Top Five Training Tips For Optimal Body Composition

By Charles Poliquin

Lose fat fast with a training program that will help you maintain body composition results for the long run. You will lose the most fat by training with a protocol that focuses on building muscle, burning fat and calories, and achieving the greatest hormone response from exercise. This article will give you my top five tips for incorporating those three strategies into a training program for fat loss.

Be aware that correct nutrition is necessary in order to achieve significant fat loss. It’s near impossible to out-train a bad diet. If were able to do so, you would undoubtedly compromise your health in the short- and long-term. Over the next two weeks, I will post my five supplement tips for fat loss followed by five nutrition tips—stay tuned!

The Run Down on Training for Fat Loss
The first goal of training for fat loss is to elevate your resting metabolic rate (RMR) by increasing muscle mass because this means you will burn more energy every day. The RMR makes up the bulk of energy you burn. Burning energy in addition to the RMR when working out is great, but the impact on total energy burned is fairly small compared to the total RMR.

Your workout time needs to include both strength training and anaerobic conditioning because both contribute to muscle building and they burn energy. The magic of strength and anaerobic training is that they boost your overall metabolic rate, burn a lot of energy in a short period of time, and elevate the RMR by increasing the amount of lean mass you have. Strength training and anaerobic conditioning affect the body differently than aerobic training, regardless of the intensity of that aerobic exercise, which means they will always be the priority for fat loss and body composition.

Tip #1: Train A High Volume, Short Rest Periods & Moderate Loads
Strength train with a high volume of work, short rest periods, and moderate to heavy loads using multi-joint exercises. Squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, bench press, lunges, and rows should make up the core of your training. A hypertrophy-type program that generally includes 8 to 12 reps of more than 3 sets is ideal, but can be manipulated for a greater muscle building effect. More sets will accelerate results, but the 8 to 12 rep, 3 set scheme is a good place to start training for fat loss.

Use weights in the 70 to 85 percent of maximum range with short rest periods of 60 seconds or shorter. This will provide a significant anabolic response by elevating testosterone and growth hormone (more on this below). High reps and short rest intervals will make your body a high-powered energy burning machine.

Circuit training and super set schemes are ideal, as are descending sets in which you finish with very high reps (25 reps of squats or 2 minutes of leg presses, for example) for an extra fat burning burst. Supersets with 10 seconds rest when switching from the agonist to the antagonist exercise and 60 seconds between sets is one option. Or a “death circuit” of heavy, high volume deadlifts followed by split squats followed by lighter high volume squats with 10 seconds rest between exercises is another.

Tip #2: Strength Train to Build Muscle and Create an Anabolic Response 
Strength train to build muscle and create an anabolic response to accelerate fat burning. Aside from the obvious benefit of burning a massive amount of energy quickly, working every muscle group hard, frequently, and at a very high intensity will elevate anabolic hormones that increase protein synthesis and fat burning.

Growth hormone (GH) is lipolytic, meaning it increases fat breakdown and the metabolism of glucose and amino acids. It increases protein synthesis, which is essential because you do not want to create a catabolic state that causes lean tissue loss when you are trying to lose weight. GH is released by the body in greater quantities in response to physical stress above the lactate threshold, which is the reason heavy, high volume total body training with short rest periods (30 to 60 seconds) is necessary.

GH is produced in bursts by the pituitary gland at night during rest, and women get the body comp benefit by elevating GH just as much as men. In contrast, the effect of exercise on testosterone for women is much, much smaller. GH is also involved in the release of another anabolic hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which is important for protein synthesis. Manipulating time under tension with a varied lifting tempo or inter-repetition pauses is one of the best ways to boost IGF-1.

Testosterone (T) is the number one anabolic hormone. You will get the greatest elevations in T with slightly longer rest periods than the 30 to 60 seconds suggested for GH and weights on the heavier end of the range. Research suggests that T is elevated more with rest periods in the 2 to 3 minute range with very heavy lifts and a fairly large number of sets. You will still boost T with a very intense fat burning, GH-type protocol, making a variety of training protocols best.

Scientists are not yet clear on the perfect number of sets to elevate T, which is partly due to the fact that individual T response varies greatly, even among elite athletes who have similar training experience and background. More than 3 sets and as many as 8 have been found to significantly elevate T.

Tip #3: Perform Strength Training Instead of Aerobic Exercise
Strength training that is anaerobic, uses a high volume and intensity, and is made up primarily by traditional multi-joint lifts is always superior to aerobic exercise for fat loss. The evidence is clear on this, but because some studies have used inadequate resistance training protocols (single-joint exercises at a low intensity) to compare resistance and aerobic training, the fat loss outcome has not always favored strength training.

Plus, for some unfathomable reason, the media and many public health professionals suggest aerobic training, especially continuous, slow exercise, will help you lose fat, which is one of the most drastic misconceptions about weight loss and exercise. Strength training is anaerobic by nature—the opposite of aerobic—meaning it elevates fat burning hormones and burns energy, as mentioned above.

For example, a study in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise compared fat loss in three groups of overweight subjects. All groups were on a fat-loss diet and one group only did the diet with no exercise, whereas a second group did the diet with aerobic training, and a third group was on the diet and did strength training. The diet group lost 14 pounds of fat, while the aerobic group lost 15 pounds of fat—only one pound more, which was not statistically significant. The strength training group lost 21 pounds of fat, which was 34 percent more than the aerobic group!

Consider the amount of time spent on aerobic exercise (36 sessions of up to 50 minutes each) for only oneextra pound of fat loss! The six extra pounds lost in the strength training group is worth it, but one pound?!

Tip #4 Do High Intensity Anaerobic Training to Burn Fat—Avoid Continuous Low-Intensity Aerobics
Perform high-intensity anaerobic training (HIAT) to burn fat and avoid aerobics. There’s a mountain of evidence that anaerobic conditioning is effective for fat loss. HIAT is much more effective than aerobic training, whether it be steady-state aerobic activity or higher intensity aerobic exercise. HIAT works on the same principle as strength training for fat loss. It increases protein synthesis and can build muscle, although not as much as strength training.

A study in the International Journal of Obesity demonstrates this by comparing the effect of 15 weeks of HIAT (60 cycle sprints of 8 seconds each, 12 seconds rest) with aerobic exercise (60 percent of maximal oxygen uptake for 40 minutes). The HIAT resulted in significant decreases in overall fat mass of 1.5 kg, while the aerobic exercise group had a fat gain of 0.44 kg on average. The HIAT group also had a significant 9.5 percent decrease in belly fat, whereas the aerobic group increased belly fat by 10.5 percent at the end of the study. Of related interest is that the HIAT group decreased fasting insulin significantly more than the aerobic group (31 versus 9 percent), indicating better metabolism.

