ShareYesterday I decided to hit the gym instead of going for a run. You know, the weather here is so random in the Winter. I figured I should play it on the safe side.
Here is what my awesome fat loss workout consisted of:
a) Warm Up: I jumped straight on the treadmill. I put on the TV and watched the Ellen talk show for about 10 minutes while I walked at 3.5mph. Actually, my phone rang while I was on the treadmill so I chatted with my friend at the same time. Great multi tasking don’t you think?
b) Weight Training: Fortunately it was quiet so I wasn’t scared to do weights today. For each set, I did 20-25 reps and then rested for a few minutes and then did another set. Here are the weight training exercises I did:
- Leg press 45lbs
- Chest flye machine 20lbs
- Hip abductor 60lbs
- Hip adductor 60lbs
- Seated row machine 30lbs
- Bicep curls 5lbs
- Shoulder press 5lbs
- Tricep kickbacks 5lbs
c) Cardio: Elliptical. I did 30 minutes and burned 410 calories. Woohoo, a new calorie record. This is an excellent way to offset the beer I drank the previous night.
d) Abs: Finished off the session with the following abs exercises:
- Crunches 3 x 20
- Sit ups 3 x 20
- Lying double straight leg raises 2 x 15 (my back started to hurt so I stopped)
Total workout time = 65 minutes. Awesome fat loss workout complete and you should try it today!
Ok, I guess you’re wondering what happened to Kate?
Or you must think I’ve gone completely nuts.
For the record, that was not my real workout yesterday.
It’s just not my style. However, I watched two girls do this “fat loss workout” yesterday while I was at the gym. Hysterical. Morons. These two thought they were doing an awesome workout. I beg to differ.
Why I did Elliptical
I wasn’t always so smart when it came to fat loss training, or lean. To be honest, I didn’t know any better. In my early days, when I started lifting weights at the University gym back in Sydney, I used to do fat loss workouts like I described above. I even have proof – it’s written down in my old training diaries.
Shocking — but true.
Sometimes, I would even skip over the weights section if the space was too crowded and just do more cardio. Basically, I was following what everyone else was doing and actually gaining fat thanks to my diet of beer, banana bread and pasta (…how embarrassing).
Time to Get Serious
Let’s revise the above workout disaster and see what an efficient fat burning workout looks like.
A) Warm up: Foam rolling and dynamic moves. It’s hard to resist the temptation of the treadmill calling – but you will get more out of your entire workout if you start on the right foot. Foam rolling is type of self-massage to release tension and improve blood circulation to the muscles. Depending on your limitations, prepare for your workout with exercises that warm up the muscle groups you will be using. Here are great moves I currently start with:
- Glute bridges x 10
- Stick-up x 10
- Hip flexor stretch x 30s
- Bird dog x 10
- Crab crawls with alternating reach x 4
- Single leg RDL x 8 each leg
B) Core training: the idea is to train the core for both stability and dynamic stabilization – at the start of the session. Your core muscles will be activated and ready to use during your entire training session. Here is what I did yesterday:
- Plank (with toes on stability ball) 2 x 60 seconds
- X-body mountain climber (forearms on stability ball) 2 x 15 reps
C) Power: the most overlooked part of a training program is power. Everyone needs to train for the powers. Young, old, whatever. You need to incorporate an exercise that develops power depending on your current ability. For me yesterday, the program called for:
- Box jumps 2-3 x 5
D) Strength training: Time to lift real weights. No fluff. Definitely nothing pink. Superset style. Note on resistance: I chose a weight or progressed the bodyweight exercise so I was struggling to finish the set. The last couple of reps should be hard, BUT completed with correct form (otherwise the weight is too heavy).
Do 1a then 1b with no rest between, then take a 30s breather. Repeat each superset 2-3 times then onto the next section.
1a) Bulgarian Split Squat x 8 reps each leg (35lb DB)
1b) Atomic Push-ups (with toes in TRX) x 10 reps
2a) KB Goblet squats x 8 reps (55lbs)
2b) TRX Bodyweight row x 10 reps
E) Metabolic Intervals: This style of conditioning is the most effective way to maximize calorie burn in the shortest time possible. Forget the treadmill or bike. Aren’t you bored with that already? I’m sorry, but 30 minutes on the elliptical will not get you the fat loss results you deserve. In my workout yesterday, I did this bodyweight Fat Loss Accelerator instead:
Perform each exercise in order with no rest. Continue the series for a total of 5 minutes. Rest 90s and then repeat once.
- Walkouts x 5
- T-push ups x 5
- Mountain climbers x 5
- Jump squats x 5
F) Foam roll and stretching: finished up the workout by rolling the tight spots (especially calves and quads runners) to aid in recovery. Plus don’t forget stretching, particularly the muscles of the lower body. Yes, I agree it’s boring to stretch and very easy to head straight for the showers. However, you will improve your flexibility, mobility and overall performance if you get into a good habit of stretching.
Workout complete: 38 minutes (including time spent chatting with the chicks at the front desk).
There you have it, a fantastic fat loss workout that will kick your butt and get results.
Fat Loss Training: One Very Important Note
Another thing to mention is this workout is part of a phase in my current program; based on the performance goals I want to achieve. It’s not a random workout I found on the Internet or in a magazine, or something I copied from a random dude at the gym.
I’ll follow my customized program and do this workout again next week (the second one of course), only changing up my metabolic intervals.
Something I use myself and with my clients are Fat Loss Accelerators, which replaces the need for cardio and treadmill intervals. In order to help you get the same awesome fat loss results like my clients get, I put a few of them into an easy to follow eBook, called Fat Loss Accelerators.
Fat Loss Accelerators are 31 done-for-you workouts that you can simply plug into your current program, so you don’t have to start all over again.
You can get these intense, targeted metabolic movements that involve the strategic use of compounding, hybrid exercises to maximize fat burning and training time.
Replace your interval workouts with Fat Loss Accelerators, and reduce the stress involved with thinking and planning.
You can check out Fat Loss Accelerators here.
Say “No, thank you” to boring elliptical workouts for less than the cost of your monthly gym membership
