Sometimes you have to do things that are not in your wheelhouse to get the results you want. With summer right around the corner, results are something all of us are focused on. Well, maybe not all of us. Don’t care about body composition results and looking good for the Summer? Then stop reading now and carry on......
OK, if you’re still reading you want to change. The time has passed where you say you're going to do it and nothing happens. You REALLY WANT TO THIS TIME. Well, you are at the right place. Today I'm breaking down the best approach to get this done. Take note, this is not the list of what you “like” to do, but what actually works - there is probably a BIG difference. This list would normally start off with the first 3 things being NUTRITION, NUTRITION, NUTRITION. You can't change your body without changing your nutrition. However, today we are going to bypass that, as we dove deeper into that last week. So take a few minutes and check out that blog. Go ahead, I'll wait....
OK, you're back! So, after a solid lower calorie/higher nutrient diet, the list looks like this:
- Heavy resistance training. High weight for lower reps (in the 1-5 range). I can not express this ENOUGH. When you cut calories to lose fat, your body will start losing muscle mass. That is a critical error in most people’s approach to fat loss. As we age, we are already losing muscle at an alarming rate, UNLESS you train to keep muscle. My friend Tony Gentilcore says “what makes muscle, keeps muscle”. He means that lifting to always try to “gain” muscle, especially while on a reduced calorie diet, will help you keep the muscle you have and possibly even gain some new muscle. That is a good thing for body composition (remember, this list is not what you “think” you should be doing, but what you SHOULD be doing for proper recomposition.) Heavy resistance training also encourages bones to strengthen and possibly even add some bone mass over time.
- Hypertrophy training. Lower weight for higher reps (in the 5-12 range). OK, now that you got a heavy lift in to encourage bone health and muscle strength, now is the time to tap into that strength and use it for slightly higher reps and higher sets. This will do two-fold. A) It will add some nice mass to the muscles that you just worked. This will, in turn, make you look leaner and thinner, yet have some muscle on your frame. B) Burn those calories by doing the reps in a circuit fashion. Done correctly (Jtab training will show you how to) this leads to enough cardio conditioning while still building or keeping muscle that you will see fat loss changes even after only a few sessions.
- Sprint/ropes/sled/bike sprint work. This could be timed work or rep work (do six 5-10 second sprints, etc). 1 or 2 days a week should be plenty, unless your nutrition is AWFUL (which it should be if you did the nutrition work we mentioned at the top of this blog first). Rope work usually is timed for 10-40 seconds of work with a minute break and repeat. Usually 5-30 minutes is all you need for this “all out” work. Or do what you can handle before you get sloppy and start working less intensely.
- General movement “work”. Yes, just be more “active”. Go walk around stores, light hikes, park further away from the entrance of stores/grocery stores, clean house, walk around the neighborhood. Do light activities that you ENJOY! As long as the other 3 (again the amount of time you should devote to each is dependent on diet and nutrition) are done intensely, you can just do what you enjoy doing.
There you go, and easy recipe to follow that may hard to execute week in, week out. Maybe people find that having accountability helps them keep to this schedule so they don't fall off the wagon and start seeing results before the warm weather hits. If this sounds like, reach out to Jtab Training today to set up your first appointment and see how we can help you change your body correctly!