Wouldn’t it be great if all we had to do to get that ripped physique was a whole bunch of bench presses!? Come on guys, you know you wouldn’t do cardio if you didn’t need to. Just train chest all day and get ripped. Well, can you do bench press for cardio? It may not be the case in the strictest sense, but there’s definitely a way that you can lift weights to maximize your caloric burn. Ultimately, losing fat. Is the secret High Reps? Maybe that’s part of it, but using the right weight and the right rest intervals really holds the secret.
Now obviously, your diet needs to be balanced, and your caloric intake needs to be under control. By now everybody should know that your diet is the most important element for fat loss. So if your diet is in check, how can you train with weights to maximize fat loss?
You want to employ moderate weights, high volume, high frequency training. Also keeping your rest periods between sets as short as possible. I recommend full body workouts with 5 to 10 sets per body part, four or five times a week.
Mostly compound exercises, with one forgotten but excellent explosive movement, and a couple of isolation movements.
Don’t train to failure. If you stop short of failure you will need less recovery time and will be able to bang out more sets!
You’ll need to do a lot of leg work. There’s no way to train for fat loss without training legs!
Don’t be scared of the volume. We’re talking anywhere from 5 to 15 sets per body part, 4 times a week. But you’ll see that a sensible weight selection and good planning will allow for short recovery time and more frequent workouts.
How should I train for fat loss?
You want to be working with a weight that you can do about 20 reps with. Then take that weight and do 5-10 sets of 10. The more the better It is very similar to German volume training with the set and rep scheme. However, the difference is in the rest between sets and the frequency of exercise. I would recommend doing a total body workout 4 times a week.
2 to 3 exercises for upper legs, at least 1 exercise for calves, 1 for everything else, except maybe 2 for back. So about 100 sets per workout, or around 1000 reps. As long as you pick the right weight, i.e. between 40% and 50% of your 1 rep max you will not get too sore after your first two or three workouts. If you are still a little sore after your last workout you could maybe switch the exercise for that body part, and not push it quite as hard. It is good to rotate exercises a little anyway.
You’ll get a tremendous pump, and work up a good sweat. You will also burn many more calories than you would with less volume.
So yes, you will be performing over a 1000 reps per workout, and will experience some of the best pumps of your life. But the way you’re doing it will make it more possible than it sounds.
Remember, don’t just aim to complete the number of reps as fast as possible. While speed is a factor in some more explosive movements, it is better to go at a more controlled pace and really feel the squeeze.
You get so much more from an exercise if you if you emphasize the negative half of the movement. (Just in case you’re not familiar with that terminology, the negative is the downward part of the movement). The part of the movement where you reset to the starting position.
Doing this in a controlled manner can be very challenging and works the muscles in a different way. This is achieved by forcing the muscles to control the weight.
The workout.
A sample workout could consist of this:
- Leg press 5-10 x 10
- Leg extensions 5-10 x 10
- Squats 5 x 10
- Calf raise on the leg press machine 5 x 10
- Seated calf raise 5 x 10
- Ab machine 5 * 10
- Bench press 5-10 x 10 – Or – Dips 5 x near failure
- Pull-Ups 50
- Bent-over rows 5-10 x 10
- Dumbbell lateral raises 50
- Clean and press 5 x 3
- Barbell curls 5-10 x 10
- Triceps pushdowns 5-10 x 10
Perform this work out 4 times a week. Since the weights will be moderate, and the volume high, your recovery will not take long. It’s okay to workout on consecutive days sometimes.
Each exercise should take 5 to 8 minutes to complete 5 sets with a maximum of one minute rest. I would aim to perform the set and then rest the remainder of that minute. After a few weeks on this program, try to increase the number of sets to 10.
The number of sets.
The key to this workout is short rest intervals. If you’re doing a set and resting within a 1-minute time frame, then you’re on track to getting through the work out pretty quick. That being said, it is not a short workout and is best for those willing and able to spend 75 to 90 minutes in the gym.
However if you’re only doing five sets it’s possible to finish in an hour. But if you can work up to 10 sets per exercise (with a couple of exceptions i.e. clean and press), you stand to benefit from that volume. Remember, the weights are not too heavy so it is possible. This is a “pump” workout.
Train smart. Don’t be the guy doing 5 sets on legs and 10 sets on bench and curls. If you have time or the desire to do the extra sets on some exercises – spread it out evenly.
Why that order?
Start with Legs.
You definitely want to start with legs first, for a number of reasons. First of all a lot of people don’t like training legs. So it’s kind of like eating vegetables first. go ahead and knock it out and then it’s done!
Second, it’s the most taxing of all your exercises. So it’s best to go ahead and train legs while you’re fresh at the beginning of a workout.
