Hello and welcome to the Body By Patrick podcast. My name is, Patrick Ocheni. In today’s episode, we are going to talk about my “13 rules for losing belly fat, quickly and safely without doing cardio for hours.”
If you’re somebody that hates doing cardio like myself– I’m not a big cardio fan– you are going to be super excited about today’s conversation.
If you’re trying to break through a plateau, these are rules that you can apply.
These are the same rules that I used myself when I was trying to lose weight, and they helped me lose 60 pounds in 180 days.
By the way, I want to let you know that everything I share with you on this podcast are things that I have personally experienced myself. All the information I bring to you is not just based on theory. These are practical, real life knowledge that you probably not going to get anywhere else.
Rule number one to getting rid of belly fat quickly, safely without doing cardio for hours is, you’ve got to lift weights.
Weight lifting has been proven to be the most effective way of improving what’s called your resting metabolic rate. Your resting metabolic rate is how much energy your body requires at minimum for you to stay alive.
Rule number two is, you want to use free weights, preferably.
By free weights I mean stuff like barbells and kettlebells and dumbbells, things like that. They have been proven to challenge the body in a way that would make the body work harder thereby helping you burn fat quickly and more efficiently as opposed to using machines.
If you come to the gym and you watch me train a client, we are using predominantly free weights.
Rule number three is, you’ve got to do what’s called compound movements or exercises.
What that really means is that you’ve got to be doing exercises that hit multiple muscle groups at the same time. Remember, it’s not how much time you spend in the gym, it’s the quality of time you spend in the gym.
Basically, what it means is that your body has to work harder.
A great example of a compound movement that most people are familiar with is the back squat. A back squat is an exercise that hit not only the front of the thighs, but also hit the back of your thighs, your glutes and, if performed correctly, you will also be hitting your core.
Rule number four is, you’ve got to lift heavy weights.
How do you know if you’re lifting a heavy enough weight?
If you can do a certain weight over fifteen times without struggling, that weight is not challenging enough. It’s time to up your game and increase how much weight you are lifting.
Lift heavy weights that way you can build that lean tissue thereby increasing your resting metabolic rate.
Rule number five is, you’ve got to perform what are called functional exercises.
What are functional exercises?
These are exercises that simulate things we do in the real world. For example, we squat every single day we go to the restroom, right? So, you want to be doing exercises that simulate that, and an exercise that correlates to that is back squat.
Rule number six is this, you’ve got to perform high reps.
We’re not just interested in you get stronger, but to also build your muscular endurance. That’s how you’re going to avoid looking bulky over time.
First thing is you’ve got to lift heavy, right? And then that heavy weight aim to do it 30 times. And once you get to that level, increase the weight again and then aim to do the new higher weight 30 times, and that’s exactly what I do in my personal training.
Rule number seven is, you’ve got to utilize circle training.
There is a specific way to being able to lose fat when it comes to lifting weights. There is a traditional way, which is what I call the stop and go. And typically what that means is that, you will do a certain exercise, you stop, and rest for like two, three minutes, and then do the exercise again. That’s what’s called stop and go.
That’s a typical way that bodybuilders use to get in shape. But, hey, guess what, your specific goal is not to become a body builder. If you’re listening to this podcast right now, more than likely your goal is to what, to burn fat and to be functional, you’re not trying to get huge.
That’s where circuit training comes in. It’s been proven to be the most effective way to burn your fat in the shortest amount of time and to also boost your resting metabolic rate.
What is circuit training?
Circuit training means that you combine multiple different exercises and perform them back to back with minimal or no rest in between.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say we take a back squat and then we go into push-ups and then we go into squat presses.
We would do those exercises back to back to back with no rest in between. And then after that circuit, after completing those three exercises, then we take a rest. Usually the rest is not more than a minute 30 seconds, depending on your fitness level.
Now there is a right number of exercises you’ve got to combine to benefit from a circle training workout, and I share that with my clients. But, that hinges on where you are in your fitness journey. Right now, all you need to understand is that you’ve got to utilize circuit training.
If you are trying to lose weight, if you’re trying to burn fat, and you want to do so quickly in the shortest amount of time and do it safely without doing cardio for hours, you want to be doing circuit training.
Rule number eight is this, you’ve got to utilize progressive training.
What does that mean?
That means that you have to keep challenging your body.
The reason for this guys is, there’s a principle called Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand (S.A.I.D) that means that your body is very smart and your body will adapt very quickly to whatever program that you are doing.
I have clients that have been with me close to five years now. Do you honestly think we are doing the same kind of workouts that we did on day one, five years later? Absolutely not. You’ve got to keep challenging the body and that’s how you break past plateaus.
Rule number nine is this, you’ve got to focus on a larger muscle groups especially your lower body.
Remember our goal is to be strategic when trying to burn fat, when trying to lose weight, and wise about how we use our time. One of the ways to do that is by focusing on larger muscle groups.
What is an example of a large muscle group?
Your legs, your thighs, your butt, your back. Those are large muscle groups.
Our goal is to build as much lean tissue as possible and when you do that, again, your resting metabolic rate goes up.
The bulk of the time, 99.9% of your time while working out should be focused on working on your large muscle groups.
That’s what I do predominantly with my clients. We do alot of lower body exercises. We do a lot of squats. We do a lot of lunges. We do a lot of box jumps, push-ups and pull-ups, and things like that. Those are all exercises that focus on larger muscle groups.
Rule number 10, you have got to use proper technique.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve observed people in the gym trying to do an exercise, and doing it incorrectly.
Listen, guys, do yourself a favor, if you are not confident with how you’re performing an exercise in the gym, invest in hiring an expert to teach you how to do it properly. There’s nothing more discouraging than exercising and getting injured. Getting injured is not fun, especially when you’re just at the beginning of your weight loss transformation journey.
When I’m training my client, I’m always observing them and making sure that they’re doing the exercise correctly. There’s no point in exercising if you are not doing it correctly, all you’re going to do is hurt yourself. When you do exercises correctly, you achieve better results.
Rule number 11 is this, you’ve got to perform exercises in the right order.
There is a right way of combining exercises in a certain order for you to elicit the best result. Generally speaking, you want to be doing the more complex exercises first and then the least complex exercises last.
What do I mean by that?
Let me give you a very simple example. If I was designing a program that included a back squat and a pushup, the back squat is more complicated than a pushup. First, back squat because that requires more focus, a greater skill, and then do the pushup next.
You have to do exercises in the right order.
Rule number 12 is this, you’ve got to add variations to your workout.
If your body knows that you’re going to do a certain exercise next it’s going to stop “growing.”
You want to add variations your workout. That is the only way you’d be able to blast through plateaus, if that’s something you’re struggling with, burn fat the quickest, and also keep your body guessing.
Rule number 13, you want to include plyometric type exercises in your training.
Plyometric simply means anything that involves jumping. Here’s the key though, you have to make sure that you are at that level; otherwise, you’re going to end up getting hurt.
Plyometric exercises are things that I reserve for my most advanced clients.
Listen, if you have any pre-existing injuries you do not want to be doing plyometric type exercises. And of course, before you even start an exercise program, a new exercise program, always make sure that you consult with your doctor first.
That brings us to the end of our conversation today, the 13 rules for losing belly fat, quickly and safely without doing cardio for hours.
These are the same principles that I use personally myself that helped me lose 60 pounds in 180 days. I am confident that they work.
Obviously, you’ve got to do this plus adopt an healthy eating plan.
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