A second study in the journal Metabolism is indicative of the research supporting the superiority of HIAT over aerobics for fat loss. This study compared 20 weeks of aerobic training with only 15 weeks of HIAT in which participants did 15 sprints for 30 seconds and lost nine times more body fat than the aerobic group. They also lost 12 percent more visceral belly fat than the aerobic group.

What is so interesting about this study is that the energy cost of the aerobic program over the whole study period was 28,661 calories, whereas for HIAT it was less than half, at 13,614 calories. In less time, the HIAT group lost much more weight—nine times more weight. How do researchers explain it?
HIAT also boosts GH and T much more than aerobic training, which we’ve already seen helps create an anabolic environment and burn fat. HIAT results in something called post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), in which metabolism is elevated to a significant degree after training—the body is using more energy even though you’re not working out anymore. EPOC is elevated more when anaerobic training is involved—strength training and HIAT can elevate EPOC for as much as 38 hours post-workout.

Emerging research provides additional insight into why HIAT works and steady-state aerobic exercise doesn’t. A study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology showed that a HIAT program elevates the expression of gene activity by nearly 75 percent over aerobic exercise. A 15-minute HIAT protocol enhanced the activity of 69 genes that were not activated by a 30-minute aerobic trial. The genes that were upregulated were involved in energy metabolism and hormone growth factors such as GH and IGF-1. Basically, greater gene activity from anaerobic training explains what is going on “behind the scenes” in the body to build muscle and burn fat.

The one possible drawback to HIAT is that it is mentally challenging to push through an all-out workout even if it is short. There is an upside: research shows that near-maximal intensity sprints (greater than 90 percent of max oxygen uptake) can be completed in 10 to 20 minutes depending on the number of sprints and interval lengths.

Tip #5: Be Active in Daily Life to Improve Metabolism and Lose Fat
A sedentary lifestyle, even if you are already training at a high volume and intensity, will compromise metabolism and may lead to fat gain. Long periods of inactivity, even a few hours during the day, will lower the body’s glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. This puts you at risk for diabetes and poor body comp.

Desk jobs are the primary culprit for fat gain and inactivity during the day in people who train hard. Studies have shown that in people who have a lean body composition and perform regular intense exercise suffer from a significant drop in metabolism if they are inactive for even a short period of time, as measured by glucose tolerance and insulin health.

For example, a recent study tested the effect of decreasing daily activity for three days in a group of lean, active individual with training experience. They normally averaged 12,956 steps a day and reduced their activity to 4,319 steps a day (they were told to take less than 5,000 day as measured by a pedometer and confirmed with an accelerometer), which resulted in a 30 percent drop in insulin sensitivity.

Blood sugar imbalances are another side effect of long periods in which you don’t move. The result is a slower metabolism, a lower resting metabolic rate (remember RMR from the beginning of this article?), and ultimately fat gain.
Take away a commitment to being more active and inspiring your loved ones and kids to do the same. Make sure you have incorporated tips 1 to 4 into your lifestyle and are strength training and performing high intensity intervals. Don’t forget, you can’t out-train a bad diet or overeating.

Take regular brisk walks—even a five to ten minute vigorous walk will make a difference. Shoot for 10,000 steps a day. Avoid plopping down in front of the TV or computer for hours after work. Extra physical activity can take the form of recreational sports participation, playing ball games, martial arts practice, bike riding, or whatever you enjoy.

If you have a sedentary job, always take the stairs and park farther away in the parking lot. Break the work day up with relatively brief spurts of physical movement, whether it is walking, body weight exercises, or more strenuous training. Even stretching, fidgeting, and getting an adjustable desk so you can stand as well as sit will help.

7 for 27: Random Thoughts and Tips

by Ben Bruno – 8/07/2012

Considering I turn 27 at the end of August and this article is the 27^th I've submitted to T Nation, I thought it'd be cool to do a spin-off of one of my favorite ESPN shows, 30 for 30, and do my own 27 for 27where I share – you guessed it – 27 random thoughts and training tips that you can hopefully use to help you on your own journey.
Then I began writing and it started to approach Dostoevsky proportions, so I capped it at seven.
That's a far cry from 27, but so be it. Quality over quantity, right?

1. Exercise vs. Application

Far too much time is spent debating the merits and demerits of various exercises. I have my personal favorites just like anyone else, but I don't think there are any ubiquitous "best" exercises out there. Likewise, I don't think there are many exercises that are intrinsically bad.
Sometimes I think the average lifter can be too swayed by the powerlifting mentality that the "big 3" (squat, bench, and deadlift) must form the crux of any good training program while everything else is relegated to "assistance" or "accessory" work.
That terminology annoys me a bit because it implicitly creates a hierarchy where some exercises are considered to be superior while others are marginalized. Such a distinction makes sense if you're involved in powerlifting and need to increase those three lifts specifically, but if you're just looking to build muscle, increase strength, and feel better, it's shortsighted.
For general training purposes, any exercise can be a "main" lift if you treat it as such, meaning you do it early in the workout, push it hard, and focus on progressive overload. That of course includes the big 3 – which are all great exercises – but it also includes a myriad of other exercises, too.
To use a personal example, for years I religiously started every lower body workout with a heavy squat, and would sometimes follow that up with some lighter single-leg work. I got stronger and my legs grew. No surprise there.
Now, to spare my lower back, I start my workouts with a heavy single-leg exercise (Bulgarian split squats, lunges, single-leg squats, etc.) and sometimes follow it up with some lighter squatting. I've continued to get stronger, and my legs have continued to grow. Both ways work.
There's more than one way to skin a cat. It comes down to exercise application as opposed to exercise selection.

