UPDATE December 2016: It’s hard to believe that I wrote this program over 20 years ago. It’s still stands as a terrific option for anyone who wants a weight training program that will cause significant and reliable fat loss – while preserving, or increasing, muscle. Clients, past and present, will recognize it as “the 1 minute time under tension routine”.
In any case, with the New Year just around the corner, many of you might find this post very useful. Enjoy.
(This Program is also known as “The XFL Program”)
“Congratulations! You have found your way to one of the fastest and best ways to lose fat and/or bodyweight. You are in good company. MANY men and women have tried this program and been quite impressed with the results. I love it when a good plan comes together. Read on and enjoy!” – Paul Newt
WELCOME to The EXTREME Fat Loss Program… I will NOT waste much time here trying to explain why it is a FACT that lifting free weights is the superior method for getting the body you want. I will NOT try convincing the aerobic and cardio addicts out there that you are ultimately wasting your time, painting yourself into a corner. What I will do is relate to you a weight training system that can help you get much LEANER (lose fat and keep your muscle!). This weight training program is quick, efficient, and reliable. If bodyfat loss is your goal, then using The Extreme Fat Loss Program is one of the most effective ways to spend your time at the gym.
REMOVING YOUR SUBJECTIVE OBJECTIONS
Let us imagine for a second that using FREE WEIGHTS ONLY in a specific format will allow you to achieve the lowest bodyfat percentage in the shortest amount of time with the highest degree of retention (you will stay lean). You might ask, “What would such a format look like?” After I begin to tell you, you might be tempted to ask questions like: “Shouldn’t I do at least SOME cardio? You need cardio for fat loss, right?”, “I heard that if you want lose weight you should only do high reps – because low reps are for only for bulking up… Right?”, “You just have to eat more protein, right? My cousin is a bodybuilder, he said…”
And ON and ON it goes. Let me tell you something- the older I get, the more I realize that most people have NO IDEA what they are talking about. People say lots of things and 99% of it is just hot air. “They” do this. “They” do that… If I had a nickel for every person’s FAILED THEORIES of how to lose weight…
“WHO CARES WHAT “THEY” DO!?!”
What are YOU doing? IS IT WORKING? Because if it isn’t working, what is the point of dedicating all that time to it? Are you happy with your body? Are you confident that you know how to take off any extra bodyfat anytime you want to? Or have you become frustrated or even depressed because your body is a complete mystery to you? You think you just need MORE cardio and LESS food, and then, finally, you will get that flab off. You are dead wrong. You exercise “all the time” and hardly cheat on your diet at at all and you still have that extra flab you can’t get rid of. Why isn’t it working? I happen to know WHY and I am here to offer you one possible solution to your problem. But, first you have to do me a favor…
FORGET WHAT YOU MAY HAVE HEARD AND WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW!
You are getting the truth right here for FREE so pay attention. And, hey, let’s face it… if you had the answers, you would be lean already and you wouldn’t be reading this article.
The following program flat out WORKS like nothing you have seen before. It works better than your 1 hour of cardio everyday. It works better than the Atkin’s diet. It works better than trying to quickly lose 30 pounds by cutting off your arm. Okay, well maybe YOUR ARM doesnt weight 30 pounds, but you get my point…
With that said… let’s get down to outlining this weight training program so you can start ripping the fat off fast!
Here is The XFL PROGRAM SHORT VERSION first: 1.4-6 weight training sessions per week. 2.Each session lasts 60 minutes.** 3.You will do 30 sets per session. 4.Each set will take about 60 seconds to complete. 5.You will rest a maximum of 60 seconds between each set. 6.Cardio is NOT recommended and can actually reduce the effectiveness of this training program.
**Why does each weight training session last almost exactly 60 minutes? Because, (30 sets x 1 minute per set) + (30 rest periods between each set x 1 minute per rest period) = 60 minutes.
This general format was first presented to me by Charles Poliquin in a Canadian Strength Seminar in 1997. Charles refers to this system as “Body Composition Training”. In recent years, this system has been copied, renamed, and promoted by various individuals under new names such as “Meltdown Training” and “Fat to Fire”. These systems seek the same goals and utilize the same general loading parameters.
I will provide a similar version here that I have developed through trial and error. Although many incarnations of this training format are possible, I extend credit to Charles Poliquin to being the first to introduce “Body Composition Training”.
This kind of weight training can take a woman from 20% bodyfat to 12% bodyfat in 12 weeks when properly applied to a motivated trainee.
MORE SPECIFICS
Personally, for body composition training, I like to use a 3-day split routine (the whole body is worked in 3 training days). This is the specific 3-Day Split we will use with The Extreme Fat Loss Program:
3-DAY SPLIT Routine
Day 1 – Legs and Triceps
Day 2 – Chest and Biceps
Day 3 – Back and Shoulders
So, just to clarify, The XFL Program is just ONE version of many of Body Composition Training. It is a well-organized template that is easy to implement and most clients seem to enjoy it. I have other, more sophicated versions, that I will save for another article or blog post.
