3 Conditioning Protocols That Give Your Fat Loss Training A Metabolic Boost.

So today is kind of important.

No, it’s not my birthday, that’s Wednesday…. ;)

When your alarm went off this morning a countdown started that sneaks up every year — 2 months to the start of summer. 60 days until your shirt is coming off at the pool. If you haven’t been training for fat loss, now would be a good time.

But how should your workout change? What does a great fat loss training program look like?

First, fat loss training doesn’t differ much from what works the rest of the year.

Get strong.

Move well.

Recover hard.

Your program should include all three of those elements. In fact, those three might be even more important during a fat loss program. Start with 2–3 days of dedicated strength and muscle building workouts per week.

Then we get to have some fun.

Fat loss training protocols.

These are the small tweaks to your program that will pay huge dividends. Adding 1–2 days of dedicated conditioning workouts will boost your fat loss results — and build world-class conditioning.

Because what good is looking great with your shirt off if you can’t make it up 4 flights of stairs……

The mistake most people make? They only do high-intensity intervals. Because that’s what the magazines are talking about. HIIT. Or you’re wasting your time.

HIIT is usually done with sprints. It’s not usually done through a clould of chalk…..

HIIT does work for fat loss. But it’s just one piece of the puzzle. And no more important than any other piece. Fat loss training programs should balance different types of stress on your body — not hammer you three times a week with the same one.

So let’s meet the other two types of conditioning you should be using in your fat loss program.

Alactic Conditioning

Short, and not so sweet. This type of training is built around short, high-intensity bursts that don’t produce a “burn”.

Keep these under 20 seconds. And your total workout time to 10–15 minutes.

You need to be going hard. 10–20 seconds isn’t a whole lot time, so you need to bring it. Think bear chasing you in the woods and you’ve got the right idea.

Rest periods should be between :40–2:00 between sets. Your conditioning level, and the exercise you choose, will determine how long you need to rest.

Here are some examples:

Hill Sprints: 40–60M, recover for :90
Airdyne Sprints: 20 seconds hard, recover for :40
Sled Push: 40M, recover for :90
Battle Ropes: 20 seconds hard, recover for :40

Use alactic conditioning as a “finisher” 1–2 times a week after your strength workouts.

Lactate Conditioning

Feel the burn. This longer form of metabolic conditioning is meant to push you to the edge. When you read about high intensity interval training (HIIT), this is what they’re talking about.

Your work period will be 45–90 seconds. These aren’t done with the same intensity as alactic conditioning, but you still need to be going hard.

Rest periods should be between 1–3 minutes, and never below a 1:1 work/rest ratio. So if you do a 90 second sled push, you need to rest at least 90 seconds before your next set.

You could also grab a heart rate monitor and recover until your heart rate returns to 130bpm.

Here are some possible exercise choices:

Sled Push: 45–60+ sec., recover for :90
400M Sprints, recover for 2–3 minutes
Battle Ropes: 45 sec, recover for :90
Rower: 45–60+ sec., recover for :90
Versaclimber: 45–60+ sec., recover for :90
Airdyne Sprints: : 45–60+ sec., recover for :90

For most of these you should do 4–6 rounds. Because lactate conditioning workouts take longer to complete I recommend dedicating a separate workout day to them.

I’ll often schedule a lactate conditioning workout on the weekend for my clients. They love it.

Cardiac Output Method

Cardiac output training is a low-intensity method that helps us balance the stressors we’re exposing your body to. Think of it as active recovery.

Keep your heart rate between 130–150 bpm for 30–60 minutes. This can be done with a variety of exercises such as swimming, jumping rope, med ball work, shadow boxing, biking, jogging, or hiking. It really doesn’t matter as long as your keep your HR around that zone the entire workout.

It’s supposed to feel easy. You should be able to carry on a conversation while doing this. It’s not a sprint. Listen to a podcast or music you like and enjoy.

If you’ve just retuned to the gym I’d do these 2 times a week. They’ll help you build a conditioning foundation you’ll need for the more intense work down the road. Otherwise, 1 time a week is good — usually at the end of your training week.