Fat Loss For Idiots

Mike Geary asked:


If you’ve been looking for a different training technique to break out of a rut, eliminate the boredom, and bring on new results, “complexes” may be just what you’ve been looking for. If you’ve never heard of “complexes” before, the basic concept is that instead of repeating the same exercise for multiple reps to complete a “set”, you sequence one rep of several different exercises right after one another and repeat the sequence several times to complete a “set”.

No, this is NOT circuit training… it’s much different. It’s basically like performing a routine of exercises, instead of just mindlessly performing a typical “set” of one specific exercise. This type of training is excellent to work a huge amount of musculature in a short amount of time, and definitely takes your workouts to a whole new level of intensity. The conditioning aspect of this type of training is amazing, as you’ll find yourself huffing and puffing after repeating a sequence a mere two or three times. If I had to venture a guess, I’d have to say that this type of training probably elicits a good growth hormone response as well, due to the large amount of full body work completed in a given time period. But that’s just my guess.

I like to incorporate about 5 exercises into my complexes. Any more than that and you might start to forget what’s next in the sequence. Here’s an example of a killer barbell complex that really gets me fired up:

Example Barbell Complex

1. high pull from floor (explosive deadlift right into upright row in one motion);

2. barbell back to thighs, then hang clean (explosively pull bar from knees and “catch” the bar at shoulders);

3. barbell back to floor, then clean & press overhead;

4. barbell back to thighs, bend over, then bent over row;

5. barbell back to thighs, then finish with Romanian deadlift

Use a weight that you can still handle for your weakest lift of the bunch, but keep it heavy enough to challenge you. Try to repeat the sequence 2-3 times without resting… That’s 1 set. You could progress over time on this routine by increasing the amount of times you repeat the sequence in each set, or by adding sets on subsequent workouts before eventually increasing the weight. For example, say you completed the above complex with 155-lbs for 3 sequences per set for 3 sets in todays workout. Next time you perform the workout, try to do 155 lbs for 3 sequences per set for 4 sets. Once you successfully complete 5 sets with 155, increase the weight 5 or 10 lbs next time, and drop back to 3 sets. This is a great way to make improvements over time, while cycling your training volume.

Now I’m going to show you a great kettlebell complex that really kicks my ****. I’ve been training with kettlebells for a little over a year now, and can definitely say that they have dramatically improved my strength, body composition, and overall physical capabilities. If you’re not familiar with kettlebells, they are an old eastern European training secret that has just started to take the US by storm over the last few years.

Many elite athletes are using kettlebells as their preferred training tool for serious results. If you would like more info on kettlebells just go to TruthAboutAbs.com and click on Fitness Programs. I’d recommend just starting off with one bell and learn all of the single kettlebell drills first, before delving into the double-bell drills. Just one kettlebell coupled with some bodyweight exercises can literally be enough to comprise your own home gym, without any other equipment necessary. Or you can just incorporate kettlebell training into your normal training routine once or twice a week to shake up your routine and stimulate new results.

Example Kettlebell Complex

1. one arm swing

2. one arm snatch, keep the bell over head;

3. one arm overhead squat;

4. bell back down to bottom, then one arm high pull;

5. bell back down to bottom, then one arm clean & press

As with the barbell complex, repeat the sequence (without rest) 2-3 times with each arm. That’s one set… and one hell of a killer set at that! Try increasing from 3 to 4 to 5 sets on subsequent workouts with a given weight before increasing your sequence reps. If you’re not drenched in sweat with your heart beating out of your chest after that complex, you either went too light, or you are a mutant freak!

Alright, since most people will have easier access to dumbbells instead of kettlebells, now I’ll show you how to compile a good dumbbell complex.

Example Dumbbell Complex

1. upright row with each arm separately, then both together;

2. front lunge with one leg, then the other;

3. back lunge with one leg, then the other;

4. curl to overhead press;

5. keep dumbbells at shoulders and squat

Again, the same type of sequencing and progressions work great with the dumbbell complexes. I think a great strategy is to alternate barbell complexes on one day with kettlebell or dumbbell complexes on alternative training days. For example, you could do barbell complexes Monday, kettlebell or dumbbell complexes Wednesday, and back to barbell complexes on Friday. Maybe hit some sprints and bodyweight drills on Saturday; then Monday would be kettlebell or dumbbell complexes again, Wednesday would be barbells again, and so on. Give this program a try for a month (if you dare), and you will be one hardened individual!

Steve J asked:


Health is the wealth. Due to development in the field of science, we have simplified our day-to-day work with the help of machines. The victim here is our health. Energy spent is less as we can do strenuous tasks by just pressing the button. But we never tried to reduce the intake. This results in excess energy intake. This excess energy is stored in the body in the form of fat. Hence our weight increases so also the susceptibility to various life threatening ailments. If you want remain healthy and live longer fat loss [weight loss] is the only remedy.

Our body is composed of water, muscle, bone and other organs. Besides this fat is the other important component of the body. The body fat can be classified as fat that is essential and fat that is for storage. Essential fat as the name suggests is most important component of the body and these fats can be seen in muscles, central nervous system, bone marrow and other organs like liver and kidney.

The excess energy intake is converted in to fat and stored in the body as storage fat. Storage fats can be seen under the skin, in the muscle and in specific areas of the body. It is not bad to have some quantity of storage fat in the body. The storage fat functions like insulator [conserves the body temperature], and serves as a source of energy at the time of the poor intake. We must lose this excess fat. This kind of fat loss is must for the healthy normal functioning of the body as we discussed already. While trying for fat loss we should keep in mind that neither too much fat nor too little fat is healthy.

Many people who want to reduce their weight may think why should we know about the body fat? And why should we calculate the body fat? The reason for measuring the body fat is that it is the realistic measurement of fitness of our body. Fat loss is nothing but weight loss. Body mass index is an indicator of the health and fitness of the body. The big disadvantage of the body mass index is that it may conclude that you are overweight. But your body fat may be normal. When the body fat is normal, your health is perfect though you are overweight. Hence body fat calculation is the best method to assess your fitness.

Like the quantity of the fat, the distribution of the fat is also important factor in determining the fitness of the body. Extra fat stored in the hip region is more harm full than the fat stored in buttocks and thighs. Hence fat loss from the hip region is highly preferable. In most cases if the person loses weight by following a perfect, safe, risk free weight loss or fat loss program, he will lose only body fat not the muscle. At times along with fat loss, some quantity of the muscle also will be lost. However the fat loss will be much more than the muscle loss, which is highly desirable. Some people due urgency and ignorance may follow bad diet and wrong diet pills to reduce weight. Those people will be losing body water instead of body fat. As the result there will not be any fat loss, which is of no use as far as the health and fitness of the person concerned.



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