Besides a husband that actually takes the trash out, what do most women want? That's right, fat loss.

I don't know a single person who walks into a gym and asks the local trainer how to get fatter! While some people are willing to accept a little pudge in hopes of adding more muscle, most people go to the gym to look their very best. And a lean, defined, and sleek woman is most certainly on top of the world.

The Many Faces of Training

We all know that diet is a big part of the physique puzzle. But, we can't forget training. It plays several key roles:

• Training increases energy expenditure. I firmly believe it's best to burn the fat away rather than starve it off. Simply put, training requires energy. Energy is produced by burning fuel, including fat. The more energy you expend, the more fat you'll burn.

• It'll allow you to preserve your muscle mass or even gain some. A lot of people will lose as much muscle as they lose fat when they diet. What's the result? They lose weight, but they end up just looking like a smaller version of themselves. They don't look any better, they just occupy less space.

If you don't maintain your muscle, you'll just become a smaller you.

• Properly designed training also increases energy expenditure post-workout. This is because the adaptation process is energy dependant. After a tough workout, the rebuilding, restoring, and replenishing require energy in one form or another. The more your body needs to adapt, the more calories you'll burn!

What Exactly is Metabolism?

What we often call "metabolism" is really a misnomer. The proper term is total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). Basically, it refers to the amount of energy that your body uses during the day.

TDEE is the sum of three main components: basal metabolic rate (BMR), energy expenditure from physical activity, and the thermic effect of feeding (TEF).

1. Basal metabolic rate: This is the amount of energy needed to maintain the body's natural physiological balance, also known as homeostasis. This includes the energy needed to repair and maintain muscle mass, sustain body temperature, ensure your nervous system is firing properly, and other crucial business like organ maintenance and functioning.

BMR accounts for around 60 to 70% of your total daily energy expenditure, and it's closely related to the amount of muscle mass you carry (more muscle equals a higher BMR). This is pretty well understood, but the element that's often neglected is the fact that the more your body needs to adapt to training the higher your BRM will be. Because, as it was mentioned, your BMR is the amount of energy necessary to maintain your body's physiological balance. Intense training disturbs that homeostasis, and the body needs to spend more energy to rebalance itself.

2. Energy expenditure from physical activity: This is the amount of energy you burn to fuel your daily physical work. This includes your training, but also the non-training physical activity throughout your day. The more active you are the more calories you burn.

This can account for anywhere from 10 to 30% of your total daily energy expenditure. If you're more active, you'll be closer to the 30%, whereas sedentary people will be closer to the 10%. While the totally inactive, for example individuals who are in a state of bed rest, can actually be at 0 to 5%.

3. Thermic effect of feeding: When you eat food, it takes some energy to digest, absorb, and store the nutrients. Protein is the macronutrient that boosts caloric expenditure the most, followed by carbohydrates (which are significantly lower than protein), with fats bringing up the rear. Fiber, especially indigestible fiber, also increases the TEF because it's just a pain to digest.

TEF accounts for around 10% of the totally daily energy expenditure.

Your training program can affect energy expenditure, thus fat loss, via components one and two. Specifically, we're looking for the following in an optimal fat loss program:

• A high level of energy expenditure from the workout itself.

• A positive impact on BMR via the maintenance or even increase in muscle mass.

• An increase in BMR via an important need for the body to adapt to the training session.

Enter Hypermetabolic training — the fastest way to reach your dream shape.

The Basis of Hypermetabolic Training

The basic premise of Hypermetabolic Training is to boost your BMR as high as possible, while at the same time increasing the energy expenditure from the workout.

The best way to do this is to knock the body off balance. We want to challenge its state of homeostasis as much as possible. When this is done, the body will expend more energy adapting to the training.

To accomplish this goal, one must focus on working multiple energy systems and different types of muscle contractions during a workout.

The Types of Work to Include

1. Heavy strength training: I'm not necessarily talking about maximal lifting, but lifting a load that allows you to perform six to eight reps for beginners, or four to six reps for advanced vixens. This type of lifting is best to help preserve, or even increase, muscle mass while on a caloric deficit.

Heavy lifting has also been shown to lead to greater energy expenditure per repetition than lighter lifting, especially when the rest intervals are kept short.

Finally, lifting heavy is the best way to improve myogenic tone (also known as "tonus"). This myogenic tone is a state of partial muscle activation, even at rest. This partial activation makes the muscle harder, which means you'll look fit and firm. The more a training technique involves an important neural component, the greater the impact on tonus will be.

For that reason, heavy lifting, which gets the nervous system excited, is more effective than lighter lifting at improving how hard you look.

