With all of the information on the web and TV, its hard to sort out which exercise techniques and methods actually work and which ones are garbage. In the fitness industry, marketing plays a big roll in keeping you confused, especially the actors that marketing companies hire to give fake testimonials.
So I would like to share with you some highly effective exercises for fat loss. The key behind these exercises is that they work numerous muscles at the same time. In turn, this causes the body to work harder, burn more calories, and lose fat at a faster rate!
EXTREME BURPEE
This is my personal favorite exercise for fat loss and is one that we use in our Willis Boot Camp regularly. This exercise is a combination of a burpee, pushup, and lateral jump, all in one rep. Here’s how it works:
Start at a standing position with your hands straight up over your head. Bend over, place your hands on the ground, and kick your feet straight back so that your are in a plank (bridge on your hands and toes). Do a pushup. When you come back to the top of your pushup, pull your knees in to your chest (like a squat thrust) and then explode from the bottom and jump straight up. Repeat.
This image demonstrates the exercise (except do a pushup @ the middle image).
The key to this exercise is making sure that you keep your core tight, and not letting your butt sink too low or stay up too high, when you kick your feet back and pull them in to your chest.
LUNGE JUMP
The lunge jump is an exercise that you can super-set after a leg exercise to really take your workout to another level and accelerate your fat loss and muscle building. This will work multiple leg muscles at once and force your stabilizer muscles to kick in.
Start by lunging forward, making sure that you are taking wide step and pushing your back knee about 1-2 inches from the ground. Next, pushing with both legs, explode vertically and switch the positions of your legs. This means the leg that was in front when you started your lunge, is now the back leg.
Perform 10-12 of these as a set or a super-set to supplement your results.
BURST TRAINING
Have you ever looked at the physical body difference in a long distance runner and a sprinter? Most long distance runners are skinny and have a hard time losing that extra 5-10 pounds if they aren’t doing resistance training 2-3 times per week. If you look at a sprinter, they are normally very cut and muscular with a low % of body fat.
Burst training is a form of interval training that research has shown to be up to 5 times more effective in burning fat than tradition, medium to low state cardio (ex: long distance running at a steady pace – jogging the same distance at the same pace all the time). I love to do burst training at the end of a good workout. You can also replace your jogging/long distance running with 20 min of burst training to help you get the fat loss results you are looking for. Here’s how it works:
Bursting can be modified to accommodate an individuals fitness level. Bursting is working as hard and as fast as possible for a certain, predetermined time and then taking rest. So start off with this: Outside – run AS FAST AS YOU CAN for 60 sec. Then take a 60 sec rest. Treadmill – find a speed that you can run very fast at but safely (ex: 8mph), Sprint at this pace for 60 sec and then pause for 60 sec.Repeat this for 10-20 min (depending on if you are doing this after a workout or if its going to be the only thing that you do for your workout). Modify to be challenging.
Please leave me comments on any feedback or questions you might have about these. Enjoy!
