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Torso/core
Cardio drill
The beauty of the FL4 protocol is its simplicity and versatility. You can plug in virtually
any exercise you like, provided it fits the category.
That said, I've found that certain exercises seem to work better than others. You'll find
some of my favorites later in this article.
Each strength exercise is performed for 30 seconds, with 15 seconds rest between
exercises.
For example:
Rest 15 seconds
Rest 15 seconds
Rest 15 seconds
Note: Cardio duration depends on how much you need to recover after performing all
three strength movements. The longest rest interval I'll allow is 30 seconds, which
would put you at 2:30 when starting the cardio exercise.
Ideally, you'll only rest 15 seconds transitioning from strength to cardio, which would put
you at 2:15 when starting the cardio drill (and leave you with 1:45 to do cardio).
During the strength exercises within a circuit, you should be able to complete the entire
30 seconds of work with good form and a consistent, controlled tempo.
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being working very hard), you should be at a 7 or 8 at the end of
each strength exercise.
On the cardio exercise, we're after a pace that gets you to about 80% of your max heart
rate.
By the time you're about to begin the next round of an FL4 circuit, you should feel
mostly recovered. Basically, if you can get out a full sentence without huffing and
puffing, you're good to go. But if you're still sucking wind after your 60-second rest
between circuits, you need to reduce the intensity of the cardio.
I've found it works well to change the strength movements every 2-3 rounds, although
as mentioned earlier, I like to keep the cardio drill the same throughout the workout. So
although the strength moves may change, the cardio remains constant.
FL4 Circuit #1
Push: Push-back push-ups
Cardio: Treadmill run (Run pace between a light jog and all-out sprint.)
FL4 Circuit #2
Pull: Compound rows
Cardio: Treadmill run (Run pace; between a light jog and all-out sprint.)
FL4 Circuit #3
Push: Dumbbell uppercuts
Cardio: Treadmill run (Run pace; between a light jog and all-out sprint.)
Sticking with the same cardio drill helps develop a consistent workout rhythm, while
changing the strength moves every so often creates variety while serving to minimize
localized muscle fatigue.
However, there are a few movements I've found work exceptionally well with both my
athletes and general fat loss clients. Here are my top five moves to try when designing
your FL4 workouts.
Although
this methods works, I've found circuits run smoother with either purely bilateral actions
3
or with alternating limb actions like lunges, where you switch legs on each rep.
I also recommend sticking with compound strength movements instead of smaller, single-joints
actions. This should be obvious, but compound strength movements create a better metabolic
training response than single joint actions as they involve more muscle mass.
return to the original muscle group on the next circuit, it's been several minutes, giving your
body time to recover sufficiently.
4. You won't lose muscle when you're using muscle.
Since there's a heavy component of strength training involved in the FL4 Protocol, we haven't
seen any losses in muscle size or strength. Although you're not using maximal weights, you are
training with higher volumes, another effective way of creating intensity.
I also don't suggest using FL4 as your only training method. Blending it with some basic
strength training and bodybuilding helps ensure the muscle you've worked so hard to achieve is
maintained while focusing on losing fat. You'll see how this is accomplished in the sample
weekly training splits below.
Sets
4-5
4-5
6-8 rounds
Reps
6-8
6-8
*
Sets
5-6
3-4
6-8 rounds
Reps
4-6
6-8 *
**
Sets
4-5
3-4
6-8 rounds
Reps
6-8
6-8 *
**
Four-Day Split
Monday FL4 circuit workout
Exercise
FL4 circuits
* total of 45-60 minutes
Sets
9-12 rounds
Reps
*
Sets
4-5
Reps
6-8
A2
B1
B2
C1
C2
D
4-5
4-5
4-5
3
3
4-5
Sets
9-12 rounds
6-8
6-8
6-8
10-12
10-12
1 min.
Reps
*
Sets
4-5
4
3-4
3-4
3
3
4-5
Reps
6-8
6-8
6-8 *
15-20 * *
10-12
10-15
1 min.
