{"id":2844,"date":"2015-03-12T07:54:23","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T14:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/?p=2844"},"modified":"2017-11-08T13:42:11","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T20:42:11","slug":"faster-fat-loss-how-to-add-workout-finishers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/faster-fat-loss-how-to-add-workout-finishers\/","title":{"rendered":"Faster Fat Loss: How to Add Workout Finishers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: You don\u2019t need another article telling you about the \u201csecret of fat loss.\u201d There really aren\u2019t any mysterious ways to lose fat. You\u2019ve heard them all\u2014from the diets, to the exercises, and all of the (mostly worthless) supplements.<\/em><\/p>\n

What you don\u2019t hear enough?<\/em><\/p>\n

How to make fat loss work for your body. Sure you might know about HIIT or interval training, but both are often abused in a way that stalls progress more than it helps.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

More is not always more, and a big part of adding fat loss finishers is to gradually increase frequency and intensity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While exercise isn\u2019t rocket science, it still is a science\u2014and one that heavily depends on all of the demands you place on your body. To achieve faster fat loss, any training plan won’t do.\u00a0A great workout<\/a> for someone else might not work for you because of genetics, or it could just be that it doesn\u2019t fit with the other stressors in your life.<\/em><\/p>\n

To help you crack the personalized aspects of fat loss, I turned to Jen Sinkler, author of Lift Weights Faster 2<\/a>. [Note: I have no affiliate relationship with this product and don\u2019t receive a penny for promotion. Jen’s\u00a0approach to fat loss works, but more importantly, her programming helps people find the right program<\/a> for their body.]<\/em><\/p>\n

This post will not share a new exercise or routines. But it will explain how to find the best workouts for your body (especially if you’re busy and short on time), and that is maybe the most valuable secret there is for transforming your body.<\/em><\/p>\n

Faster Fat Loss Workouts<\/h2>\n

By Jen Sinkler<\/strong><\/p>\n

I make no bones about being a fitness eclectic \u2014 from competitive powerlifting to lifting weights faster to calisthenics to clubbell yoga, I love mixing up my workouts, testing out the new and novel, and learning from the best and brightest coaches in the biz.<\/p>\n

I have no hard-and-fast rules about the best way or only way. There are many roads to fitness and they vary, by and large, from person to person. But I do have one general rule of thumb that I follow wholeheartedly: I train intuitively.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a huge proponent of listening to my body, heeding its signals, and making adjustments to my training. That means some days, I can push hard and feel amazing.<\/p>\n

Other times, depending on life stressors \u2014 such as increasing lack of sleep, poor nutrition, hard deadlines, or writing a e-book (ahem<\/em><\/a>) \u2014 it\u2019s important to pull back a bit (or, in some cases, a lot) on the metabolic-resistance sessions or sprint training that I love so much.<\/p>\n

But intuitive training doesn\u2019t only apply on a workout-by-workout basis.<\/p>\n

As you learn your body\u2019s natural cycles and its responses to training and other stressors, you may notice longer-term cycles of turn-it-up and dial-it-down. By making cyclical adjustments, you can make the most of your training and maximize them gains<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m essentially talking about naturally periodizing your metabolic-resistance sessions, or finishers, just as you might more officially periodize your main strength plan.<\/p>\n

Lifting 101:\u00a0Understanding Periodization<\/h2>\n

Periodization is a training methodology most commonly applied to strength training that divvies up workouts into week-long, month-long, and year-long cycles.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an up-and-down training \u201cmap\u201d that ratchets up the intensity for a chunk of time \u2014 generally three to six weeks \u2014 and then tones it down.<\/p>\n

The point is to get the best results without overstraining, overtraining, and zapping yourself completely<\/a> (or, for that matter, undertraining and making no progress).<\/p>\n

While this concept is usually applied to traditional strength training, there\u2019s no reason it can\u2019t apply to your conditioning workouts, too. In fact, you should fully expect to go through periods of time every three to six weeks when your body needs a break. Don\u2019t ignore that urge \u2014 use the opportunity for variety and recovery so you can come back stronger and faster in the next \u201cup\u201d cycle.<\/p>\n

