Valentin Bosioc
When it comes to fat loss, slow and steady loses the race. “According to American research published in the journal ‘Obesity,’ men and women who did 300 hours of cardio over the course of a year lost an average of only 5 pounds. That’s 60 hours of cardio to lose one pound!
More intense training burns calories more quickly and burns more fat overall. And unlike long, slow cardio sessions, intense training keeps you melting fat even after your workout is over. It’s not all about adding exercise, though. For fat loss, the two best exercises to eliminate are the fork to mouth and the 12-ounce curl.
There are 5 exercises that should be included in some shape or form in all resistance training programs for anyone trying to lose fat and build muscle. At least 4 of these exercises are compound movements, meaning they work numerous big muscles in the body.
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Whether you have a three day full body programme or a variation of a split programme over six days, these exercises should be top of your list of priorities for a number of reasons. They give you a serious bang for your calorie and energy expenditure buck, train your full body and also improve the smaller factors such as your balance, grip strength and overall strength and power which are crucial to long term results.
Because there are so many variations to the above exercises, you will never get bored, and simple changes to the positioning of your feet or your grip can make the exercises not only hit your muscles at a different angle, but also more challenging for you as an athlete, especially as you progress to heavier weights. This is progressive overload at its finest and I can honestly say when I started incorporating these movements into my routine, alongside lifting heavy, the results spoke for themselves. Aside from helping you achieve an insane physique, there is nothing more satisfying than beating a personal best on these three lifts!
Well, if you want to lose weight, burn fat and gain real muscles, you must incorporate these exercises in your routine:
1.The Squat.
Known as the king of all exercises for good reason, the squat works all the muscles in the lower body, and also packs a mighty punch to your core too, making sure you rely on it heavily for stabilisation throughout the movement. Studies have also illustrated the squats ability to increase both testosterone and growth hormone levels, thus encouraging muscle growth overall in the body. Most notable though is the squats ability to build the glutes in particular, making this is an exercise nobody should miss out on for leg day.
There are many variations of the squat, all of which can provide a different emphasis on different parts of the muscles, for example the back squat places a lot of emphasis on the glutes and hamstrings, whereas a front squats focus is on the quads. It is important to keep the back straight in a squat and push the hips back as though you are about to sit into a chair. A great tip I picked up in training was to push through the outside (Lateral) heel when squatting as this stops the knees from going inwards or outwards inappropriately and avoiding unnecessary pressure on the ligaments.
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If you find you are at a plateau with your squats, a good way of breaking this is introducing box squats for a few weeks. I found that implementing these into my routine temporarily not only built my confidence but also increased my strength significantly when I transitioned back into back squats.
2. The Deadlift .
The deadlift provides some serious competition for the squat and is one of my favoUrite exercises, quite possibly because not only did I achieve some serious improvements from incorporating them into my programme, but also because I struggled hugely with them when I began training. I went from using an empty bar to gradually progressing up to 100 kg lifts. It took a lot of time and effort but boy was it worth all that hard work! The deadlift again works the lower body, with particular emphasis on the glutes and hamstrings, but it also works the upper body too, including your back, shoulders and arms.
I recommend using chalk rather than weightlifting gloves as I found my grip improved significantly when I made this switch, thus enabling me to move more weight, this also carried over to my other lifts too. There are many variations of the deadlift, from the Romanian deadlift to the sumo deadlift and you can use a barbell or dumbbells to carry out the movements.
3. The Bench Press.
The bench press is an excellent exercise for the upper body. It has earned its place in the top three exercises with good reason as it works the whole upper body.