* * each side
5
Five-Day Split
Monday FL4 circuit workout
Exercise
FL4 circuits
* total of 45-60 minutes
Sets
9-12 rounds
Reps
*
Exercise
Bench press (dumbbell or barbell)
Bent over row (dumbbell or barbell)
Shoulder press (dumbbell or barbell)
Pull-ups or lat pulldowns
Skull crushers (dumbbell or EZ bar)
Biceps curl (dumbbell or EZ bar)
Dumbbell farmer's walk
Sets
4-5
4-5
4-5
4-5
3
3
4-5
Sets
4-5
4
3-4
3-4
Reps
6-8
6-8
6-8
6-8
10-12
10-12
1 min.
Reps
6-8
6-8
6-8 *
15-20 * *
C1 Leg extension
C2 Hamstring curls (seated or lying on Swiss ball)
D Sled or tire drag
* each leg
3
3
4-5
10-12
10-15
30-40 yards
* * each side
Sets
9-12 rounds
Reps
*
Sets
9-12 rounds
Reps
*
Conclusion
In my business the FL4 protocol has proven to be a safe and effective way to get virtually any
client in record shape, fast. This powerful fat loss weapon is now locked and loaded in your
training arsenal. All you've got to do is use it!
Steady-state cardio (SSC) isn't nearly as effective as HIIT at mobilizing fat from fat stores, but
it's really effective at burning those triglycerides that are floating around the bloodstream as a
result
6 of high-intensity intervals. Post-HIIT SSC is insurance that the fat that was mobilized gets
burned.
To put this strategy into action, do at least 20 minutes of SSC after your intervals. The intervals
could be anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes.
Here are a few examples: If you've got 30 minutes to do cardio, try 10 minutes of HIIT followed
by 20 minutes of SSC. If you've got an hour, try 20 minutes of intervals followed by 40 minutes
of SSC.
As for methods of cardio, let your imagination go wild. Try 20 minutes of intervals on the
StepMill followed immediately by 40 minutes of walking on the treadmill at a slight incline. If
you're doing your cardio outside, you could do sprints followed immediately by walking or
jogging, depending on your cardiovascular shape.
To fine-tune your pre-workout carb intake, make sure you time them properly in order to avoid
plummeting blood glucose levels: rebound hypoglycemia. For most people, having carbs
roughly an hour before training works well. Likewise, many people would also do well having
higher GI carbs about 10-15 minutes prior to training.
Another viable option is to consume carbs during your workout a.k.a. intra-workout carbs.
Much has been written here at T Nation about consuming fast-acting carbs (and protein) during
your workout, and for good reason. It's an effective anabolic/anti-catabolic strategy.
Regardless of your pre- and/or intra-workout carb strategy, you're definitely going to want to
consume carbs post-workout to facilitate proper recovery. And by drastically reducing (or
eliminating) the carbs you consume at other times, you'll maximize fat loss.
Squats are tough because the back and other muscles are involved in stabilizing the weight,
along with the glutes being heavily involved to extend the hips, but if you want to burn fat, that's
exactly what you want.
Deadlifts are another exercise that beg for rationalization. Say what you will, but doing back
extensions simply aren't the same, even if you hold a 45-pound plate while doing them.
Instead of doing concentration or preacher curls, do chin-ups. They'll call into play the lats, rear
delts, etc., resulting in more calories burned. Here are a few other exercises that'll force you to
burn extra calories compared to their more isolationist counterparts:
Burpees
Regarding burpees, they're not a sexy exercise, but boy do they get you out
of breath, create oxygen debt, and burn some calories. They're especially
good used between sets of other, more traditional weight-training exercises.
The key is to take an honest look at your exercise selection and see where
you could implement tougher exercises ones that use more muscle
groups, cause movement across more joints, and simply get you more out
of breath. By doing so, you'll burn more calories and ultimately lose more
fat.
But now that it's been broken down, it's up to you to make sure it gets
burned. (This is the same concept we discussed regarding HIIT + SSC).
That's where exercise comes in. It's a good idea to always have caffeine
prior to exercising because it makes physiological/biochemical sense.
Not only is this likely to help with lipolysis, but it'll indirectly help burn fat
because you'll be more energetic, thus ultimately do more work.
On a related note, there's some evidence that yohimbine does pretty much
the same thing, albeit via slightly different mechanisms. So taking caffeine
and yohimbine prior to exercise may provide a double lipolytic whammy.
