Basic Fat Loss Programming: Part Four

The last part of your fat loss program has to do with your conditioning. Some call it cardio. Some call it energy system training. I am going to refer to it as conditioning. The goal of the conditioning part of the program is to throw that final log on the fire that is your metabolism and accumulate a bit more blood lactate. And from a time perspective we are trying to create an aerobic effect while keeping efficiency within your program.

The conditioning work is going to take you no longer than 10-15 minutes. With the duration being only 10-15 minutes you are going to have to push the intensity to get the desired result. If at the 10 or 15 minute mark you are feeling pretty good, you have not pushed hard enough. Some may get to the 6-8 minute mark and can not go any further. That's fine.

The conditioning routines you can include are endless. You can use body weight circuits. You can use cardiovascular equipment. You can use kettlebells or dumbbells. You can combine all those things. You can go for time. You can for reps. I just want you working hard.

I will give you two routines that I frequently use with my clients. One which is based on time, the other which is based on sets and reps.

Time Based

Using the elliptical, Airdyne, jump rope or even using a body weight exercise or two, such as burpees or jumping jacks, you're are going to work for a designated period of time and then recover for for a designated period of time. For example:

• Week One: 15s work/45s recovery repeated 6x
• Week Two: 15s work/45s recovery repeated 8x
• Week Three: 15s work/45s recovery repeated 10x
• Week Four: 15s work/45s recovery repeated 12x

Then at the fifth week you are going to go to 20s work/40s recovery intervals repeated six times. Use that work to rest period for four weeks adding two rounds each week. At week nine, go to 30s work/30s recovery intervals repeated six times. Use that 30/30 ratio for four weeks adding two rounds every week.

At the 12th week you should be doing 30s work with 30s of recovery for 12 rounds. Simple, yet effective.

Rep Based

This rep based conditioning work will be based on body weight exercises. The exercises will be: reverse lunges, T push ups, jump squats, Inverted rows and burpees. Perform each exercise back to back with no rest in between. After the set is complete you can catch your breath for the suggested rest period that is allowed. The sets, reps and rest are:

• Week One: 3 rounds, 6 reps of each exercise, 2 minute rest
• Week Two: 4 rounds, 6 reps, 2 minute rest
• Week Three: 3 rounds, 8 reps, 2 minute rest
• Week Four: 4 rounds, 8 reps, 2 minute rest
• Week Five: 3 rounds, 10 reps, 90sec rest
• Week Six: 4 rounds, 10 reps, 90sec rest
• Week Seven: 3 rounds, 12 reps, 90sec rest
• Week Eight: 4 rounds, 12 reps, 90 sec rest
• Week Nine: 3 rounds, 12 reps, 75sec rest
• Week Ten: 4 rounds 12 reps, 75sec rest
• Week Eleven: 3 rounds 12 reps, 60sec rest
• Week Twelve: 4 rounds, 12 reps, 60sec rest

Each week the amount of rounds, reps or rest is beating manipulated to progressively make each conditioning routine harder. You will do more total work or more work in a shorter period of time.

As much as I love conditioning work for it's efficiency and it's effect on your metabolism, you have to be careful about overusing this type of work. Do this after every strength training session and you will never recover for your next strength session. The strength is where the majority of focus should be and where you are going to get most of your results from. I do not want you going into a strength session feeling beat up or not recovered. For those reasons I would suggest doing conditioning work a maximum of only 2-3 times per week, not on back to back days and not the day before your next strength session.

For some other ideas on some conditioning work I would suggest you check out Cardio Strength by Robert Dos Remedios. He gives you a ton of effective options to use and lays it all out for you for the price of about $12-15.

So that's it. I've given you some ideas, set up a template for you and given you some options for each situation. The programming is actually the easy part. The hard part is getting your butt in the gym and taking it to the next level. It doesn't matter what program you are on if your are not going to work hard. Take a good program, exert little effort and the results will be minimal. Take a crappy program, exert a ton of effort and you are going to get results. Take a good program, exert a ton of effort and you are going to get your best results.

Good luck.