Fat Loss: Weight Loss
This program is very simple. You will be performing strength training 3 non-consecutive days per week. Every training day you will perform a big compound lift for the legs, a big compound push for the upper body, and a big compound pull for the upper body. In just 3 movements you will train most of the muscles of the body. This program is suitable for both males and females -- it will look more intimidating to most females, but it will be just as effective at promoting fat loss for them as it will for the guys.
The loading parameters are based on programs by Bill Starr and Glenn Pendlay. For each exercise you will perform 5 sets of 5 reps, adding weight on each set to a top set of 5. Ideally, the 5 sets should be loaded with the following percentages of the target weight for the top set:
Set 1: 50%
Set 2: 62.5%
Set 3: 75%
Set 4: 87.5%
Set 5: 100%
After the 5th set, on every exercise (except for deadlifts, which will be completed with the top set of 5), you will return back to the weight used on the 3rd set and attempt a set of 8+ reps.
The reason for ramping up 5 sets of 5 like this is because it promotes strength, which promotes retention of lean body mass when you're losing weight, which means that the weight lost will be coming from where you want to lose it (ie fat), rather than allowing you to end up "skinnyfat" after all your hard work. Adding weight to each set gives ample warm up for the top set, and having but 1 set at a heavy weight means that there is a fairly low amount of volume in this routine, which means minimal fatigue. You'll already be eating at a calorie deficit, and a calorie deficit is a recovery deficit, so maximising work while minimising recovery needs is the aim of the game.
The extra set of 8+ allows for some extra technique work, burns some extra calories, and reinforces strength development. It also provides a different kind of stimulus to just the 5 sets of 5.
You will start with a top weight that's reasonably challenging, but not exhaustive. You should not be starting with your 5RM, and really the best weight to start with is likely to be 10-20% below your 5RM so that you've got room to progress the weight forwards.
Each week, if you get all 5 reps with good form on the 5th set, and 8 or more reps with good form on the 6th set, you will increase the weight on the top set by 2.5kg/5lb next time.
(Note: If your equipment does not allow you to make 2.5kg/5lb jumps in weight, then add 1 extra rep to the top set each week until you have added 1 rep/2.5kg increments in the next jump. eg If your equipment goes up in 10kg jumps, then divide 10 by 2.5 and you have 4x2.5kg increments, therefore you will add 1 rep per week to your top set until all 4 additional reps have been completed, for a total of 9 reps in the last week of the cycle. Then move up to the next weight progression and return to 5 reps on the top set.)
If several weeks go by and you haven't been able to increase the load on a lift, reduce the top set weight by 10% and start working back up. If you get stuck at the same weight once you've worked back up, it's time to look into a substitute exercise that targets the same muscle groups but in a different way.
Your training days, and the exercises within each, are as follows:
Day 1
Back Squats 5x5, 1x8+
Overhead Press 5x5, 1x8+
T-Bar Row 5x5, 1x8+
Day 2
Deadlift 5x5
Incline Bench Press 5x5, 1x8+
Cable Row 5x5, 1x8+
Day 3
Front Squats 5x5, 1x8+
Bench Press 5x5, 1x8+
Lat Pull Down (or Pull Ups) 5x5, 1x8+
Cardio/Conditioning/Abs
You do not need to do any sort of cardio to lose weight or burn fat. I know you've been taught all your life that you do, but you don't. Can it be helpful? Yes. Is it required? No. Cardio burns calories, but at no greater rate (per time spent training) than the exercises in this program. It does not promote the preservation of lean body mass, so 1kg lost through diet and cardio will not be as beneficial as 1kg lost through diet and strength training. Cardio adds a lot of volume to your training, and activities like running, boxing and step-aerobics in particular are high impact, which means lots of recovery is required. We're trying to keep recovery needs to a minimum.
If you're going to do cardio in spite of the above paragraph (be it for personal enjoyment, health benefits, or just refusal to abstain from it while trying to lose weight), you may do it immediately after strength training or on non-training days. Make sure you have at least 1 day per week in which you don't do any training, as recovery is important. Do not do any cardio, other than a light warm up, before strength training, as it will deplete your performance during your strength training sessions. Strength training is important for fat loss, cardio is optional. Don't sacrifice that which is a priority for that which is an option.
You may do some light ab work immediately after strength, but not before-hand, and not on the days between training sessions. Every exercise in the main program will strengthen your abs -- and will be hindered if they are fatigued from being worked within the 24 hours prior to training. Again, priorities. Strengthening the whole body including the abs will protect a lot of lean body mass from being lost instead of fat. Strengthening the core at the expense of the rest of the body will do very little to protect peripheral lean body mass from being lost instead of fat, and will contribute to becoming "skinnyfat."
Diet
Exactly how much you should be eating is very individualistic. As a ballpark figure, I'd say most people should be starting out at about 2,000kcal/day for weight loss. Some petite people will need to go lower, some large-framed athletic people will need to go higher. There are calculators out there for figuring out how many calories per day your should be consuming based on age, gender, height, weight and daily activity, but ultimately experience will give the answer on what's best for you.