How to do it:
Rest 30 seconds
Next do swings hard and fast for 20 seconds
Rest 20 seconds
Follow it up with 20 seconds of clap push-ups
Rest 20 seconds
Finish with 10 seconds of swings, 10 seconds of rest, and 10 seconds of
clap
push-ups
Rest for 30 seconds and repeat the sequence once more
The band jump squat and judo push-up is an awesome combination, but it
becomes pretty brutal when you have to knock out 150 total reps as fast as
possible. Get ready for pain.
How to do it: Start with15 band-jump squats, then drop to the ground (keep
the band on) and do 15 judo push-ups. The next round is 14 of each.
Continue dropping a rep each round until you reach 10. Make rest your
nemesis and keep it at bay from start to finish.
How to do it: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart while holding a weight in
each hand, arms hanging at sides. Push the hips back and squat until the
weights are just below the knees. Quickly stand up as you simultaneously
curl the weights and then dip down a few inches and push-press the
weights overhead using leg assistance. This entire movement should be
smooth without any hesitation. Bust off as many hard and fast continuous
reps as possible in two minutes.
How to do it: Start by pushing a sled back and forth, hard and fast, along a
20-meter stretch for as many rounds as possible in 60 seconds. Next, jog to
the pull-up bar or rings and perform as many reps as possible in 60
seconds (you'll most likely need to stop at least once during that time to
avoid hitting failure, because if you do hit failure, it'll probably be impossible
to knock off anymore reps in that time). Then jog back to the sled, push it
hard for 50 seconds and jog over for 50 seconds of pull-ups (again, avoid
failure). The next round is 40 seconds of each, followed by 30 seconds and
20 seconds of each. Finish with the hardest, fastest 10 seconds of the sled
push and pull-ups your body can muster.
Note: I've built a thick skin due to the insults that were hurled at me from
athletes after they regained consciousness from this finisher.
Final Words
Pick four barbell exercises that you can easily transition between.
Perform the first exercise for as many reps as you can in 20 seconds.
Rest 10 seconds.
Rest 10 seconds.
Once you've completed all four exercises you're only half way done,
because you'll only be two minutes into the Tabata. Go back to the first
exercise and repeat the entire complex again without ever dropping the bar.
10
This complex is performed exactly the same as the previous complex, only
you perform eight different exercises once instead of four exercises
performed twice.
Example:
1.Reverse Lunge (barbell on shoulders; back squat style)
2.Good Morning (bar still on shoulders)
3.Shoulder Press or Thruster
4.Hang Clean
5.Front Squat
6.Bent Over Row
7.Romanian Deadlift
8.Push-Up
Note: When performing barbell complexes like the one above, it's okay not
to use "perfect" Olympic lifting technique on moves like cleans and
snatches. Why?
We're not trying to build peak power, we're trying to build conditioning and lose fat.
Good Olympic lifting form is needed to help you lift heavy loads as fast and efficiently as
possible. The loads used in the complexes above are not heavy at all, and therefore don't
require you to have "perfect" form. As long as you don't lose optimal spinal alignment and
maintain good rhythm, you're fine.
You can swing kettlebells, squat with kettlebells, or thrust them over your
head. So pick your favorites and just rotate with 20 second intervals.
Example:
20 seconds 1-Arm
swing (right arm)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds 1-Arm
swing (left arm)
10 seconds rest
20
seconds
Front
Squat (right arm)
10 seconds rest
20
seconds
Front
Squat (left arm)
10 seconds rest
11
20
seconds
Press (right arm)
10 seconds rest
20
seconds
Press (left arm)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds
swing
10 seconds rest
20 seconds
swing
Push
Push
2-Arm
2-Arm
You can also do this same Tabata workout without switching sides each
time like this:
20 seconds 1-Arm
swing (right arm)
10 seconds rest
20
seconds
Front
Squat (right arm)
10 seconds rest
20
seconds
Push
Press (right arm)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds 1-Arm
swing (left arm)
10 seconds rest
20
seconds
Front
Squat (left arm)
10 seconds rest
20
seconds
Push
Press (left arm)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds 2-Arm
swing
10 seconds rest
20 seconds 2-Arm
swing
Example:
This entire Tabata is performed with a staggered stance. Switch your lead
leg each round.