2. Exercise Modification

Speaking of exercise application, let me touch on exercise modification, as I believe the two are closely intertwined. I often share different ways to tweak exercises to better suit your needs, but rather than simply list a bunch of random exercises, let's give those exercises some context and delve a little deeper into my rationale behind them.
Most of the variations I use are done either to make an exercise more joint-friendly or to alter it to where I don't need to use as much weight.
I have meathead coursing through my veins and love lifting hard and pushing myself to my limits. However, as time goes on and I get stronger, I can't tolerate just doing heavy deadlifting, squatting, and benching all the time without my body breaking down.
Consequently, to keep pushing the envelope without hurting myself, I've gravitated towards more unilateral work and advanced bodyweight training. I still focus on getting stronger through progressive overload, but I'm picking exercises that are a bit easier on the joints.
It's been working great for me, but sometimes progression can be a little tricky because a lot of the exercises can be tough to load after a certain point, so I do other stuff to manipulate it to make it harder.
I'll also modify exercises to satisfy equipment needs. Maybe I'll see something I like but don't have the same equipment at my disposal, so I'll think of a way to get a similar training effect using what I've got.
That all being said, I want to be very clear that I built my foundation doing an extremely simple routine and just hammering away at the basics.
I wouldn't recommend going into the gym with the intent to modify things just for the sake of modifying them. The basics work the vast majority of the time, especially for beginners, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If you run into a problem – like something hurts, you need to make it harder/easier, you don't have the necessary equipment, etc. – then try to come up with a solution to the problem.

If there's no problem, then you don't need a solution.

I've toyed around for a long time and have developed a solid foundation of strength on the basics and a good knowledge of my body, so when something doesn't feel right, I make small changes. Note the emphasis on small.
Whenever I progress an exercise, it's because I've mastered the previous step first. That's very important. It's never really a big jump, just more of a natural progression.
Plus, I like to add in some variety from time to time to spice things up and keep it fun.
I'll share an example to make my rambling more concrete. Here's an exercise I've done from time to time to work my legs. For lack of a better name, I'll call it deficit skaters squats using "1.5" reps.

If I saw someone do this exercise without any context, I'd probably think it looked pretty silly, so let me explain why I do them.
As mentioned, I used to squat religiously at the start of every lower body workout. I focused a lot on developing good technique and always pushed myself very hard. See the video below.

I loved it and saw good results, but as I started getting stronger and squatting over twice my bodyweight, I could no longer justify doing them so heavy, given my history of serious back issues.
To me that's just common sense. If you've got a bad back and continue to load it with hundreds of pounds week in and week out, you're going to be in for a world of hurt sooner or later. I've learned the hard way many times that when you try to fight your body, it always wins.
With that in mind, to continue to work my legs without loading my spine as much, I switched to more single-leg work, including skater squats. I started doing them standing on the floor, but when that became easy, I stood on a small aerobic step to increase the range of motion and make it harder. When that became easy, I started adding weight until I was wearing multiple weighted vests, chains, and whatever else I could find to weigh me down.
It's extremely uncomfortable to load up that much and it takes forever, so after a couple bouts of slogging through that I decided to add in the "1.5 reps (do one full rep, come halfway up, go back down again, and come all the way up. That's one rep.) to make it harder so I don't need as much additional load.
So that's how that one came about. I don't do them that often, but it's a tool in the proverbial toolbox.
Still though, while I do sprinkle in some weird exercises here and there, the vast majority of my lifting is actually very simple.
If you're going to stray from the basics, make sure you already know them intimately well first, and make sure you have a good justification for what you're doing.

3. Learn From Everyone, But Understand Where They're Coming From

It always bugs me when I see people criticizing the methods of very successful people. At the end of the day, results talk, so any time I look at someone who's achieved success in a given arena – even if their goals are different than mine – I try to see what I can learn from them to make myself better rather than try to poke holes in their methods.
That's certainly not to say I always agree with everything every successful person does, but at this stage of my life, I think it behooves me to keep my mouth shut and just try to learn as much as I can and keep things positive. The last thing this world needs is another hater and critic. Or another movie in the Twilightsaga. We've already got more than enough of those.
When I hear new ideas, I try to look at them through the lens of the person sharing them because that a) gives the ideas context and allows me to appreciate where the ideas are coming from, and b) lets me examine how (or if) I can apply those ideas to my own situation. Not everything will apply, but that's okay.
I've taken bits and pieces from sports performance training, bodybuilding, powerlifting, strongman, gymnastics, yoga, physical therapy, you name it. It's all good in my book, or at least parts of it are. Focus on the good and ignore the stuff that doesn't pertain to you.
It's amazing what you learn when you keep an open mind.

4. Read, Read, Read

I'm an avid reader. I really enjoy it, which is a bonus, but even if you don't, it's important to do it anyway.
Earl Nightingale is quoted as saying that "one hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years you'll be a national authority. In seven years you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do."
I don't completely agree with this notion because I think there's a lot to be said for real-world experience that only comes from putting your time in, but at the very least, it gives credence to the adage that "knowledge is power," which I certainly believe to be true.
If you're an up and coming strength coach or trainer, an hour a day of reading is a good goal to shoot for. I usually end up reading more than that, but I'll admit to being somewhat of a nerd.
If you have a different job though and just train as a hobby, an hour a day is definitely overkill, but I'd say two hours a week is reasonable.
The more varied your reading, the better. Don't just stick to what you know or what you're best at, and don't just read things that reaffirm what you already think. Read different authors from different backgrounds – even if it goes against your current beliefs – and read with the intent to learn, not nitpick. You'll almost never agree with everything an author says. Who cares? If I come away with a few (or even one) useful tips, I'm happy.
Here are six good books that I've read recently that I highly recommend:

• Advances in Functional Training by Mike Boyle
• Never Let Go by Dan John
• Easy Strength by Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline
• 5/3/1 by Jim Wendler
• Ultimate Speed and Agility by Jim Kielbaso
• Warrior Cardio by Martin Rooney

Anything you recommend? I'm always looking for new reading material and would appreciate any suggestions you might have in the Live Spill below.

5. Put Knowledge Into Practice

While knowledge is very useful, reading about strength training won't get you strong. You can be smart as hell and weak as piss.
Don't be that guy who skips the gym to banter on internet forums about the optimal training system. Any training system is better than sitting at home.
To see results you've got to put that knowledge into practice in the gym by busting your ass hard week in and week out for a long time.
In the quotation I shared in the previous point, Nightingale talks about one hour of "study" a day being the magic number to fast-track your success. I'm pretty sure he was talking about "study" as reading, but I'd argue that for gym rats, training counts as study, too. I know I've learned far more about training from just banging away at the weights than I have from any book, though both are important.
I've already suggested two hours a week of reading, so if we're to follow Nightingale's recommendation of an hour a day of study, that leaves five hours a week to train. I think that's a good goal, too. How you break those five hours up is up to you, but I personally think 3-5 days a week is best. That might mean three longer workouts, four average workouts, or five shorter workouts. Your call, but take at least one day off (more on this below).
Five hours isn't a hard-fast rule. For some that may be a little too much, while others may be able to tolerate more, so use that as a starting point and adjust accordingly.
If you spent two hours a week reading credible sources and getting smarter and another five hours a week getting after it in the gym and stick to that recipe diligently for a couple years, I think you'd be very happy with your results. It won't happen overnight, but what separates the mediocre from the good and the good from the great is hard work and consistency over time. Remember that.

