When it’s obvious you work out, friends—and even strangers—don’t miss an opportunity to ask for advice. The most common questions I hear are: “How do I gain muscle?” and “How can I lose fat?”
Often, both questions come in the same breath. There are multiple ways to meet your fitness goals, which in this case is to build muscle and get cut. So how exactly would you achieve both?
While the goals of building muscle and getting cut may appear unrelated, they’re actually intertwined. The largest contributor to daily energy expenditure is your resting metabolic rate, and the only contributor to resting metabolic rate that you can control is your body composition. Increasing muscle mass increases your resting metabolic rate.
What are the Tips to Meet the Objectives?
1. Exercise selection
First, they have to be large multi-joint mass movements, as this requires a greater energy expenditure to perform, building up your endurance.
Second, always choose the simplest version of a movement. This is a fast-paced workout that incites muscle fatigue, so any exercise that requires a lot of technical skill and form is less than ideal here.
Think squat jumps instead of Olympic lifts, trap bar deadlifts instead of traditional ones, and goblet squats as opposed to barbell squats. Save the technical lifts for lifting days with dedicated rest periods.
2. Number of exercises
Beginners should start with 3-5 different movements, and progress to as many as 8. Logistics can play a part in determining how many different exercises you do; don’t be that person in the gym who takes it over with no regard for anyone else. Train during your gym’s off-hours if necessary.
3. Exercise splits
For a greater increase of in-session metabolism, I prefer using full-body training sessions. Nonetheless, these methods can easily be split into upper and lower body or other body parts such as quads, back and arms one session and glutes, hamstrings, chest and shoulders the next.
4. Number of reps and loads
As this is done in a circuit fashion with incomplete rest, you’ll be unable to perform the same loads as during traditional lifting sessions.
For example, choosing a weight you can do for about 10 reps, but again do only 5. Be somewhat conservative: You can always increase the load.
5. Number of sets and rest intervals
If you like your workouts paced like clockwork, take 30-60 seconds rest between each exercise. Alternatively, wear a heart-rate monitor and rest until your heart reaches the anaerobic threshold or down to approximately a 150-160 beats. Or, with workouts that switch body areas, just push through the circuit, resting only as needed.
There is another approach to prescribing the number of sets. Sessions are performed for time as opposed to an established number of sets. You simply perform as much as you can within the timeframe (thus increasing the density of the workout), resting when needed.
Want to understand more about Circuit Training? Come down to Active Zone! our Active Circuit Training System (ACTS) classes are 45 minutes long and will make you sweat buckets while learning how to use gym equipment! Our gym welcomes all women from all fitness levels.
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