1. Throw out the Dumbbell Curls and Triceps Kickbacks

Ok, you don’t have to completely get rid of them. Just de-emphasize them…a lot. If your focus is on body composition you should spend the majority of your time squatting, pressing, and pulling. These movements provide the most bang for your buck (ie. calorie burn) and for the upper body exercises such as push-ups and pull-ups, you get plenty of arm work.

2. Push a little weight around

Don’t be intimidated by heavier weights. If you want to build a little muscle and tone your body you have to provide enough stimulus to force an adaptation. Using light weights for a lot of repetitions will only get you so far. Increase the intensity of your workouts by adding more resistance to your movements.

3. Clean up the diet

No matter how many compound exercises you do or how much weight you push around, you’re only going to get that “toned” look if your body composition changes (ie. you lose body fat). For this to happen you will have to make some adjustments to your diet. Calories are the number one factor in changing body composition followed by ample protein intake. Once you diet is in working order the previous two tips will work wonders for your body. For a more detailed look at nutritional needs for body composition changes, check out my Nutrition for Weight Loss and Dietary Requirements Prioritized posts.

1. Focus on compound movements

Whether you’re looking to lose weight, get stronger, or simply improve your health you need to make compound movements the foundation of your resistance training routine. Compound movements are those involving multiple joints (ie. squats, push-ups, pull-ups). They are great for building strength and balance and will burn a lot more energy than single joint movements.

2. Increase the intensity

Intensity refers to the relative percentage of your max, whether it be your maximum heart rate or maximum amount of weight you are able to lift for a given movement. If you want to see better results you need to increase the overall intensity of your routine. Far too often people are using weights that are just too light or performing cardio workouts that just aren’t intense enough to stimulate any kind of training effect.

3. Progress your workouts

To continue seeing results you must continue to progress your workouts. Progression refers to performing more repetitions with a given weight, adding more weight to a given movement, adding more mileage to your runs or increasing the intensity of your runs. While there are several other ways to progress your workouts, the basic idea is this: do more.

5. Superset your exercises

This one is especially important if you’re strapped for time. A superset is when you perform two or more exercises back-to-back without taking any rest in between. Supersetting your exercises allows you to get more done in the same amount of time, thereby increasing the density of your workout.

6. Use full range of motion

When performing dynamic movements you only strengthen the range of motion which you work. Therefore, always use a full range of motion when performing your exercises.

7. Exercise order matters

Exercise order should typically run from exercises of high technical difficult to low technical difficulty, compound movements to single joint movements. Here are some examples: Squats before leg curls, push-ups before dumbbell flys, pull-ups before dumbbell curls.

8. Vary your exercises

Add new exercises to your routine. Way too often people stay on the same routine for far too long. Adding new exercises will force your body to adapt to a new stimulus. Plus, it’s good to use a variety of exercises to strengthen different movement patterns and prevent any overuse injuries that may occur due to repetitive use.

9. Vary your repetitions

Varying the repetitions you perform is important for overall muscular development. Your muscles are comprised to different types of muscle fibers which respond differently to the number of repetitions performed. Here’s the basic breakdown of how your body responds to different rep ranges:

- Rep Range: 1-5 – Muscular strength
- Rep Range: 8-12 – Mix of strength and hypertrophy (muscle size) development
- Rep Range: 15+ – Muscular endurance

10. Align your program with your goals

I touched on this in To look like a sprinter, training like a sprinter. If you’re seeking a specific result you need to make sure your program is conducive to that result. If you’re trying to lose weight, your program should focus on high intensity exercise that produces a lot of calorie burn. If you’re looking to get stronger, you should be using compound exercises and performing repetitions in the 1-5 range. If your program isn’t aligned with what you’re trying to accomplish you can’t expect to achieve the results you’re looking for.

Uses: Conditioning/Fat Loss

1. Squat – The Squat is a staple of any routine as it is one of the most effective exercises you can use to develop the legs. It’s a compound movement (more than one joint) that gets a lot of muscle mass involved. Plus, there are a number of variations that can be performed.

2. Push-Up – Push-Ups are great not only for chest and shoulder development, but also for core strengthening. Like the Squat, there are endless variations and ways to incorporate them into your routine. (For example, give this Push-Up Tri Set a try!)

3. Pull-Up – One of the toughest bodyweight exercises you can do is the Pull-Up. Just like Squats and Push-Ups, there are many variations you can do, all of which are very demanding.

4. Burpee – This one is a regular in my boot camp classes. Burpees are great for conditioning and burning up a ton of calories. They can be performed with or without a Push-Up (as shown in the video).

5. Tuck Jump – This is by far my boot campers’ favorite exercise! :) The Tuck Jump is a plyometric exercise that is great for conditioning and like the Burpee, can burn a ton of calories.

