11 Fat Burning Workouts and the Science Behind Them

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. –Jim Ryun

What is in this article?

11 Fat Burning Workouts
The science behind why the fat burning workouts work

As many of you have experienced, the secret to my success is boosting your metabolism. The Metabolic Boost program was developed as a result of research for my masters degree in nutrition. When we design your metabolic boost program, the foods we choose and the timing of the meal plan are designed to raise your metabolism. However nutrition is not the only part of the equation. While nutrition plays a bigger role than most of us would like to admit, exercise is also key to boosting your metabolism. (Come on, we would all like to think that because we are runners we can eat what we want; but empirical evidence shows us that is not true.)

Fat Burning Specific Routines

The following 11 workouts are designed for fat burning. If you want to know how the workouts work read the next couple of paragraphs. (If you are not interested in how they work, you just want to get started – skip to Fat Burning Workouts Described, where the workouts are listed.)

All of the workouts are in this article. At the bottom of the article there is a PDF file with each fat burning workout listed on a separate page. (The PDF file is slightly “prettier”; I didn’t spend much time on formatting.) You can print the workouts, then laminate them or put into a baggie and carry them with you to the gym. In the PDF file, I made the type large enough to be seen clearly while you are mid-workout.

If you find this useful let me know in the comments. If you would like something similar but different, let me know that as well.

How these workouts burn fat

Your body is designed to store fat. To your body fat is money in the bank. It does not want to let go of it very easily. Your goal with these workouts is to overcome your body’s lipogenesis sensitivity (in layman’s terms, fat storage mode). It has been proven that the higher the workout intensity the more likely the body’s physiological response to overcome lipogenesis sensitivity and let go of the fat.

Your body’s lipogenesis sensitivity has to do with how different hormones bind to either alpha or beta receptors. Without going into a physiology dissertation, high intensity exercise can overcome problems associated with alpha-receptor dominance in stubborn body fat. That is, these routines convince your body to “un-bind” that fat.

Forget all that hogwash you have heard about “fat burning zones”. To burn fat you need to up the ante. (Well, forget their hogwash, not mine. I am talking about those charts you probably saw in your gym admonishing you for getting your heart rate too high. If you want to know more, leave a question in the comments section.)

So if high intensity exercise is the answer, why not go all out all the time?

There are two reasons for this:

While high intensity exercise breaks down fatty acids in your cells, high intensity exercise does not burn fatty acids as a fuel. (That is the basis of the “fat burning zone” myth.) To overcome this, all of these workouts are designed as “intervals”. All this means is that you switch between high intensity and lower intensity exercise DURING each workout. Switching between high and low intensity creates that magic bullet.
You can’t go all out for a long enough period of time to burn significant calories. Research shows that working at a high intensity level consistently without some form of “rest interval” will result in burn out. The conclusion is that it’s better to incorporate “rest intervals”, which results in more time spent exercising, than an all out high intensity routine that would likely be short-lived. You know this empirically – can you sprint as long as you can jog?

For optimal fat burning, do these workouts 2-3 times a week

The first exercise is for beginners. If you are just learning about interval training, start with the basic concept and then build in some of the other routines as you progress.

Workouts 2 – 11 are designed not only as excellent interval sets with varying times built in for your convenience (so some are shorter, some are longer) but also with variety to create a consistent level of interest. Some of these workouts are pretty difficult, so listen to your body. There is nothing wrong with progression… taking it down a notch until you are ready to kick your own butt is equally as admirable, just because you are doing it!! You will get better results from hitting the high intensity as hard as you can, so choose a workout that allows you to exercise at maximum effort during the high intensity sections. Conversely you should be wiped out when you finish. This is not one of those workouts where you can read a magazine or talk to your neighbor. Don’t fool yourself.

Workout #1 – Basic Interval Training – this can be done on a treadmill, stairmaster or stationary bicycle.

30 minute work out.

Whichever piece of equipment you have chosen, figure out what is a moderate zone for yourself, and a high zone. If you have already had your heart rate test done, use zone 1 to 2 as the “off” time, and zones 4 and 5 as the “on” time.

