Great information Joel!
Dan
In yesterday’s post we talked about a really cool concept my buddy Dan Long calls “Kill Mode” and the extreme importance of really pushing yourself each and every workout.
Simply put, if you’re not feeling “uncomforable” often throughout your workout, you’re barely skimming the surface of your fat loss potential, if at all.
Are you happy with your results? If not, one of the things you need to be doing is ensuring that your workouts are set up to burn maximal fat, and that’s exactly what today’s post is about — 3 “staple” components of fat-killing workouts:
1. BIG Movements – The only movements that should be included in a fat burning workout are those that include multiple muscle groups and cross multiple joints. For example, with a Dumbbell Bench press there is movement at the shoulder joint and the elbow joint. For a DB squat, there is movement and the hips and the knees. Contrast those BIG movements with a bicep curl in which you’re working just one teeny tiny muscle of the upper arm, and movement is only occuring at one joint.
The difference? With big movements you tax much more musculature around many more joints and ultimately create a much greater metabolic effect. BIG movements burn BIG calories; small movements not so much…
2. Alternating Upper and Lower Body – Now that you know that big movements are key, here’s a little trick to get your heart working even harder: alternate BIG upper body movements with BIG lower body movements. When a muscle or group of muscles work, the heart works to pump blood to those muscles in order to deliver oxygen and other nutrients necessary to perform the exercise and for recovery after. If you just finished a big lower body exercise in which the heart is working hard to send blood to that region, and then follow it up with a BIG upper body exercise, you’re heart will then need to work even harder to deliver nutrient rich blood to the entire body.
The result? Heart rate is elevated, your heart works harder, and you burn more calories.
Want an even greater caloric burn? Mixing in full body movments like a plyometric medicine ball slam where you start with a full squat holding a medicine ball then explode up jumping as high as you can lifting the ball overhead and slamming it down on the ground…fun stuff =) Combination lifts like a lunge and press work well as full body movments as well.
3. Limited rest – BIG movements, full body movments, and alternating upper and lower body exercises is all phenomenal, but the trick to keeping heart rate up and calories incinerating throughout the entire workout is limiting your rest periods. This has two benefits. Number one, you’ll obviously be able to do more work in a 45 minute workout with 30 second rest periods than with 90 second or 60 second rest periods between exercises, which means way more calories burned. Secondly, your heart rate won’t fall off as much as your conditioning improves and you’re able to limit rest, and a higher average heart rate = more calories burned.
Some of the best workouts that incorporate all three of the above components can be found at my friend Craig Ballantyne’s site here. In fact, Craig just put up a “secret” page where he’s got 31 different interval training workouts for you that require practically no equipment:
==> 31 Fat Burning Interval Training Workouts for You
Keep rockin’!
Joel
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9 comments - add yours
Awesome tips Joel. I’m glad to see you bring the whole “intensity” (Kill Mode) factor into light. It’s by far the most powerful strategy people can apply to maximize their fat burning potential when it comes to exercise.
I was frustrated for years with my results until I learned how to implement Kill Mode the right way. In fact, I was able to cut my exercise time in half and actually double my results using the techniques you’re describing.
It’s sad because most people will never see the results they desire if they don’t apply Kill Mode and learn to push themselves out of their comfort zone.
I’ve been teaching and preaching this approach for years, but many people still don’t get that it’s all about intensity and not duration.
Thanks for the great info!
Awesome!! Thanks for taking the time to remind us and motivate us.
Please help, I’m 54 and have degenerative arthritus, in my feet and knees, my right knee is currently bone on bone and my two rotator cuffs have been torn , fixed, and retorn and can no longer be fixed, please help me with an exercise plan that i can do, i have always been a person on the go, but now am stuck in slow motion. I am open minded and willing…waiting to hear some good news thanks…Barb Rocha
Joel or anyone else:
Is there any accompanying meal plan for the 1000 Calorie challenge that I can access, please?
Hey Joel,
Do you have a bodyweight/work out at home exercise routine for the Xtreme fatloss diet?
Thanks!
Well said Joel, way to many people still train the old way – working all their body parts separately. When I first started training 12 years ago I made the same mistake.
Now I use alternate sets and focus on the big exercises.
Also, rest periods have made a big impact on my progress.
Great post, people need to read this.
Are you certain about that?
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...