2. Lighter strength training performed with maximum acceleration: The second type of work to include is a form of light lifting. Wait, you just said that light lifting wasn't as good as the heavy stuff! True. But, that's when the light lifting is performed in a relatively slow fashion. When it's performed with an explosive concentric (lifting) portion, it can be very effective.

It's been shown that high-speed lifting burns around 30% more calories than slow-speed lifting. That alone justifies its use in a fat loss program. But wait, there's more!

High-acceleration lifting is also nervous system intensive. The more force the muscles have to produce, the harder they need to contract. Jumping back to physics class, recall that force = mass x acceleration. You can thus increase force output by either lifting heavier weights or by lifting with greater acceleration. So in that regard, moderate-load lifting with a high degree of acceleration will have the same benefits as heavy lifting when it comes to improving tonus.

It's important to understand that when I mention high-acceleration lifting, I'm not talking about careless lifting with atrocious form. In fact, when lifting explosively it's even moreimportant to focus on proper lifting technique, because the more force you have to produce, the higher the injury potential. So, aim to lift the weight with as much acceleration as possible, but still lower the weight under control and make a special effort to respect the perfect lifting path.

Note that at the end of a set, it's possible that acceleration will decrease. It's normal. As fatigue sets in it's impossible to maintain the same rate of force development, and thus, acceleration. However, studies by D.G. Sale have shown that the intent to accelerate, even if the actual external movement isn't that fast, is just as effective.

3. High-speed metabolic work in the anaerobic lactic zone: Charles Poliquin was the first to bring to light the physiological fact that there's a direct correlation between the amount of lactate produced and the output of growth hormone. This is the basis of his German Body Composition programs, as growth hormone is a highly lypolitic (stimulates the release of fatty acids) and anti-catabolic hormone.

It's also one of the reasons why 200 and 400 meter runners are so lean. These distances lead to a giant lactate production spanning the whole body (a maximum 400 meter race has often been described as hell on Earth). Other athletes who do a lot of anaerobic lactic work include basketball and hockey players, who are also mighty lean SOB's.

Anaerobic lactic work is a great fat loss tool.

The goal of this type of work is to induce a whole lotta lactate production. The method I like to use has been popularized by Testosterone contributor Scott Abel and it relies on super high-speed work with elastic bands performed in the lactate-inducing zone (around 40 seconds).

I first discussed high-speed metabolic work in my 2003 article Superman Sets. The basic premise of this method was, and still is, to perform as much physical work as possible during a set time frame. With this type of training, very fast reps with a relatively light source of resistance (free weight or elastic) is the preferred approach. The objective is to perform as many complete reps as possible in the time frame prescribed by the program.

This method fits right in with the high-threshold training mentality since explosiveness, speed, and power are emphasized. Just like with the "regular" strength exercises, during "superman sets" the movement speed will eventually decrease as fatigue sets in. However, once again it's the intent to accelerate that remains paramount to its success.

4. Low-intensity energy systems work: While low-intensity cardio doesn't burn as much energy per minute as more intensive work, it does primarily rely on fat for fuel. When combined with the other types of work mentioned above, especially the lactate-inducing training, it can be very effective at increasing the rate of fat loss. It also promotes active recovery by enhancing peripheral blood flow.

To make cardio as effective as possible, we want to do it when there are a lot of fatty acids already floating around and readily available as a fuel source. Since lactate-inducing work increases fatty acid release via the increase in growth hormone levels, cardio is best performed after you've coaxed a significant amount of lactate to come out and play. This means either at the end of the workout or staggered during the workout, but directly after lactate-inducing work.

When teamed up with lactate-inducing training, low-intensity cardio is even more effective.

What is low intensity? Anything where your heart rate is kept at 130 beats per minute (BPM) or less is adequate. Any more than that and you'll rely more on glycogen for fuel. Not that it's a bad thing, but the goal of Hypermetabolic Training is to tax as many different energy systems as possible, and the lactate-inducing work already utilizes glycogen for fuel.

On a quick side note, heavy lifting and high-acceleration lifting will use mostly the phosphagen energy system (adenosine triphosphate and creatine phosphate). So, by using the low-intensity cardio you end up taxing all three major energy systems.

Metabolic Work: Why High-Speed Reps?

Metabolic work should emphasize speed reps because they'll put more strain on the fast-twitch fibers, or high-threshold motor units (HTMU's). Even the recruited and stimulated mixed muscle fibers will tend to adapt to this type of training by changing their profile towards a fast-twitch one.

