Home Workout for Rapid Fat Loss

on March 19, 2020

Seven No-Fuss Metabolic Boosting Workouts for Rapid Fat Loss

With the ever-increasing number of pathogens we are exposed to on a daily basis, more and more people are encouraged to become fit, active and strong in order to eliminate or at least minimize any potential adverse effects – a task that has just become harder with the mass closure of gyms/fitness centers. However, despite current mandates to not train in commercial gyms coupled with advice to self-isolate wherever possible, we can, and must, continue to build stronger and more resilient bodies so as to improve our immunity and overall health, to thrive and survive. Provided in this first of a series of articles exploring the ways we may keep the gym fires burning is a home-training plan designed to improve health and vitality by maximizing metabolic efficiency. With a heightened metabolic-rate courtesy of a pronounced afterburn effect we will be well on our way to experiencing exponential fat loss. With more metabolically-active muscle due to an emphasis on moderate-to heavy intensive weight training we may further optimize the fat burning response. Both of these goals, and more, can be achieved with the workout-a-day program to follow, along with accompanying tips on how best to keep focused and stay strong when so many others are becoming increasingly more stressed. While we may not be able to contain viral spread in the immediate term, despite taking numerous precautions including self-isolation, we can however continue to fortify ourselves against any potentially damaging effects.^{17, 21, 22} The first step requires changing up our training environment so we can continue to optimize our health and wellbeing while minimizing the risk of infection. This article, and those to follow, will show you various ways to do just that.

A Metabolic Boost for Meaningful Progress

It’s common knowledge in fitness communities that to supercharge the metabolic rate – to keep fat burning consistent and muscle retention on point – we must maximize our time in the gym. This means no wasted effort and just enough work to create the desired effect. Unfortunately, many people have gotten caught up in the idea that to advance muscle gains and fat burning we must devote numerous hours each day to cardio and weights; the theory being that the more work we do, the greater our results will be. While such an approach may work for some and may eventually enable us to achieve our specific training goals, it may not be the wisest or most efficient option in the shorter term. This is where HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) enters the picture. With the advent of many different training approaches, each designed to fast-track fast loss while maximizing muscle gains, HIIT is the one system that appears to have continued to outpace the others in popularity. This may be due to the fact that it is more than just an effective cardio option. Indeed, though most people use HIIT to obliterate fat reserves in the fastest possible timeframe, it’s equally effective in enhancing weight training intensity to both shorten training time and condense muscular overload.^{6, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 23} An effective way to give the body a serious HIIT-augmented metabolic boost is to complete the following series of metabolic giant sets: 8-10 movements performed back-to-back, with two minutes’ rest between sets. Perhaps best of all, each metabolic workout should take no more than 25 minutes to complete and will require minimal training equipment. This makes the following program perfect for virtually any training environment and a great way to keep gains consistent when exclusively training at home.

Why Prioritize Metabolics?

If metabolic (HIIT) workouts are as effective as this article proposes, why then do most people tend to stick with more traditional resistance and cardio training protocols? The reasons are many and include:

Regular gym workouts (the typical three sets of 12-rep strategies and such) do produce results over the long term, perhaps just not as effectively and efficiently as metabolically-supercharged HIIT sessions.
Metabolic training can be extremely gruelling and can take a great deal of discipline to commit to.
Because metabolic sessions are typically shorter in duration, they may be perceived to be not as effective as longer workouts (the unfounded rationalization being that more equals more).
Performing giant sets with minimal rest between sets and using multiple pieces of equipment can be difficult to achieve in regular, overcrowded gym environments (but they are perfect for home training).

Can ‘Metabolics’ Build Muscle?

The short answer is yes. While metabolic training is often specifically geared toward improving cardiovascular fitness and fast fat loss it’s equally effective for adding quality mass. Several of the reasons for this are as follows:
Metabolics can provide a different and more intensive training stimulus and can also be incorporated with more traditional protocols, allowing for a broader and more eclectic training repertoire. By hitting the muscles in a variety of different ways we may better enhance the recruitment of both fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. Over a shorter period of time this can lead to greater performance and overall size gains.
Metabolics are just as effective at progressively overloading the muscles compared to traditional straight-sets approaches, provided sufficient resistance is used at all times. In addition, due to the oftentimes explosive nature of metabolic training we can achieve more in the way of fast twitch fiber engagement, and thus greater size gains (FT fibers having the greatest growth potential).¹⁰
Metabolic sessions specific to building muscle can also have a pronounced cardiovascular effect. This means fewer specific cardio sessions may be required to achieve the same fat-burning objective. Thus, we may be spared from the potentially muscle-depleting nature of cardio (while great for fat loss and muscle building, excessive amounts of cardio can have the opposite effect, rendering muscle retention and fat loss an uphill struggle).
As well as building muscle, metabolic workouts also enable us to become mentally stronger and more resilient, to push forward with optimism when others are caught up in the mass hysteria of COVID-19. As well, the planning and execution of each of the workouts to follow may provide a welcome distraction from the pandemic’s potentially devastating consequences (much of which may be beyond our immediate control).