Mins 0 – 4: warm up (zone 1) easy intensity of about 2 out of 10
Mins 4 – 5: moderate intensity : zone 3 (jogging, can hold a conversation)
Mins 5 – 8: low intensity, easy jogging, zone 1 to 2
Mins 8 – 9: high intensity zone 4 to 5 (cannot hold a conversation, all out work
Mins 9 – 10 : moderate intensity
Mins 10 – 13 low intensity
Mins 12 – 14 high intensity
Mins 14 – 15 moderate intensity
Mins 15 – 18 low intensity
Mins 18 – 19 high intensity
Mins 19 – 20 moderate intensity
Mins 20 – 23 low intensity
Mins 23 – 25 high intensity
Mins 25 – 28 moderate intensity
Mins 28 – 30 lowest, cool down (back to walking comfortably)

Workout #2 -Step Machine

Set the step machine on Manual workout for 20 mins. (level 6)
Warm up for 2 minutes.
At the 2 minute point, take the level up to 9.

Change out your stance on the steps every 2 minutes – for example

2 – 4 minutes, take your feet to very front of the stairs (short, quick stokes, pushing from the balls of feet),
4 – 6 minutes: slide feet back on the pedals and push out long full range strokes pushing off on heals.
Continue to alternate stance 4 more times, and then for the last 6 minutes go back to the neutral stance in the middle of the pedals.

In Summary:

Mins 0 – 2: neutral
Mins 2 – 4: front
Mins 4 – 6: back
Mins 6 – 8: front
Mins 8 – 10: back
Mins 10 – 12 front
Mins 12 – 14 back
Mins 14 – 20 Neutral

Workout #3 – Treadmill – 30 minute workout

(hips, hamstrings and glute strengthening)

Form: Power walk – long strides and squeeze glutes at the end of each stride.

Jogging – Choose a challenging pace with a jogging pace at at least 2 points higher than a walk.

Lunges – in place lunges, alternating right and left

Walk for 5 minutes ( first 2 is warm up, next 3 begins the rotations)
Leave the treadmill running, jump off of it and do alternating leg lunges for 30 seconds.
Get back on treadmill and at a jogging pace, jog for next 30 seconds.
Cycle through walk/lunges/jog according to this rotation below:

Mins 0 – 2 (walk/warm up)
Mins 2 – 5 (long walking strides, squeeze glutes)
Mins 5 – 5:30 alternating lunges
Carefully get back on treadmill and walk up to minute 6
Mins 6 – 8 jogging
Mins 8 – 10 walking
Mins 10 – 10:30 lunges
Carefully get back on treadmill and walk up to minute 11
Mins 11 – 13 jogging
Mins 13 – 15 walking
Mins 15 – 15:30 lunges
Carefully get back on treadmill and walk up to minute 16
Mins 16 – 18 jogging
Mins 18 – 20 walking
Mins 20 – 20:30 lunges
Carefully get back on treadmill and walk up to minute 21
Mins 21 – 25 walking
Mins 25 – 28 jogging
Mins 28 – 30 (cool down, easy walk)

Workout #4 – Elliptical, treadmill and stationary bike rotation – 45 minute work out

(starts with treadmill, then elliptical, and ends with bike)

Treadmill: 20 straight minutes.

Form: long stides and squeeze glutes at end of each stride.

Min 0 – 10: set at a pace of ~ 4.0 at 0% grade.

Min 10 – 20: 12% grade and pace at ~ 3.5, maintaining stride form

Elliptical: 15 minutes.

set program that is most like a consistent running stride.

Set level (resistance) at moderate (should be about 160 – 180 strides per min)

Cycle: 10 minutes

manual setting 3. Pedal hard (feel your hamstrings) for straight 10 minutes

Workout #5 – Stepper and stationary bike – 30 minute work out

Set stepper up on Manual setting. Alternate between level 6 and level 10 for the following intervals (every 30 seconds) for 10 minutes:

Mins 0 – 2: warm up at Level 6
Mins 2 – 2:30: Level 10
Mins 2:30 – 3 Level 6
Mins 3 – 3:30 Level 10
Mins 3:30 – 4 Level 6
Mins 4 – 4:30: Level 10
Mins 4:30 – 5 Level 6
Mins 5– 5:30 Level 10
Mins 5:30 – 6 Level 6
Mins 6 – 6:30: Level 10
Mins 6:30 – 7 Level 6
Mins 7– 7:30 Level 10
Mins 7:30 – 8 Level 6
Mins 8 – 8:30: Level 10
Mins 8:30 – 9 Level 6
Mins 9 – 10 Level 4 (COOL DOWN)

Jump on stationary bike for 20 minutes at moderate pace (level ~ 3 or 4)

Workout #6 – Treadmill – 35 minute work out – grade intervals

Choose a challenging pace yet still able to keep long safe strides (correct pace is about right before you feel like you need to run)

Mins and Grade %

0 – 2 : 0%
2 – 10 : 4%
10 – 18 : 6%
18 – 24: 8%
24 – 28: 10%
28 – 30: 12%
30 – 35 : 2% (cool down)

Workout #7 – Elliptical/ treadmill/ cycle – an hour work out

20 minutes on each
Elliptical : set on a challenging level and a whole lower body work out (pyramid grade).
Resistance settings:

0 – 2 mins: 130 – 140 strides per minute
2 – 8 mins: 140 – 150
8 – 20 mins: 160 – 180

Treadmill: 20 mins straight, at 0% grade, at pace of ~ 5 9long stride, intense walking, just before jogging pace)

Bike: manual setting.