Leg press.
I like to do leg press first because it take zero coordination and is not as difficult as squats. Use about 90-110% of your bodyweight. I like to be as warmed up as possible before I do squats. Some people prefer to do squats first because it’s probably the hardest exercise that you’ll do. I like to protect my knees by making sure that I’m thoroughly warmed up.
Leg extensions.
A lot of people like to talk trash about leg extensions. “Don’t do leg extensions, they are a waste of time! You should be doing squats or leg press”! They say. In that case, why do preacher curls or cable curls, or any kind of curl?
By this logic, you should only do heavy bent over rows and pull ups. Quads just aren’t’ as flashy as the biceps, so people don’t feel the need to hit them with 5 isolation movements.
I personally enjoy them because you can get a really good quadricep pump. As long as you don’t go too heavy, they’re really not bad on the knees.
I would say stay with about 50% of your body weight. If it doesn’t feel like enough just do higher reps per set. If you’re banging out 20 no problem, then by all means, increase the weight. This is an exercise what you want to go at a medium pace at most. Especially on the negative.
Squats.
Everybody knows how important they are, but not everybody does them. There is a special Joy which comes with being the only person in your gym actually using the squat rack for squats!
This exercise makes your whole body work together and is a must-have movement.
Again, you are not going to go too heavy as you already be partially fatigued. I would recommend using 90-110% of your body weight for work sets. Just use a weight that you could get 15+ reps with in one set if you’re fresh.
Remember, this is a potentially dangerous exercise. Always use a squat rack, or squatting cage – make sure the pins are in! Bend the knees to 90 degrees and keep your head up, and facing forward.
By now you heart will really be pumping and you will have worked up a sweat. Doing squats burns more calories than almost any other exercise that you can do with weights. It’ll also stimulate the release of growth hormone and testosterone.
Calves are important.
Remember, if you have skinny thighs but monster calves, people will think you have muscular legs. So never overlook your calves.
10 sets total on calves is definitely a good amount of volume. I feel that you can go as heavy as you want on calves. But as long as the volume is there, and you’re doing probably 125% to 150% of your body weight that should be fine.
People sometimes forget that if you can stand on your tiptoes, on one foot, that means that you can calf raise twice your bodyweight! So don’t be scared of a little weight.
The leg press calf raise/press is similar to the old school donkey calf raise. Since you are bent at the waist it adds to the stretch of the exercise.
The seated calf raise hits the outside of the calf and helps give you that diamond-shaped look.
Abs.
You can do an ab exercise of your choice. I like to train abs in the middle of the workout while transitioning from lower to upper body. It provides an opportunity for a little more recuperation, and you can throw some extra stretches in there between sets.
I’m as guilty as everybody else when it comes to minimizing my least favorite body part to train. The one I hate is abs. But if you do 5 sets of 10 on whatever ad machine your gym has that should be plenty. Some people prefer crunches or like to alternate between sit-ups and hanging knee raises. Whatever your flavor is, go for it.
Upper Body
Just like for the leg training, for the first upper body exercises, I like to knock out the more difficult ones first. Although pull ups are a little harder, I prefer to do my chest exercise first. It feels like it’s harder on my shoulders when I do my pulling movement before my pushing movement. You should always do what feels best for your joints.
Bench Press.
For chest, and triceps, you will do bench press or dips. Personally I prefer dips and I think they’re a better exercise. I’ve had some shoulder pain over the years and as long as I warm up thoroughly the dips feel like a more natural movement. I think they have much easier on the shoulders than bench pressing.
That being said, a lot of guys love the bench press. It’s the yardstick by which many young lifters measure their progress. And if it’s just your favorite exercise, or you want to be seen pushing a lot of weight in the gym, then by all means do 5 sets of 10. Hell, do 10 sets of 10. Just don’t go too heavy.
For an intermediate lifter, I would recommend using 100% of your body weight for work sets.
Again, I would use a weight that you can bang out 15+ reps in a single set, when fresh. Remember, your rest periods will be minimal so don’t worry about the weight too much.
You gotta get your back.
Next there’s pull ups, or bent over rows. Depending on your weight, and level of fitness, the number of pull ups that you’ll be able to do will vary greatly between trainees.
The number of reps you will perform will vary between individuals. I would say if you can do a maximum of 5 in one set, do 5 sets of 3. If you can do 20 in one set, do 5 sets of 10. If you can do 50 in one set, do 5 sets of 25.
For the bent over rows, use about 75% to 100% of your body weight. This is a great power exercise that will seriously add some thickness to your back. If you want to just do these and not pull ups that’ll be fine.
Shoulders.