What does this look like in practice? For one, it doesn\u2019t have to be anything formal. You don\u2019t have to rigidly schedule your deloads. Instead, it\u2019s about identifying what you\u2019re doing, and how you can adjust your fat loss additions to accelerate results without slowing down your body or needing to spend more time in the gym.<\/p>\n

The Fat Loss Matrix:\u00a0Creating Your Plan<\/h2>\n

Fat Loss Trick #1: Go Heavy on Heavy<\/h2>\n

Make your conditioning match your main session in terms of demands placed on the body. You\u2019re looking to tax your body in similar ways on the same day, says Alex Viada, CSCS, founder of the coaching company Complete Human Performance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re lifting heavy, focus conditioning on short, fast barn-burning\u00a0sprint sessions<\/a>\u00a0or circuits.<\/p>\n

The contrast allows your body the best chance to recovering from that stimulus between sessions.<\/p>\n

This is in contrast to doing activities that impose vastly different demands \u2014 if you\u2019d pair heavy squats with a long, slow bike ride, for example \u2014 which may impede speedy recovery.<\/p>\n

Fat Loss Trick #2: Less Load Means More Volume<\/h2>\n

If you’re going lighter that day or doing more bodyweight or calisthenics movements<\/a> in your strength sessions, then do more bodyweight circuits as finishers.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re always balancing two goals\u2014fat loss and recovery. With less total load (read: not taking the \u201cgo big or go home\u201d attitude) there\u2019s usually less stress on your body and recovery can be quicker.<\/p>\n

That means you don\u2019t want to sacrifice that strategic approach by adding heavier loads for your fat loss finisher. Instead, add in more bodyweight work, but with the techniques that will make the workouts more metabolic.<\/p>\n

Fat Loss Trick #3: Watch the Clock<\/h2>\n

If your main lifts take up a lot of time, do a short finisher with exercises that round out your workout and hit the muscles you\u2019d like to focus on that day.<\/p>\n

Doing a full body workout, crush a quick countdown workout of kettlebell swings and squat thrusts (think modified burpee without the pushup). Do 10 reps of both exercises, followed by 9, then 8, and work your way all the way down to 1, resting as little as possible. It doesn\u2019t look like much on paper, but your body will feel different once you\u2019re finished.<\/p>\n

Even high-intensity bouts of 10 minutes or less have been shown to deliver crazy good results. This is what most people struggle to understand; up to a certain point, it\u2019s not about how much time you spend in the gym.<\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019s all about your intensity and how much work you can cram into a period of time. For the same reason that slow cardio can slow fat loss<\/a>, fast cardio can speed the process.<\/p>\n

Fat Loss Trick #4: Schedule Your Fat Loss Workouts<\/h2>\n

I generally recommend doing at least a short conditioning workout two to three times a week \u2014 some people do great with four or even five \u2014 in addition to following a more traditional strength program.<\/p>\n

How do you know what\u2019s right for you? Generally, start on the low end. More is not always more, and a big part of adding fat loss finishers is to gradually<\/em> increase frequency, assuming that you\u2019re not left exhausted or struggle to recover.<\/p>\n

Remember, adding fat loss finishers should improve your overall conditioning and speed your transformation process. But the core of your program is still your main workout. So if those training sessions are struggling, then it\u2019s best to scale back on the number of finishers you do each week.<\/p>\n

Fat Loss Trick #5: Establish \u201cLevels\u201d of Difficulty<\/h2>\n

This one is simple and extremely effective, both from a physical and mental standpoint. Doing one short, one medium, and one long conditioning workout per week, can allow you to easily match up fat loss finishers on days that make sense.<\/p>\n

Only have time for 20 minutes one day per week? Consider making that your \u201clong\u201d conditioning workout\u2014but make it all that you do. Twenty minutes will never feel more effective.<\/p>\n

Fat Loss Trick #6: Cycle Your Finishers<\/h2>\n

Do only short conditioning workouts (10 minutes or less) for one week, followed by a medium-length conditioning week (20-ish minutes), and then a week of longer (in the 30-minute-or-above range). Then, repeat the three-week cycle \u2014 as long as you feel physically, mentally, and energetically awesome.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s The Right Plan for You?<\/h2>\n

The truth is, the following variables will impact how you respond to fat loss finishers:<\/p>\n