3 steps to losing fat using your kettlebell(s)
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https://go.chasingstrength.com/kettlebell-maximorum-e/ (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenĂȘtre)In my most recent reader survey, âlosing fatâ âlosing weightâ was one of the top 5 topics people indicated was âthe #1 thing they needed the most help with.â
So, first things first:
Hereâs a nutrition template for you that will strip off body fat while using your KBs.
Itâs not sexy.
But it works.
Meal 1 - Breakfast: Protein shake - 50 grams of protein (2 scoops, usually)
Meal 2 - Lunch: Protein shake - 50 grams of protein (2 scoops, usually)
Meal 3 - Dinner: Solid meal - meat / chicken / fish + rice / potato / pasta + veggies
There. Do that. Without complaint.
Succeed.
Now, on to the matter at hand: Your KB workouts.
Before I share this with you, let me tell you how I âdiscoveredâ these 3 steps.
When I was 23, I was stuck between weight classes in my sport of choice - Olympic lifting.
I didnât want to give any strength away, so I decided to compete in the 91kg category instead of the 99kg category.
Some of the Rutgers Wrestlers had hired a local chiropractor, Dr. Tom Billela, to help them with their nutrition - an area of specialty for him, with great success.
So, I did the same.
Dr. Tom had just won the New Jersey NPC Light Heavyweight Bodybuilding Championship, so he knew about losing fat and preserving muscle.
ButâŠ
Iâd only given him 3 weeks to work with, and I told him outright I wasnât going to do âcardioâ because it would interfere with my power output.
He agreed to help me, but made no promises, because I wasnât willing to fully embrace his methods.
I reverse engineered a âBulgarian weightlifting-inspiredâ bodybuilding program, and re-applied it to my lifts:
Low reps, high sets - limited rests.
Lots of Pulls - Snatch and Clean, lots of Front Squats and Overhead work: Push Presses and Jerks.
The results?
I dropped from 210lbs and 10% body fat, to 200lbs and 3.3% body fat.
Dr. Tomâs jaw practically hit the floor.
Heâd never seen anything like it - and neither had I!
I was RIPPED. SHREDDED. And JACKED.
(Sorry, I donât have âpicture proofâ - this was 1996 - pre-digital camera, pre-cellphoneâŠ)
And thatâs the methodology from which I developed my âfat loss programming.â
So, hereâs how YOU apply that same methodology:
STEP 1: Lift heavy (for you)
Hereâs why -
âHeavyâ lifting uses more energy because it uses your fast-twitch muscle fibers.
Conveniently, theyâre the same muscle fibers you need to grow when you want to âbuild muscle.â
So now youâre killing two birds with one stone.
Or feeding two birds with the same piece of bread if you prefer a kinder, gentler metaphor.
This is where the kettlebell grinds come in: Presses, Squats, Get Ups, and othersâŠ
STEP 2: Lift Explosively
Explosive lifting - the KB ballistics (Swings, Snatches, Cleans, Push Presses, Jerks) uses more energy than âslow lifts.â
This is why the KB ballistics make you breathe hard - especially when you really learn how to âdial upâ your power and put as much effort into every rep as possible.
They also use those fast-twitch muscle fibers that the âheavy for youâ lifts do.
So, youâre hitting those fibers from âboth barrelsâ so-to-speak.
Again, using stored energy - calories - for fuel.
STEP 3: Manage Fatigue
This is where my philosophy / methodology really differs from the mainstream.
Most KB workouts have you âsufferâ through high rep sets or âflowsâ or âcircuitsâ where youâre sucking wind, mouth-breathing like a vacuum cleaner.
I reject that approach for several reasons:
[1] Fatigue decreases force production
So now you canât put as much effort into each and every rep, and youâre more likely than not doing âjunk repsâ - reps that arenât helpful
[2] Fatigue alters exercise technique
Which means two things -
1- Youâre not getting any stronger in that lift - because now itâs a different lift.
For example: Turning a Military Press into a Side Press
2- Youâre opening the door to an injury
As you lose the ability to produce force through the ârightâ ranges of motion, you compensate through âwrongâ ranges of motion, exposing joints and muscles to undue wear and tear.
[3] Fatigue increases stress hormones
As you become more tired during your workout, your body releases more adrenaline and cortisol to keep you going.
The bigger this release, the longer it takes you to recover between workouts.
And if youâre already under a lot of stress those stress hormones - like cortisol - are already high. So we donât want to push them higher.
If you stick to these 3 Tenets, you WILL lose - get rid of - body fat.