When it comes to fat loss, most people embark on a program of cardio paring it with a strict diets. Strength training is just an afterthought. Strength training, however, can burn just as much, if not more, fat than cardio. Why is it that people focus on cardio as their primary fat burner if they don’t have a personal trainer? For one thing cardio does shrink you down. But it does just that: it shrinks down both your fat and muscle. You end skinny and soft. Bodybuilders, however, want to retain or even build muscle while burning off fat which is why they do strength training for fat loss.
Studies show that a well-designed strength program can elevate your metabolism for up to 38 hours after the workout. In other words, you continue to burn calories long after strength training. Whereas once you stop cardio, the calorie burning stops as well.
When doing resistance (strength) training your body will burn fat and you increase lean muscle mass, giving you that desired definition every person wants. Resistance training also increases your daily metabolic rate. Therefore you should focus on strength training and watch what you eat, instead of doing lots of extra cardio do burn calories. One of the ways to make strength training workout help you to burn more calories, not only during your workout, but also up to 2 day after, is to incorporate a metabolic complex at the end of your strength training workout as a ‘finisher’ Metabolic Complex is a series for resistance exercises that are performed for multiple reps, using the same piece of equipment. (Complex – full body circuit).
DUMBBELL COMPLEX
Uppercut
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart while holding a dumbbell in front of each shoulder. Press or punch one dumbbell into the air as you rotate to the opposite side. Reverse the motion and press while rotating to the other side.
Squat to Romanian Dead lift
Stand with your feet hip-width and hold dumbbells above your shoulders. Perform a squat by bending your knees and sitting back at your hips. As you squat, make sure all your weight is on heels and make sure your concentrate on pushing your knees out . Stand tall again and bring the dumbbells in front of your thighs. Keep your back straight, hinge at your hips and bend forward toward the floor, keeping your knees bent at slightly. As you hinge forward, drive your hips backward. Once your torso is parallel to the floor, drive your hips forward toward the dumbbells, reversing the motion to stand tall again.
Freestanding One-arm Row
Assume a split-stance position, with both knees slightly bent, and hold a dumbbell with your left hand. Hinge at your hips, keeping your back straight so that your torso becomes parallel with the floor. Perform a row, pulling the dumbbell toward your body without rotating the shoulders or hips, as your arm moves next to your body. Be sure to maintain a stable spinal position, keeping your back straight throughout the exercise. Slowly lower the dumbbell and repeat on the other side.
Reverse Lunge
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and a barbell across your shoulders behind your head. Step backward with one foot and drop your body so your knee lightly touches the floor. Reverse the movement by coming out of the lunge and bringing the same foot forward so that you are back to your starting position. Perform the same movement on the opposite leg.
Overhead Push Press
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the barbell in front on your shoulders and hold with your hands just outside the shoulders. Slightly bend your knees and quickly dip the motion, exploding into the bar and driving the barbell overhead locking both your arms and legs in a coordinated fashion. Once the bar is completely overhead, slowly lower the barbell back down to complete one full rep.
Bent-over Row
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a barbell with your hands outside each hip. Bend over at your hips, keeping your back straight so that your torso is parallel to the floor and keeping your knees bent slightly bent and bum back. Row the bar into the middle of your torso between your chest and your belly button. Slowly lower the bar without allowing it to contact the floor until the set is completed.
Wide-Grip Romanian Dead lift
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a barbell in front of your thighs with your arms straight and your hands placed on the bar outside each hip. Keeping your back straight, hinge at your hips and bend forward toward the floor, keeping your knees slightly bent. As you hinge forward, drive your hips backward.
Use the heaviest load possible to complete the reps while moving quickly with good form and control. You should perform 6 to 15 reps per exercise and 3 to 5 sets per complex. It is recommended that you use a higher number of repetitions for the easier exercises (the ones you’re strongest at performing) within a complex and use a lower number of repetitions for the most difficult exercises (the ones you’re weakest at performing).
There is no rest between exercises within a given complex (unless you need to take a quick breath). However, you should rest from 90 seconds to 3 minutes between complexes.
