the other side. When you get there, walk along the side of the pitch to the corner on the other side. This is one set. Perform a total of 8 to 15 sets. This will help improve your conditioning, while also aiding your recovery so you're ready for the next day's tough workout. Unless you live in Brazil, where there's a soccer field on every street corner, you'll have to improvise. A park works too. Choose two trees instead of the corners of the soccer pitch.

Wednesday

* Push or pull a heavy weight sled - Perform walking lunges over 20 meters if you do not have a weight sled.

Lactate training (Lactate training means that you use an energy system that produces lactate. This training consists of longer exercises that produce a burn). Do this later the same day after your workout with weights.

Example options (choose one):

• 400 meter sprints: 2 to 4 sets, 2 to 5 minutes rest between sprints
• Battle Ropes (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__bv4D7ii_0): 45-75 sec, 4 to 6 rounds, 1 to 2 minutes rest
• Pulling or pushing a weight sled (walking or running): 4 to 6 sets (use a 30 meter route, 1 set = once there and back), 2 to 5 minutes rest between sets

Thursday

Tempo runs (as on Tuesday) or 30 to 60 minutes of brisk walking.

Friday

Alactat conditioning workout, same idea as what you did on Monday, but you can choose a different option from the last workout. For example, if you did 40 to 60 meter sprints on Monday, pull a weight sled, sprint uphill, or use the sledgehammer.

Saturday: Your choice and shopping/meal prep day

Today you need to pick your poison:

Option 1: Exercise:

A great option is to perform (not just watch) an intense physical sport.

Option 2: Outdoor recreational sports:

Hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, etc. Make sure the activity is reasonably intense.

Option 3: Lactate training:

Perform lactate training as described in Wednesday's workout. You can do a few more sets as you have not done any training with weights before.

Option 4: Strongman Day

Grab a few friends and load up your cars with whatever training equipment you have: Weight sleds, sledgehammers, tractor tires, kettlebells, Farmers Walk equipment, etc. and head to a park or field. If you only do this occasionally, you can plan things on the fly. If you do this regularly, then put together a program based on the following guidelines:

1. Move from more technically challenging exercises to less challenging ones.
2. Use sets shorter than 10 seconds for an alactate workout and sets lasting from 30 seconds to 2 minutes for a lactate workout.
3. Keep the duration of your training sessions under one hour.
4. Aim for weekly progression in your main exercises.
5. Occasionally try to do something at the end of the workout that falls into the "that was a dumb idea" category. This means that one person in the group comes up with an original idea that the group has to try out. The goal is to come up with something that won't get anyone hurt and will make you throw up your high protein breakfast again or cause rhabdomyolysis. It should simply be something challenging that will make everyone (including the person who came up with the idea) say "that was a stupid idea". This gives you a mental challenge so you can learn that you may be tougher than you think.

Option 5: Beach muscle day

If you've done all the other training on the previous days, you can also enjoy a day of some nice bodybuilding training.

* These triple sets are based on Charles Poliquin's method. The third exercise of the triple set is the first exercise again, using less weight than in the first set.

Sunday: light activity

A brisk walk or some easy cycling.

By Andrew Heming | 01/22/16

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/8-rules-for-fat-loss-training