I’m often asked what’s the best way to lose fat with functional fitness. On the surface this sounds like a pretty straightforward question; however, it’s not quite so easily answered. To better answer this question we need to look towards the group of resistance trained athletes that are best at losing fat and building muscle, bodybuilders!
Readers of this site will know that I often write about hypertrophy and building muscle mass. They will also know that bodybuilders and functional athletes have far more in common than not.
Both athletes use resistance training and actually complete around the same total volume of lifting. Similarly, they are actually just about as muscular when comparing natural bodybuilders to elite functional athletes. If you don’t believe me read this article for the details.
I recently came across this abstract from a research article entitled, “Recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: resistance and cardiovascular training,” and I must say it is the most succinct summary of losing fat for strength athletes that I’ve come across. Check it out.
The anabolic effect of resistance training can mitigate muscle loss during contest preparation. In reviewing relevant literature, we recommend a periodized approach be utilized. Block and undulating models show promise. Muscle groups should be trained 2 times weekly or more, although high volume training may benefit from higher frequencies to keep volume at any one session from becoming excessive. Low to high (~3-15) repetitions can be utilized but most repetitions should occur in the 6-12 range using 70-80% of 1 repetition maximum. Roughly 40-70 reps per muscle group per session should be performed, however higher volume may be appropriate for advanced bodybuilders. Traditional rest intervals of 1-3 minutes are adequate, but longer intervals can be used. Tempo should allow muscular control of the load; 1-2 s concentric and 2-3 s eccentric tempos. Training to failure should be limited when performing heavy loads on taxing exercises, and primarily relegated to single-joint exercises and higher repetitions. A core of multi-joint exercises with some single-joint exercises to address specific muscle groups as needed should be used, emphasizing full range of motion and proper form. Cardiovascular training can be used to enhance fat loss. Interference with strength training adaptations increases concomitantly with frequency and duration of cardiovascular training. Thus, the lowest frequency and duration possible while achieving sufficient fat loss should be used. Full-body modalities or cycling may reduce interference. High intensities may as well; however, require more recovery. Fasted cardiovascular training may not have benefits over fed-state and could be detrimental.
While this abstract is packed full of scientifically validated strategies to lose weight, we need to unpack it a little bit, so you have a solid understanding why this 239 word paragraph is so amazing.
Fat Loss For Athletes
Losing fat is easy. You simply need to burn more calories than you ingest. Ok, article done, time to move on to the next one. Not quite so fast! While that is easy to say, it doesn’t always translate nicely to the realities that we encounter in our day to day lives.
We need a realistic plan that will work, is relatively easy to execute, and doesn’t make you feel terrible the whole time. This leave us with a few primary concerns that will help us craft such a plan.
- Following an Appropriate Fitness Program
- Determining the Correct Nutrient Intake
- Promoting Recovery
Creating a Functional Fitness Program For Fat Loss
Our primary goal with any functional fitness program, during a fat loss cycle, is to maintain your strength, and work capacity. A well crafted plan will still need dedicated strength work, a WOD or metcon, and likely some extra conditioning to help lose fat.
When referring to the abstract, we see the first thing these researchers recommend is a periodized program. This simply means a well thought out program that increases in intensity or volume in a reasonable manner.
Next, they recommend training muscle groups at least two times per week. For those of you who’ve tried my programs in the past, I always ensure that each muscle group is hit twice per week, as this allows for the right amount of total volume.
For strength work, functional fitness athletes would be well served to follow their guidelines of 3-15 repetitions, with the majority of the reps in the 6-12 range, at 70-80% intensity. Said a little more plainly, these would be sets that aren’t always to failure, leaving about one rep in the tank.
Per Session Volume for Functional Fitness
This is a key component when creating a functional fitness program for fat loss. It’s very easy to go overboard, for functional athletes, with overall volume because of how quickly you accumulate volume in a WOD. Don’t believe me? Then check this out.
We have a male athlete who weighs 200 pounds doing the benchmark workout Fran. They complete this workout as prescribed, with no modifications and they do it in 4 minutes, which is a very good time. This equates to 43,990 foot pounds of work. This is roughly equivalent to 70 reps of deadlift at 315!
If we look at the abstract, the recommend volume for each session is 40-70 reps. Now I know that there are two movements in this workout, so lets say that two muscle groups received almost half of the recommended daily minimum volume in four minutes. If you did a lot of strength work before that, it would be very easy to do way too much volume in that session. Keep in mind this was a very short WOD. How much more volume can you do in a 15 in AMRAP?
The key point here is that you need to be smart with the amount of lifting volume you pair with your WODs. When crafting a plan for fat loss, I think it’s smart to stick with one big compound lift, and a little shorter WOD targeting the same muscle groups. Pairing 3×6 back squats with Fran would be an example of this.
If you want a great program with the right amount of volume, then check this out.
Executing Your Workout
This is another area where I see athletes trip up. Having a good program is great, but if you execute it poorly then it isn’t going to help you all that much. Here we have some other recommendations from the authors.