Seven Metabolic Workouts for Home Gains

Complete each of the following workouts Monday through to Sunday, then repeat for 12 weeks duration.
Program modification requires as increase in training resistance wherever possible. Also, aim for a greater caloric burn by increasing cardio intensity (within the same space of time) wherever possible.
Following the 12-week period, either continue in the same fashion, or incorporate several of your metabolic sessions (from below) into your regular training plan.
Specific cardio training: complete the following HIIT session on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings: alternate intensity on a stationary cycle: 40 seconds moderate pace/20 seconds high pace, for 25 minutes per session.
Mind/Muscle connection: due to the often fast-paced nature of HIIT, along with the back to back scheduling of each movement to follow, many may be tempted to rush through each prescribed set. Don’t be this person. Instead, emphasise the mind/muscle connection, as would be expected for any other resistance protocol. Rather than speed through each set, take your time and feel each contraction (both positive and negative).^{4, 16, 20} This way you will not prematurely tire, but instead will continue to completion thus gaining a maximum hypertrophic response from each workout.

Equipment Needed:

Variously weighted dumbbells (dumbbell = DB)
Variously weighted kettlebells (if kettlebells are not available, use dumbbells) (kettlebell = KB)
A training bench (with incline press, leg extension and pulldown functions)
An outdoor area for sprints (note: if no outdoor area is available, use a treadmill)
Stationary cycle
Timer

Supplement Plan for Metabolic Enhancement

As mentioned, metabolic training can be ultra-intensive. However, with the right performance fuel, your sessions will be much easier to navigate and you’ll improve faster as a result. Along with a daily high-powered ALLMAX multi VITASTACK pack as well as ALLMAX OMEGA 3 and GLUTAMINE for immune-system fortification (each of these being essential in today’s perilous times), it recommended that those embarking the program below take the following pre, intra, and post workout products to enhance staying power, boost intensity and preserve valuable muscle.^{3, 5}

Pre-Workout

IMPACT IGNITER

A high-powered pre-workout formulation featuring a wide selection of the most potent workout-enhancing ingredients, including Carnitine, Caffeine, Alpha-GPC, Synephrine and Hordeum Vulgare for fast and efficient fat-burning and extreme focus when its needed most.

CARBION+

Given the importance of quality carb intake on athletic performance, its often been said often that a workout without an adequate carb intake will inevitably fall flat.^{1, 2, 7, 8, 11} However, not all carbs are created equally. Take the wrong carbs at the wrong times and you may gain more fat than muscle, and your energy levels may plummet. CARBION+ is the perfect antidote to this problem. With its optimal dosage of specifically engineered carbs (including the patented, highly-soluble Cyclo-D) phase-delivered to the muscles, you’ll experience steady energy through the entire workout along with greater blood sugar stability. Also packed with a highly bioavailable electrolyte complex, for optimal hydration and performance, CARBION+ is perfect for the high-paced, intensive workouts to follow.

Intra-Workout

AMINOCORE

A optimal 9:6:5 ratio of the three BCAAs Leucine, Valine, Isoleucine (a massive 8.18g total), along with its ease of assimilation and great taste, has given AMINOCORE the edge in BCAA supplementation. Taken intra-workout this product keeps the muscles in a positive anabolic state of advanced protein synthesis, which may lead to exponential muscle mass increases.

ISOFLEX

Pure high-grade whey isolates do not get any better than ISOFLEX. Compared to more basic isolate products, ISOFLEX uses an advanced extraction process to ensure each batch contains a full spectrum supply of bioactive protein isolate fractions and an exceptionally high protein yield per serving. With zero whey concentrate and no additional filler substances, ISOFLEX gives post-workout muscles exactly what is needed for full restoration, recovery and growth.¹⁹

CVOL

In order to fast-track muscle gains, not only must we replenish immediately following our workouts but we must also set ourselves up for the training session to follow. Here, CVOL is perfect as it not only supplies a multi-source boost of high-grade Creatine, Taurine and L-Carnitine L-Tartrate to address post-workout muscle trauma but these and assorted additional ingredients such as Betaine and Beta-Alanine will also prepare the muscles for upcoming high intensity workouts. This is not only desirable but crucial when implementing a daily training schedule such as the one to follow.