Get the exact workout my client Michael used in order to drop 25 lbs, cut his body fat by 11%, and go from no-pack to 6-pack abs in only 10-weeks
What if I told you there is a workout strategy, you aren’t using, that could literally cut your body fat in half and get you six-pack abs in only 10-weeks?
Interested? Keep reading.
Let me introduce you to my client Michael who did just that.
Like a lot of the guys I work with, he was in decent shape already. You could tell he worked out and he had a bit of muscle mass. Not bad, but certainly not great.
After I got him warmed up, he talked about his goals with the confidence of a wet sock. It took some probing and prodding but he eventually said, “I’d like to look like Chris Evans from Captain America.”
He trailed off a bit at the end. I couldn’t tell if this was a question or a statement…
Further, I could see by his tone and body language that he seemed embarrassed for even mentioning it. He lacked confidence, self-assurance, and presence of any kind.
He was far from Captain America. We had work to do.
Fast forward 10-weeks and the same guy walks into the gym, but there is something distinctly different about him…
He’s not overly bulky, but he fills out a t-shirt well. The striations in his arms, chiseled jawline, and V-taper shape in his tight t-shirt scream athletic alpha male.
He looks like he could be on the cover of Men’s Health or even starring in next summer’s superhero action blockbuster.
He walks with confidence, with purpose, and a bravado reserved for… well – that of Captain America.
In only 10-weeks Michael used the workout strategy I’m going to outline below to drop 25 lbs., cut his body fat by 11%, and go from no-pack to six-pack while working out only 4 hours per week!
Want to get the EXACT workout Michael used to make his mind-blowing transformation? Enter your name and email below and I’ll send it to you for FREE:
Just so you don’t think this was a fluke… this is my client Lane who cut his body fat by more than half from 17% down to 7% while adding 5 lbs. of lean muscle mass in only 16-weeks. These are just two of my many Superzero-to-Superhero transformations.
These are the type of results that can be achieved with a style of training called Metabolic Resistance Training. Don’t worry, I’ll explain what Metabolic Resistance Training is, why it works, how to use, and I’ll even provide an example workout below.
Full Body Workouts: Less Time But Better Results
Gone are the days of one body part per day bro splits, single sets, and beach workouts. And you can forget about skipping leg day ever again in favor of a Friday afternoon happy hour.
Instead, you’ll be doing full body metabolic workouts 3 – 4 times per week…
And when I say full body, I mean FULL body including your upper body AND your legs. As a result, these workouts are as tougher than a gypsy bare-knuckle boxing champion. And they will challenge you both physically and mentally.
(Fighting a gypsy bare-knuckle boxing champion would challenge you both physically and mentally as well. And it would be pretty damn metabolic too in case you rather try that instead.)
On the upside, your body fat will plummet as a result of these workouts. Even better, your abs will be turning heads in no time.
As a bonus, these workouts will not take all day. You’ll be in and out of the gym in 40 – 45 minutes max. Let’s be honest, unless you are in college nobody has time to spend all day in the gym anymore. And if you’re in college, I’ll await my invitation to party at your most glorious sorority houses 😉
Adults have careers, responsibilities, girlfriends/boyfriends, spouses, and even kids. In other words, people got shit to do so the workouts are designed to be in-n-out, protein style.
To summarize, the intensity is high so the duration is short. And many of my clients appreciate that because they (like you) are busy and don’t want to spend all day in the gym.
What is Metabolic Resistance Training (MRT)?
The type of training you’ll be using to make your superzero-to-superhero transformation is called Metabolic Resistance Training… or MRT for the cool kids “in the know.”
Metabolic Resistance Training is kind of like igniting the fat burning furnace that’s been lying dormant inside your body – except, instead of lighting it with a puny little lighter you’re going to light it with a gigantic flame thrower.
More technically speaking, MRT is simply the combination of strength training and cardio. It’s a match made in gym heaven like creatine and carbs or hot girls and yoga pants (my personal favorite).
To expand, metabolic resistance training is simply a group of mostly multi-joint free weight exercises performed with little to zero rest targeting the entire body.
