.For those of you that need to catch up, here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
And now that you’re all caught up, on with Part 4.
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Part 4 – High Intensity Resistance Training
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As I said in Part 3, high intensity resistance workouts are the superstars of this entire program. When performed properly, they elevate your BMR, drastically increase your EPOC and burn a fair amount of calories per workout.
But all you need to know is that they:
- Increase metabolism for up to 36 hours post-workout
- Drastically outperform diet and aerobic exercise in fat loss studies
- Maintain muscle mass in subjects on a Very Low Calorie Diet
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H.I.R.T. Workouts
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Overview
Always remember that the goal of this program is to burn as much fat as possible, while preserving your current level of muscle mass.
To achieve this goal, your program needs to focus on:
- Total Body workouts
- Pushing yourself until your muscles burn with lactic acid
- Perform super-sets, tri-sets, giant sets, etc…
- Compound exercises – squats instead of leg extensions
- Big muscle groups – legs, back and chest instead of arms and shoulders
- Performing sets of 5 to 15 repetitions
How you put together all of these elements is up to you. Your physiology is different than mine. Your history of injuries is different than mine. Your availability to equipment is different from mine. Your tolerance for exercise intensity is different…
But even with all of these differences, two things need to be the same. We both need to ensure that we:
- Maximize the Intensity of Each EXERCISE, and
- Maximize the Intensity of Each WORKOUT
So, how do we do that?
Old School v.s. New School
High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT) has been around for a long time. There is a ton of information available to help you design your own program. It’s the stuff you see in the bodybuilding magazines.
To be honest, I couldn’t care less about the Old School HIRT training. Not that it doesn’t work. It just bores me.
However, if you are interested, here are a few links:
Bodybuilding.com
Dave Draper
IronMan Magazine
Mens Health
Now that I have given such a glowing review about Old School HIRT training, let me introduce you to the New School.
Let me introduce you to FUSION training.
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FUSION Training
I have been playing around with this type of training for the past few years.
Here is the general concept.
We already know that for fat loss training, generating exercise and workout intensity is key.
That is why Compound exercises (Squats, Deadlifts) are better than Isolation exercises (Leg Extension, Leg Curl).
Fusion exercises and workouts raise the intensity bar even higher.
Imagine an exercise where you combine a deadlift, a snatch and an overhead squat.
All in one move. You do not put the bar down until you have completed the set.
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That is a Fusion exercise.
Now imagine a workout where you string together set after set of these Fusion exercises.
That is a Fusion workout, and it WILL kick your tail.
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Build Your Own Fusion Workout
The Basics
- 3x per week Maximum
- At least 24 hrs. rest between workouts
- Put the most complicated Fusions at the beginning of the workout
- Put the most intense Fusions at the beginning of the workout
- Hit all of the major movements each workout
- Change repetition schemes each workout
- 60 seconds between sets
- The weakest exercise in the Fusion will determine the exercise weight
- Be prepared for nausea…seriously
Sample Workout
Here is a workout I designed for a client earlier this month.
- The client is training 3x per week – Mon/Wed/Fri
- I have designed 2 different workouts to ensure that each week will be different
- Week 1 will consist of workouts A, B and A – Week 2 will consist of workouts B, A and B and so on…
- Each workout will have 4 Fusion exercises
- Monday’s workout will consist of 5 sets of 5 reps of each Fusion exercise
- Wednesday’s workout will consist of 4 sets of 8 reps of each Fusion exercise
- Friday’s workout will consist of 3 sets of 12 reps of each Fusion exercise
- In addition to fat loss, this client needs to bring up leg and core strength – exercise selection will reflect that goal
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Now It’s Your Turn
When it comes to designing your own Fusion workout, try and choose exercises that hit a variety of muscle groups and movement patterns.
Here are some of my favorites to get you started:
Posterior Chain
- Deadlift
- 1 Leg Deadlift
- Suitcase Deadlift
- Romanian Deadlift
- Pullthroughs
- Good Mornings
- Glute Ham Raises
- Any Olympic lift – snatch, clean
Anterior Chain
- Lunges..all varieties
- Squats
- Bulgarian Squats
- Overhead Squats
- Squat Jumps
- 1 Leg Squat
- Front Squat
- Zercher Squat
Horizontal Push
- Standing Cable / Band Press
- Push-Ups…all varieties
- Dive Bombers or Hindu Push-Ups
Horizontal Pull
- Body weight Row
- Bent-Over Row
- Sternum Chin-Ups
- Standing Cable / Band Row
Vertical Push
- Presses…all varieties
- Thrusters
- Handstand Push-Up
Vertical Pull
- Chin-Ups
- Pull-Ups
- Pulldowns
- High Pulls
Core
- Planks or other “postures”
- Crunches…all varieties
- Leg raises…all varieties
- Twisting movements (woodchops, etc…)
- Roll-Outs
and many, many more…
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That should get you started.
In Part 5 of this series, I will look at High Intensity Anaerobic Interval Training (HIIT).
So, until then,
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