Jade Teta ND, CSCS and Keoni Teta ND, Lac, CSCS
If we were to define the perfect exercise program we would say it has to be quick, effective at burning fat, have the ability to maintain and even add muscle, be fun and different, and be easily progressed so the body is challenged each time. We have developed such a system that works wonders for our clients and we are going to share it with you. It is called Compact Chains and it falls under the new genre of fitness we call metabolic exercise.
Metabolic exercise is starting to gain ground in personal training circles. Many top-level conditioning coaches have naturally gravitated towards this style of training because it gets results. When you are being paid to deliver results for someone, you work hard to fine tune your methods until you find the formula that works and this new system works. Metabolic exercise is different from other programs because its focus is on creating a metabolic stimulus to burn the maximum amount of fat-calories in the time available. In addition, it has another equally important ambition, which is to allow a client to burn fat-calories for as long after the workout as possible.
Build Muscle and Burn Fat
Many say it cant be done, but there is a way to burn fat and build muscle at the same time. A recent study in the September 2008 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research dramatically showed this response with a workout that intermixed weight training and aerobic sprints in one workout. This workout was directly compared to another workout where the exact exercises and volume of work was done except the weight training portion and aerobic portion were separated and completed one right after the other. The results of this study were striking. Despite the same amount of work performed in each workout, the intermixed workout produced an almost 10 times greater fat burning effect. Interestingly, muscle gains were also better in the intermixed group while strength and endurance gains were comparable in both workouts.
There is obviously something to this intermixed style of training, but any savvy weight lifter knows that if they lift moderately heavy, take very short rests, and use supersets they can generate a response that feels very much like pushing a heavy wheelbarrow up a 15 degree incline. In other words, this style of training IS the integration of cardiovascular and strength training. If done correctly, a good personal trainer can construct a workout that produces a dramatic metabolic effect that will not only burn a huge amount of calories in a short period of time, but create a powerful fat-calorie after-burn. Welcome to our system of metabolic exercise called Compact Chains.
The Compact Chain Workout
A Compact Chain (also referred to as compact circuit chains, or compact circuits by our clients) is just what it sounds like. A long chain of exercises performed back-to-back in one seamless compact movement. This chain of exercises often has the trainee moving down, getting up, rolling over, jumping in the air, doing pushups, squeezing the biceps, etc in succession and then it is repeated. We have come up with endless combinations in this system and the feeling is much like getting sucked into a cyclone along with a pair of dumbbells. You may wrongly assume this is strictly a calorie burning workout, but there is one important element that allows targeted muscle growth and progressive resistance. One exercise in the chain has a single repetition added in each round.
Here is an example of one of the original and most effective Compact Chains. With dumbbells in hands the trainee does the following sequence of exercises: Squat-thrust with a push-up at the bottom, stand back up, lean over, row the weight, then extend the weight behind the body using the triceps (tricep extension), then reverse that motion bringing the weight forward for a bicep curl while standing upright, and finally press the weight over-head while rising up on the toes for a simultaneous shoulder press and calf raise. Now, repeat this entire sequence of movements except this time do two push-ups. On the third round, do three pushups. On the fourth round, do 4 push-ups and so on and so forth until you reach 10 push-ups. Now, start over from the beginning doing 1 pushup and slowly work your way back up the compact chain until you do 10 pushups. Then repeat again and again working up the chain to 10 pushups and then start over at 1. Continue like this for 10 minutes resting whenever it is required and continuing exactly where you left off.
At the end of ten minutes stop wherever you are. It is best to record the total number of pushups you completed. This gives you a baseline measure to attempt to beat next time around. Now repeat this sequence switching your focus to another muscle group. Maybe you have chosen to work chest and back, with your “chest chain” completed, you can move on to a 10 minute “back chain”. So during the next ten-minute segment the row portion of the chain will be the one you add reps to. During the first round one row is done, the second round 2 rows, third round three rows, until you reach 10, then start over from one. At the end of the second ten minutes we are going to bet you had enough, but you can certainly continue with one, two or even more 10 minute segments focusing on a different body part each time or constructing new chains to challenge the body in a different way.
Final Comments
Remember, you are trying to create a metabolic stimulus so weights should be kept moderate to light and the chain should be done quickly only lingering on your focused body part. For a general idea of what kind of weights to start with, use a one rep max bicep curl and cut that weight in half or a 10 rep max side lateral raise as an initial weight. You can also use this technique, as we often do, as a quick metabolic stimulus at the beginning or end of a more traditional workout. You will find this system literally melts fat off the body and builds a solid athletic physique. We hope you like it. Let us know what you think. See you at the gym.