Example:
20 seconds punches
(left leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds punches
(right leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds alternating
row (left leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds alternating
row (right leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds punches
(left leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds alternating
row (left leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds punches
(right leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds alternating
row (right leg lead)
10 seconds rest
12
20 seconds punches
(left leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds punches
(right leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds alternating
row (left leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds alternating
row (right leg lead)
20 seconds punches
(left leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds alternating
row (left leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds punches
(right leg lead)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds alternating
row (right leg lead)
10 seconds rest
Even if you do have access to gym equipment, sometimes it's nice to get
away from all that stuff and just allow your body to move the way it wants.
20 seconds Speed
Squat
10 seconds rest
20 seconds Burpees
10 seconds rest
20 seconds Mountain
Climber (keep neutral
spine)
10 seconds
20 seconds Speed
Skips (in place) (lift
knee above hip)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds Speed
Squat
10 seconds rest
20 seconds Burpees
10 seconds rest
20 seconds Mountain
Climber (keep neutral
spine)
10 seconds
20 seconds Speed
Skips (in place) (lift
knee above hip)
For fat loss: You can use Tabatas up to three times per week. But you can
also do multiple Tabata intervals one workout. I've used up to three different
Tabata intervals in a workout.
Remember to do them after strength training so that you have the energy to
keep your current amount of muscle size and strength.
For conditioning: You can use Tabatas throughout your workout, either
before, during, or after your strength training.
During most sports (football, MMA, etc.) you're often required to call upon
every ounce of strength you have and explode throughout the entire
competition, even when you're tired. So, mixing conditioning and strength
work together can help prepare you specifically for this challenge.
This is especially important for MMA fighters and other combat athletes
because you have to lift up, take down, and push your opponent around the
entire fight, no matter how gassed you may be.
13
Tabata Progressions
If you're not able to do the entire 4-minute Tabata, gradually build up your
stamina with the following progression.
Week
1
10/20
x6
Week
2
10/20
x7
Week
3
10/20
x8
Week
4
15/15
x5
Week
5
15/15
x6
Week
6
15/15
x7
Week
7
15/15
x8
Week
8
20/10
x4
Week
9
20/10
x5
Week
10
20/10
x6
Week
11
20/10
x7
Week
12
20/10
x8
Now, if you're a better-conditioned athlete, you may need only eight weeks
to build up to the full Tabata. Here's an eight-week Tabata workout
progression:
Week
1
10/20
x6
Week
2
15/15
x4
Week
3
10/20
x8
Week
4
15/15
x6
Week
5
20/10
x4
Week
6
15/15
x8
Week
7
20/10
x6
Week
8
20/10
x8
Now, take this arsenal of Tabata workouts and use them to incinerate fat
and smoke the competition.
14
This is one of my longtime favorites because it's simple, super intense, and
just plain tough!
How to do it:
Coaching Tips:
Purpose: Improve upper body and torso power endurance. This one is
great for upper-body conditioning, especially since so much of conditioning
is lower body dominant. Great for boxers, kick-boxers, and MMA fighters.
How to do it:
Coaching Tips:
When throwing, use your legs to help drive the medicine ball.
Keep a straight spine and straight arms while driving the Prowler forward
using
big
strides.
Driving the sled with a good body forward lean angle, push the Prowler
for
25-40
yards
as
fast
as
you
can.
Perform 3-6 sets with 30 seconds 3 minutes rest (depending on the
intensity) between sets.
Note: I prefer using the tire over the Prowler as I feel it's more demanding
on the arms, shoulders, and torso. Plus, you can save some serious cash
and space in your gym by simply using an old tire.
Coaching Tips:
Keep your back straight and don't allow your low back to hunch (round).
Take long strides, pushing your legs hard into the ground with each step.
The weight you put on the Prowler will change depending on the surface
you're pushing it on.
Mix up weight and length ranges. Some days use lighter loads for 40+yd
pushes. On other days, go with heavier loads for 25+ yards.