These fast-twitch fibers also tend to rely mostly on glucose for fuel. This source of energy leads to an acidification of the blood and muscle, which stimulates the release of growth hormone. As you probably know, growth hormone can stimulate both muscle growth and fat loss. While a transient hormonal stimulation isn't going to have the same effect as using exogenous chemicals, over the long-term it can play a significant role in eliciting a positive change in body composition.

Simply look at athletes who compete in sports that revolve around performing a lot of work in a short period of time (sprinters, speed skaters, gymnasts, etc.) and you'll see that, on average, they're the leanest and most muscular group around.

Also, keep in mind that moving fast burns more energy than moving slow. Take a car engine for example: It'll burn more fuel running at 7,000 RPM than 3,000 RPM. So for the same time frame, fast movements will use more calories than slower ones, which is the primary objective of metabolic sets.

What About Set Duration?

When using metabolic work, the set duration should allow for the use of a moderate weight lifted at a high speed, while inducing an increase in lactate production. Sets of less than 20 seconds should be ruled out because these will rely mostly on the phosphagen energy system, which doesn't lead to a significant elevation of blood lactate.

Sets lasting longer than 60 seconds should also be nixed. Since the HTMU's aren't fatigue-resistant, it'll be impossible to maintain a high rate of work for that duration, and you'll end up using a lighter load to complete the set. While the load used isn't of prime importance with metabolic work, it still plays a role in stimulating positive adaptations.

So, the ideal set duration is between 20 and 60 seconds. Anecdotally, I've found that sets of 30 to 40 seconds produce the best results with metabolic work. I recommend this as a baseline time range. Shorter (20 to 30 seconds) and longer (40 to 60 seconds) sets can also be used from time to time, as a change of pace. Shorter sets being better suited for maximum growth phases and longer ones for all-out fat loss.

Types of Resistance for Metabolic Work

In my original Superman Sets article, I recommended using free weights for timed sets. While these can still be used effectively, I find that an elastic source of resistance (e.g. elastic tubing with two handles) provides better results. The elastic resistance allows you to take advantage of the high-speed execution more so than free weights.

With free weights, you must decelerate during a very important portion of the movement. This is done as a reflex to protect the joints from a ballistic shock. The faster you move, the more time you'll spend decelerating (and the less time you'll spend accelerating) because you'll need a longer breaking distance. This isn't what we want!

The elastic source of resistance acts as a break — the more you stretch it, the more resistance it provides. So, the elastic tubing will do most of the deceleration for you. As a result, your nervous system will spend more time trying to accelerate. The elastic bands also allow you to return to the starting position faster, increasing the rate of work.

Also, the tubing allows you to modify the resistance used during a set as fatigue sets in. When the movement speed starts to slow down, you can walk back so that the tubing won't be stretched as much, decreasing the amount of resistance and allowing you to maintain a high rate of work.

However, the tubing exercises aren't always ideal for the lower body. Instead, several different exercises can be used, such as sprints, various jumps, and bodyweight squats for speed.

While this metabolic work can be used as a standalone exercise, the greatest benefits are reached when it's supersetted with a regular lifting movement. For example, after performing a set of incline dumbbell bench presses you can move on to a low-position alternate punching metabolic movement. This type of training is incredibly effective at stimulating muscle growth, fat loss, and power gains.

Effective Metabolic Exercises

It's pretty easy to come up with effective movements to use with this technique. As long as you use a high-speed of movement and the proper set duration, this technique will work.

The following exercises are the ones that I use myself and with my clients. You'll notice that in most cases I rely on unilateral exercises. This is both to increase HTMU's activation and to increase core involvement since unilateral work requires more stabilization, which also increases energy expenditure.

1. Low-position alternate punching

Best used in conjunction with: Any type of incline pressing or incline flies.

2. High-position alternate punching

Best used in conjunction with: Any type of flat or decline bench pressing and flies.

3. Low-position alternate pulling

Best used in conjunction with: Any type of horizontal pulling exercise.

4. High-position alternate pulling

Best used in conjunction with: Any type of vertical pulling exercise.

5. Alternate shoulder punching

Best used in conjunction with: Any type of overhead pressing exercise.

6. Alternate front raise

Best used in conjunction with: Any front raise exercise.

7. Lateral raise

Best used in conjunction with: Any lateral raise exercise.

8. Alternate upright rows

Best used in conjunction with: Any variation of the upright row, Olympic lifts, or shrug movements.

9. Alternate curl

Best used in conjunction with: Any type of "palms up" curl.

10. Alternate reverse curl

Best used in conjunction with: Any type of "palms down" or hammer grip curl.

11. Alternate triceps extension

Best used in conjunction with: Any type of triceps work.

