Tuesday, April 26, 2011

5 Simple Metabolic Challenges for Fat Loss

5 weeks from now, the shirts come off and the bathing suits are on.  Are you ready to hit the beach?  More specifically:

Is your body ready to hit the beach?

The next few weeks are critical in getting the beach body back in action, so plan ahead with some forward thinking, and some crazy-hard metabolic challenges to increase fat-loss post-workout. 

Any one of these 5 metabolic workouts can be used on their own, or as an end to a workout (some take as little as 5 minutes, others up to 30).  Work yourself back to that lean physique!


Beginner:

A) 2-Arm Swings
B) Pushups

Beginner?  Try 8!, or 8 swings, 8 pushups, (no rest), 7 swings, 7 pushups, etc, all the way down to 1 of each exercise.  Record your time and weight. 

Intermediate?  Try 12!

Advanced?  Try 20!  My best 20! time with a 24kg KB is 11m 23s. 

Intermediate Tabata Version 1, 2 and 3:

Tabata!
For those of you unfamiliar with Tabata, the concept is simple:

20s of work paired with 10s of pure rest

Unfortunately, some group fitness classes don't understand the 'work' concept and mistakenly have clients and attendees performing an exercise without as much effort as possible. 

We won't make that same mistake.  All exercises are performed with the following:

20s of work
10s of rest
repeat 8 times (4 minutes total)

Version 1:
Kettlebell Swings, as fast as possible

Version 2:
Barbell Front Squat, with very little hold at top of movement and full range-of-motion (ROM) at the bottom

Version 3:
Front Squat to push press, with full ROM at bottom of squat and using legs to drive weight above head.  Equipment options:
a) barbell
b) dumbbells
c) kettlebells
This version is brutal, and should be preceded by Version 1 and 2. 

If you complete any version of this, and think to yourself, "That's not so bad," you need to do 1 of 4 things:
1) Work harder and get more reps in 20s work intervals
2) Increase weight used
3) Start and stop on time (DO NOT Anticipate timer)
4) Work next to someone else and compete to see who can get the most reps done in time allotted

Advanced Versions 1 and 2

This metabolic workout confirms you have mastered the following barbell movement variations:
1) Deadlift
2) Romanian (bent knee) deadlift or RDL
3) Bent-over-barbell row
4) Clean or power-clean
5) Front squat
6) Push press
7) Back squat
8) Good morning

Each exercise will be performed for a certain number of reps, followed by the next exercise, etc, until the last exercise is complete.  Once complete, rest for a designated amount of time, and repeat for specified number of reps. 

The two ways to do this are as follows:

Option 1) 3-5 sets of 'X' Reps, 'x' being constant along with specific rest

For example, perform 3 sets of 5 reps of the circuit, starting with Deadlift, RDL, Bent-over-row, etc, and rest for 60 seconds between rounds.  Record weight used in each workout and try to increase either the weight used, the number of sets, and eventually the number of reps.   

Option 2) 8! 

For example, 8 reps of the circuit, followed by 60s rest, 7 reps of the circuit, followed by 55s rest, all the way down to rep of each exercise in the circuit, and again recording the weight used and total time taken to complete the challenge.  This can (and probably should) be a workout by itself. 


Be prepared to perform any one of these challenges by being warmed up, hydrated, and with a towel nearby.  Garbage cans optional. 

In health,

Coach Kev

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