Level 1 for first 3 minutes
Level 2 from 3 – 12 mins
Level 3 from 12 – 18 mins
Level 1 from 18 – 20 mins (cool down)

Workout #8 – Elliptical intervals

Elliptical for 30 minute work out

Set “Quick Start”, starting on lowest grade
Set the resistance at level 4
After a warm up set the grades according to following intervals:

0 – 4 mins: warm up – flat
4 – 5 mins – highest grade
5 – 7 mins – brisk, flat
7 – 8 mins – highest
8 – 10 mins flat
10 – 11 mins highest
11 – 13 mins falt
13 – 14 mins highest
14 – 16 mins flat
16 – 17 mins highest
17 – 20 mins: sprint (flat)

Restart elliptical, set to a cross training setting, at level for, follow the set program for 10 mins.

Workout #9 – treadmill

(35 minute interval/ grade work out)

This work involves alternating between treadmill with varying grades, and leg muscle work outs off treadmill in between. Follow the interval rotations as follows:

Minutes speed Grade %
0 – 5 mins warm up (brisk walking, nothing too intense)
5 – 12 mins: 3.0 12%
12 – 19 mins 5.5 8%
19 – 20 mins 7.5 0%
20 – 20:30 off treadmill, squats
Carefully get back on treadmill
21 – 22 mins 7.5 0%
22- 22:30 off treadmill, squats
Carefully get back on treadmill
23 – 24 mins 7.5 0%
24- 24:30 off treadmill, squats
Carefully get back on treadmill
25 – 26 mins 7.5 0%
26- 26:30 off treadmill, squats
Carefully get back on treadmill
27 – 28 mins 7.5 0%
28- 28:30 off treadmill, squats
Carefully get back on treadmill
29 – 30 mins 7.5 0%
30 – 35 mins 3.3 0% (cool down)

Workout #10 – Cross training : rowing machine, recumbent bike, treadmill (if you do not have access, you can substitute rower with stepper )

Rowing: 12 minutes, at pace close to 32 strokes per minute
If using stepper – manual pace at level ~10 for 12 mins)
Treadmill: run 1 mile at a pace of 8 minute miles (7.5 on pace setting)
Recumbent bike: intervals designed to alternate between cruising at 80 rpms at level 2 and more intense pacing at > 100 rpms (level 3) as follows:

Mins level rpm:
0- 2 1 (warm up)
2 – 4 2 80
4- 5 3 100+
5 – 7 2 80
7-8 3 100+
8-10 1 cool down

Workout #11 – Treadmill intervals and cross training

(30 minute intense work out)

This interval training involves alternating between walking, lunging (off the treadmill), and running, with increasing grades

Mins Action Grade (Speed)
0 – 2 walk 2% 3.5
2 – 3 lunges n/a
3 – 5 run 2% 6.5
5 – 7 walk 5% 3.5
7 – 8 lunges n/a
8 – 10 run 5% 6.5
10 – 12 walk 28% 3.5
12 – 13 lunges n/a
13 – 15 run 8% 6.5
15 – 17 walk 10% 3.5
17 – 18 lunges n/a
18 – 20 run 10% 6.5
20 – 22 walk max% 3.5
22– 23 lunges n/a
23 – 25 run max% 6.5
25 – 30 walk (cool down) at speed around 3.5

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References

1. Christmas MA. et al. Effect of work and recovery duration and fuel used during sustained intermittent excercise. Eur J Appl Physiol (1999) 80: 436-447.

2. Goto K et al. Effects of resistance exercise on lipolysis during subsequent submaximal exercise. Med Sci sports exerc. (2007) 39 (2):308-15.

3. Horowitz JF. Fatty acid mobilization from adipose tissue during exercise. Trends Endicrnol Metab. 2003 )ct 14 (8):386-92.

4. www.PTontheNet.com. Personal Trainers guide to exercise for clients. Oct 2009.

5. www.bodyrecomposition.com. The stubborn fat solution. Lyle McDonald.

The stubborn fat solution. Lyle McDonald.