Additional Notes on Maximizing Hypermetabolic Training

• The more muscle mass a movement involves, the more effective it'll be at changing your body composition. The "big" movements burn more fuel than smaller ones — it's like trading in your hybrid for an eighteen wheeler. They also lead to a greater release of growth hormone.

• Take short rest intervals between sets. The less rest you take, without having to decrease the quality of your work, the more calories you use. A recent study has shown that taking 30 seconds of rest between sets led to 50% more energy burned than with rest periods lasting three minutes. I don't suggest resting only 30 seconds, especially with the heavy lifting work, but do aim to gradually reduce your rest intervals over time. However, don't reduce it so drastically that your performance suffers.

• After each set, you want your body to be in a state of oxygen debt. An oxygen debt is simply when you're out of breath. The harder and deeper you have to breathe after a set, the more productive it was when it comes to building muscle. Obviously, you'll have a greater oxygen debt after a set of squats than after a set of dumbbell curls, but regardless of the exercise you should strive to attain the greatest oxygen debt possible.

Even if you're just doing curls, make it count.

You'll be gasping for air after a set, but don't wait for your breathing to normalize before starting another. Incomplete rest is what you want, so start a set when you're still breathing somewhat hard. Like lactate, an oxygen debt leads to an increase in growth hormone production, and as such it'll have a positive effect on both fat loss and muscle growth.

• The real secret to body transformation success is progression. You have to challenge your body by forcing it to work harder on a systematic basis. This is especially true of Hypermetabolic Training, which is based on disturbing your physiological balance. If you don't gradually make things harder, you'll eventually stop putting your body out of whack, and the training will lose a large chunk of its effectiveness.

By progression, I simply mean trying to improve something, someway, every week. You might not be able to progress on every single exercise of every workout. But, if you can improve one thing during a training session, it was a successful workout which will take you one step closer to your body transformation goal.

Hypermetabolic Workout Design

You can use a lot of different schemes for this type of training, but body part splits and upper/lower body divisions work the best. Whole body sessions tend to be too hard for this type of training and will lead to a decrease in work quality by the second half of the workout.

Here's a good workout template for the upper/lower body division format:

Workout 1: Lower Body Strength Dominant

A1) Multi-joint hip-dominant exercise

Sets: 4 to 6

Reps: 6 to 8, or 4 to 6 reps for more advanced vixens

Rest: Start around 90 to 120 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: Romanian deadlift, sumo deadlift, good mornings

A2) Multi-joint quad-dominant exercise

Sets: 4 to 6

Reps: 6 to 8, or 4 to 6 reps for more advanced vixens

Rest: Start around 90 to 120 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: front squat, back squat, lunges, Bulgarian squat, leg press

Front squat

Note: A1 and A2 are performed in an alternating fashion. Perform one set of A1, rest, perform one set of A2, rest, then return to A1. Follow this pattern until you've completed all of your sets.

B1) Explosive hip-dominant exercise

Sets: 4 to 6 sets

Reps: 6 to 8

Rest: Start around 60 to 75 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: Ideally, it'd be a variation of the Olympic lifts. If you aren't familiar with these, I suggest the same type of movements as A1, but using 45 to 55% of your max performed with maximum acceleration. Just be sure you select a different exercise than A1.

B2) Explosive quad-dominant exercise

Sets: 4 to 6

Reps: 6 to 8

Rest: Start around 60 to 75 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: jump squat with 20 to 30% of your max, jump lunges with 15 to 20% of your bodyweight, high-acceleration front squat with 45 to 55% of your max

Note: Perform B1 and B2 in the same alternating way as you did with A1 and A2.

C1) Isolation hamstring exercise

Sets: 3 to 4

Reps: 8 to 10

Rest: None

Exercise examples: lying leg curl, lying single-leg curl, standing leg curl, seated leg curl

Lying leg curl

C2) Isolation quad exercise

Sets: 3 to 4

Reps: 8 to 10

Rest: None

Exercise examples: leg extension and single-leg extension

C3) Lower body metabolic work

Sets: 3 to 4

Reps: As many as possible in 40 to 60 seconds

Rest: Start around 45 to 60 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: vertical jumps, bodyweight squats for speed, burpees, jumping jacks

Note: C1, C2, and C3 are a giant set with no rest between exercises.

