After a lackluster workout schedule for the past month and a half which has included a bachelor party, two weddings, birthday parties, and a bout with bronchitis, I’ve decided it’s time to once again perform an intense home workout routine. Luckily, due to the activities of the last six weeks, my body is truly primed for this kind of an intense workout. In addition, while I find I haven’t lost any of my fat during this time, I also haven’t added any either. I’ve been on more of a maintenance schedule where I’ve just been trying to preserve muscle without gaining fat. So, I know my body can handle a more intense workout regimen over the next 30 days and I do not need to be concerned that I will get hurt.
First of all, the HIIT routine and strength training routine I’ve outlined below are not something you want to do on a regular basis. This is something I incorporate every 3-4 months to really blast body fat. In addition, I will be using this routine for just the next month. If I went any longer I’d be at risk for over-training. Even though the intensity of my workout will be increased, I have no intention of increasing the duration of my exercise. Usually, I will work out 4 days each week, 45 minutes at a time. For next month I’m aiming to workout at least 30-45 minutes every day, for 6 days of the week.
In order to obtain taut muscles, intense weight exercises with a low number of reps must be a part of any strength training routine. To make sure my workout is time efficient I also use supersets. This is the routine I’ll be using on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. My plan is to do 3 sets of 3 reps for each of the exercises, except when I’m doing weighted pull ups and dips which is when I do 5 slow reps, and end with a kickboxing routine. Because the first set is a warm up for each exercise, I make sure to use about 75% of the weight I’ll be using for the 3 rep sets. I perform this warm up set using slow reps to increase time under tension. Rest time in between sets is 2 minutes, during which I perform the other exercise in the superset. I avoid training to failure.
Because I’m working out at home, I’ve put some of these supersets together for specific reasons. For example, to avoid time spent changing weights, I pair a barbell exercise with a dumbbell exercise. To make sure I accelerate my heart rate when I finish my strength training routine, I end with a kickboxing workout. Besides the fact I started martial arts training when I was young, I find it fun to include this kind of routine. I use ankle weights to increase tension for kicks and do punches with 10lb dumbbells. Adding weight to a aerobic exercise causes fat to drop dramatically. All in all, my total strength training routine is 30-35 minutes. Kickboxing last approximately five or ten minutes, and each superset lasts about six or seven minutes.
Another great option for getting extremely lean is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). My days for doing the HIIT routine are Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday. My HIIT routine is very high intensity, so I avoid doing any strength training for my legs. The first part of my HIIT workout is short interval HIIT. I take 2 minutes to warm up and then do eight sets with 15 seconds of sprints at full speed, and 45 seconds of jogging. As this will cause the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream, to burn them off I go to 10-15 minutes of steady state cardio with the exercise bicycle. This also helps my legs recover.
Generally I would finish with 10 minutes of long interval HIIT that includes a 1 minute fast paced run followed by 1 minute slow jogging, but I’ve decided to slightly modify my routine. I will be doing a plyometrics routine that includes everything from calf raises to step ups to broad jumps. It’s about a 10 minute routine and serves a similar function as long interval HIIT in that it increases lactic acid and reduces glycogen to allow for significant fat burn after my workout is completed. Additionally, plyometrics help strengthen my legs a bit better than traditional cardio. The total time for this workout is around 30-35 minutes as well.
Keep in mind that when you’re doing short term and intense workouts, your diet is very important. Even though I do intermittent fasting twice each week, I also pay attention to cleaning up the rest of my diet as well. While a lot of people are able to do their strength training on fasting days, I prefer to dovetail my low calorie days with my HIIT days, and then coincide my strength training days with my higher calorie days. Therefore I fast on Mondays and Fridays. Wednesday is my day to pass on breakfast and create additional calorie reduction. For the 30 days, I intend to eat less on Saturday, Thursday, and Tuesday as well. I will eat whatever I want on Sunday in order to return my leptin levels to normal.
But, I will eat more properly than I would normally do. On Monday, dinner will be a high quality protein, vegetables, and fruit for dessert. Similarly, I will be avoiding saturated fat and refined sugars on Wednesday as well. While I will restrict calories on the other days (excluding Sunday), I will allow myself to indulge in some light, low calorie snacks. Anything goes Sunday which prevents my diet from dominating my lifestyle (I love to host BBQs in the summer).
What I have outlined will give me an extremely intense home workout, but I will take it even farther during the last couple of weeks. That’s when 10 minutes of a circuit training workout is added to my strength training routine, which increases the fat that’s burned while still keeping my muscle tone. In addition, I will use a Tabata program, which includes 8 sets of a 20-second sprint and 10 second rest period, to the HIIT routine on both Wednesday and Saturday. I will not do this to my workout on Monday. Lastly, I will not eat breakfast on Thursday and Tuesday mornings to lesson my calorie intake even more.
Overall, I expect this strength training routine and HIIT routine to help me blast through a fat loss plateau over the next month. Then I can reduce the intensity of my workout to avoid overtraining.