This is part of my series on my Q1 2016 Fitness Plan. Make sure you read that first so you get why I am writing this series and how to best navigate these posts.
Typical Training Regimen:
I don't want to spend too much time on this so I will be brief Typically I train a lot of functional movement body weight type stuff with big focus on flexibility. My biggest goal is long term sustainable health and fitness.
This means I don't care about being the biggest or lifting the most nor do I care about being one of those crazy super cardio people. I want to be able to maintain a solid fundamental level of strength and flexibility for the next couple of decades.
In reality a good amount of the motivation to cut weight is to make my body weight training much easier. You would be amazed how much easier a one handed pull up is without that extra 17 Lbs around weighing you down.
Perhaps in the future I will write some more on the fun you can have with body weight stuff and the importance of functional strength and flexibility but for now I will get back to the cutting regimen.
Cutting Training Regimen:
My cutting training regimen is a bit different. Before we get into the regimen I want to make you aware of the old saying. To sum it up it basically says:
The recipe for a six pack is:
- 90% Diet
- 9% Cardio
- 1% Spot Training(Crunches)
So if losing weight is your goal you may want to get your diet in order first before getting too focused on your cardio or crunches.
Cardio vs HITT:
If you're new to training make sure you know the difference between steady state cardio and high intensity interval training. Here is my favorite article on the difference between HITT and steady state cardio. I also like Strength Sensi's thoughts on Cardio.
I am not as opposed to steady state long distance cardio as you might think but it is not for me. For my cutting sessions I am stepping up my HITT sessions. No I am not doing any of those damn boot camps. Something about having some meat head yelling idiotic motivational gibberish in my face doesn't sit well with me.
Though I must admit my HITT workouts are limited so I have started to try and expand my workouts to include:
* Heavy Rope Training:
* Jump Rope
* Box Jumps(If my knees can handle it).
And I'll probably throw in my previous go to medium/low intensity interval training on the stair stepper.
Weight Training:
I still plan to do a far amount of lifting to maintain as much muscle mass and strength as possible but I will switch it up a bit more doing higher reps of lower weight than I normally would. This includes bench presses and curls with just the bar as many as I can until I can't even lift my arms.
This won't be the case every work out but much more so than when I am not cutting weight.
Yoga:
Just over a year ago I started getting real into yoga and have loved it. I do yoga regardless of where in the training phase I am for the flexibility, functional strength, and mental relaxation. If you haven't tried it I strongly suggest it.
Conclusion:
Of all my posts this is probably the least interesting but I felt it needed covering. The habit hacks in this series is going to be the most widely useful post for the inexperienced and experienced athlete as well as the professional trainers out there..