My Fat Loss Program

For the past four weeks I’ve been performing a program that I wrote up with fat loss in mind.  Another way to look at it for an individual that is already lean, this is a program design to help take someone from lean to ripped.  Either way, it’ll help a person shed away some unwanted fat.

In this blogpost, I’m not going to get into the specifics about my program.  I’ll save that for the next post that I make.  Today, I want to talk a bit about program design as it pertains to a “fat loss program.”

Nutrition is King

The training god of the world could write up the “perfect” fat loss program for any of us, but it wouldn’t do us much good if we didn’t pay special attention to our nutrition plan.  I mean, I could actually gain fat on a fat loss program if I consume too many calories.  Likewise, if I were on a plan designed to add muscle mass, I could actually become skinnier/smaller if I consumed too few calories.  So really, the program is only as good as the nutrition plan that goes along with it.

Not too long ago I had a few “fitness pictures” taken so that they could be used when I write for various fitness websites.

To prepare for this “photo shoot,” I did ZERO cardio.  All I did was lift hard, and most importantly, tighten up my nutrition in the days leading up to the shoot.

Does the Training Program Even Matter When Trying to Drop Fat???

After reading what I just wrote above, you probably think, “well, if nutrition is THAT important, the only thing that matters is that you eat ‘right.’  Therefore we can perform any training program we want because nutrition is going to be the deciding factor in the results we get anyway.”

I almost agree with that thinking, but not completely.  I definitely think adding in some cardio and designing a lifting program that is conducive to fat loss is the ideal route to take.  But again, if your nutrition doesn’t compliment your cardio/weight lifting program, you are NOT going to get the results that you want.

Then How Did you Get So Lean for Those Photos?

I can get very lean without performing cardio and/or a lifting program designed for fat loss.  This makes me one of the “lucky” ones I guess.  But don’t get it twisted, I work my ASS OFF in the weight room, and this goes a long way in one reaching their physique goals.  BUT, just so you know, I am also “cursed” when it comes time to adding muscle mass.  Another words, I can easily get lean, but have a hard time adding size to my biceps and calves and shoulders, etc, etc.  We all have weaknesses when it comes to physique development.  It sucks, but it is what it is.  All we can do is do our best and not stress too much about it… as excess stress will just lead to more problems.

My Fat Loss Program

For my fitness clients (the non-competitive athletes), I spend the majority of my time designing programs designed to help them lose fat/weight.  But for the reasons mentioned above, for my personal programs, I don’t usually write up and perform “fat loss” programs for myself.  However, I decided to do something a little different a spend some time training with fat loss in mind.  This involved a weight training program with higher overall reps than I am used to; less rest intervals between sets than I am used to; and more overall suckiness than I am used to.

Most people make the mistake of making their weight training session turn into a cardio session.  While my heart was pounding through my chest for much of these workouts, I MADE SURE to also include some heavy, low rep sets to make sure I don’t turn into a weak and skinny looking human being.

Final Thought

Now, in order to lose fat/weight, you do NOT need to turn into a miserable person that can only eat broccoli and plain chicken breast day-in-day-out.  I definitely make sure to enjoy the finer things in life like beer, pizza, and cookie crisp cereal.  I just try to make sure that those types of foods are NOT the staple in my nutrition plan.  AND, if you are serious about making a “significant” fat loss run, you will probably have to give up those foods for a month or so.  I think that is a great thing to do… live a “mostly clean life” (but not to strict) as your way of life, and then from time-to-time go on a ~ 30 day “strict” run.

Anyway, in my next post I’ll include my current “fat loss” training program, so you can see how I set it all up.

I’ll see you then…