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Weight Lifting for Fat Loss
By: Scott H. Mendelson
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Did it ever occur to you that you can lose body fat by weight training? You can! Contrary to popular belief, specific types of weight training can cause rapid body fat loss. Cardiovascular training has it's place for fat loss, but is overused by many. Growth hormone is the body's most potent fat burning hormone. People who want to lose body fat must maximize the natural release of this hormone by following certain training guidelines.
Reps will be on the higher end of the spectrum in combination with short rest periods. Lactic Acid is released when a large volume of reps are performed in a relatively short time period. The burning feeling in your muscles during exercise is caused by lactic acid. Most importantly, lactic acid is a precursor to growth hormone, which as mentioned before is a crucial hormone in the fat loss equation. The body will build a better tolerance to the affects of lactic acid over time, creating the need for a strategically planned program to beat the curve. My training programs keep you ahead of the game and become progressively more difficult to ensure that you can continue to lose body fat. Trainees will benefit from improved lactic acid tolerance when conduction future traditional training programsll allow lifters to perform more work without lactic acid build up when they return to exercise routines with longer rest periods.
High reps combined with short rest will fatigue working muscles rather quickly using traditional exercise order methods. The goal of this training is to perform a large amount of work in a short period of time. However the goal is not to completely fatigue muscle groups within the first couple of exercise sets. One must alternate exercises in order to keep the pace of the workout high and to allow time for tired muscle groups to rest. For example when doing an arm workout open up the workout with a set of dumb bell bicep curls, take the prescribed amount of rest and then complete a set of lying tricep extensions. After the extensions return to the bicep curls again taking the designated amount of rest. This cycling of exercises will allow fatigued muscles to recover while still keeping overall workout intensity through the roof. Make sure that the exercises you alternate are not located too far apart. You do not want to be running clear across the gym after every set. Alternate exercises that use similar apparatus so that setups will be quick and easy.
The training protocol I have described above has many benefits. One can lose a significant amount of body fat and improve definition. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of this type of training is that it takes half the time of typical workouts depending on how many sets you decide to do. Furthermore this method also provides a great cardiovascular workout. You will surprise by how challenging the workouts are from an aerobic standpoint. We are all strapped for time; this training program gives you the best of both worlds without overtraining. So dump the cardio if you are short on time and focus on weight training. Give it a chance; you have nothing to loose and everything to gain.
Notice some of the exercises are intended to be alternated also known as "Super Sets". Two exercises will always be matched to be alternated. Peform one set of the first exercise, take the rest indicated in the program and do one set of the second exercise of the pair. For example alternate the EZ bar skull crusher and the bent over lateral raise by performing one set of the skull crushers, take the prescribed amount of rest and then do a set of the bent over lateral raises and rest again before repeating the same cycle. Repeat the cycle 3 or 4 times depending on what phase you are in. The number of cycles is indicated by the number of sets in the tables below
Monday Chest and biceps
Exercise
sets/reps
tempo
rest
alternate
BB Bench press
3/12
3-1-x
90
No
DB Hammer curl
3/12
3-1-x
60
Yes
Incline DB press
3/12
3-1-x
60
Yes
BB Preacher Curls
3/12
3-1-x
60
No
Wed Legs
Exercise
sets/reps
tempo
rest
alternate
Lunges
3/12
3-1-x
90
No
Leg extensions
3/12
3-1-x
60
Yes
Seated Leg curl
3/12
3-1-x
60
Yes
Seated calf raise
3/12
3-1-x
60
No
Friday Back and Tris
Exercise
sets/reps
tempo
rest
alternate
Seated Row
3/12
3-1-x
90
No
EZ bar Skull Crusher
3/12
3-1-x
60
Yes
Bent over DB raise
3/12
3-1-x
60
Yes
DB Tri Kick Backs
3/12
3-1-x
60
No
Sat Abs and Lower back
Exercise
sets/reps
tempo
rest
alternate
AB crunches
3/12
2-1-1
60
Yes
Back Extensions
3/12
3-1-1
60
Yes
Hanging Knee Raise
3/12
3-1-1
60
No
Phase 2, second 4 weeks
Monday Chest and Triceps
Exercise
sets/reps
tempo
rest
alternate
Incline BB bench
4/10
3-1-1
90
NO
Rope push downs
4/10
3-1-1
60
NO
DB bench press
3/10
3-1-1
60
Yes
Alternating DB press
3/10
3-1-1
60
Yes
Wed Legs
Exercise
sets/reps
tempo
rest
alternate
Back Squats
4/10
3-1-1
90
NO
Hamstring Curls
4/10
3-1-1
90
NO
Standing calf raise
3/10
3-1-1
60
NO
Friday Back and Biceps
Exercise
sets/reps
tempo
rest
alternate
Pull ups
4/6
3-1-1
90
NO
BB Curls
4/10
3-1-1
60
NO
DB row
3/10
3-1-1
60
Yes
DB Incline Curl
3/10
3-1-1
60
Yes
Saturday Abs and Low Back
Exercise
sets/reps
tempo
rest
alternate
Rope Crunches
4/10
3-1-1
90
NO
Back Extensions
4/10
4-1-1
90
NO
Twisting Crunches
4/10
3-1-1
60
NO
For a complete explanation of the training program
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