15
How to do it:
Place your hands inside the plate and assume a push-up position.
Driving with your legs, push the plate across the floor 25-40 yards as fast
as you can. Perform 3-6 sets with 30-90 seconds rest between sets.
Coaching Tips:
Keep your back straight and avoid lifting your hips higher than your
shoulders.
Take long strides, pushing your legs hard into the ground with each step.
16
I love Tabatas because they allow for so much programming variety. With a
little imagination, it's possible to never repeat the same workout twice!
How to do it:
Speed Squats
Burpees
Mountain Climbers
Speed
Skips
(in
place)
Coaching Tips:
On the burpees, don't slam your feet into the ground. Control your fall on
each rep!
If you like what you see here, you can find more Performance U Tabata
complexes in this article.
Metabolic Finisher #6Four Corners Farmer Walks
Here at Performance U, we've combined farmer's walks with strength
complexes to make each protocol an even more effective metabolic
finisher.
Purpose: Build upper body strength/endurance, improve grip strength,
accelerate metabolism, and pump up the shoulders like never before! Great
for the guy who loves to lift weights but hates to do "cardio."
17
How to do it:
Place two cones or water bottles roughly ten yards apart. Stand at one end
holding a pair of heavy dumbbells. Get comfortable; you won't put these
dumbbells down until you've completed all of the following exercises:
Without ever placing the dumbbells down, walk to the other end and
perform 8-10 biceps curls.
Still holding the dumbbells, walk back to the other end and perform a set
of dumbbell front squats.
Walk back to the other end and perform 8-10 dumbbell over head
presses.
Don't put the dumbbells down yet! Walk back to the starting cone to
complete 1 full set.
Coaching tips:
How to do it:
18
Coaching Tips:
Use your entire body on each exercise, never "arm up" the kettlebell.
Bonus: Do it Backwards!
Once you've mastered the above 100 rep KB challenge, try it in the reverse
order beginning with the push presses. It's a whole new animal when you
switch the order up.
Although I've provided you with 7 nasty "puke in your shoes" finishers, this
is by no means an exhaustive list of all the metabolic finishers I use in my
business at Performance U.
With all the great conditioning tools available from battling ropes to hammer
training to Airdyne Bike intervals to barbell complexes and circuits, it's
literally endless what you can do with some purposeful creativity. Use this
article as inspiration to think out of the box and develop your own metabolic
finishers.
Aside from the amazing fitness and physique benefits, these finishers will
test your grit and help build the intestinal fortitude you need to take on any
challenge that life throws at you.
Look better, move better, feel better, and BE better. It all starts with how you
finish!
Let's see, I probably only had a 95% chance of getting this one right. Is
there anyone who reads Testosterone that doesn't want bigger muscles?
When training for hypertrophy you must ingest more calories than you
expend each day. This above-maintenance nutritional plan allows you to
get away with more extreme types of progression because your body is fed
with plenty of nutrients. In other words, you're in a phase where overtraining
is less likely to occur. Therefore, I recommend the three most intense
progressions.
19
Load progression
Increasing the load with each training session is one of the most effective,
albeit demanding, types of progression. It takes the biggest toll on your
joints and nervous system. The key is to increase the load in small
increments. This forces your muscles to do more work, but it doesn't
overwhelm your brain, muscles, and joints.
The following Monday you pull out a calculator and realize that you need to
increase the load 0.8 pounds. (I probably don't need to go much further for
you to realize the problems with the 2% approach, but I will.) You're
immediately faced with a formidable challenge because your gym has a
dumbbell set that only jumps in five-pound increments. So you're relegated
to a 12% load progression instead of 2%.
And this is one of the many reasons why I favor compound movements.
Had you chosen a close-grip bench press with 225 pounds to train your
triceps, that 2% progression becomes 4.5 pounds. Without a leap of faith,
you can presume that increasing the load five pounds is a relatively
accurate and effective progression. When working with the 2% progression,
if you're ever faced with a 7.5 pound load increase, always round down
instead of up (increase the load 5 pounds instead of 10 pounds).
Rep progression
20
I like the rep progression for single-joint exercises with lighter loads. With a
rep progression you aren't forced to work with miniscule load progressions,
but you can still overload your muscles. There are two ways to make the
most of the rep progression.
