Don't Let Your Fitness Turn to Fatness!

It’s important to make time for regular exercise in your weekly routine. But what I want talk about today is directed at those who may be doing too much of a good thing. A woman came in for her free initial consultation with me this week to review her current routine and get set up on a new program. One of her main concerns was that although she was doing cardio several times a week and following a healthy diet, she was still carrying extra body fat and felt “soft”.

I see this a lot. The problem was that she was performing too much cardio and little to no resistance training. If your goal is fat loss, your primary mission is to increase your metabolism. A well designed resistance training program will develop more lean (muscle) tissue, which will not only make you appear more fit and toned but it will significantly boost your metabolism. This will help you burn more calories and fat all day long, even at rest!

However, performing excessive cardiovascular activity (ie-jogging, cycling, elyptical trainer) can rob your muscles of needed nutrients, and may even break down your lean tissue. Therefore, you need to make resistance training a priority, and avoid doing too much cardio.

So what should your workouts look like? Well, a great type resistance workout is called circuit training, and it involves training several exercises back to back with minimal rest in between. Usually you will want to train different muscle groups, so that you aren't fatiguing the same area with each successive exercise (such as upper body then lower body, alternating). Focus on the big calorie burning movements in a range of about 8 to 12 repetitions. A sample program could look like 2 circuits of:

• Pulldowns or Chinups


• Back Squats


• Pushups


• Lunges or Step Ups


• Rows


• Deadlifts


• Overhead Press

You could also use fewer exercises and perform a third circuit if you choose.

You can still perform cardiovascular exercise, after your circuit training or on a seperate day, but you would want to use a technique called interval training. This involves performing your cardiovascular activity with alternating periods of low intensity and high intensity, but for a shorter duration. This type of training not only burns more calories but it helps preserve lean tissue and boosts fat burning hormones. You end up burning off more fat in a shorter workout!

Check my newsletter for more fat burning tips or feel free to contact me with any questions.

Stay Fit,

Josh

Today's Workout

Today was a pulling workout, starting out with 6 sets of hang cleans, 6 reps each set, 65% 1RM. Then onto heavy rack pulls for 4 sets of 2 reps (after warmups). Finished with 3 Sets of Farmers Walk (200lbs / hand, 150 feet with turn) and some light log pressing for fun. Feels good to get back into the implement work again. Thanks to the "barbarians" for keeping me on track!
By summer my own training schedule should be back on full tilt!
-Josh

Training Log

I missed my Wednesday workout post, so here it is: I did Clean and Press for 5 supersets of 5 reps with Chinups. Great workout, and took very little time.
Todays workout was 5 supersets of 5-8 reps with Back Squats and Gluteham Raises. I'll feel my legs tomorrow!

With Kaitlyn having a bit of colic lately, I've had limited time free, so these workouts are perfect. And trust me, they will still get you strong! You don't need to train for hours to build muscle and become stronger. Intensity and correct exercise choice are key.
No excuses... you can always find the time!

Training Log

Today's high intensity workout is going to be a 25 minute super-set session of 2 compound exercises: Hex Bar Deadlifts and Weighted Dips.

First, I'll start with a brief dynamic warmup, some plank work for core activation, then I'll do a lighter warmup set of the hex deadlift and bodyweight parallel bar dips. After that I will choose a weight I can handle for 6-8 reps and continually super-set between each exercise until the remainder of the 25 minutes is up. That's it... simple, effective, and efficient!

I'll log the weights used after. Next workout is on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine!

JH

Abbreviated Workouts

I've been experimenting with short, full body workouts these last few weeks, due to my schedule becoming MUCH tighter (with clients, projects, and preparing for our bouncing baby to arrive)! I've set up a circuit training routine involving compound strength and power movements performed back to back with minimal rest, typically moving from a lower body movement to an upper body exercise (ie- deep squats, push press, stiff deads, bent rows, power cleans, strap pushups, etc). I'd do each exercise for 1 set of 6-8 reps, then move to the next... repeating the circuit if time allowed.

Even though I was only using moderate weight, I tell you this program kicked my butt! Admittedly I do feel I have lost a little strength this last couple of months, but training this way (along with a cleaner diet) has kept me much leaner and my joints feel great.

Next week I'm switching back to my standard 3 day split (the tried and true Power Program my team designed, that works like gang-busters for every strength athlete I've put on it!), but I'll be modifying it until my schedule allows me to get in full workouts again. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'll also be making the Power Program available soon in ebook form... watch for it.

Comment or email me if you want a full description of the abbreviated workout I've been following, and I'd like to hear from any of you re- what programs you've tried and found effective for strength or gettin' lean. Let me know!
Stay Fit,
Josh