6. Off Means Off

Just like no means no, off means off.
When I first started lifting I was so eager to get bigger and stronger that I never took days off from training. Like, ever.
I once lifted for over 50 days straight. I was worried that if I took time off I'd shrivel up and lose all the progress I'd made. It didn't matter what was going on or how I felt, I lifted, come hell or high water. I went to a 24-hour gym so if I had plans during the day, I'd wake up as early as 3:30 A.M. to get my lift in, often times pushing through sickness and/or injury.
That led to more sickness and injury. Go figure.
Over time I've grown to embrace time off, and my off days have gotten progressively more "off." I used to think of an off day as doing some high-rep work and maybe some low intensity cardio. Then it became foaming rolling, stretching, etc. Now I pee sitting down.
I take at least two days off every week, and every ten weeks or so I take a week completely off from anything gym-related. Once or twice a year I'll take around two weeks completely off. For me, those breaks are as much mental as they are physical, and I always come back with a rekindled fervor to kick some ass.
Learn to embrace time away and realize that in the big picture, it's bringing you closer to your goals.

7. Success Leaves Clues, But...

Tony Robbins says, "If you want to be successful, find someone that has achieved the results you want and copy what they do." Great advice, and I've tried to do this both as a coach and as a lifter. I've been extremely fortunate to have great mentors, and I can't overstate just how helpful that's been.
Here's the thing though: when you look to mentors for guidance, don't focus on what they're currently doing, focus on how they got there.
Many successful coaches will often talk about how they're trying to live a more balanced life, sleep more, and other things of that nature. That makes sense once you're already successful, but if you look closer at how these guys became successful, they usually did so by being unbalanced, working "too hard," and not sleeping that much.
That's the part I focus on. I hope to be in a position someday where I'm compelled to become more balanced, but for now, I'll just keep my nose to the grindstone and keep chuggin' away.
Same goes for training. Find someone who's achieved the kinds of things in the gym that you hope to one day achieve. Study them closely and observe how they train, how they eat, how they rest, how they conduct themselves, everything. If they'll let you, follow them around.
Then ask them how they got to where they are. Most of the time, it's drastically different. Following an advanced lifter's program before you're ready will slow your gains more than it'll accelerate them.
Be patient, and pay attention to the process, not just the result. Once you do that, the results tend to take care of themselves.

Closing Thoughts

I have a lot more thoughts running through my mind, but I'll cut it there for now. Maybe I'll come back to it later and finish my original 27 thoughts, hopefully before I turn 28. Most likely though, the original list of 27 will continue to grow longer as I keep growing.
I guess one of the cool parts of being young is that I have a lot of years ahead of me to keep working at it and trying to get better.
Hopefully some of my tips help you to get better, too

11 Training Tips for the Skinny Fat Ectomorph

by Anthony Mychal – 1/05/2012

I've got a confession to make: I'm your prototypical skinny-fat ectomorph.

Tall. Narrow shoulders. Wide waist. It's the recipe needed to look thin while simultaneously sporting a muffin top. It's also the combination that gets called "lanky," a word I've grown to hate.

The truth is that I'm tired of seeing the skinny fats (as I like to call them) falling victim to advice given by the, "I've-been-lean-since-I-was-a-fetus" guys. The same guys that told me that I needed to shovel sustenance into my mouth without regard for body composition.

That might have worked for you, Mr. Lean, but it sure as hell didn't work for me.

Skinny fats can't play by the rules of the rest. With that in mind, here are 11 tips for the skinny fat ectomorph that wants to look good naked. Keep in mind that these are my personal reflections that worked for me, given my lackluster genetic makeup.

1. Stop Cutting and Bulking

Yes, traditional bulking allows you to gain more muscle when compared to the infamous "clean" bulk. But we skinny fats are terrible nutrient partitioners, so more of our excess calories are stored as fat, not used for muscle. This means that without performance enhancing substances, our cuts will be so long and intense that most of the muscular gains wither away.

We don't prosper in malnourished environments very well. Hell, we don't even prosper in nourished environments. Going through the whole bulking thing isn't worth the roller coaster of weight fluctuation and the filling (or perhaps creation) of fat cells.

Editor's note: You could also try Indigo-3G™ and take your nutrient partitioning capabilities to the next level.

2. Carb Cycle

There's nothing wrong with taking your time to add muscle – especially when trying to stave off fat accumulation – but the problem most have is that they eat like an emaciated Ethiopian. Maximizing muscular gain, while limiting fat gain, is about optimizing the body's hormonal profile at the right times.

For the natural trainee, this means cycling carbs according to training. I'm not going to go into detail as there are tons of articles devoted to this. Let's just say: more carbs, less fats, and enough protein on training days; less carbs, more fats, and more protein on rest days.

3. Get Lean, But Forget About Abs

One of the biggest rules I have for skinny fats is to lean out first and never go on a traditional cut ever again. This, of course, requires never getting so fat that you need to cut. Most skinny fats will operate best (as far as gaining muscle is concerned) just outside of the six-pack zone in 11-12% bodyfat (assuming 10% is six-pack level). This is lean enough to be considered lean and "fat" enough to gain muscle.

4. Don't Underestimate Bodyweight Training

It's common for trainees that want to build muscle to revolve around the barbell, as it's the most fabled piece of equipment. Squats, bench presses, deadlifts – ahh, smell the manliness. But don't neglect bodyweight training like push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, muscle-ups, and perhaps even some handstands, planche training, and front levers. Not only do these lifts keep your bodyweight in check (performance decreases if you're overly puffy), but they can build muscle and stave off body fat accumulation.

5. Don't Neglect Isolation, and Use Thick Bars

Compound lifts work better for just about everything. But without isolation movements, a skinny fat's arms will have about as much definition as a PVC pipe. Don't neglect direct arm work. You need it.

Our breed is known for having tiny wrists, which is why I also recommend using thick bars (or Fat Gripz) for all pressing and all biceps work. You can also throw in some thick bar pulling exercises for good measure. This will be the bane of your workout, but you'll see growth in your forearms, upper arms, and shoulders like never before.