D) Low-intensity cardio

Duration: 30 to 35 minutes

Target heart rate: 120 to 130 BPM

Workout 2: Upper Body Strength Dominant

A1) Horizontal pulling exercise

Sets: 4 to 6

Reps: 6 to 8, or 4 to 6 reps for more advanced vixens

Rest: Start around 90 to 120 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: bent-over barbell rows, T-bar rows, one-arm dumbbell rows, seated rows

A2) Horizontal pushing exercise

Sets: 4 to 6

Reps: 6 to 8, or 4 to 6 reps for more advanced vixens

Rest: Start around 90 to 120 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: barbell or dumbbell flat, incline, or decline bench press

B1) Explosive pulling exercise

Sets: 4 to 6

Reps: 6 to 8

Rest: Start around 60 to 75 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: Same type of movements as in A1, but using 45 to 55% of your max performed with maximum acceleration. Remember to pick a different exercise than A1.

B2) Explosive pushing exercise

Sets: 4 to 6

Reps: 6 to 8

Rest: Start around 60 to 75 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: push press, push jerk, speed bench press with 45 to 55% of your max

Push press

C1) Vertical pulling exercise

Sets: 3 to 4

Reps: 8 to 10

Rest: None

Exercise examples: chin-ups, pull-ups, lat pull-downs using various grips

C2) Pulling metabolic work with elastic bands

Sets: 3 to 4

Reps: As many as possible in 40 to 60 seconds

Rest: Start around 45 to 60 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

D1) Vertical pushing exercise

Sets: 3 to 4

Reps: 8 to 10

Rest: None

Exercise examples: military press, seated dumbbell press, one-arm standing dumbbell press, Arnold press

Arnold press

D2) Pushing metabolic work with elastic bands

Sets: 3 to 4

Reps: As many as possible in 40 to 60 seconds

Rest: Start around 45 to 60 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

E) Low-intensity cardio

Duration: 30 to 35 minutes

Target heart rate: 120 to 130 BPM

Workout 3: Lower Body Complex

A1) Explosive hip-dominant exercise

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: 6 to 8

Rest: None

A2) Multi-joint hip-dominant exercise

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: 6 to 8 reps, or 4 to 6 reps for advanced vixens

Rest: None

A3) Lower body metabolic work

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: As many as possible in 40 to 60 seconds

Rest: Start around 90 to 120 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: burpees, forward jumps, wide-stance jumps, wide-stance bodyweight squats

Burpees

B) Low-intensity cardio

Duration: 12 to 15 minutes

Target heart rate: 120 to 130 BPM

C1) Explosive quad-dominant exercise

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: 6 to 8

Rest: None

C2) Multi-joint quad-dominant exercise

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: 6 to 8, or 4 to 6 reps for advanced vixens

Rest: None

C3) Lower body metabolic work

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: As many as possible in 40 to 60 seconds

Rest: Start around 90 to 120 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

Exercise examples: burpees, vertical jumps, close-stance bodyweight squats

D) Low-intensity cardio

Duration: 12 to 15 minutes

Target heart rate: 120 to 130 BPM

Workout 4: Upper Body Complex

A1) Explosive pulling exercise

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: 6 to 8

Rest: None

A2) Multi-joint pulling exercise

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: 6 to 8, or 4 to 6 reps for advanced vixens

Rest: None

Exercise examples: Alternate between a vertical and horizontal movement every week.

For a vertical pulling movement, you can use lat pull-downs.

A3) Pulling metabolic work with elastic bands

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: As many as possible in 40 to 60 seconds

Rest: Start around 90 to 120 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

B) Low-intensity cardio

Duration: 12 to 15 minutes

Target heart rate: 120 to 130 BPM

C1) Explosive pushing exercise

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: 6 to 8

Rest: None

C2) Multi-joint pushing exercise

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: 6 to 8 or 4 to 6 reps for advanced vixens

Rest: None

Exercise examples: Alternate between a vertical and horizontal movement every week.

The bench press is a great choice for a horizontal pushing exercise.

C3) Pulling metabolic work with elastic bands

Sets: 6 to 8

Reps: As many as possible in 40 to 60 seconds

Rest: Start around 90 to 120 seconds and gradually work your way down over the weeks.

D) Low-intensity cardio

Duration: 12 to 15 minutes

Target heart rate: 120 to 130 BPM

Welcome to Club Hypermetabolic

The main idea behind Hypermetabolic Training is to keep your body off kilter so your metabolism transforms from a puny camp fire into a raging four-alarm inferno.

If you don't challenge yourself from week to week, the program will lose its efficacy. Sure, you'll still burn calories during the workout even if you don't progress. But, the important element of Hypermetabolic Training isn't so much the calories burnt during the sessions, but rather the amount of energy you'll need to get your body back on track.

Good luck and try not to curse me too much when you're hunched over, dripping with sweat!