Warm-Up: 5 minutes of Jumping Jacks/Marching In Place

A1) Jump Rope – 100 repetitions

A2) Mountain Climbers – 100 repetitions

A3) Squat Thrusts – 15 repetitions

Rest 60 seconds and repeat 2x (Total of 3 sets)

B1) Bodyweight Squat – 20 repetitions

B2) Push-Ups – 15 repetitions

B3) Single Leg Hip Extension From the Floor – 12 repetitions each side

Rest 60 seconds and repeat 2x (Total of 3 sets)

C1) Leg Raises – 15 repetitions

C2) Bicycle Crunch – 50 repetitions

C3) Side Bridge – 10 repetitions each side

Rest 60 seconds and repeat 2x (Total of 3 sets)

Cool Down: 5-10 minutes of light dynamic and static stretching

Note on Notation: Each group (A, B, C) indicates a superset. For these, you will perform the prescribed reps for A1, then move directly to A2 without rest and perform the prescribed repetitions. After completing all three exercises in the group, you will take a 60 second rest interval and repeat until you have done 3 sets. After you have performed 3 sets of the A group, you can then move on to the B group, etc.

Tabata training is based on the 1996 study by Tabata et al. In the study, subjects were prescribed an exercise protocol that consisted of brief bouts (20 seconds in duration) of high intensity exercise (~170% VO2 Max) followed by short rests intervals (10 seconds in duration) and repeated for 4 minutes. Subjects were trained on a cycle ergometer. The training protocol resulted in a 7ml.kg-1.min-1 increase in VO2 max and a 28% improvement in anaerobic capacity. These results are significant because a simultaneous increase in VO2 and anaerobic capacity are not typical of traditional endurance training. Also significant was the fact that these results were achieved with a lower volume of training than would be required for traditional endurance training.

Tabatas and Fat Loss

Another benefit of the Tabata Protocol, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in general, is its ability to induce fat loss. When compared to traditional cardio training, HIIT is more effective at burning fat when adjusted for volume. In other words, when the volume is work is equal between HIIT and traditional cardio, HIIT results in more fat loss.

Applications

Although the original protocol was performed on a cycle ergometer, there have been many adaptations of this style of training. It has been used with bodyweight circuits, calisthenics, traditional resistance exercises, complex exercises (multiple exercises performed as one continuous movement), sprinting, and more. While reaching an intensity of 170% VO2 (as in the study) may not always occur with these other methods, empirical evidence suggests these adaptions of the Tabata protocol are still highly effective.

Sample Tabatas

Here are some sample Tabatas I like to use. Incorporate them into your workout routine. Keep in mind that effort needs to be all out on the work sets in order for them to be effective.

Sample #1: 4-Exercise Bodyweight Tabata

A1) Squat Thrust – 20 seconds
Rest 10 seconds
A2) Split Squat Jump – 20 seconds
Rest 10 seconds
A3) Mixed Thrusters – 20 seconds
Rest 10 seconds
A4) High Knees – 20 seconds
Rest 10 seconds

After A4, you would repeat the circuit one more time without resting (total of 4 minutes).

Sample #2: 2-Exercise Bodyweight Tabata

B1) Burpees – 20 seconds
Rest 10 seconds
B2) Mountain Climbers – 20 seconds
Rest 10 seconds

After B2, you would repeat the circuit three more times (total of 4 minutes).

Sample #3: Sprint Tabata

C1) Sprint – 20 seconds
Rest 10 seconds
C2) Incline Sprint (3% grade) – 20 seconds
Rest 10 seconds

After C2, you would repeat the circuit three more times (total of 4 minutes).

Sources

• Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8.
• The effects of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting insulin levels of young women. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Apr;32(4):684-91. Epub 2008 Jan 15.
• Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996 Oct;28(10):1327-30.
• High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss. J Obes. 2011; 2011: 868305.

Warm-Up 5-10 minute jog

A1) Split Squat – 3 sets of 8 reps
A2) Dumbbell Chest Press, Incline – 3 sets of 8 reps
Rest 45-60 seconds between sets

B1) Romanian Deadlift – 3 sets of 10 reps
B2) One Arm Dumbbell Row, Standing – 3 sets of 8 reps
Rest 45-60 seconds between sets

C1) Hip Bridge, Single Leg – 3 sets of 12 reps
C2) Push-Ups – 3 sets of 10 reps
C2) Dumbbell Pullovers – 3 sets of 10 reps
Rest 45-60 seconds between sets

D1) Dumbbell Lateral Raise – 3 sets of 10 reps
D2) Dumbbell Curl – 3 sets of 10 reps
D3) Lying Triceps Extension – 3 sets of 10 reps
Rest 45-60 seconds between sets

E1) Plank – 3 sets of 60-second holds
E2) Russian Twist – 3 sets of 20 reps (weighted)
Rest 45-60 seconds between sets

Note: A1)..A2)…etc represent supersets. Both exercises should be performed back-to-back without rest.

I like to keep the work intervals short, usually in the neighborhood of 30 seconds.  This will allow you to train at super high intensities.  Due to the inverse relationship between intensity and duration (the longer the interval is, the less intense it can be due to the body’s inability to sustain high intensity exercise), extending intervals to 2-3 minutes or more is just too long.

There are different ways to perform intervals, from Tabatas (20 seconds work, followed by 10 seconds rest), to 1:1 or 1:3 work/rest ratios (high intensity exercise for 30 seconds followed by 30 second low intensity exercise, etc).  They can be performed using resistance training exercises or through performing sprints on a track or cardiovascular equipment (ie. treadmill, bike, elliptical).

However you choose to incorporate intervals into your workouts, keep the high intensity portion short (to ensure the intensity really is high) and total duration to 30 minutes or less. This will allow you to experience the true benefits interval training has to offer.