By Neil M White (www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/nmwhite)

The May bank holiday signals the beginning of summer. The weather is already starting to warm up and bodybuilders across the UK will be taking off the thick sweaters and coats that have kept out the winter cold. For many, the winter months are a time to bulk up – to eat big and train even bigger – but for many attention now turns to burning off the inevitable layer of fat that is hiding that hard earned muscle. This takes a combination of strict diet and fat burning exercise.

Traditional bodybuilding approaches to burning fat centre around long, slow, steady state cardio. Long sessions of power walking twice a day burns calories and fat without endangering your winter bulk. But let’s be realistic: how many hard working, hard playing men and women have time to spend 2 hours on a treadmill six days a week? But this doesn’t mean you have to live with your spare tyre. It is possible to burn the same amount of calories in a fraction of the time using a system called ‘Metabolic Conditioning’ or Met-Con.

Metabolic conditioning is not a new concept but it is becoming increasingly popular as athletes try is and see fast results. Met-con forms the basis of new ‘get fit fast’ workout systems popularised in the States such as ‘P90X’ and ‘Insanity’ as well as the more hardcore and less living room friendly Crossfit system.

Research suggests that short periods of maximal anaerobic activity with brief rest periods are more effective for burning fat, increasing cardio-vascular fitness and boosting your metabolic rate. These bursts of activity should last no more than two minutes followed by a short rest interval. 

Si Tate, leading fitness and performance coach is a big fan of Met-Con workouts to burn fat fast. He says: “The advantage of Met-con workouts over steady state cardio is that you’re working through multiple energy systems and putting greater stress on the body. Typically steady state cardio is just going to have you sitting primarily in the aerobic energy system whereas a Met-con circuit will use more of the anaerobic systems. This leaves your body having to make more changes to cope with the load and usually you will see greater gains in both muscle mass and body fat reduction as a result.”

Due to the intensity and effort required to complete a Met-Con workout, Tate advises a flexible approach to workout timing: “I'd recommend you train when you feel you can put the biggest shift in. These workouts are pretty demanding so you need to have your ‘A’ game on the go before you get involved. If you are looking to see some physical changes, you should be looking to do at least 3 Met-Con workouts a week.”

Many Met-Con workouts consist of circuits. You can use traditional circuit routines or devise your own. Here are a couple of samples to get you started:

Bodyweight Circuit: Do as many rounds of 15 squads, 10 push ups and 5 pull ups in fifteen minutes. As this becomes easier, increase the time by 5 minutes.

Barbell Circuit: With a light barbell do a circuit of dead lifts, presses, back squats, bent-over row, front squat and power cleans for 12,10,8,6,4,2 reps with 30-60 seconds rest between rounds. Increase the weight as required. 

A good fat loss exercise programme is only half the battle. Be prepared to wage war on fat in the kitchen and supplements cupboard. 

Trainer Bio: Si Tate is a London based personal trainer and performance coach. Contact him through http://www.sitate.co.uk/

Sources: 

Metabolic Conditioning – Crossfit Journal 

http://journal.crossfit.com/2003/06/metabolic-conditioning-jun-03.tpl