Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

Fat-Burning Programs
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week you could perform the 30-minute session on your busiest day, leaving you
one 45-minute session to squeeze in. The options are endless, and any variation
will work as long as you get the three sessions in each week.
For your LISS, choose an activity you will enjoy doing for 30 to 60 minutes
straight. Avoid performing a cyclic activity, such as walking on a treadmill or
pedaling a recumbent bike if those activities bore you. Instead, try some low-intensity
boxing, basketball, or soccer drills. Any activity will work as long as you
stay within the MAHR range. The key is to mix things up as much as possible.
This variability also applies to your HIIT sessions. You will perform three
distinctly different HIIT protocols and change the exercise as often as possible
from workout to workout. Basically, any exercise you can perform quickly that
challenges most of your muscle groups will work. Here are some excellent options:
Kettlebell swings
Kettlebell snatches
Sprints
Stair stepper
Sled push or pull
Loaded carries
Elliptical machine
Rower
Assault bike
Roundhouse kicks to a bag
Vertical climber
For example, one HIIT protocol is 5 seconds of maximal activity followed by
45 seconds of rest for 10 rounds. On week 1 you could perform a kettlebell swing,
week 2 a sled push, week 3 roundhouse kicks to a bag, and so on. Perform no
single protocol more than three times in a row with the same exercise before
substituting it for another option.
Unlike many books out there, in this chapter you won’t see specific exercises
programmed, such as 45 minutes of jogging on one day and 10 minutes of sprints
on another. Instead, you’ll see the recommended duration of activity for LISS and
the work:rest ratio for HIIT. Choose the activities you like best and mix things up.
Sample Fat-Burning Programs
The following three 12-week resistance training plans consist of three resistance
training sessions per week with 48 hours’ rest between each session. Before each
workout, perform a dynamic warm-up (see chapter 3) to prepare your body for
exercise. The programs are Fat Burner 1 (FB1), Fat Burner 2 (FB2), and Fat Burner
3 (FB3). They are not arranged in any particular order and are all equally effective
for burning fat. The purpose of three different plans is to give you a variety of
choices based on your available equipment. Remember, when resistance training,
train the right and left side of your body with equal volume. This means
that whenever you see a one-limb version programmed (e.g., one-arm overhead
press), start with your weaker side and then perform the same number of reps on
the opposite side, even if you can do more. Rest as little as possible between the
right and left side. Also, no progression is predetermined for any of the resistance
training plans because it is very difficult to set new PRs when you’re in a caloric
deficit. So if you can increase the load or add an extra rep to a set or two, you’re
one of the lucky few.
You’ll perform three LISS and two or three HIIT sessions each week. The LISS
sessions are intended to be performed on the days you don’t lift weights in order
to burn fat, accelerate recovery, and reduce the likelihood of an interference effect.