Here’s an example of how a typical MRT circuit would be structured:
1. Lower Body: Quad dominant.
2. Upper Body: Push (overhead or horizontal).
3. Upper Body: Pull (vertical or horizontal).
4. Lower Body: Hip dominant.
5. Core: Stabilization or abdominal exercise.
The goal is to hit the entire body with each of the five different types of movements. There is nothing dogmatic about the order of the exercises…
But stacking the leg movements next to each other can a little too challenging on your cardiovascular system and core (especially lower back). I recommend keeping the leg exercises separated by one or two upper body movements… unless you want to pass out, throw up, or wreck your back.
The Secret Sauce Behind MRT
Unlike McDonald’s I’m going to tell you what’s in the secret sauce so you know exactly why Metabolic Resistance Training works so well…
There are 4 reasons this type of training is so effective at burning fat, improving conditioning, and building rock-hard lean muscle mass:
1. Increased energy expenditure in the gym
MRT training is super intense because it targets large muscle groups with BIG movements and gets your heart going FAST. Like, really fast. Like, is-this-normal- oh-my-god- my-heart- is-going- to-beat- out-of- my-chest- am-I- having-a-heart-attack fast.
As a result, the amount of energy you use during your workout will be 2 – 3 times more than your “regular” workout. It’s not uncommon to burn 500+ calories during a typical MRT session. Compare that to a “regular” workout where you might burn 200 – 300 calories max… and that’s if you push yourself.
To give you a better idea of what metabolic resistance training can do, I took some stats using a heart rate monitor during my workout last week.
- Workout Duration: 45:02
- Calories Burned: 563
- Avg Heart Rate: 134 bpm
- Max Heart Rate: 163 bpm
I took these stats using my Polar FT7 heart rate monitor with chest strap.
Notice, the entire workout only took 45-min and I burned a total of 563 calories in that time. This doesn’t even include any post-workout calorie burn!
Also, notice my heart rate got up to a maximum of 163 bpm, which is pretty damn high for a weight training session.
2. Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)
Another reason metabolic resistance training is so effective is because of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. This is also called EPOC for short…
Yay! More acronyms. Try this:
Gym-speak: “My BPM is high AF due to MRT causing EPOC, which elevated my TDEE to the point I’m finally getting T&J.”
Translation: My heart rate beats per minute is high as fuck due to Metabolic Resistance Training causing excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, which elevated my total daily energy expenditure to the point I’m finally getting tanned and jacked 😎
EPOC is commonly referred to as the “after-burn effect.” To explain, EPOC is kind of like compounding interest. When you earn compounding interest, your money – which you’ve already saved – works for you and earns you even more money. Compounding interest is interest on top of interest.
Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is when your body continues to burn even more fat after you’ve already finished your fat-burning workout.
You might be sitting on the couch watching Billions, but guess what? You’re still burning fat, even more fat than you already burned when you were actually at the gym.
EPOC is fat burning on top of fat burning without you having to do anything.
The most popular study on this topic shows that calorie expenditure can remain elevated for up to 38-hours post-exercise. Which is pure fat burning awesomeness, guaranteed to get you lean as hell — fast AF.
A 25-min MRT workout is exponentially better than a 60-min steady-state cardio workout or even a 60-min traditional lifting session…
That assessment is based on fat loss, muscle gain, cardiovascular health, athletic performance, and hormonal response. Additional studies and research on MRT can be found here.
“Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, burns fat… he who doesn’t… stores it. EPOC is the most powerful force in the universe.” – Jackson Bloore
3. Increased testosterone and growth hormone
It’s no secret that increases in testosterone and growth hormone are strongly correlated with increases in lean muscle mass and decreases in body fat.
According to this study, “Protocols high in volume, moderate to high in intensity, using short rest intervals and stressing a large muscle mass, tend to produce the greatest acute hormonal elevations (e.g. testosterone, GH and the catabolic hormone cortisol) compared with low-volume, high-intensity protocols using long rest intervals.”
To translate, in case you don’t speak science…
This means Metabolic Resistance Training which stresses high volume, high intensity, short rest periods, and large muscle groups… is far superior for stimulating testosterone and growth hormone than traditional workouts with low volume and long rest periods like most gym-goers tend to do.
4. Increased work capacity
Increased work capacity is simply increasing your body’s ability to do work.
It’s kind of like your body’s version of raising the credit limit on your American Express. With your current credit limit you can only spend so much before you max out.
