Here’s my advice for burning fat and gaining muscle. Everyone’s goals and bodies are different, so this will vary for everyone.. but just incase it’s useful to anybody.
- Don’t neglect cardio. I do a weekly 5k run as a minimum, which is steady state cardio, but HIIT (high intensity interval training) is also very effective at burning fat.. e.g. on the rowing machine or sprinting. Keep your respiratory system and heart healthy too, especially in these pandemic times!
- Focus on compound lifts. E.g. for chest day benchpress, for shoulders overhead press, for legs back squats and deadlifts, for back pullups and one armed row. These compound movements work multiple muscle groups at the same time, so you’re maximising your time in the gym. Then everything else is an assesory lift.. e.g. curls and tricep extensions, machines etc which only isolate one muscle at a time
- Don’t train the same muscle group 2 days in a row. Do split training which allows all the muscle groups to rest. I’m currently doing:
Day1 – Chest (push)
Day2 – legs
Day3 – rest and quick ab workout
Day4 – Shoulders and Triceps
Day5 – cardio (run) and quick ab workout
Day6 – Back (pull) and biceps
Day7 – rest - You don’t need a strict diet. Most food is ok in moderation. I don’t count calories and track macros, but am calorie conscious. Don’t skip meals, and consume enough protein to maintain or gain muscle, depending on your goals. I’ll have a whey protein shake post workout, and sometimes a protein supplement to reach my quota, but eggs and nuts are a good natural source. To lose weight, you’ll need to be in a calorie deficit. Reduce carbohydrates and fat in your diet, but don’t cut out these macronutrients completely, as they are part of a healthy and balanced diet.
- Adaptive energy. Our body adapts to what we do. If you want a bigger chest, integrate more benchpress and pec flys etc in the routine, or if you want to run a fast half marathon, do more endurance cardio to condition your body. Focus your energies on the way you want your body to adapt.
- Mix things up. I have certain staple exercises I do every week (the compound stuff), then everything else is always a bit different, so each workout is slightly unique, this will put your muscles under different stressors which will force them to adapt and grow. Change the tempo/ speed too, e.g. slow reps and slow eccentric movements, and sometimes explosive (plyometric) movements like clap pushups.
- Form over weight. Lifting a lighter weight, with good form and full range of motion is more effective than lifting heavy with poor form.. which can also cause injury.
I aim for 5 sets of 10 reps for each exercise, and to fail on the 10th rep with good form. Sometimes you should have some RIR (Reps in Reserve), contact me for more personalised programming. - Superset, Dropset and Pyramid sets. Don’t just go through the same motions on autopilot every week. Sometimes I’ll ignore the above 5/10 ratio and do as many reps as possible, to feel the lactic burn! Usually at the end of a workout when muscles already fatigued.
- Work hard. There’s no substitute for hard work, sometimes you will need to push yourself to failure on sets/reps and shock your muscles so they adapt and grow (hypertrophy) to see the results. Put in the work and be consistent!
Contact me for personalised programming.