This phase of my Maximize Your Muscle program is one of several phases that have fat loss as its primary goal. Some phases are geared strictly for building muscle mass, while others concentrate almost en- tirely on losing fat without losing any of that muscle. With this phase, you'll not only lose fat, you'll still see some gains in muscle.
As you know, I'm a big believer in shorter phases of both cutting and bulking, which eliminates the need to spend months bulking and then spend another several months losing all the fat you added with that muscle. Of course, after cutting for months, you find that you also lost some of that muscle you busted your butt for. Shorter phases of both cutting and bulking maximize the potential to use the body's own transitional adaptation to add muscle faster and lose fat faster as well. Programs or phases that combine muscle gain with fat loss are even better.
That's what this phase is all about and it's accomplished through what I call High-Definition Training.
What is High·Definition Training?
High definition training is my own special spin on Charles Poliquin's German Body Compo- sition Program. This shouldn't be confused with German Volume Training, which is also a favorite of Poliquin's, but an entirely different program with different goals.
German Body Composition Training has been around for years. It was based on the findings of a Romanian exercise scientist named Hala Rambie, who discovered through his research that the lactic acid pathway was more effective for fat loss than the aerobic pathway. Even today, the general fitness world is hung up on the idea that the aerobic pathway is what leads to fat loss, but this was debunked decades ago.
What Rambie found was that high levels of lactic acid in the blood lowered blood pH levels. Lower blood pH levels stimulate the brain to signal for increased growth hormone production and, as we all know, higher levels of growth hormone stimulate fat loss.
How High·Definition Training Works
Further research has shown that the best way to raise blood lactic levels is through multi-joint movements, al- ternating upper and lower body exercises with very short rest periods between one set and another. Most commonly, reps are in the range of 8-15 and done in sets of three. You might alternate deadlifts with chin ups, leg curls with dumbbell presses or any of hundreds of combinations. Commonly, you do two different exercises per body part for up to eight sets or three moves for up to nine. The key is to alternate multi-joint, upper and lower body moves to keep that heart pumping and keep that lactic acid pumping as well. Basically, you're super-setting different parts of the upper and lower body in each workout session.
The key is to alternate multi·joint, upper and lower body moves to keep that heart pumping and keep that lactic acid pumping as well.
How You'll Feel During High·Definition Training
Make no mistake, this is a tough workout. In fact, most trainers will recommend that you cut way back on or skip your cardio altogether while doing this type of training. It's an intense workout that's going to boost your metabolism for hours and really stimulate an increase in both lactic acid and growth hormone. At the same time, you're not doing straight cardio - you are pushing some weights throughout the workout and you can still do some form of your regular lifting program on other days.
To inc