Wouldn’t life be a lot more interesting and a lot more fun if you could raise that limit by an extra $50,000?
Yeah, it’s kind of like that except for your body.
By increasing work capacity you’re able to train more frequently, for longer durations, and more intensely. The benefits from this should be obvious: more gains in lean muscle mass, more fat loss, more caloric expenditure, etc.
Additionally, there is also a strong psychological benefit to “getting better” including happiness, confidence, and motivation. Tony Robbins has often been quoted as saying, “Progress equals happiness.”
Not only are you getting physically better but you’re also getting mentally and emotionally better. Hell and YES!
Common Mistakes with Metabolic Resistance Training
Mistake #1 – Resting too long
Whether you are resting too much between exercises or circuit rounds… this critical mistake can ruin your workout by eliminating all the fat loss benefits. This will take what was a perfect workout and turn it into a shitty strength training circuit.
When it comes to MRT circuits… a general rule of thumb is to rest no more than 20s between exercises and no more than 2-min between circuit rounds. Taking it up a notch, I often opt for 10s rest intervals between exercises and 90s between circuit rounds.
That means you are literally moving from one exercise to the next with a sense of purpose and urgency like a man on fire… Denzel style. C’mon, King Kong ain’t got shit on you!
To provide perspective… if you aren’t sweating your ass off and your heart isn’t beating out of your chest — you’re probably resting too long and not working hard enough.
On the flip side, if you are following the designated rest periods, but your heart still isn’t beating that fast… you most likely need to increase the weight to produce the desired metabolic effect.
Mistake #2 – Using baby weights
Another way of ruining an otherwise perfect fat loss workout faster than cookies, cake, and ice cream is using baby weights during your MRT circuits.
Metabolic Resistance Training is the combination of STRENGTH TRAINING and CARDIO. It doesn’t count as strength training if you are a 35-year old male and you’re squatting the same weight as my 38-year old sister who’s a mother of four.
Conversely, ladies – you must put down the 3 pound weights and pick up some real iron. I promise, you aren’t going to bulk up with this routine. If you do, feel free to come to California and you can kick me in the junk as payback.
This woman didn’t build this body by throwing around 3 lbs. weights in a spin class while peddling her ass away – literally. She did short, intense workouts using appropriately heavy weights. She certainly wasn’t born with glutes like that. If you’re a guy reading this, well – enjoy the sights and send this guide to your girlfriend or wife.
Keep a keen eye on your heart rate when performing your MRT circuits. If you are adhering to your resting periods as outlined above, but your heart rate just isn’t elevating like it should… you are probably using weights that are simply too light. Good news, you’re stronger than you think 😉
To prove this works for female fat loss here’s my client Amanda who lost 27 lbs. and cut 13% body fat using MRT circuits. Contrary to the commonly held belief… lifting weights did not make her bulky or bigger. She got thinner, tighter, toned, and smaller while losing weight and cutting body fat.
In order to ensure you are always using an appropriate weight… aim to increase the weights across all exercises for a given circuit during each workout for several weeks. I’ll do this for a cycle lasting between 4 – 6 weeks. Even an increase of 2.5 to 5 lbs. each week per exercise is going to help you maintain continuous progress.
The real goal is to increase the total volume for each workout. If you are tracking your sets and reps in an app like Strong or RepCount this should be very easy to measure. Each app automatically calculates and displays the total volume for each workout.
If tracking by hand in your Notes app on your phone or even in an old-school training journal, this will still be pretty damn easy. Simply look at the weights from last week, and make sure you either do:
- More weight for the same number of reps.
- More reps for the same amount of weight.
Either way the total volume for the workout will be increased.
If you aren’t making either of those 2 critical mistakes (resting too long or using baby weights) then you’re probably doing alright alright alright.
Your form might still be jacked up and you may hurt yourself… but at least you’ll be burning a shitload of fat and looking super shredded when you’re getting an MRI.
Just kidding, but seriously – if you aren’t sure on your form hire a good trainer to help you or start learning proper technique on your own.
You can watch some of my YouTube videos or follow me on Instagram. I post a lot of how-to images and video on proper form. If you want more personalized assistance, you can apply to my online coaching program here.
