Lean Muscle Workouts: Supersets Burn Fat Gain Muscle

Using Supersets Will Burn Fat And Add Lean Muscle

With all of my workouts I go in with the idea that I workout to burn fat gain lean muscle and get stronger. Now some will say you can’t do both. I say yes. In almost 40 years of training my experience is you can. If you set your workouts up right. So how do we do that? Supersets which are a form of muscle density training.

Let me give you an example of one of my lean muscle workouts and then I’ll explain.

1A) Dips

1B) Snatch Grip Deadlifts

2A) Double Dumbbell Presses

2B) One Arm Dumbbell Row

As you can see I am pairing up my exercises. As I have talked about before 90% of the exercises I use are:

*** Total Body Exercises or what are known as compound exercises.

*** I lift heavy (what’s heavy for me).

*** My reps are between 4 and 8.

*** I use timed sets

*** Very Short Rest Times between exercises

*** Supersets

In case you don’t know Supersets are just taking 2 exercises as in the example above doing a set of dips and going immediately into a set of snatch grip deadlifts. For the most part I use antagonistic pairings for my supersets. As above Dips (upper body) Deadlifts (lower body)

By using heavy weights keeping my reps to the low side is where the lean muscle gains come in.

By keeping my rest times in between to as low as possible (30 seconds tops) is where the fat burning comes into play.

This is muscle density training. Muscle density training is to put it simply doing more work in less time.

Now I also mentioned I use timed sets for these superset workouts. What I do:

Set a timer for 20 mintes. Get as many sets done as possible in my time limit. Now I mentioned earlier my reps are between 4-8. Your beginning sets are when you will be freshest so the reps are at the higher end and the rest times the shortest.

By sets 4 and 5 the reps are lower and the rest times a little longer. In my 20 minute time frame my goal is normally getting 6 sets per exercise.

Progression: The Key In Your Lean Muscle Workouts To Burn Fat And Gain Muscle

Progession means making each workout more productive than the last one. This really is the key to whether you reach your fat loss and muscle building goals. So how to we progress from workout to workout?

*** Add more weight (it can be as little as 2 pounds)

*** In my example get my 6 sets done in 19 or 18 minutes (muscle density do more work in less time)

*** Do even 1 more rep than my last workouts total reps ( I forgot to mention in addtion to time and sets I keep track of my total reps per exercise)

There you have the basis of a lean muscle workout to burn fat and gain lean muscle.

Recap

*** Use Total Body exercises

*** Supersets of Antagonistic Body parts – Chest /Back – Shoulders/Legs – Biceps?Triceps

*** Use Heavy Weight (what’s heavy for you)

*** Keep your Reps between 4-8

*** Use Timed Sets

*** Keep your rest times between exercises low (this will depend on your conditioning level)

Muscle density training with supersets long term fat loss and lean muscle building.

*** Also these workouts can be done with weight training, kettlebells, bodyweight exercises, a medicine ball the possibilities are endless.

Full Body Workouts Gain Lean Muscle Part 3

Full Body Workouts The Fastest Way To Gain Lean Muscle And Get Stronger

In part 1  Chad Waterbury outlined three of the reasons why to gain lean muscle full body workouts are so effective, along with cool sample lean muscle workouts.

Now he going to show you how to design your full body workouts with two specific goals in mind: gain lean muscle or max strength gains. I don’t know any natural guy who thinks he’s too big and strong.

Before I get to that, let me quickly touch on one reason why there’s so much controversy surrounding the body part split vs. full body workouts.

You see, it’s common for people to look for training advice from the biggest guy in the room.

That’s why every guy who’s looking to gain muscle wants to know how Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, or Jay Cutler trains. That’s exactly what I wanted to know back in my teens. And many bodybuilders with massive amounts of muscle follow some type of body part split.

 Yet, I’m telling you that full body workouts are the best way to gain lean muscle.

*** Side Note: Guy’s don’t get thrown by the references to the pro bodybuilders Chad is talking about, these full body workouts are prime for our purpose to gain lean muscle.***

Why the discrepancy between Full Body Workouts And Body Part Splits ?

First, and most obvious, is the fact that every top bodybuilder uses huge amounts of steroids and is a genetic freak.

These guys can gain muscle on virtually any type of program – but that’s not really important.

What’s important to remember is that a bodybuilder is near his genetic limit to gain muscle (even with boat loads of steroids in the equation), so to gain muscle he has to go through extreme levels of training to add an extra 8-10 pounds to his frame.

If a pro bodybuilder wants to add a half-inch to his 19″ arms he has to train them with an insane amount of intensity and volume because, as I said, he’s near his genetic limit. By default, a bodybuilder will follow a body part split because full body workouts simply aren’t possible when you need that much volume and intensity.