You should be targeting 0.5-1lb (or 0.25-0.5kg) weight loss per week. More is not normally better, except for early on in a morbidly obese person's weight loss journey. This will add up to being in a calorie deficit of about 200-500kcal/day. In other words, if you expend 2,400kcal/day through living and training, you'll need to be eating 200-500kcal/day less than that, so 1,900-2,200kcal total intake.
You should be consuming approximately 1g protein per lb bodyweight per day, or 2g protein per kg bodyweight per day. So a 75kg person should be consuming roughly 150g protein per day while on this program. Protein consumption is the other side of the coin (the first side being strength training) that will contribute greatly to the maintenance of lean body mass. The best sources of protein come from animals. Vegetable protein isn't very good by comparison. If you are a vegetarian, then this may cause your strength training progress to be slower, and your percentage of lean body mass lost from weight loss to be higher. Unfortunately, that's just something that comes with the territory. Likewise, this means for those of you who have been told to abstain from meat in order to lose weight, that you've been given some sub-par advice. Protein supplements are not necessary to accumulate the required protein to get the most out of this program, but they may be beneficial. Just remember that they are supplements, and should be treated as such.
You should consume about half as much fat as you do protein. So, for a 75kg person, they'd be targeting about 75g of fat each day.
Protein and carbohydrates each contain about 4-4.5kcal/g, and fat contains about 9kcal/g. Once you've factored in your protein and fat needs within your total calories for the day, the remainder of calories can come from carbohydrates or more fat and protein.
When it comes to carbohydrates, in general the closer they are to their natural state, the better. So fruit and vegetables are a good source of carbs; milk is a good source of carbs; wholemeal/multigrain bread is an okay source of carbs; cakes and cookies are a less than ideal source of carbs, but can be consumed in moderation from time to time.
If you want to be healthy, which I recommend, get plenty of vegetables in you, and stay hydrated. I don't know of any evidence to support that drinking plenty of water and eating plenty of vegetables = fat loss (although these habits do reduce room for high-calorie alternatives), but ultimately what's the point in looking good if your blood vessels are about to close over or your kidneys are about to shut down?
Make sure you're properly fed before training. Training like this on an empty stomach will lead to sub-par performance and crummy results...and you'll just plain hate it. Making sure you've had your breakfast, you're energised and are satiated, will lead to good performance and more enjoyment (at least less misery) in the gym, so you'll get more out of the program.
This program is very simple. You will be performing strength training 3 non-consecutive days per week. Every training day you will perform a big compound lift for the legs, a big compound push for the upper body, and a big compound pull for the upper body. In just 3 movements you will train most of the muscles of the body. This program is suitable for both males and females -- it will look more intimidating to most females, but it will be just as effective at promoting fat loss for them as it will for the guys.
The loading parameters are based on programs by Bill Starr and Glenn Pendlay. For each exercise you will perform 5 sets of 5 reps, adding weight on each set to a top set of 5. Ideally, the 5 sets should be loaded with the following percentages of the target weight for the top set:
Set 1: 50%
Set 2: 62.5%
Set 3: 75%
Set 4: 87.5%
Set 5: 100%
After the 5th set, on every exercise (except for deadlifts, which will be completed with the top set of 5), you will return back to the weight used on the 3rd set and attempt a set of 8+ reps.
The reason for ramping up 5 sets of 5 like this is because it promotes strength, which promotes retention of lean body mass when you're losing weight, which means that the weight lost will be coming from where you want to lose it (ie fat), rather than allowing you to end up "skinnyfat" after all your hard work. Adding weight to each set gives ample warm up for the top set, and having but 1 set at a heavy weight means that there is a fairly low amount of volume in this routine, which means minimal fatigue. You'll already be eating at a calorie deficit, and a calorie deficit is a recovery deficit, so maximising work while minimising recovery needs is the aim of the game.
The extra set of 8+ allows for some extra technique work, burns some extra calories, and reinforces strength development. It also provides a different kind of stimulus to just the 5 sets of 5.
You will start with a top weight that's reasonably challenging, but not exhaustive. You should not be starting with your 5RM, and really the best weight to start with is likely to be 10-20% below your 5RM so that you've got room to progress the weight forwards.
Each week, if you get all 5 reps with good form on the 5th set, and 8 or more reps with good form on the 6th set, you will increase the weight on the top set by 2.5kg/5lb next time.
(Note: If your equipment does not allow you to make 2.5kg/5lb jumps in weight, then add 1 extra rep to the top set each week until you have added 1 rep/2.5kg increments in the next jump. eg If your equipment goes up in 10kg jumps, then divide 10 by 2.5 and you have 4x2.5kg increments, therefore you will add 1 rep per week to your top set until all 4 additional reps have been completed, for a total of 9 reps in the last week of the cycle. Then move up to the next weight progression and return to 5 reps on the top set.)