First, if you follow traditional set/rep parameters such as 5x5, you can
simply add a rep to each set when you repeat the training session.
Depending on how close the first session was to failure you might not be
able to add a rep to every set. For example, if on Monday you performed
5x5, the following Monday you might only get six reps on the first three
sets. Hell, the fifth set might only be four reps.
That's fine, too. All that matters is that the total number of reps is higher.
5x5, of course, equals 25 total reps. 6, 6, 6, 5, 4 equals 27 total reps. Stay
with the rep progression until you can complete two more reps with each
set (5x7). At that point, increase the load to the next available increment
and start the process over with a new set/rep range that you can manage
with the heavier load.
At that point, increase the load and start over. I favor this approach because
I feel lifters get too hung up on a target number of reps per set. What they
should really be focusing on is the total number of reps per lift per training
session.
Frequency progression
For the sake of simplicity, I break down movements into: upper body pulling
and pushing in the horizontal plane, upper body pulling and pushing in the
vertical plane, and a squat or deadlift. If you don't know which muscles are
emphasized in which movement, this information is probably too advanced
for you. But if you do understand that a wide-grip pull-up primarily trains
your lats and upper back muscles, keep reading.
The fourth week increase your pull-up sessions to six. Hold the frequency
of six pull-up sessions per week for the fifth week. On the sixth week,
perform one pull-up session before returning to anywhere between three
and six on the seventh week. Here's how the frequency progression looks
for the pull-up.
Week 4: Monday A.M., P.M., Wednesday A.M., P.M., Friday A.M., P.M..
Week 5: Monday A.M., P.M., Wednesday A.M., P.M., Friday A.M., P.M..
Week 6: Wednesday
Take note that I didn't increase the number of training days per week; I
increased the number of total sessions by implementing morning and
evening workouts. I've found that twice-daily workouts work better for
hypertrophy training compared to increasing the frequency to six days in a
row. Each morning and evening workout should be separated by at least six
hours.
On week 7, you have a few options. If your upper back is still lagging you
can jump back into training it six times per week. Just be sure to unload
every fourth week and only perform one training session for the pull-up. The
other option is to revert back to three, four, or five sessions per week.
Again, you'll unload every fourth week. What frequency you use should
depend on what your schedule allows.
Summary
Use the 2% load progression for compound movements, use the rep
progression for single-joint or light movements, and use the frequency
progression for the movements that train your lagging muscles.
21
When training for fat loss you must burn more calories than you consume
each day. This below-maintenance nutritional plan necessitates less
demanding types of progression since you're more likely to overtrain when
you're short on nutrients. Therefore, I recommend progression methods that
don't mandate lifting ever-heavier loads, but instead force you to increase
your metabolism by boosting excess post-exercise oxygen consumption
(EPOC).
After you finish training your body needs more oxygen. When you're
training with weights, or simply running outside, your body uses up a lot of
oxygen. Your body must restore that oxygen debt to maintain homeostasis.
In essence, your body must return to its pre-exercise state. It does this by
replenishing energy sources, re-oxygenating your blood and restoring
circulatory hormones, decreasing body temperature, and returning
ventilation and heart rate to normal.
All of these steps collectively are known as EPOC, and all of these steps
take energy. Therefore, the higher your EPOC, the more calories you'll burn
after exercise. Alwyn Cosgrove refers to this as "afterburn."
Therefore, when training for fat loss you should implement progression
methods that force your body to use more oxygen. Here are the
progressions.
22
Rest progression
Before I outline how to use the rest progression, I must revert back to my
opening statement about the importance of selecting the right movements.
There's no place for single-joint movements in a fat loss workout!
Does that mean you should never perform any trap raises, external
rotations or other joint integrity exercises? Of course not. If you need to
strengthen your lower traps or rotator cuff, you should include exercises for
them. But this isn't part of your fat loss session per se, it's an addition after
your fat loss training is finished.