6. Sprint, Carry

Don't worry about "conditioning" work to "burn calories." Become a short-term power machine. Run sprints, be it on a hill or a track, from 40-100 meters, but don't turn it into a high intensity interval feast. Sprint, walk back to the starting line, catch your wind, and then go again. Also, do farmer's walks, waiter walks, and carries. You'll know why soon.

7. Be Cautious of Max Effort Work

Skinny fats have terrible recovery capacity. Shorter, brick house powerlifters, with their shortened range of motions and supreme levers, can lift maximally with less trouble. Our lanky stature is inferior in this regard. Be mindful of the recovery process.

8. Be a Bodybuilder, Not a Powerlifter

Similar to above, skinny-fats won't thrive on minimalistic powerlifting routines. That's not to say you can't train in the lower (3-5) repetition ranges, or that all powerlifting routines are bad, but we're much more suited to higher repetition ranges, training at a lower percentage of our maximum, and using a little more volume.

9. Shoulders, Upper Chest, Lats, Upper Back

Skinny fats are pyramids: their waists are bigger than their shoulders. This needs to change. Focus on everything above the deltoid tuberosity – shoulders, upper chest, upper back, and neck. Also include lats in there, as wide wings make the waist look smaller.

A steady diet of chin-ups, incline pressing, dumbbell floor pressing, heavy lateral raises (with body English), overhead work, and rows with the elbows flared will do the trick. Oh yeah, remember when I told you to carry stuff? Farmer's walks are your new BFF.

10. Wave Your Repetitions

Skinny fats tend to need variation to kick start progress. This doesn't have to be complicated. One of the oldest methods of progression was to increase reps and not weight.

Let's say you're benching 225 and you can get four sets of six reps. All future workouts stay at 225 until you work up to four sets of twelve. Once you hit that, add 10-20 pounds to the bar and repeat the process.

This forces you to train with heavier weights and lower repetition ranges for a while, followed by a period of lighter weights and higher repetition ranges. Most everyone benefits from altering intensity and volume, so don't convince yourself that the end all of strength and size development is five reps.

11. Every. Damn. Day

I'm going to end on a crapshoot. Some skinny fats are soft because they're babied. From a biological standpoint, having muscle is an artifact of living a lifestyle that demands its creation. So it may be worthwhile to try training every day to provide a signal to the body that being a skinny fat just isn't going to cut it.

Something tells me that running a combination of Waterbury's PLP and Dan John's 40 Day Program could do wonders for anyone.

Conclusion

Skinny fat sucks. There's no denying it, sugar coating it, or trying to pretend it has any redeeming qualities. But it doesn't have to be a life sentence of avoiding public beaches and swimming with your shirt on. If you're tired of hiding love handles and having the hormonal profile of an ovulating woman, give these tips a try.

Wikio

9 Random Training Tips

by Ben Bruno – 11/17/2011

I have a random mind. Maintaining focus on any given task can be a real challenge for me, much to the chagrin of many of my old teachers. My plan for this article was to examine several of my favorite training tips that you can implement today in your own training, but my ADD-saddled brain would have nothing of it.
Two ideas became three, then four, then five, and so on. I finally put a cap on the damn thing at nine, which is fitting, as this is my ninth article for T NATION to date.
See? There is a method to my madness.

1. Strong Side First with Unilateral Exercises

One of the many benefits of unilateral training is that it helps even out imbalances between limbs. Conventional wisdom says to do the weaker limb first to avoid exacerbating the imbalance, and then match that number of reps with the strong limb.
I've never been a fan of this method. While it may help create balance, it's selling the strong limb short since you aren't working it to its capacity.
Instead, try doing the strong limb first and then force yourself to match it on the weak side. You obviously won't be able to do it all in one continuous set, so do as many as you can with good form, pause for 10 seconds and take a few deep breaths, then continue on until you match the reps you got on the strong side – plus an extra 1-2 for good measure.
So a typical set might look like this:

Right side – 10 reps
Left side – 7 reps, pause for 10 seconds, 4 reps.

This provides the best of both worlds because you can even out imbalances while continuing to get the strong limb stronger.

2. Learn the Hip Hinge

The importance of developing a technically sound hip hinge can't be overstated. You'll need it if you want to get strong on deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, Olympic lifts, kettlebell swings; basically all the moneymakers for the posterior chain.
It will also go a long way in keeping you injury-free on those exercises. If you can't hinge properly at the hips, you'll often compensate by rounding at the lower back, a recipe for hobbling through the office like the accounting Quasimodo.
It's a simple movement pattern, yet many lifters just can't seem to get it right, which is a big reason why so many get hurt.
Starting with your knees slightly bent, think about pushing your butt back as far you can without further bending your knees, all while keeping your back neutral or slightly arched. Dan John does a great job explaining it in this article. Look it over.
Still not quite getting it? Try this cue: Imagine yourself trying to take a no-handed morning piss with a boner. Voila, you just did a hip hinge. (Ladies, you should try this too, if for nothing else than to see what your man has to contend with.)
Now go do that in the gym. Just make sure to put some pants on first.

3. No Matter Your Goal, Do Pull-ups

Barring certain injuries, I think pull-ups should be a staple in almost every lifter's program.
There's much to be gained from getting good at them. There's no better exercise for building the lats, which play a huge role in virtually every major lift. Try benching big weights, or front squatting, or deadlifting with weak lats. Not gonna happen.
During a mass-gaining phase, pull-ups will not only build huge amounts of muscle, they'll also help keep you in check to avoid excessive fat gain. While pull-ups are definitely easier the lighter you are, if you're gaining good weight, your pull-up performance shouldn't suffer too much. If it does, there's a good chance you're getting fat.
Likewise, pull-ups act as a great incentive during a fat loss program because the leaner you get, the better you'll be at them.
Make it a goal to be able to do at least 10-12 clean reps with your own bodyweight.

