Fat loss isn’t my specialty but it’s the number one training goal for the majority of people working out. Here we have a great article from Cody Bramlett about the 3 Pillars of Fat Loss.
After 3 years of working with clients and building one of the most successful kettlebell gyms in the country you start to have a unique perspective on what it really takes to get people to transform their bodies.
You see just like you I am a busy guy, I run 2 different businesses and I rarely have the time to go and workout for more then 45 minutes at a time. In fact there are times I get so busy I don’t have a second to myself. This is why I have come to love kettlebell training so much!
With kettlebells I can do a short 15-20 minute workout and get the same results as someone who spends hours in the gym. And if your smart enough to couple high intensity kettlebell training with a nutrition program that’s easy to follow, still lets you eat your favorite food and puts you in fat burning mode 24/7 then even busy guys like me can look good naked and be as strong as they look.
But it wasn’t always this way, let me tell you a story about 2 years ago when I let life get the best of me…
You see, I was opening my first actual facility, working a day job and was in a difficult long distance relationship. I had been doing kettlebell training for several years now but with all the stress life was throwing my way I stopped practicing what I had preached.
Long story short I gained 25lbs, lost muscle and was starting to look a little flabby, and this is despite the fact that I was building a large following around my new kettlebell gym I had opened in San Diego. I new things needed to change and I had to come up with a practical way to help myself and others get fit in the least amount of time.
I picked up the phone, called my brother (who is also a fitness professional) and from that one conversation, my life and the life of many others have changed for good.
What did we talk about during this call?
Everything!!
We discussed our views on the state of the fitness industry in general, the fact that so many people are being lied to. They are being spoon-fed crap and as a result Americans have gotten fatter, sicker and weaker. We decided to take our knowledge that we gained from helping our clients and build the most effective body transformation system ever created.
Over the next few months we had many conversations, tested several theories on ourselves and came up with a 3 tiered philosophy around maximum fat loss in minimum time. Here’s what eventually became the driving philosophy behind the Kettlebell X Training Body Transformation System…
#1 – Exercise
Seems obvious right, but when I say exercise I don’t mean just move more. I also don’t mean traditional cardio and weight training. What I mean is the most effective way to train for fat loss, period!
Over the last decade a few different fat loss methods have come out that shine above the rest. High Intensity Interval Training, Metabolic Conditioning etc. are among the most productive ways you can possibly burn fat and get ripped. The reason why these systems work so good is because they rely on optimizing your hormones rather then just doing cardio in your “fat burning zone”.
You see, if you listen to the mainstream medias fat loss recommendations they say do 30-60 minutes of medium intensity cardio a day and while this does put you in the fat burning zone during exercise, it ends up having a detrimental effect on your body by elevating the hormone cortisol.
Cortisol is the stress hormone and it causes our body to sacrifice lean body mass instead of fat for fuel. This is why even world-class marathoners still average 11% bodyfat while their sprinting comrades average 3%.
The Kettlebell X Training System utilizes training at a high enough intensity that your body will naturally spike Growth Hormone and Testosterone leaving you a fat burning machine! Plus we added in the concept of movement progressions making it easy to follow the KXT System if you are a complete beginner or hard to follow if you are an advanced kettlebell user.
#2 – Nutrition
What do you hear most of the time when it comes to nutrition for fat loss? Eat less move more right. Well we decided that this method was flawed and again turned to hormonal optimization in order to get the best results for ourselves and our clients.
How do you optimize your hormones through the foods you eat?
Start with eating real food! That’s right, we are not your average fat loss guru’s who espouse heavy supplement usage and fake fat loss foods. In order for you to maximize your fat loss potential, improve your performance and build health you need to eat clean at least 80% of the time.
From there we look at the ratio of macronutrients you are eating in your diet. Basically what percentage of your food intake comes from protein, carbohydrates and fat. By optimizing your macronutrient ratios you can become less hungry, kill your sugar cravings and put your body in fat burning mode all day long.
Now, this isn’t the Zone diet or anything like that but rather an approach to customizing your macronutrient ratios so that they are optimal for you. We start by making sure you have enough protein. On average most men should be consuming between 150 and 200g of protein per day and most women between 100-150g per day. This helps to rebuild muscle and reduce appetite.
Next we like to drop most peoples carb content down to below 150g per day especially if their goal is fat loss. But we don’t just want you to drop your overall carb grams down we also recommend eating primarily low GI foods to make sure you are keeping your blood sugar under control and your fat storing insulin hormone in check.
From there, fill in the rest with healthy fats and viola you are a fat burning machine. Of course the nutrition program we include is much more detailed but if all you do is eat more protein, reduce your carbs and eat from low GI foods list you will be in a good place to burn bodyfat.
#3 – Recovery
This is probably the most overlooked area of exercise. You see if all you do is work out hard but you sleep like shit and are stressed all the time, good luck loosing bodyfat!!
To maximize recovery it’s all about doing your best to decrease stressors in your life. I like to get people focused on the following 3 things, what I call the 3 R’s of recovery.
Rest, you need to sleep!! It is almost impossible to have a good body composition if you don’t sleep. Get a minimum of 6 hours per night but try to aim for 7.5 to 9 hours. This may sound impossible to some of you but I assure you if you sleep more you will lose more bodyfat!
Recreation, you need to have fun moving. Instead of hammering away at the gym 2 hours a day 6 days a week you should do 2-4 resistance training and high intensity workouts a week and then from there you should play. Go outside, have fun, play outdoors simply move while having fun and not feeling like your having to work.
Rejuvenation, take care of your body. Take a hot tub, get a massage, foam roll, do yoga, stretch, take an ice bath or anything else that makes you feel better after you finish doing it.
Follow these 3 recovery tactics and you will maximize your results!!
Ok, just to recap a quick checklist for those of you who want to achieve maximum fat loss:
1) Exercise 2-4 times a week using a high intensity resistance-training program that consistently gets harder. It’s all about improvement!
2) Eat real food, higher protein, lower in carbs. Focus on low GI crabs and fill in the rest with healthy fats.
3) Sleep more, play more and take care of your body!
That’s it…The real secret to long lasting fat loss that leaves you healthier, happier and stronger.
If you want to know more about my fat loss training programs or philosophies, check out the Kettlebell X Training Body Transformation System