So for the other 99.9% of guys out there(*** that’s us the lean muscle crowd***). I’m talking about natural guys with average genetics who still have plenty of muscle left hidden in their physiology, full body workouts to gain lean muscle are the way to go.

I’ve experimented with every type of training system out there to gain lean muscle or get stronger over the last 16 years. If a body part split added muscle and strength fastest, or if it was best for fat loss, I’d be extolling the virtues of it right now. After all, I don’t own any stock in a total body training company.

Make no mistake about it: if a million bucks were on the line to transform a natural lifter as fast as possible, even the biggest proponents of body part splits would have the person follow a program of full body workouts to gain lean muscle.

Body part splits are for elite bodybuilders that just need to gain muscle to specific areas of their body. If you’re someone who needs to add 15 or 20 pounds of muscle to your entire frame, full body workouts will get you there in one-third of the time that a body part split takes.

Now, The Good Stuff: Training To Gain Lean Muscle And Get Stronger.

Full Body Workouts for Strength

When strength is the goal you must lift heavy. I prefer three reps per set with the heaviest load you can handle. The overall volume of the workout must be kept low so your body can recover within 48-72 hours. For rest, I recommend following a circuit style of training because by the time you repeat an exercise you’ve had a few minutes of rest.

One big misconception about rest periods is that they must be passive. To get three minutes of rest between sets of deadlifts you shouldn’t just sit around for three minutes because it’s a waste of time. Furthermore, sitting down for minutes at a time doesn’t help. You could be training upper body movements during that time without any negative impact on your recovery between sets of deadlifts.

Here’s a sample full body workout for strength.

Load: 3RM for all sets. You can adjust the weight up or down with each round, the weight doesn’t have to be static. It should be the heaviest load you can handle for 3 reps.

1A Upper body pull for 3 reps
Rest 45 seconds
1B Upper body push for 3 reps
Rest 45 seconds
1C Squat or deadlift for 3 reps
Rest 45 seconds and repeat 1A-1C twice more (3 rounds total)

Two or three exercises per workout works well for maximal strength training.

Full Body Workouts Gain Lean Muscle Fast

In order to gain lean muscle fast, you should lift as heavy as possible. However, hypertrophy requires more volume per workout than pure strength does. Since you can’t lift super heavy with a high volume the relationship between intensity (load) and volume must be like Goldilock’s porridge: just right.

We Train To Gain Lean Muscle Full Body Workouts Take Less Time And Work

I’ve found that a volume of around 25 total reps per exercise with a load you can lift no more than 6 times the first set is ideal. The rest periods can be a little less than for maximal strength, however, it’s still ideal to get as much rest between exercises as possible. This is why, once again, I favor a circuit.

Here are three examples that all follow the rules I just mentioned, but each takes a slightly different path to the finish line. Use whichever version best suits your available time.

To Gain Lean Muscle Example #1

This first example is based on doing as many reps as your body can handle at any moment. Therefore, there’s not a target number of reps in each set. I wrote about this type of training, and the value of it, in my book Huge in a Hurry.

Load: start with a weight that allows no more than 6 reps for the first set and continue using that same starting weight until you complete 25 reps per exercise.

1A Upper body pull for as many reps as possible (AMRAP)
Rest 30 seconds
1B Upper body push for AMRAP
Rest 30 seconds
1C Squat or deadlift for AMRAP
Rest 30 seconds
1D Single-joint exercise (curl, calf raise, triceps extension, etc) for AMRAP

Rest 30 seconds and repeat 1A-1D until you reach 25 reps of each exercise

Example #2

Another way to reach 25 total reps is with the classic 5 sets of 5 reps (5×5) combination that Bill Starr made famous.

Load: the heaviest weight you can handle for 5 reps with each set. The load can change throughout the workout.

1A Upper body pull for 5 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1B Upper body push for 5 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1C Squat or deadlift for 5 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1D Single-joint exercise (curl, calf raise, triceps extension, etc) for 5 reps

Rest 30 seconds and repeat 1A-1D four more times (5 rounds total)

Example #3

In this example you’ll complete 8 rounds and do 3 reps per set. This is the type of training that most guys prefer because it works incredibly well to gain lean muscle fast.

Load: the heaviest weight you can handle for 3 reps with each set. The load can change throughout the workout.

1A Upper body pull for 3 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1B Upper body push for 3 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1C Squat or deadlift for 3 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1D Single-joint exercise (curl, calf raise, triceps extension, etc) for 3 reps

Rest 30 seconds and repeat 1A-1D seven more times (8 rounds total)

Three to five exercises per circuit in these full body workouts to gain lean muscle is recommended in any of the above three samples.

