Why Your Weight Loss Isn’t Working (Probably Not What You Think)

So your weight loss has plateaued?

Those pounds you were dropping – stopped.

Inches were going down, but now …… nada!

And even though you’re putting in one hundred percept in the gym, that change just isn’t happening.

Frustrating, isn’t it?

Here’s the thing though – it’s not your fault.

There’s something that no one’s bothered to tell you before.

The secret trick that your program – despite being seriously tough – is missing.

That secret …..

Is weight training.

Muscle Eats Fat

The main reason why you want weight training ….. actually, scratch that – why you NEED weight training to help you get leaner, is because muscle eats fat.

More muscle equals faster fat loss.

The amazing thing about lifting weights is that it raises your metabolic rate.

Your metabolic rate is the key to fat loss success, and it refers to the number of calories you burn.

Unfortunately, regular old boring cardio might burn calories, but it does very little to raise your metabolism, and keep you burning calories outside of the gym.

The same can’t be said of lifting weights though.

See, when you perform resistance exercises, it’s such a shock to your muscles that your metabolic rate goes through the roof, which means not only do you burn as many calories as cardio during your workout, but that calorie burn stays high for up to 48 hours after you’ve finished lifting.

For more on this metabolic phenomenon, check my latest video –

How to Program Your Weight Training

You might be confused about weights.

And that’s completely normal.

With so many machines, free-weights and programs around, figuring out where to start can be a serious puzzle.

The good news is though, there’s no “best” exercise, or best bits of equipment.

Whether you prefer to use dumbbells, barbells, fixed path machines – even kettlebells and cables, I’m not too worried for the moment.

What I am worried about however (and what will get you the best results) is how you set up your workout.

Here’s what I like –

A1
A2

B1
B2

C1
C2

D1
D2

What does this mean?

Each letter and number is an exercise – with the “1” exercise being an upper-body move, and the “2” exercise a lower one.

So you could have –

A1 – Squat
A2 – Push Press

B1 – Dumbbell Lunges
B2 – Kettlebell Row

And so on.

But that still doesn’t quite get in-depth enough for what we want.

TUT and TIBS – The Forgotten Tricks

Watch out – fancy acronyms coming up.

(Don’t worry, they’re incredibly simple.)

TUT stands for “Time Under Tension” – basically how long you’re working for in each set.

TIBS stands for “Time In Between Sets” – i.e. your rest time.

For optimal fat loss and lean muscle gains, your TUT needs to be 40 to 70 seconds.

So if one rep takes you 4 seconds using a 1-1-1-1 tempo (that’s 1 second each to lift, hold, lower and pause) then you need between 10 and 17 reps to hit that 40 to 70 second sweet spot.

As for TIBS – 45 seconds rest between each set is ample. You don’t want any more, otherwise you’re sabotaging your metabolic rate and your fat loss.

The final component – number of sets.

Let’s keep this nice and simple – 3 sets per exercise works incredibly well.

Oh yeah, and those letters – they indicate a super-set, where you don’t rest between moves.

Putting it All Together

Right then, sample workout time, I’ll walk you through the perfect workout, step by step:

A1 – Squat
A2 – Push Press

Perform squats for 40 to 70 seconds using enough weight to really challenge you, then go immediately into push presses. Same deal – 40 to 70 seconds with a hard weight, but keeping good form.

Rest for 45 seconds, then do this twice more.

That’s your squats and presses done, you’d then move on and do exactly the same with another 3 superset pairings, such as –

B1 – Dumbbell Lunges
B2 – Double Kettlebell Rows

C1 – Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
C2 – Elevated Push-Ups

D1 – Ab wheel rollouts (I sometimes like to put ab moves in place of a final lower exercise)
D2 – Lat Pull-downs

Bonus: “But I Don’t Want to Get Big and Bulky”

Don’t worry – you won’t.

With the way this is set up, growing huge, brutish muscles just will not happen.

What will happen, however, is that you’ll get faster fat loss than ever before.

You’ll also get lean, toned muscles, rather than that skinny, saggy look that’s rife among the cardio crowd, who do nothing more than slog away on the treadmill and elliptical.

So if you want to torch body fat, take your metabolic rate up a gear and see new insane results ….. Start lifting!

Check the video for even more advice –