If several weeks go by and you haven't been able to increase the load on a lift, reduce the top set weight by 10% and start working back up. If you get stuck at the same weight once you've worked back up, it's time to look into a substitute exercise that targets the same muscle groups but in a different way.
Your training days, and the exercises within each, are as follows:
Day 1
Back Squats 5x5, 1x8+
Overhead Press 5x5, 1x8+
T-Bar Row 5x5, 1x8+
Day 2
Deadlift 5x5
Incline Bench Press 5x5, 1x8+
Cable Row 5x5, 1x8+
Day 3
Front Squats 5x5, 1x8+
Bench Press 5x5, 1x8+
Lat Pull Down (or Pull Ups) 5x5, 1x8+
Cardio/Conditioning/Abs
You do not need to do any sort of cardio to lose weight or burn fat. I know you've been taught all your life that you do, but you don't. Can it be helpful? Yes. Is it required? No. Cardio burns calories, but at no greater rate (per time spent training) than the exercises in this program. It does not promote the preservation of lean body mass, so 1kg lost through diet and cardio will not be as beneficial as 1kg lost through diet and strength training. Cardio adds a lot of volume to your training, and activities like running, boxing and step-aerobics in particular are high impact, which means lots of recovery is required. We're trying to keep recovery needs to a minimum.
If you're going to do cardio in spite of the above paragraph (be it for personal enjoyment, health benefits, or just refusal to abstain from it while trying to lose weight), you may do it immediately after strength training or on non-training days. Make sure you have at least 1 day per week in which you don't do any training, as recovery is important. Do not do any cardio, other than a light warm up, before strength training, as it will deplete your performance during your strength training sessions. Strength training is important for fat loss, cardio is optional. Don't sacrifice that which is a priority for that which is an option.
You may do some light ab work immediately after strength, but not before-hand, and not on the days between training sessions. Every exercise in the main program will strengthen your abs -- and will be hindered if they are fatigued from being worked within the 24 hours prior to training. Again, priorities. Strengthening the whole body including the abs will protect a lot of lean body mass from being lost instead of fat. Strengthening the core at the expense of the rest of the body will do very little to protect peripheral lean body mass from being lost instead of fat, and will contribute to becoming "skinnyfat."
Diet
Exactly how much you should be eating is very individualistic. As a ballpark figure, I'd say most people should be starting out at about 2,000kcal/day for weight loss. Some petite people will need to go lower, some large-framed athletic people will need to go higher. There are calculators out there for figuring out how many calories per day your should be consuming based on age, gender, height, weight and daily activity, but ultimately experience will give the answer on what's best for you.
You should be targeting 0.5-1lb (or 0.25-0.5kg) weight loss per week. More is not normally better, except for early on in a morbidly obese person's weight loss journey. This will add up to being in a calorie deficit of about 200-500kcal/day. In other words, if you expend 2,400kcal/day through living and training, you'll need to be eating 200-500kcal/day less than that, so 1,900-2,200kcal total intake.
You should be consuming approximately 1g protein per lb bodyweight per day, or 2g protein per kg bodyweight per day. So a 75kg person should be consuming roughly 150g protein per day while on this program. Protein consumption is the other side of the coin (the first side being strength training) that will contribute greatly to the maintenance of lean body mass. The best sources of protein come from animals. Vegetable protein isn't very good by comparison. If you are a vegetarian, then this may cause your strength training progress to be slower, and your percentage of lean body mass lost from weight loss to be higher. Unfortunately, that's just something that comes with the territory. Likewise, this means for those of you who have been told to abstain from meat in order to lose weight, that you've been given some sub-par advice. Protein supplements are not necessary to accumulate the required protein to get the most out of this program, but they may be beneficial. Just remember that they are supplements, and should be treated as such.
You should consume about half as much fat as you do protein. So, for a 75kg person, they'd be targeting about 75g of fat each day.
Protein and carbohydrates each contain about 4-4.5kcal/g, and fat contains about 9kcal/g. Once you've factored in your protein and fat needs within your total calories for the day, the remainder of calories can come from carbohydrates or more fat and protein.
When it comes to carbohydrates, in general the closer they are to their natural state, the better. So fruit and vegetables are a good source of carbs; milk is a good source of carbs; wholemeal/multigrain bread is an okay source of carbs; cakes and cookies are a less than ideal source of carbs, but can be consumed in moderation from time to time.
If you want to be healthy, which I recommend, get plenty of vegetables in you, and stay hydrated. I don't know of any evidence to support that drinking plenty of water and eating plenty of vegetables = fat loss (although these habits do reduce room for high-calorie alternatives), but ultimately what's the point in looking good if your blood vessels are about to close over or your kidneys are about to shut down?
Make sure you're properly fed before training. Training like this on an empty stomach will lead to sub-par performance and crummy results...and you'll just plain hate it. Making sure you've had your breakfast, you're energised and are satiated, will lead to good performance and more enjoyment (at least less misery) in the gym, so you'll get more out of the program.
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