For functional fitness athletes, our primary strength movements (Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Press) need to be controlled during the eccentric phase, or lowering phase. The authors recommend 2-3 seconds, and this seems appropriate. For the concentric portion, or the portion where you are actually lifting the weight, you should attempt to move the weight as fast as possible. Again, the authors are right on the money, as 1-2 seconds is about the total time for you to complete a heavy rep.
You should also avoid taking all strength training sets to failure. Notice I say all sets. Occasionally you do need to go to true failure, defined as you being unable to complete another rep with good form. I tend to believe that one hard set per strength training exercise can be taken to failure, but no more, especially when in a caloric deficit.
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Cardio for Functional Fitness Weight Loss
This is one departure we will make from the author’s recommendations. You can certainly perform hard interval training, or steady state moderate intensity cardio, but I would recommend against it initially.
For functional fitness athletes, your cardio should come from your WOD or Metcon. As we stated above, we need to be very careful how we pair our lifts with our WODs to make sure we aren’t over taxing our muscle groups, thus leading to under recovery.
I think most athletes are best served with a variety of WODs when trying to lose weight. Research has shown, that very hard interval training can lead to greater fat loss, but this comes at a price. It is harder to recovery from that type of hard WOD or interval training.
Going back to our athlete who did Fran, we can say confidently that he is going to be wrecked for up to an hour afterwards, depending on how hard he pushed himself. He is also likely to be sore for several days afterwards. None of this is bad, but it indicates that he has incurred a heavy recovery debt. Thus, it wouldn’t make sense to do a super hard WOD the day after.
I would recommend a longer WOD at lower intensity the following day. This has several advantages. First, the athlete will burn more calories than in a shorter WOD, and secondly, it will keep him from getting buried in a recovery deficit. Here is an example WOD I would program for our athlete after his previous session.
15 min AMRAP
Assault Bike 15 Cal
15 Toes to Bar
15 Dips
This workout is not going to leave the athlete sore, but it will still be challenging for them. In this type of session you want to stay away from exercises that will incur a lot of muscular soreness. Things like deadlifts, wall balls, and thrusters create soreness because they require a lot of eccentric loading. This requires more recovery.
If you want to learn even more about creating your own programming then check this ebook out!
Steady State Cardio for Functional Fitness Fat Loss
There is nothing wrong with steady state cardio. I know it can be a dirty word for some athletes, but it is a great fat loss tool. I tend to think it’s best added later on in your fat loss plan, as it can help you overcome the eventual plateau’s you will encounter.
The authors are 100% correct that cardio does interfere with strength and muscular gains. This interference increases as you increase the amount of cardio you perform. Check out this infographic.
I would add in steady state cardio in the form of, walking, jogging, assault bike, or rower no more than three times per week. I would keep these sessions to 30 minutes or under for as long as possible, until fat loss stalled. At that point, you might want to lengthen the session, but you certainly shouldn’t be doing an hour of cardio every day.
If you like to do your cardio first thing in the morning, in a fasted state, that is ok. Personally, I think it’s more important to fit it into your schedule than it is to worry about getting a meal in before hand. This leads us to our next point, nutrition.
Creating a Nutrition Plan for Fat Loss
This is actually a little easier than it seems. You will need to read this article, and download the nutrition calculator. It will require you to take some body measurements, and weigh yourself. It will then generate your overall caloric intake, and macro nutrient recommendations. I also highly recommend you read this article that covers the basics of nutrition.
You have a wide variety of foods that you can choose from, and I tend to think that the actual food selection matters less than the macronutrient content of the food. In short, you should eat lean meats, vegetables, and less processed food. That doesn’t mean you can never have ice cream or white bread, but they are less than optimal. Just make sure you are hitting your total calories and macros.
Recovery During Fat Loss
This is a crucial piece to your overall success. If you kill it in the gym and think that’s all you need to do to lose weight you are missing out big time! Read this article on scientific recovery recommendations. You’ll see that cooling down with 10min of easy cardio greatly enhances recovery. Having done it myself, I can also tell you that you leave the gym feeling better as well.
Make sure you are sleeping adequately. Not everyone can get 8 hours of sleep a night, but you need to make sleep a priority where possible, as research indicates that the more sleep deprived you are, the more your body craves sweets and carbs. This makes it very hard to stick to your diet.
I would also recommend that you occasionally have a cheat meal. This is sometimes called a refeed. These cheat meals should be reserved for the later half of the diet. You don’t get to diet for three days then eat a whole pizza!
If you are experiencing low energy, and sluggish, and your weight has plateaued, then you are a good candidate for a cheat meal. Eat a pizza, or go out and have an extra desert. Remember this is one meal, not a whole week! The next day you’re back on the plan.
Final Thoughts
As with anything fitness related you need to be consistent above all else. You also need to increase the stimulus, as your body will get used to anything given enough time. This means that you need to start with the smallest caloric deficit and the lowest workout volume that allows you to lose fat.
As the diet progresses, feel free to add in some longer WODs, a little more lifting volume, or extra cardio to overcome plateaus. Don’t go all out in the first few weeks!
Sure you’ll see great progress, but you have no weapons left in your arsenal when things start to get tough as the diet progresses. Be reasonable, be consistent, and before you know it you’ll be making all the strangers jealous on Instagram!
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