The New Fit Journal is a series exploring the New Fit Movement.

In preparation for the March New Fit Challenge (hint hint!!) we wanted to get out a primer on Metabolic Conditioning.

Many have questioned our short training sessions. All that subsequently tried them quickly changed their minds. What is this Metabolic Conditioning we speak of and why is it better than traditional cardio sessions?

Let’s start with what “better” means. By better we mean:

• You will burn much more fat
• You will gain much more lean muscle tissue. This means you avoid getting skinny fat … I.E. your legs and butt will be small AND tight rather than small and flabby with cottage cheese
• You will be more physically fit and generally prepared for the real challenges of life

Traditional cardio entails long boring sessions. You try to get your heart rate to a “target” and then keep it there for 45 to 60 minutes. During this time you burn calories in order to create an energy deficit netting weight loss (loss of both fat and lean muscle). Of course this gets erased if your diet isn’t in tuned with the math. And if it is, you work your butt off fighting the food cravings. Lovely, isn’t it?

Enter Metabolic Conditioning: compound, functional movements performed at high intensities. Let’s look at each term.

Compound means that more than 1 joint is used. A squat uses the hips and knees. A pushup uses the shoulders and elbows. In contrast, a bicep curl uses only the elbow and a leg extension uses only the knees. Compound movements require more energy to perform and target more areas of the body at once. In other words, you get the most bang for your buck.

Functional movements are those that our bodies were designed to perform. They are movements we perform each day. We squat down to pick something up. We push a door open. We press objects overhead to put them on shelves. Because they are functional, because our bodies were designed to do them, they are safe.

High Intensity: This simply means that you are working VERY hard. You can use heart rate to get an idea of this but it really comes down to how hard you are pushing. When you are working at a rate that could only be sustained for 20 seconds or less, that’s really high intensity. This means sprinting, squatting hard and fast, pushing hard and fast, and breathing heavy.

When you put these 3 things together (Compound, Functional, and High Intensity) you have a ridiculously effective formula for fast workouts that maximize fat burning potential. This is because of the hormone response created when they body is under this kind of physical stress. There are several hormones released but the 2 we are most interested in are Human Growth Hormone and Testosterone.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is released to repair the tissue damage inflicted by the session. HGH is notorious in the sport, fitness and film industries for being able to burn fat and increase lean muscle mass. Athletes, fitness models, actors, and actresses pay big money for either underground purchases or “Hollywood doctor” prescriptions for this stuff. With Barenakd you get it cheap and from your very own pharmacist: your pituitary gland.

Testosterone is another fat burner. Women have significantly less testosterone than men which is why women also hold about 10% more body fat on average. Of course men also have facial hair so again you must trust your pituitary glad to dispense the right dose post workout. Oh and warning, the extra testosterone will likely increase your sex drive.

Aside from the physical benefits, the really great thing about this style of training is that the sessions don’t have to last long. As a matter of fact, they can’t last long. We want to have lives outside of fitness. That’s kind of the whole point.

Metabolic Conditioning Basics

One of the simplest ways to construct a workout is to pair up 2 compound, functional movements. A great example of this is our workout called Aphrodite. See our Facebook fan page for a video demonstration of this:

Aphrodite Demonstration and Explaination

Aphrodite couples reps of squats and reps of pushups for a certain number of rounds. You time how long it takes you to perform the workout and then try to beat that time the next time you do Aphrodite. This makes it fun, competitive (with yourself), and ensures increasing intensity with each subsequent workout.

Of course you don’t have to just do 2 movements. You can do 1 or 3 or 5. Go easy when you are just getting started!!! I’ll just throw out some other examples:

Workout 1 (single movement): 100 squats (that’s it, go as fast as you can for time)

Workout 2 (3 movements): 5 rounds of 20 squats / 10 pushups / 10 situps

Workout 3 (5 movements): 1 round of 50 squats / 20 pushups / 20 situps / 20 pullups / run as fast as you can for ½ mile

Again, be careful when you are first getting started. It’s best to start easy and work your way up quickly. Note how we have 3 different levels of Aphrodite on our fan page. This is to accommodate a vast range of fitness levels and to allow for steady progression.

I’ll end with a list of functional movements that can be included in your workouts. Youtube can be a good resource for video demonstrations.

Gymnastic (bodyweight movements)

Squat (bodyweight), Pushups, Situps, Pullups, Handstand Pushups, Box Jump, Burpee, Mountain Climber

Weight Lifting (weighted movements)

Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Standing Press, Power Clean, Snatch, Thruster

Cardiovascular (done for short, very hard intervals)

Running, swimming, rowing, biking, jumping rope, boxing