For anyone who followed my stories over the last few weeks would have noticed how much fun we had in the Philippines.
A little too much fun perhaps.
Eating my bodyweight in full starch carbs and San Miguel Pale Pilsen each day has paid its toll on the Gary Abletts and I’m feeling a little soft around the handles.
Nothing major, but it’s enough for me to want to wear a shirt for a few days during the class WODS (or at least the warm ups…who am I kidding).
None the less, I’m going to be dropping a few kgs of belly fat and I thought I’d share exactly how I propose to do this.
1. Increase Total Training Volume (TTV)
This is measured by the Reps x Sets x Weight (load) = KILOGRAMS
By increasing TTV, I’ll essentially be burning more calories and increasing the amount of energy my body uses, ideally coming out of storage in the form of fat.
Not to be mistaken, this doesn’t mean I’ll be doing hundreds or everything or massive circuits.
I will be calculating how to get the best bang for buck training volume for what my body needs.
This will include a mixture
1. High Volume Warm Ups: 15 minute warm ups which have high rep/ low intensity drills to increase caloric output and warm specific motor patterns to help increase performance
2. Volume Supersets: High number of sets of moderate weights for moderate reps. Think around 70% of your 1RM for about 10-12 reps.
Coupling 2 movements alternatively, so your load intensity isn’t affected, but your work capacity is pushed.
3. Conditioning components: A perfect way to increase total training volume at a lower load. Focusing on movement patterns compared to central nervous system drive (as this will be targeted in the strength training.
2. Making my training as hard as possible.
Don’t be fooled. I am not talking about flogging myself and rushing movements here like a Jane Fonda or body pump session.
I am saying that each thing I do, I will make sure that it is full range of motion, with a controlled tempo to create time under tension and have the intention of creating a STIMULUS.
Too often people correlate speed with intensity, when in fact intention and control have a higher correlation with intensity.
By this I mean, it’s not how fast you complete your reps or how many reps you do in a certain time that matters, it is more about the quality of the reps and the stimulus which is attained from a given load.
3. Put myself in a calorie deficit with a nutrition plan
I’ve worked out my daily calorie needs based on the formula we use at BBB.
I have had Coach Tim (@tim_bodybybrando) work out my macronutrients and give me a nutrition plan that puts me in a 10% deficit of my TDEE.
My weekly intake will be 10% lower than what my body will technically be using, which means I will be in a deficit and therefore pulling energy out of storage in the form of fat. (Yes, this is the definition of fat loss).
4. Increasing my N.E.A.T
Non Exercise Activity Thermogenisis
This means, all of the calories I can burn in the 23 hours a day that I am not training.
E.g. Walking 10,000 steps a day, hikes, swimming etc.
Whether you are referring to calories that come in or calories that go out, everything adds up.
So by increasing my expenditure by 300-500 calories a day, will mean the difference of 2100-3500 extra calories burned a week.
Also known as the difference of mediocrity, or abs / no abs.
5. What I Won’t Be Doing
A) Taking supplements for fat loss. There is no need/ nothing that works. (legally)
The only supplement I’ll be taking will be getting my lazy arse off the office chair and doing the work.
Please note. Protein (food or drink) is not a supplement for fat loss, however, It will aid in fat loss because it will allow you to maintain muscle mass whilst in a calorie deficit, meaning you’ll maintain your metabolic efficiency and continue to burn more calories based on the fact that you’ll have a higher basal metabolic rate based on your lean mass to fat mass ratio. #nerdddd
B) Taking shortcuts. As much as I’d like to take shortcuts and hope the extra belly fat just simply falls off me. History and science has showed me time and time again that it just won’t.
Dammit.
Looks like i’ll have to slug it out the old fashioned way and do the work. (Lucky for me I sort of enjoy the process of pushing myself to near cardiac arrest and then living to tell the tale).
C) Fasting. Fasting is just another term known as delaying calories. It doesn’t matter when you eat your calories. If you eat too many of them, they’ll find a way to jump inside your skin and hide with their friends, regardless of whether you didn’t eat for 16 hours perviously. (little fuckers)
Of course if the only way you can reduce your weekly calories is by literally not eating, (fasting) then by all means go ahead with it, just know that it’s not the most ideal way to go about it and there are some very simple ways to overcome this.
I’m fairly confident in this approach as it’s not only scientifically accurate on all accounts, it’s how I have maintained body fat % for the last 9 years of training and how we get our members in shape day in and day out.
