5 weeks on Saturday I fly out on vacation to this stunning place . . .

It’s Lake Como in Italy! to say I am excited would be a major understatement.

It’s time to step up training and put my body through an intense fat loss phase.

I have already been in fat loss training mode for 5 weeks prior to writing this, so in total it will be a 10 week fat loss phase. For the next 5 weeks I am going to up my game, taking training to a whole new level, tailoring most of my training sessions towards fat loss.

Here is a handful of some of my Secret Weapons (the tool box!) of tricks I am going to be using to annihilate body fat for my holiday:

1) LISS Cardio (Low Intensity Steady State)

Will be used towards the end of my fat loss phase (last 2-3 weeks). LISS cardio is very light to moderate exercise like walking or cycling, where the emphasis is more on fuel burning as opposed to hard training (weights or HIIT). Training sessions will usual last between 30 and 60 minutes.

2) HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

Will be used for the first 2-3 weeks. HIIT sessions will last between 8-15 minutes and be super intense. HIIT training involves bouts of maximal exertion followed by a recovery period e.g. 15s sprint, followed by 45s walk. There’s no doubt that HIIT training is one of the most effective fat loss methods. Here’s my first HIIT workout of the 5 week phase. Give it a go . . .

3) Weight Training 

It’s simple. Resistance training is the best way to burn body fat, the more muscle you have the better of your going to be going into a fat loss phase. Muscle is your friend when it comes to fat loss.

My volume of sessions will increase slightly for the first 2-3 weeks, whilst my calories are still fairly high. I will continue to keep compound movements throughout the next 5 weeks to keep strength up as much as possible. With any fat loss phase it’s inevitable that strength will decline slightly, so that’s why I am sticking to the bread and butter exercise like the squat, deadlift, bench press and rows.

4) Calorie Cycling

(High, medium and lower calorie days)-depending on training volume (Sets and reps) and depending on what muscles are getting trained (BIG muscles will be high calorie days, and vice versa for smaller muscle groups).

At the moment my calories for the week will be around 20,300:

How this will work . . .

• High calorie day : 3,300 calories x  3 days per week (1:Chest + shoulders, 2:Legs and 3:Back training)
• Medium calorie day : 2,800 calories x 2 days per week (1:arms and 2:abs)
• Low calorie day : 2,400 calories x 2 days per week (rest days)

5) Carb Cycling (High, Medium and Low carb days)

My plans for now are to have 3 high carb days, 2 medium and 2 low carb days. This is to boost insulin sensitivity and tap into fat stores on low carb days.

WARNING!

With any fat loss programme it’s important not to use all your secret weapons at once. Start with 1 or 2 strategies and see how you get on. In the past sometimes all I have done is manipulated my diet. With clients I never use all the strategies above all at once, I use different ones at different times depending on progress and what suits the client. I would usually recommend a period of 16-20 weeks for a sustainable fat loss phase, but again that’s subject to each individual, it depends on their starting place, and training experience, to name but a few.

If your looking to do fat loss and struggling to know where to start, what to do, etc, hire a coach who can teach you the ropes and apply the best strategies for where you are right now. With the right plan in place, dedication, accountability to yourself and your coach . . . . anything is possible.

If your based in Sheffield and looking to Annihilate body fat give me a holla!

Nick