Be sure to revert back to part 1 since it’ll answer many of the program design questions that you’re probably asking yourself right now. In that installment I show you how to switch exercises throughout the week so you’re not repeating the same full body workouts.

In part 4 Chad will tell us about all the tricks he uses to create some of the most intense and effective fat-burning workouts you’ve ever seen.

Part 1 Gain Lean Muscle With Total Body Training

Part 2 Full Body Workouts Gain Lean Muscle Faster

Full Body Workouts Gain Lean Muscle Faster Part 2

Total Body Training – To Get Lean And Add Muscle

Today we are back with Chad Waterbury and his article series using full body workouts to gain lean muscle. Here is the link to part 1 Gain Lean Muscle With Total Body Training.

With the  information in this series you’ll have all the tools you need to make total body training to gain lean muscle work for you.

Training your entire body, each time you suit up for a workout, is the fastest way for 99% of lifters who look to gain lean muscle. I can’t make it any simpler than that. Full body workouts (aka total body training) is as popular as ever because that’s what the vast majority of lifters out there need.

Full Body Workouts Gain Lean Muscle Faster Part 2

Step #2: Perform a different exercise for each workout throughout the week.

 This is where lifters often get tripped up.

 If you try to do full body workouts that consists of the chin-up/dip/deadlift circuit three times per week you’ll get overtrained in no time.

Each workout throughout the week must consist of different variations of an upper body pull, upper body push, and squat, deadlift or lunge variation.

 Here’s a sample of weekly full body workouts.

Monday

1A Chin-up
1B Dip
1C Deadlift

Wednesday

1A One-arm row
1B One-arm shoulder press
1C Reverse lunge

Friday

1A Pull-up with a narrow grip
1B Decline dumbbell bench press
1C Front squat

Now you have a weekly full body workout plan that consists of different exercises in each workout.

Repeat this plan for 6 weeks, and then pick new exercises.

The exercises for your next 6-week phase don’t have to be drastically different. Simply switching from dumbbells to a barbell or kettlebells will do the trick.

For example, you could do the front squat with a barbell for 6 weeks, and then do a front squat while holding two kettlebells for the next 6 weeks. Or you could do a completely different exercise. It’s up to you and the equipment that’s available.

Step #3: Use a different rep scheme with each workout throughout the week.

Full body workouts are demanding and they’ll push your limits of recovery if you’re not used to them.

Therefore, one simple trick to help your body recover is to use a different number of reps per set in each workout. This, by the way, is just another way of telling you to vary the load throughout the week. You can’t use the same weight for a set of 10 as you use for a set of 3 reps.

Total Body Training For Lean Muscle Workouts

This is a good thing since different loads have a different impact on your nervous system. It’s easier for your nervous system to recover from three different loads throughout the week than it is for a constant load, especially if it’s heavy.

So let’s build on the sample full body workout plan we already have and add in the set/rep parameters.

Monday

Sets x Reps: 8×3

1A Chin-up
1B Dip
1C Deadlift

Wednesday

Sets x Reps: 5×5

1A One-arm row
1B One-arm shoulder press
1C Reverse lunge

Friday

Sets x Reps: 4×10

1A Pull-up with a narrow grip
1B Decline dumbbell bench press
1C Front squat

Now you have a weekly plan that consists of different exercises and different loads (reps) in each workout throughout the week.

This is how to make total body training work for natural guys who have a limited capacity to recover. I’ve never worked with a client who couldn’t recover from the above program, provided their nutrition and sleep are in order.

Here’s another trick if you’re really limited by the number of exercises you can do. Start by setting up a weekly plan that consists of the exercises that suit your available equipment. Use the same set/rep parameters I listed above. Do that plan for 6 weeks.

Then, when the 6 weeks are up you can alter the weekly plan by simply moving around the set/rep parameters from one workout to another.

Here’s what I mean.

Monday

Sets x Reps: 8×3

1A Pull-up with a narrow grip
1B Decline dumbbell bench press
1C Front squat

Wednesday

Sets x Reps: 5×5

1A Chin-up
1B Dip
1C Deadlift

Friday

Sets x Reps: 4×10

1A One-arm row
1B One-arm shoulder press
1C Reverse lunge

Now you have a whole new program to do for another 6 weeks while using the same exercises you did in the first phase.

In part 3I’ll explain how to modify a full body workout to burn fat, build

Chad Waterbury Full Body Workouts To Gain Lean Muscle And Burn Fat

 strength, or bring up a lagging body part.

There you go a plan for your full body workouts. Stay tuned I’ll be back with more from Chad soon.

