“What’s the perfect fat burning workout?”
“What’s the perfect fat burning workout?”…Is the question that one of my clients asked me a few weeks back.
At first I didn’t really know what to say… I mean there are a lot of workouts that can help you burn fat and lots of it… But the perfect fat burning workout?
As I thought about this question, I started brainstorming exactly what would go into the perfect fat burning workout… Here are my thoughts below:
1. Your threshold must be pushed.
In order to get in the perfect fat burning workout, your anaerobic threshold must be pushed at some point during the workout. This can be done during your circuits, at the end of your workout during your finisher, or even as just a full sprinting workout.
Whatever the case may be, pushing your threshold is incredibly important.
According to the European Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers found that the greater amount of time an individual spends at or above the anaerobic threshold, the greater the effect on fat burning and growth hormone production. (European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2011)
This means that the more you can push your threshold, the more fat you will be able to burn.
Pushing your threshold is great, however, when creating the perfect fat burning workout it doesn’t stop there…
2. You have to get stronger.
From doing years of research and from experience, lifting weights and getting stronger boosts your metabolic rate and increases fat burning. This does not mean you need to lift like a bodybuilder, you just need to lift to get stronger and with the goal of being more lean and “toned”.
Because you are lifting to get stronger, you will be able to build more lean muscle which results in more fat burning.
3. Start and finish your workouts the right way.
You should always start your workouts off by doing the hardest, most important exercises first. This will allow you to give more focus to the exercises that matter most.
For example, on a leg day you should start your workouts with squats or deadlifts as these will benefit you most.
Ending your workouts properly is also very important. You should end all the workouts you do with a super intense finisher. This means pushing your threshold one last time as hard as you can for 3-10 minutes.
This will help you burn more fat from your workouts and extend the after burn effect even more.
4. Focus on activating a TON of muscles each workout.
When it comes to burning fat, the more muscles you can activate during a workout, the better. This means doing big explosive movements like squats, presses, pulls, explosive bodyweight movements, etc.
Some examples:
Lower Body: Squats, bodyweight squats, squat jumps, lunges, jump lunges, box jumps, deadlifts, …
Pushes: Bench press, dumbbell press, pushups (all variations), overhead press, …
Pulls: Bent over rows, dumbbell rows, pull-ups, chin-ups, bodyweight rows, …
Higher Intensity Full Body Work: sprints, sprints in place, jumping exercises, burpees, mountain climbers, jump rope …
As you can see, all these exercises work more than one muscle with many of them working every single muscle in the body. Those are the exercises you should be focusing on and are the ones that will burn the most fat.
5. Keep it focused throughout.
If you aren’t focused, your form breaks down, injuries are more likely to happen, and you just won’t get very much done.
If you know you are low on energy, tired, unmotivated, etc. just do 5-10 minutes of super intense, focused work and call it a day. Don’t try to put yourself through a workout that’s 30-40 minutes when you can only stay focused for a quarter of the time.
Listen to your body.
Taking these 5 simple strategies is what will allow you to create the perfect fat burning workout. Using what we just went over, here’s a sample workout that you can do:
Free Sample Workout:
Circuit 1:
1A) Dumbbell Squats: 12 reps
1B) Dumbbell Overhead Press: 12 reps
1C) Pull-Ups: max reps
1D) Sprints in Place: sprint until you feel yourself slowing down
Rest 60 seconds between rounds and complete 2 more times for a total of 3 circuits.
Circuit 2:
2A) Squat Jumps: 30 seconds
2B) Decline or Regular Pushups: 30 seconds
2C) Jump Rope: 30 seconds
Rest 60 seconds between rounds and complete 2 more times for a total of 3 circuits.
Finisher:
3A) Jump Lunges: 10 reps each leg
3B) Burpees: 10 reps
3C) Mountain Climbers: 10 reps each leg
Complete 3 full rounds as fast as possible, resting only when needed.
Talk about the perfect fat burning workout, right?
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