4. Do Upper Back Work Every Workout

This is an extension of number 3.
I've never looked at a person and thought, "Wow, that guy needs to lay off the upper back work." I'd go so far as to say that I'm not even sure there's such a thing as too much upper back work. We could all probably use more.
Strengthening the upper back will help offset all the horizontal pressing (i.e. bench press) and slouching we do on a regular basis, which will go a long way in improving posture and warding off shoulder injuries.
If you don't care about that and just want to look better and lift more weight, you should still pay attention. Improving your posture will instantly make your chest look bigger. Fact is, if I were given a week to bring up the appearance of your chest, the first thing I'd probably do would be attack your upper back. It's that profound.
The upper back is also often the weak link in many other key exercises. If you've ever struggled with your deadlift form (especially the lockout) or had trouble holding the bar for front squats, you know exactly what I mean. Strengthen the upper back and your other lifts often immediately skyrocket.
So what should you do?
The upper back can handle a tremendous workload, and in my experience, responds best to a higher frequency. The key is choosing the right exercises and modulating intensity and volume. As mentioned earlier, pull-ups are fantastic, but I'd limit them to twice a week at most to avoid shoulder and elbow issues.
On the other training days (2-3 days a week), I'd opt for horizontal pulls that don't stress the lower back, since the lower back is much slower to recover and gets slammed during most lower body training.
Good choices include inverted rows, dumbbell rows, chest-supported rows, band pull-aparts, Batwings, and face pulls. If you have suspension straps, one of my personal favorites is inverted face pulls.

Three sets of 8-12 reps should be sufficient. Don't worry so much about the weight, and don't go overboard to the point where it starts to affect the rest of your workouts. Focus on doing the movements correctly and using the right muscles to do the work. This leads me right into my next point.

5. Learn Proper Form/Video Yourself

The best thing I ever did for my lifting career was to get a logbook. Luckily, I did that pretty much right from the start, saving me years of wheel spinning.
The next best thing I did was to get a video camera. My only regret is not getting it sooner.
I never had a coach or a trainer to show me the ropes when I was first starting out. I learned by reading and watching other people in the gym and then trying to mimic what they were doing. Trouble is, most gym goers have their heads firmly lodged up their rectums when it comes to training, so it was really a case of the blind leading the blind.
I was well intentioned, but misguided. I never missed workouts, ever, and I worked my ass off every time I stepped foot in the gym. I knew the key to success was progressive resistance, so I fought tooth and nail to beat the logbook, and I did most of the time. I paid attention to the little details, like sets, reps, and rest periods.
What I neglected, however, was good form. It's not that I didn't care about it, it's that I didn't really know better. I honestly thought my form was good – that is, until I watched myself. That was a rude awakening. You name it, I was doing it wrong. The harder I pushed, the more my form deteriorated.
I had to drop the weights way down and start over from scratch. Talk about humbling. You never realize how much harder a full squat is than a quarter squat until the first time you have to strip it from 365 to 135.
Learn from my mistakes and nail down good form from the start. If you've let it slide, suck it up, lighten the load, and take the time to get it right. Until you do, nothing else matters. Fancy programming is useless if you can't execute the exercises correctly.
If you're fortunate enough to have competent lifters in your gym, ask for help. If you're like I was and have to go at it alone, invest in a camera and film yourself on all the major movements. With websites like this one, you can get solid form critique in a matter of minutes.
You don't need anything expensive either. I've used the same little digital camera for five years and it's been fine. Trust me, besides your two-dollar logbook, it'll be the best money you ever spend.

6. Hammer Your Weak Points

It's human nature to gravitate towards the things we do best and avoid the things we suck at. In the gym, this often manifests with us prioritizing our strengths and neglecting our weaknesses.
While it may be normal human behavior, it doesn't make it right. This is a recipe for creating imbalances, which sets us up for stagnation and/or injury. I say "us" because I'm guilty of it too, and it's something I consciously have to work on.
Now I'm certainly not advocating that you give all parts of your training equal priority, and there will always be some things that are more important to you than others. I'm suggesting that you look for the glaring weaknesses and attack them head-on, even if you don't see the immediate benefit.
For example, I went through a phase where I stopped doing any specific core training. I justified it to myself by saying that "abs are made in the kitchen" and "the core gets enough work from heavy compound exercises," but really I was just being lazy and didn't like doing it.
I was fine for a while, but over time, some of my lifts began to stall and my back started to bother me. Eventually I broke down and decided to add some core stabilization work back into the mix. Within a few weeks, my front squat went up and my back pain went away. Funny how that works.
The takeaway point is, don't just do what you like.
I'll bet that you know exactly what your biggest weak point is. Maybe it's your core strength, upper back, glutes, hamstrings, mobility, whatever. Now it's just a matter of taking action and making a conscious effort to improve it.
That may mean putting it first in the workout to ensure that you give it full attention, or it may mean devoting an entire extra day each week specifically to that weak point. Just get it done. No excuses.

7. Walking Lunges 2.0

Walking lunges are one of my favorite single-leg exercises. It's also very advanced, so before you try to tackle it, I suggest you take some time to master split squats, Bulgarian split squats and regular lunges first.
You'll often see walking lunges loaded either by holding dumbbells at the sides or with a barbell on the back. While there's certainly nothing wrong with either method, I rarely see it done correctly.
Instead, I see a big tendency to lean way forward, sometimes to the point of falling over. I don't mind a slight forward lean when it's being performed unloaded (forward lean has been shown to increase glute activation,) but when you add heavy weights into the mix, it's putting the lower back in a precarious position. Part of the problem is simply going too heavy, but the placement of the weights exacerbates the issue.
Enter the front-loaded version.

Start by holding a dumbbell in the goblet position until you run out of weight before progressing to using a barbell with a front squat grip.
I like this style of loading better for a few reasons:

• It forces you to stay upright, putting less stress on the spine and more stress on the quads, where we want it.<
• There's a built-in protection mechanism against your own ego. It keeps you honest because you'll need to go much lighter than you would if you were to hold dumbbells at your sides or put a bar on your back, and you can't cheat or else you'll drop the weight.
• Loading the weight anteriorly provides an added core stability benefit as you must fight to resist flexion, giving you more bang for your buck.

Just make sure to start conservatively and follow the progression I laid out above to avoid being riddled with DOMS. Don't say I didn't warn you.