In the mean time Train Hard Train Smart  Joe

P.S. Here is The Link To Part 1 if You Missed It

Gain Lean Muscle With Total Body Training

Gaining Lean Muscle Without Gaining Fat

Same as fat loss, gaining lean muscle begins with calories. Eat to many calories thinking that you'll keep gaining lean muscle won't work. You'll just get fat.

via fatburningdietsandworkouts.com

Lean Muscle Building For A Lean Athletic Gladiator Body

Lean Muscle Building

Where we train and diet to get that lean muscled athletic body. Strong, Lean, Healthy and Looking good in and out of your clothes.


The common advice of just sticking to the big lifts like deadlifts, squats, and bench presses is great if you just want to add muscle mass and get as big as you can.

That's how I trained for years, but as time has gone on I now prefer the more trim, angular dense muscle body type.

Gain LEAN Muscle For The Physique of A Gladiator

In movies, gladiators are lean, muscled warriors. Think of the X-shaped physique (we talked about with John Romaniello the other day) which means: lean dense muscle, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and strong, well-developed calves.


Gladiators fought lions, tigers, bears, and each other to the death. It’s not tough to see why gladiators have been glorified in movies, and it’s no mystery that most guys would kill to have a gladiator’s strength, stamina and, above all, lean muscled physique. They had dense muscles like hardened steel springs; they had the endurance and stamina to fight for hours on end; they were, beyond any doubt, badass.


For this gladiator workout, we’ll focus on making you look like a chiseled Hollywood gladiator, but with the strength, endurance and speed of an ancient one.


So let’s take a look at some steps to setting up an effecient and effective workout for lean muscle gains that could turn you, the average guy, into a lean muscled, modern day gladiator(without all the fighting).


In the end, these types of workouts will prepare you to face any challenge, catching the eye of the new girl at the office, competeing in your favorite sport and doing everyday chores — whether it’s moving a piece of furniture or building a deck.

Get Strong and Increase Muscle Density

I am not a machine guy, if you want lean muscle gains, strength and endurance with fat loss being an added plus Barbells, Dumbbells, Kettlebells and Bodyweight exercises. I wasn’t there but I’m pretty sure gladiators didn’t have all those fancy shiny machines. I like to do my workouts in a timed superset method. As an example:


1A) Incline Dumbell Bench

1B) Barbell Snatch


I set my timer for 15 or 20 minutes alternating back and forth. Max reps are 8 low reps 3, I pyramid my weights low to high. But my focus is to the heaviest weight ( I will usually do 2-3 sets with the heaviest weight). Rest is 30-45 seconds between exercises.


So, for these workouts, you’ll be dealing with free weights, kettlebells and bodyweight. Focus on big movements that use lots of muscles at once. The snatch grip deadlift is one of my favorites.


Get Tough Train To Endure


The lean muscle is great (she loves it) the strength (functional for everyday life), but you also need endurance (should you like a gladiator ever need to throw down strength is needed but so is endurance think MMA fighters).


This is where doing your workouts in circuits come in, taking rests only when you absolutely need it. Move from one muscle group to the next without breaks. Hit the bench, dive right into rows, do some squats, then do it all over again until you’re worn out.


You’ll build anaerobic endurance and the ability to lift heavy and long without crapping out. Alternate this endurance workout with your strength workout week by week for the perfect gladiator workout.


You’ll also need aerobic endurance — strong lungs. Here is the sample interval training workout from the 5 part lean muscle gains series I posted:


Minute 1: Walk at 3.5 mph

Minute 2: Jog 7.0 mph

Minute 3: Walk at 3.5 mph

Minute 4: Jog 7.5 mph

Minute 5: Walk at 3.5 mph

…

Minute 14: Running Hard (10-12 mph)

Minute 15: Walk at 3.5 mph


I also believe in doing some steady state long distance cardio read more about it in the lean muscle gains series and as an example try this:

Get outside for a distance run:. Alternate a fast pace with a more laid-back one and throw in a few all-out sprints. Do this type of run at least three times a week. It’s the easiest way to prime your lungs for maximum effort.

If your gym has a pool, consider swimming. It’s the most aerobically intense workout known to fitness trainers, and it’ll really get your cardiovascular system in shape.

So there you have some basic’s to set up a gladiator workout. As usual the idea is for building lean muscle, strength and unstoppable endurance. Stay with me here I have alot more info, workouts and healthy eating tips coming.

Lean Muscle Building For
That Lean Athletic Hollywood Body

For more on gaining lean dense muscle and fat burning cardio check out these other articles:

1 - Building The Lean Muscled X Shaped Physique

2 - Adding Muscle To Your Shoulders