Week 1, Workout A
Rest 60 seconds
1A) Pull-up
1C) Clean
Rest 60 seconds
1B) Dip
Week 2, Workout A
1A) Pull-up
Rest 55 seconds
Rest 55 seconds
1C) Clean
1B) Dip
The first factor you must respect is the initial rest period. If 60 seconds isn't
challenging, the rest periods are too long. In other words, if 60 seconds rest
isn't enough to make you sweat and feel a little nauseous, you're not doing
yourself any favors. You must start with an effective plan if you want the
progression to work. If 60 seconds was too long for your first workout,
decrease the rest periods by 10 seconds the next time you repeat it. From
that point, stick to five second rest progressions.
You can stick with the rest progression for as long as you're training for fat
loss. I've worked with people who started with 60 second rest periods, and
three total body workouts per week, who progressed to 10 second rest
periods with the same movements, loads and reps. They all lost a
substantial amount of body fat by supercharging their EPOC. The rest
progression really does work wonders for most.
23
Set progression
Adding an extra set to each lift during a training session is another effective
progression for metabolic training. It's effective because adding a set is less
taxing than increasing the load or adding reps, but it's sufficient to boost
your work capacity.
There are two ways to use the set progression, depending on how your
training sessions are structured.
If you follow the typical set/rep plan with, say, 5x5 you'll simply add one set
each time you repeat the workout. So if on Monday you did 5x5, the
following Monday you'll do 6x5. The load won't change and neither will the
rest periods. You'll keep adding a set for as long as you keep experiencing
results. If you're new to training, you might be able to go from 5x5 to 10x5
over the course of five weeks and still get results.
If you're experienced, it's likely that your body will adapt quicker. In that
case, you might want to limit the set progression to three weeks and start
with a higher volume. You could go from 8x3 to 10x3 over the course of
three weeks.
There's another way to use the set progression if you have a target number
of total reps with each lift. Let's say your target number is 25 reps with a
load you could lift fresh for 4 to 6 reps. And let's say on Monday your sets
for the pull-up went as follows:
Set 1:
6 reps
Set 3:
5 reps
Set 2:
5 reps
Set 4:
5 reps
Set 5:
4 reps
The following Monday you'll add a sixth set and perform as many reps as
possible, so it looks like this:
Set 1:
6 reps
Set 2:
5 reps
Set 3:
5 reps
Set 4:
5 reps
Set 5:
4 reps
Set 6:
As
many
reps
as
possi
ble
Overall, I like to emphasize the rest progression. For fat loss, three total
body sessions per week is the upper limit for most people. Use the rest
progression on Monday and Friday and use the set progression on
Wednesday.
Summary: use the rest progression for two sessions each week; use the set
progression for one workout each week. Stick to circuits derived of
compound movements.
Too many of us get trapped in our power rack, always lifting heavy but
never moving around. We humans used to love running around, killing
things, and then eating them... what the hell happened to us? Seriously,
though, moving with agility is important, and stations are a good way to
blend it into strength training.
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Simple calisthenics such as skier jumps, jump rope, plank variations, high
knees, jumping jack variations, and mountain climbers work well. More
taxing choices for the legs involve squat and lunge jump variations such as
squat jumps or split-squat jumps.
The heavy movement will be relatively slow because the weight needs to
be so heavy that you barely make it from one station to the next. My
favorite choices are heavy farmer's walks, dumbbell lunges, and sled
pushes and pulls. (Our gym's 10-yard backward sled pull record is 860
pounds.)
25
Two turns at each station is a good starting point, which will provide four
locomotive sets and take approximately 8-10 minutes, depending on the
exercises. From this, you can tailor the exercises and schemes to suit.
Volume schemes can work well as high as three or four turns per station.
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Push
Pull
HipDomi
nant
QuadDomi
nant
Core
Rotat
or
Cuff
Beyond choosing balance in the workout, it's a good idea to pick exercises that "rest" one
another. If you're doing goblet squats as station A, running sprints as the locomotive, and
performing RDLs as station B... you're going to die.
Sure, you'll earn your "brutal leg workout" merit badge, but the quality of every exercise will
suffer. I also get concerned when people want to run with exhausted hamstrings. That's not to
say you can't have leg exercise overlap you can just be smart about it. Moving from leg to
upper body exercise is the easiest way to design a sensible station scheme.