You’ve been doing high rep training to shred but, if you’ve hit a fat loss plateau, this is the push you need to keep losing fat.
Today’s expert: John Hayes is an athletic trainer and the owner of JHPT Performance Training
How you’ve hit a fat loss plateau
What you’ve been doing
4 sets of 15-20 reps.
You’ll have been working the muscles in a higher rep range using weights that are roughly 60-65% of your one repetition maximum (1RM). This will have helped lower your body fat percentage thanks to the high workload, without being too taxing on the nervous system.
Using lighter weights means you’ll also reduce your chances of getting injured. As you are using lighter loads you’ll have used shorter rest periods (30-60 seconds) between sets so you should have a built up an excellent base level of fitness.
What it’s done to your body?
After 6-12 weeks you will have improved your general fitness and are working at a higher density – doing more work, therefore burning more calories. Your muscles will have increased their definition since you’re working towards lowering your body fat.
What weakness has it created?
By staying in a set rep range for a long period of time without any type of progressive overload you are not going to maintain strength, so you’re at risk of starting to lose muscle mass if you stick with it for more than 12 weeks.
Although there are benefits from 15-20-rep range program, you have likely plateaued with your fat loss efforts.
What should you do the week before a new fat loss routine?
Take stock of the cardio you are doing. Both high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and low-intensity steady state cardio (LISS) are natural progressions however, it remains important to prioritize your weight training to hang on to your muscle mass.
Ensure you’re adding strength training in but also include some functional movements at least once per week. Ensure you include some plyometrics in your circuit days.
These will include moves such as clap press-ups, jump squats, jump lunges, box jumps, forward leaps, and burpees. This improves fitness while bettering your explosive strength and speed.
Your next best steps to reignite fat loss
Step 1: You’ll do plyometric circuit training once per week to improve explosive power.
Step 2: Do squats, deadlifts, bench, pull-ups and presses at 75-80% 1RM for 5-8 reps over 4-5 sets.
Step 3: Workouts must include: Prowler pushes/ pulls, battle ropes, and hill sprints.
Step 4: Your HIIT workouts should involve: 20-30 seconds sprints / 10-30 seconds rest.
Step 5: LIIS workout should involve: 30-60 mins steady cardio at 50-60% max.
Step 6: Give yourself enough recovery by taking a rest day for every 2-3 days’ training.
Your Fat Loss Plateau Busting Plan
| WEEKS 1-4 |
|---|
| 1-2x per week – Do LIIS cardio, such as jogging, biking, crosstrainer, rower and swimming for 20-30 minutes. |
| 1x per week – Do 5 sets of five reps on the following plyometric moves: clap press-ups, jump squats/lunges, box jumps, leaps, and burpees. |
| 2-3x per week – Do strength-training movements that include the squat, bench and deadlift using 75-80% of your 1RM, doing 4-5 sets of 5-8 reps. |
WEEKS 5-8
1-2x per week – Do HIIT cardio using prowler (5-10 sets for 30-60m), hill sprints (5-10 sets for 30-60m), and battle ropes (5-10 sets of 20-30 secs).
1x per week – Do five sets of five reps on the following plyometric moves: clap press-ups, jump squats/lunges, box jumps, forward leaps and burpees.
2-3x per week – Do strength-training that includes the squat, bench press, pull-ups and deadlift at 75-80% of your 1RM, doing 4-5 sets of 5-8 reps.
| WEEKS 9-12 |
|---|
| 1-2x per week – Do LIIS cardio, such as jogging, biking, cross trainer, rower and swimming for 20-30 minutes. |
| 1x per week – Do five sets of five reps on the following plyometrics: clap press-ups, jump squats/lunges, box jumps, forward leaps and burpees. |
| 1-2x per week – Do HIIT cardio using prowler (5-10 sets for 30-60m), hill sprints (5-10 sets for 30-60m), and battle ropes (5-10 sets of 20-30 secs). |
| 2-3x per week – Do strength-training that includes the squat, bench press, pull-ups and deadlift using 75-80% of 1RM, doing 4-5 sets of 5-8 reps. |
For more fat loss plateau busters, nutrition tips, workouts, and supplements, get TRAIN magazine direct into your inbox every month for free by signing up to our newsletter