8. Don't Skimp on Mobility Work

Mobility work is to training as vegetables are to diet.
We may not enjoy eating vegetables, but we do so anyway because they're good for us. We know that protein acts as the building blocks for muscle, but if we just ate meat and nothing else we might be off the charts on the Awesomeness Scale, but we'd be leaving a lot on the table nutritionally. Veggies provide fiber and nutrients and help us feel good, so while they may not contribute directly to building muscle, they certainly assist indirectly.
The same goes for mobility work. It's certainly not as sexy and fun as weight training, but it's still vitally important. It likely won't contribute directly to gaining muscle (I've yet to see a jacked yogi, nor would I ever particularly care to), but it can augment the muscle-building process by helping us feel better, move better, and recover better.
We aren't necessarily looking to reach Gumby status, but a certain level of flexibility and mobility is essential to train hard and avoid injury. I could sit here all day chewing up bandwidth preaching about how you must squat to at least parallel and give you all the great cues and drills to do so, but if you're locked up in the hips and ankles, none of that stuff will matter.
As much as it might suck (trust me, I don't like it either), make it a priority. In the beginning, it'll take a lot of work. I've found that, just like with veggies, the key is consistency. I'd rather see you spend 15 minutes a day, every day of the week, than 30 minutes 2-3 times a week.
I recommend doing a bit before and during your workouts, and then spend a good 10-15 minutes of devoted stretching at night at home before you go to bed. I find doing it at night helps me to relax and alleviate some of the soreness caused by lifting, and I can do it in front of the TV so it's not so boring.
Do it while you watch Jersey Shore and stretch every time Ronnie and Sam fight or Snooki says something moronic. You'll be cured in no time. You'll also be significantly stupider, but at least you'll be more flexible.
This article is a good starting point for some stretches to do, and here are some quick and easy active mobility drills to try.
The good news though is that once you develop good mobility, it doesn't take much to maintain it if you consistently train through a full range of motion. Until you reach that point though, make this stuff your best friend.

9. Believe in Yourself

Nothing pisses me off more in the gym than someone asking me for a spot and then saying, "I'm not sure I can get this."
My response is always the same, "Come get me when you're sure."
I don't say this to be a dick or because I'm lazy and don't want to spot them, I say it because to be successful, you absolutely must believe in yourself. If you go into a set thinking you aren't going to get it, chances are you won't. You should be fully committed and have a distinct (and realistic) goal in mind, and there should be no doubt in your mind that you can pull it off. If you aren't confident, you shouldn't even be trying it.
I'm a big believer in positive self-talk (note the "self" part of self-talk; nobody wants to hear you tooting your own horn). I'm not talking about some fruity feel-good thing. I'm talking about getting in the zone where you're in attack mode and nothing can stop you. Whenever I step up to take a weight, I'm absolutely convinced that I'm going to dominate it. That's not to say I always do, but getting in the right mindset at least gives me a fighting chance.

End of Randomness

I warned you this was going to be random. Some of it may be new to you, while some may simply serve as a reminder of what you already knew but may not be putting into practice. Either way, I hope you can glean a few useful tips to take your training up a notch.

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Density Training for Fat Loss

by John Romaniello
Like many people, my first exposure to density training was with EDT, which I used as a hypertrophy program. I gained some muscle, but I also got noticeably leaner. When I started tweaking the density of my clients' programming for added hypertrophy, I again noticed some fat loss.
Now I may be dense (pun intended), but after a while I catch on. In due course, I realized that with a bit of modification, density-based training would dramatically increase the rate of fat loss. (In retrospect, this shouldn't have been surprising given the speed of the workout. Always trying to beat the numbers from my previous session, I was training at a pretty rapid pace, my heart rate was constantly high, and I'd always be exhausted when I was through.)
So I took the density concept, blended it with the other successful bits of my fat loss programs and—I'm not bullshitting you here—created one of the most effective fat loss training methods I've ever seen. I've been using it in my programs for the past four years, so I figured it was about time to stop being greedy and share what I've learned.

Wait. What The Heck is Density Training? 

Before we can get into the specifics of this program, we must first define training density, which is the result of looking at two very specific factors of training: volume and duration. Volume is your total workload or how many sets and reps you perform in a given workout; duration is the length of time your workout lasts. By combining these two, we arrive at your training density.
By increasing the amount of work you do in a given amount of time, you also enhance your ability to do work or what's known as improving your work capacity. While some may argue that this isn't necessarily the "best" way to approach hypertrophy, the results are undeniable.
Increasing training density helps to boost both strength and strength endurance, which has implications for muscle growth down the line.

Increasing Density

Traditionally, there have been two ways to add to density:

Method 1: Keep Workload Static and Decrease Duration
If you're going to do 10 sets of 10 reps for squats, you're doing 100 total reps. For the sake of argument, let's say you perform this workout in 40 minutes. If I tell you that you must complete that workout in 30 minutes, then that will call for a drastic increase in training density since I'm asking you to complete an identical amount of work in 25% less time. You'd also call me bad names.
Method 2: Keep the Duration Static and Increase Workload 
Staying with that same example, you have another option: keep the duration static at 40 minutes, and simply try to do more work within that time period by adding more sets of squats. So rather than just doing 10 sets, you'd aim to complete as many sets as possible, ending up with 12 or even 15 sets.  (As an alternative, you could also add more reps to each set.)
In either case, in order to accomplish the goal while sticking to the parameters, you'd have to increase training speed and decrease rest periods. This would also increase work capacity.

The New Way: Density Training as a Fat Loss Method*

*I say "method" because this is not a complete fat loss program. This is something you can add toa good program.
In previous versions of density training, the idea was to do a few exercises over a specific block of time and get as many reps per exercise as possible, seeking to beat those numbers in subsequent training sessions. And that's a great method for gaining muscle with fat loss as a consequence.
However, when fat loss is the primary goal, I set things up differently.
As with nearly any great plan designed for drastic fat loss, I look to the old standby: fast-paced circuits. First we select a series of exercises (more on this below) and set them up in a non-competing fashion.

Sounds like just about any circuit training protocol, right? Wrong.

Instead of having a predetermined number of reps, you're going to be performing each of these exercises for time—you simply have to do as many as you can in a given time period. That's where general density comes in. The idea is to perform more reps on each exercise, and that's where the increase in density becomes a factor.

Now, here's where it gets kooky: for your second circuit, you'll be using heavier weight—substantially heavier weight. Rather than just create density circuits, I also took advantage of some other cool things that happen when your body adapts and seems to get instantly stronger.

Not only are we seeking to increase reps, but also increase weight before we repeat a given exercise. Again, this is applied to all exercises within a circuit.
Here's an example to illustrate:

Let's say you did each of the following exercises for 30 seconds* each: overhead press, bent-over row, squat.

*Note: Depending on the exercises, you'll vary the length of time in eachset from exercise to exercise and circuit to circuit. Movements with a greater range of motion are done for longer periods of time than those with shorter movements. A chart is provided below.