The Alpha MRT Circuit
The circuit below is inspired by one of my favorite books, Man 2.0 Engineering The Alpha by John Romaniello and Adam Bornstein. It’s similar to one of the circuits they outline in the book with a few small modifications to make it a little easier to do in a commercial gym and to increase the intensity and fat burning. Here’s the circuit:
- Goblet Squat 10-12 reps
- Incline Dumbbell Press 8-10 reps
- Single-arm DB Row 6-8 reps
- DB Romanian DL 12-15 reps
- Up & Down Plank 30s
Directions: Perform exercises 1-5 sequentially in a circuit fashion. Rest no more than 20s max between exercises.
The point is to keep moving and keep the pace and intensity high. If you’re a beginner or intermediate, rest 2-min between circuit rounds. If you’re advanced, rest 90s between circuit rounds. After finishing all 4 rounds of circuit #1 rest 3-4 minutes before beginning circuit #2.
A 90s rest means you’re doing reps again at the 90s mark, not sitting down and thinking about it while swiping right on Tinder or Grindr. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. Shame shame I know your name.
You can perform this circuit on its own for a quick 25-min workout… or pair it with another slightly less intense circuit to complete a full 45-min fat blasting session.
After 4 rounds of this circuit… you won’t have the stomach for 4 more rounds of anything at the same intensity level if you’ve done it right. If you aren’t dying after 4 rounds, go back and read Common Mistakes With Metabolic Resistance Training. You’re either doing something wrong or you’re a specimen like Rich Froning.
(If you’d like to get a detailed description of the entire 45-min workout including the 2nd circuit, exercise cues, and links to videos explaining each exercise… scroll to the bottom of this post. Enter your name and email and I’ll send it to you for FREE.)
One of the major benefits of this circuit is that it can be done in a crowded commercial gym. All you need is an adjustable bench, a single dumbbell for the goblet squat/single arm row, and a set of dumbbells for the Romanian deadlift. You’ll stay in your little section crushing your full-body workout… while everyone else wastes time roaming around the gym looking for their next machine.
Tips For Your Success
- Set everything up before you begin. I often have clients use the same weight for the Goblet Squat and Single Arm Dumbbell Row in the example above… when working in a crowded gym. It’s not perfect, but it’s much easier to setup.
- Use weight that challenges you. Try to increase weight 2.5 – 5 lbs. each time you perform the circuit until you max out. Aim for failure or damn close to it in the specified rep range.
- Use a slow and controlled 4-0-1-0 tempo for all exercises except the Up & Down Plank. That’s 4s on the negative, 0s rest, 1s on the positive, and 0s rest before the next rep. For example, on a chest press the positive is pressing the weight up and the negative is lowering the weight.
Keep in mind that MRT, while incredibly effective and time efficient, isn’t for complete newbies. It’s also not for anyone who’s morbidly obese unless you possess ninja like agility.
If you’re brand new to the gym… you’ll need to work on your cardiovascular capacity, strength, and mobility before starting a more intermediate to advanced training protocol like this.
Lastly, metabolic resistance training is only part of the equation. You cannot out-train a terrible diet. Let me repeat, you cannot out-train a terrible diet even with something as potent and powerful as MRT. Read How To Lose Weight Without Counting Calories or Intermittent Fasting For Rapid Fat Loss for more info on effective nutritional strategies.
Action Items for Your Success
- Start MRT today. Begin incorporating full-body Metabolic Resistance Training into your regular workout routine at least 2 – 4 times per week.
- Plan your workout. Follow the guidelines above to create your own metabolic workout, use the 45-min example workout I provided in this guide… or you can apply for my online coaching program and I can create and customize the workouts specifically for you. Whatever you do, get a plan.
- Follow a 1-on 1-off or 2-on 1-off scheduling protocol. That means for every 1 – 2 days you do MRT, take 1 day off to rest and recover. And make sure you schedule your workouts on your calendar, block the time off, and protect it. This will ensure you actually go to the gym and workout.
For example, if doing a 4x per week program workout Monday and Tuesday, take Wednesday off, workout Thursday and Friday, and take the weekend off. If doing a 3x per week program workout Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
If you’re hardcore, you can do a 10 – 15 minute HIIT Cardio Workout on an off day, but that’s it. Otherwise, stretch and foam roll to speed recovery.