In this week’s videos I explain the proper role of exercise in a fat loss program and why high intensity strength training is superior to “cardio” for improving body composition.
For more on high intensity training and fat loss read Getting Ripped.
Video: High Intensity Training And Fat Loss
Comments on this entry are closed.
Thanks for the fat loss information regarding high intensity training, I have been using these methods for just over two months and noted body changes,watching my diet, training now a hybrid split body part routine twice a week. I did try whole body twice a week but after four weeks of constant gain in intensity my body shut down like overtraining I took a week out and tried again, two weeks later I got a knee injury, so I stopped training legs for two weeks,now I’ve persuaded my trainer who is a mentzer purist to let me go with a split routine. I only supplement my diet with hemp protein creatine use sporadically.
Hey Andrew,
You’re welcome. Please let me know if you have questions about anything discussed in the video you’d like to see addressed in future articles or videos.
Drew,
excellent video, I have been trying to lose bodyfat and reshape the body composition for the last two years and the only program that I found to be successful without following an Arnold S. type training (i.e. countless hours in the gym) was with HIT.
I started with Arthur Jones 3 days a week and now I will be reducing to 1 day a week, however during this time I was not able to lose weight (on the scale) but I was able to move the weight around.
This week I lost ten pounds due to pet stress which has caused me not to eat much, which now convinces me even more that in order to lose bodyfat you have to reduce your calories going in.
my question to you is by reducing my workout frequency to once a week will I lose muscle shape or will my body composition become softer for the lack of movement?
as for the 290lb guy doing triathlons, wow, that’s got to hurt his joints and back.
thx, dan
Hey Dan,
Thanks, I’m glad you like the video. Reducing your workout frequency to only once a week will not cause you to lose muscular strength or size or negatively affect your body composition, because muscle will not atrophy in such a short time frame provided you are not restricting your calories or protein intake too severely. I’ve had many clients make significant improvements in body composition while training only once a week and I was able to get ripped for a natural bodybuilding competition doing only one full-body workout per week.
Drew:
Thanks for the video. You did a great job of putting everything into a logical nutshell.
I’ll be 70 years old in July and have been lifting weights since I was 15.
During my lifetime, I’ve weighed as much as 282 pounds and have been as low as 165 pounds while trying to come by the formula you have so clearly stated.
In the past 6 years I have hit plateaus of 243lbs (2011), 234lbs (2012), 215lbs (2013), 209lbs (2014) and utilizing a version of your suggested program, for the past two years I have maintained my weight at 200lbs with constant increases in strength (weights times reps).
I sure wish I had run into you way back when!
Thanks for the info. Can you spell out the contents of your getting ripped guide?
Best Regards,
Ken P
Hey Ken,
You’re welcome, and I hope you find the video helpful. The contents of the guide are listed on the Getting Ripped page.
Dear Drew,
Please look at the lighting on your HIT & Fat Loss videos. You have harsh bright and dark spots.
Try shooting again with a white sheet over the window lighting you. Covering the light source with a white sheet converts a small light source with sharp shadows into a large light source with softer more even lighting.
This is the reason that lighting a person outside benefits from shooting on a cloudy day. The small light source ( the sun) becomes the much larger one (a cloud).
The loss of light intensity is easily compensated for in your camera. Try it. You’ll see.
When you still want to shoot in direct sunlight, add large reflectors out of camera view bouncing light into the shadows of your subject.
Warmly,
Carl
Hey Carl,
Thanks, I’ll start using a sheet to diffuse the light here and invest in some reflectors or borrow them when I shoot outdoors.
Drew:
Great video. I am interested on what you think about intermittent fasting or the so called “eating window” and its effect on fat loss in combination with HIT strength training. I personally have lost 25 lbs in about 3 months using the 16:8 fasting to eating window and am near my goal weight. This has been relatively easy for me once I got use to it (took about a week). I also do HIT strength training
I appreciate the the information on this site.
Hey Barry,
While I’ve read some studies that suggest there may be health benefits to fasting periodically I have not noticed a significant difference in fat loss for people whether they eat throughout the day or fast intermittently as long as the calories and macronutrients are about the same, and have read studies showing the same. Whether or not I recommend it usually comes down to what is the most practical way for a particular individual to eat based on their lifestyle, work and social schedule, etc.
Hi Drew
How do you avoid holding the breath when doing a dead lift.
During the positive phase of the exercise I try to stabilise the lower back in the neutral position as much as possible by fully engaging the core muscles.
I can’t breathe naturally at that time. What are thoughts on this?
Thanks Ray
Hey Ray,
It is harder to breathe while contracting the trunk muscles intensely, but not impossible. You may have to take shallower, more frequent breaths, but you can do it without holding your breath if you are disciplined and focus on doing so.
Dear Drew,
People like jason blaha, riptoe, etc. are immensely strong but they don’t have the aesthetic look (like you do or others like you). Is this because people like blaha tend to gain fat whereas you don’t? Not saying cardio is a must because of this, but it is surprising how incredibly strong people could have very poor aesthetics.
Hey Al,
It’s a mix of genetics, training, diet, and other factors. Also, some traits that are considered more aesthetically pleasing like a small, tapered waist are not optimal for some competitive lifts where a thicker, more heavily muscled trunk would be more beneficial.
Drew – quick question for you, in terms of TUL, have you found hard gainers require longer ones or shorter ones? dealing with major stalling
Hey Liam,
Like most things this varies between individuals and even between muscle groups within individuals, and different people can have difficulty gaining muscle for different reasons, often more than one. While a few just don’t have the genetics for significant muscular strength and size increases the problem is usually a combination of insufficient effort, poor programming, poor diet, and other basic factors.
Videos are not working
Thanks for letting me know. I changed my YouTube channels and need to update all of this.