In performing such a circuit, your results might look like this:

Barbell Overhead Press:  100 pounds for 12 reps

Barbell Bent-over Row: 165 pounds for 15 reps

Barbell Squat: 185 pounds for 11 reps

Your second attempt at that circuit might look like this:

Barbell Overhead Press:  110 pounds for 15 reps

Barbell Bent-over Row: 190 pounds for 18 reps

Barbell Squat: 200 pounds for 14 reps

Now, how is it that you're able to perform more reps with more weight? Simple: your nervous system is kicking ass. Essentially, you're looking to increase neuromuscular activation.
This has been written about fairly extensively, so I won't rehash too much. Suffice it to say that the degree to which you can stimulate your nervous system will have carryover to how much muscular force you can generate. The more neural activation you achieve, the easier it is to push heavier weights, because you'll have an easier time recruiting muscle fibers to do the job.
So the purpose of the set is actually twofold: first, it establishes a baseline number for all exercises, and gives you a frame of reference for performance as well as a goal. Second, and perhaps more importantly, your first set serves as a neurological primer. The weight is relatively heavy on the first set and will certainly start the metabolic processes involved in fat loss, but the best part is you'll be sparking neural activation.
Your first set should be a bit of a feeler set—sort of a working warm-up. The limiting factor should be time, not fatigue.
That is, at the end of the first set on any circuit, the feeling should be, "Oh, damn, I ran out of time; I totally had a few more reps in me!" and not "Holy crap that sucked! I can't believe that was only 30 seconds!"
With the first set, pace yourself and move at a quick but steady clip. Don't speed up as the clock winds down. Instead, just allow your pace to carry you through to the end of the set.
Your second set should be (if you'll pardon my use of scientific jargon) balls to the wall.  As you get toward the end, speed up and try to crank out as many reps as possible.
Overall, you'll be lifting more weight for more reps in the same time period for an entire circuit of exercises. A few of these sets and you can see how fat loss—as well as the obvious increases in both efficiency and capacity—would be the end result.
The best part about density training is how fun it is. Because it's challenge-based, you have an immediate goal every set and every workout: do more than you did previously.
Additionally, because it's more of a method than a specific program, this version of density training is instantly adaptable to any type of training. I've provided two density circuits below, one using weights, and one done with just bodyweight (which you can try right now, just to see how awesome this is).  However, density training works with kettlebells, resistance bands, sandbags and pretty much anything else you feel worthy of lifting and lowering—like children.
Of course, in the case of a bodyweight circuit, you may be saying, "Wait a minute, Roman! You said we're supposed the increase the weight? I can't do that with bodyweight!"  That's a very fair point. You're going to make progress even without a weight increase, but to get the most out of a circuit or workout of that nature, I'd recommend using a harder variation of each exercise for the second circuit (going from regular push-ups to decline push-ups, for example).
The main thing is that you're working harder with each progressive set, aiming to take the greatest advantage of neural activation possible to do more work and burn a metric crap-ton of calories.
As a further benefit (as if you hadn't already figured it out), density training is exceptional for retention of lean mass.

Creating Density Workouts

Now that we're clear on the method and the benefits, let's talk training. As previously stated, the goal of this article is to provide you with a training method, as well as a template for creating your own workouts with the density method.
To that end, let's cover some basic rules for creating density workouts.

• Each workout should consist of 2-3 individual circuits, each repeated a second time, for a total of 4-6 performed circuits.

• Each circuit should have no less than 3 but no more than 6 exercises.

• I recommend a push, a pull, a dynamic leg movement (think lunges), a stationary leg movement (stiff leg deadlifts, for example) and some sort of abdominal movement (optional). This is more of a guideline than a rule.
Of course, the most important aspect for density circuits is the length of time for which you perform each exercise. While you can ultimately decide on any interval you want, the chart below illustrates the recommended times that I have found to be most effective for each type of exercise.

General Guidelines for Set Duration

Type of Exercise	Duration
Weight Bearing Upper Body Press	25-35 seconds
Weight Bearing Upper Body Pull	30-45 seconds
Weight Bearing Lower Body Press	35-55 seconds
Weight Bearing Lower Body Pull	35-50 seconds
Bodyweight Upper Body Press	20-30 seconds
Bodyweight Upper Body Pull	35-45 seconds
Bodyweight Stationary Lower Body	40-50 seconds
Bodyweight Dynamic Lower Body	45-60 seconds
Any Abdominal Movement	30-60 seconds

And, because I don't want to leave you hanging, I've also designed two circuits for you to try out. Give'em a shot and leave your thoughts in the discussion section.

Weighted Density Fat Loss Circuit

Set-up:  Perform A1 for as many reps as possible during the prescribed work duration, then rest for the prescribed rest period, recording your reps. After this, perform A2 for as many reps as possible during the prescribed work duration, then rest for the prescribed rest period, recording your reps. Continue this pattern for all exercises.  Rest 120s and repeat. For your SECOND circuit, INCREASE the weight by 10%-20% and REPEAT the exercises, trying to match or exceed the number of reps in that same allotted work duration.

Exercise	Duration	Rest
A1) Single Dumbbell (Goblet) Squat	35 seconds	10 seconds
A2) Lumber Jack Press	35 seconds	20 seconds
A3) Dumbbell Pullover	45 seconds	30 seconds
A4) Abdominal Rollout on Swiss Ball	60 seconds	Rest 120 seconds and repeat circuit

Bodyweight Density Fat Loss

Set-up:  Perform A1 for as many reps as possible during the prescribed work duration, then rest for the prescribed rest period, recording your reps. After this, perform A2 for as many reps as possible during the prescribed work duration, then rest for the prescribed rest period, recording your reps. Continue this pattern for all exercises.  Rest 90s and repeat. For your SECOND circuit, REPEAT the exercises, trying to EXCEED your number of reps from the previous set.

Exercise	Duration	Rest
A1) Push-up	30 seconds	10 seconds
A2) Alternating Lateral Lunges	45 seconds	20 seconds
A3) Superman Contraction	30 seconds	30 seconds
A4) Hand Walkouts from Toes	60 seconds	Rest 90 seconds and repeat circuit

Closing Thoughts

Although manipulating training density was originally designed for hypertrophy, we've seen that with a bit of ingenuity we can further modify the idea for fat loss. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that is one of the best fat loss training methods I've come across. Density workouts are fun, challenging and very effective. Try your hand at designing your own and post them in the forum for some critique from yours truly.

About the Author

John Romaniello is a strength coach and trainer working in the greater New York area.  In addition to writing his own bio in the third person, Roman also runs an online coaching program through which he helps people all over the world get hotter.  You can check him out at his website.

Density training means more work and less time standing at the dumbbell rack, chump.

The Lumberjack Press

The Superman Contraction.

The author. Think he knows a little somethin' about getting ripped?

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