Next up we got dumbbell lateral raises. I’m of the opinion that the weight you use doesn’t really matter too much in this exercise. I would just try and do 50 reps with as few breaks as possible with a weight that you could do 20 with. I use the 20s or 25s.
This exercise will make sure that your shoulder is fully and completely warmed up. It also helps isolate the side delts.
If you’re doing rows then your rear deltoids should be pretty well covered. But if you want to do a couple of sets of rear delt raises, just to make sure, be my guest!
The secret weapon!
Up next is my favorite, the clean and press! This is one of the best total body exercises you can possibly do. Really, I don’t have enough space in this post to write all the great things about this exercise.
The explosive power needed for lifting a barbell from the floor, to up overhead makes this a strenuous exercise.
But not only is this exercise a mass builder, but it will boost your metabolism even more. It involves almost your whole body. This exercise really is like a secret weapon. I don’t say that just to hype it up. If nothing else just add clean and press this to your workout and you will feel the difference.
if you’ve never performed this exercise before, I would practice with an empty bar until you get the movement down. It is not the easiest movement to master, and requires good balance and coordination. Make sure you have plenty of space with no one immediately around you.
If you are comfortable with the exercise already I would start with about 50% of my body weight. Basically, use a weight that you could do 5 or 6 times and do sets of three. Unless you are exceptionally strong, a good working range once you get the hang of it is about 75 to 80% of body weight.
This exercise is so difficult that if you were to try and do it in a more conventional rep range, like say 10 reps, you would need to use such a light weight that you wouldn’t reap as many benefits.
So go pretty heavy, and enjoy.
Isolate the arms.
Barbell curls are next. I believe this to be the best bicep exercise overall. Focus on strict form and not the weight. Use 25-30% of bodyweight if you can do so with proper form.
The high number of reps you perform will really get the blood pumped in there. I don’t need to tell you, every guy loves training biceps! And after the pull ups, or rows, and clean and press, your biceps will already have worked pretty hard.
Up last is the tricep pushdown. This is a fun exercise done with the cable machine that will really give you an awesome tricep pump. Just like with biceps, you will already have worked your triceps already. After doing dips or bench press, and the crucial overhead pressing part of the clean and press, the press down will be the perfect way to finish them off.
When should I train?
The best time to train will vary upon your personal schedule and eating habits. Try to train at a time when you haven’t had anything to eat for at least 3 hours. The best time is the first thing in the morning, or late afternoon before dinner. The morning is preferable because if you train in the afternoon you will have a tendency to eat too much at dinner.
Who is this workout for?
This workout is for anybody who wants to lift weights in a way that will maximize caloric and, therefore, fat burning.
Even with shorter rest intervals, the sheer number of sets in this workout will mean that it will take a bit more time in the gym. But would you rather spend that time doing cardio or just lift weights for a little bit longer? I’d take the weights. You’re probably looking at about a 60 – 80 minute workout at most if you aim to complete each exercise Within 5 minutes you should be you’ll be on track to get done in about an hour.
These exercises are great for kicking your metabolism into overdrive.
Joint problems. Anyone whose joints are giving them a little bit of trouble, but is still able to train will benefit from the high volume low away approach. I’ve had some shoulder problems over the years due to working physical jobs. Some people find that trying to lift heavy weight is not really beneficial for them anymore. If you do more reps with low weight you still lifted the same amount of weight so you’re pounds per hour there’s still the same.
Frequency.
4 times a week minimum.
If you want to burn fat, you have got to work out. Three times a week and you’ll build some muscle, sure. But by using more moderate weights, and doing more total reps, your recovery will be much faster.
If you’re already somewhat used to lifting weights you will probably experience little, or no soreness. Therefore you be able to train more frequently. 4 days a week is good. 5 days a week is better if you feel up to it. You can switch out exercises here and there if you like.
What if I just really don’t have time?
If you only have like 30 minutes at a time that you can go to the gym just stick with the basics. Lower the number of sets, increase the reps to 15.
- Leg press 3×15
- Calf raise 3×15
- Dips 3x near failure, or bench press
- Pull-ups 3x near failure, or rows 3×15
- Clean and press 3×5
- Abs 3×15
Keep the rest intervals as short as possible throughout the workout.
If you are doing this shorter workout you might want to do 5 days a week. A lot of people would say this is too frequent. However, I think that you will find that when you use moderate weights for a slightly higher rep range you will recover very quickly.
Summary.
- One exercise per body part, except legs (they get 3).
- 5-10 sets, 10 reps.
- Use a weight that you can do 15+ reps with in one set.
- Keep rest intervals at absolute minimum.
- High frequency – 4-5 times per week.
- On empty stomach if possible.
- Clean and presses!
Have fun getting ripped with weights!
