How to use kettlebells to “train for strength” and lose fat… lots of fat

Following up on my last two videos about “Recomping” - Recomposition Training -

That’s stripping off body fat and building muscle simultaneously, becoming stronger and “better conditioned” along the way.

(Simultaneously = in the same training block.)

… And “Fat Loss” Training - focusing on stripping off body fat because it INHIBITS strength gains and muscle mass gains…

I alluded to the fact that you can dump body fat AND simultaneously get measurably stronger when you program your training correctly.

There Are 3 Prongs of Attack We Use To Do This:

(Think of this as a trident or a 3-legged stool.)

[1] Training.

For training, we lift heavy.

And we lift explosively.

Both recruit the energy hungry 2x and 2a fast twitch fibers.

And we do so with incomplete rests.

Not “nonsensical” chronic mouth-breathing, tongue lolling in the air rests.

Done correctly, research by Kramer, et al, over the last nearly 20 years seems to indicate this produces an acute post-workout testosterone release.

Recall that testosterone is the primary male/ anabolic hormone responsible for building muscle and burning fat.

The research is still out as to whether this increases strength and muscle. Kramer’s camp is “pro.” Another camp is “con.”

I can tell you empirically from observing client and customer results over the last 15-20 years - it appears to.

When using the correct work-to-rest ratios, this style of training the body secretes Growth Hormone, another powerful anabolic hormone that burns fat and builds muscle.

Finally, this type of training, when performed correctly - that is - with the right loads, exercises, rest periods, and duration, produces EPOC - Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption.

A 2002 study by Scheunke, et al, discovered that these types of energetically demanding workouts make your body burn 20% more calories at rest for 38 hours after your workout.

(Pretty cool: That’s almost two extra days of extra calorie burning.)

EPOC has fallen out of favor as a “metabolism-boosting” mechanism lately. But I believe that’s because Scheunke used a very specific protocol to create his results - heavy and explosive lifting.

Much of what’s been claimed to produce EPOC in the last 20 years is neither.

[2] Supportive Nutrition.

GROAN-N-N-N-N…

Not more dieting stuff…

Truth is, I rarely discuss “diet” or “nutrition” any more because it feels like “arm twisting” to me.

But the difference between “dieting” and “Supportive Nutrition” is night and day.

Dieting = Deprivation.

Supportive Nutrition = Energy Management and Resource Allocation.

Let me explain quickly.

When you go on a diet, you’re immediately faced with all the things you can’t eat.

Which of course makes you want to eat them more.

So you do, and the diet fails.

Then you repeat this ad nauseum until you keep going in circles and finally give up.

Supportive Nutrition by contrast, structures eating in such a way to keep energy levels high, while reversing fat-storing negative feedback loops, freeing up more and more stored body fat to be used as fuel

Furthermore, it reboots “healthy function” of your body’s cells and organs, reversing much of the “disease states” by flooding those cells and organs with vitamins, minerals, and the nutrients they need to thrive.

Set up correctly, a Supportive Nutrition plan increases your daily energy, supports strength and muscle gain, and retrains your metabolism to run hot again.

And no, you don’t need to cut out whole food groups like carbs or fats. You can actually use them to your advantage.

[3] Recovery.

Too many people fail to see results from their programs because they’re -

[a] Not resting and recovering enough when they’re not training / working out, so they’re not providing enough stimulation for their body to change…

Or

[b] Not training hard enough when they are supposed to be working out, so they have enough energy to workout again when they should be resting.

Many (not all) would benefit from “just” 3 hard days a week of training / working out.

Grab your bell(s), get after it, and get it done.

Eat. Sleep. Rest. Recover. Repeat.

It’s amazing how simple this process is, yet how many people want to overcomplicate it.

So that’s “it.”

That’s how you get stronger - or train for strength - while losing fat at the same time.

Hope this helps.

Stay Strong,

Geoff

P.S. If you need a “strength based” fat loss program where the 3 Prongs we covered are systematized for you so you don’t have to do any of the thinking or organizing, lots of people love this one.

👉 https://salutis.kartra.com/page/burn-special (Opens in a new window)

People also report pretty stellar results using the “rapid” version of the 3 Prongs found here.