So, training 2 bodyparts per day means you need to perform: • 15 sets per bodypart (15 x 2 = 30 sets per workout).
• Using 3 exercises per bodypart, with 5 sets per exercise gives us the desired 15 sets.
However, you may decide you would like to do more exercises and less sets per exercise- (5 exercises of 3 sets each), or more sets and fewer exercises per bodypart (one exercise for 15 sets), but that one could get a little monotonous.
There is an optimal combination here, based on the desired training effect within body composition training parameters, and the trainee’s personal disposition and psychology. Feel free to experiment as long as you maintain the 15 sets lasting 60 seconds each per bodypart.
I am sure you can begin to see that there are quite a few ways to arrange this system. Let’s say I want to train 3 bodyparts per session; that would give me 10 sets per bodypart. But, let’s say that I need more work on one of the muscles; maybe I do 20 sets for that bodypart and 5 sets each on the other two. Get the idea?
With that in mind, I provide the following version as an EXAMPLE. You can use it, I have. I like it, but I have created other versions as well.
THE WORKOUTS
Here they are- the SAMPLE WORKOUTS of The Extreme Fat Loss Program:
DAY 1 – Legs and Triceps
A) Full Squats (all the way down!) :warmup, then 2 sets x 10 reps.
B) Split Squats 3 sets x 6 reps EACH LEG.
C) Extra-Wide-Stance Box Squats 3×15 or Hack Squats 3×8
D) Bent-legged Deadlifts 1×20
E) Standing Calf Raises 3×15
F) Pullovers 2×10
G) Closegrip Bench Press 4×6
H) Lying Triceps Dumbbell Extensions 3×8
I) Overhead Triceps Extensions with EZ-Curl Bar 3×8
J) Rope Pushdowns 3×10
Not familiar with these exercises?
Learning new exercises is like learning new words. When you learn new words, you can communicate more precisely to the people around you. When you learn new exercises, you can communicate more specifically with your body. One of the most complete collections of bodybuilding exercises I have ever had the pleasure of holding in my hands was the age-old classic, Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding
DAY 2 – Chest and Biceps
A) Incline DB Press :warmup, then 4 sets x 6 reps
B) Flat Dumbell Flyes 5×5
C) Flat Barbell Press 4 sets x 6 reps
D) Incline Dumbbell Flyes 2×12
E) Standing Barbell Curls 4×6
F) Reverse Curls 4×6
G) Incline Dumbbell Curls 3×8
H) Standing Hammer Curls 4×8
DAY 3 – Back and Shoulders
A) Wide-Grip Overhand Pulldowns:warmup, then 4 sets x 6 reps (squeeze/pause at chest for 2 seconds each rep)
B) Medium-Grip Overhand or Crescent Bar Seated Cable Rows 3×8
C) Rear Lateral Raises 3×8
D) Underhand grip Pulldowns 3×8
E) Single-Arm Dumbbell Rows 1×8 EACH ARM
F) Single-Arm Side Lateral Raises 2×10 EACH ARM
G) Upright Rows 3×10
H) Rope Rows to Chin 2×12
I) Overhand Closegrip Pulldowns 3×8
J) Seated Dumbell Military Press 3×8
By the way, if you still are skeptical about the FACT that you can get ripped without doing cardio, try this routine for just a week and let me know if you change your mind.
IMPORTANT NOTES!
Remember… Make each set last 60 seconds. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to complete 6 reps or 20 reps; make the set last 60 seconds using the most weight you can handle: •FEMALE TRANSLATION – If you can complete EVERY rep of every set, then the weights are TOO LIGHT! Safely challenge yourself and USE MORE WEIGHT. It is okay if you don’t complete every rep of every set. Make adjustments to keep challenging your strength. • MALE TRANSLATION – If you cannot complete ANY of the sets to the 60 second mark, then the weights are TOO HEAVY! Lighten the weight a little. Using a challenging weight and completely the 60 seconds are of equal importance. It is okay if you CAN (barely) complete almost every rep of every set. Move up next time. If it is too easy make the form harder and stricter.
IN CONCLUSION
There you have it! Try this routine for the next 4 weeks. Three or four weeks is a reasonable time frame for evaluating almost any training program. Keep in mind that there is NO PERFECT ROUTINE. This means you CAN’T stay on this or any other routine FOREVER. In the short term, you will feel the benefit of any routine. In the long term, you will feel the shortcomings of any routine. Think “new stimulus, new adaptation”. Coach Charles Poliquin has said, “a training routine is only as good as the time it takes your body to ADAPT to it”, and, “the only constant in your routine should be CHANGE”. Think carefully about these statements.
GOOD LUCK!
