WEEK SIXTY-FIVE :: What Is The Best Workout For Shedding The Holiday Fat?

[the_fake_webmaster]

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* Note: How can I win? Answer all questions in the order that they are asked.

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TOPIC: What Is The Best Workout For Fitness Contest Prep?

For the week of: 12/27 - 12/31
Sunday @ Midnight Is The Final Cut (Mountain Time, US & Canada).

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Now that the holiday is slowly coming to an end we step on the scale and see a gain of 3, 4, or maybe even 5 pounds. We think back to all the brownies and cake we ate and realize that it wasn’t muscle we gained.

What is the best workout for shedding the holiday fat? Be specific.List exercises, sets, reps, etc.

Would it be beneficial to increase our number of workout days?

How long will it take to shed off those few pounds we gained this holiday season?

After New Year’s day, how much fat do you expect to have gained? Why this much?

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Don't discuss any other topic in this section. ONLY discuss the question above.

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NEW PRIZE MONEY!!!!!
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The best response will get $75 in credit, and second place will get $50 in credit to use in our online store and will have their workout posted on our main site for the world to see!

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NEW RULE!!!!!
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* New Rule: Any exercise not listed on our exercise listing (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm) must be accompanied by a full and complete description and pictures (or a link to the exercise(s) where pictures and description are given).

Thanks,
Bodybuilding.com

[Sophia Olivia]

I'm a figure competitor and competed in several competitions in 2006. Up until November 26th I was continually lean and very loyal to my training and diet and felt fantastic. Since I'm not competing until May '07, I decided that December would be my off season month and I would enjoy some foods and drinks that I normally wouldn't have. Over the past few weeks I have been eating at restaurants, drinking wine, eating big meals, working out less often, staying up late and not drinking enough water. I've been suffering the consequences. I've been living on Advil, Rolaids and Tums for the past few weeks, I feel bloated, crampy, gross and fat. My clothes felt very tight and I could see my tummy rolls. After all that hard work in only 3 weeks I had become chunky. My metabalism was thrown right off course. I know that it's unrealistic to stay in pre-contest shape but this was not acceptable. I decided to take control to shed the holiday fat, for the past 3 days I went back on my pre-contest diet and I've been working out twice a day. Cardio in the morning (45 minutes) along with a 10 minute sauna and weight training and cardio again in the evening (45 minutes). I've kept my calorie intake to about 1450 per day and sticking to chicken/egg whites/orange roughy/asparagus/sweet potatoes/dry oats/protein powder and back t0 6 small meals a day. No more alcohol. I finally feel back to normal today. Lesson learned.

[socadaddy1]

Personally ive always found that separating my workouts into strictly cardio and strictly weight training to be my best option. When i try to combine the 2 into 1 workout 1 of the 2 will definitely suffer due to the length of time i would be spending in the gym to accomplish both tasks. My greatest worries are staying motivated and retaining muscle.

For cardio, i like to run first thing on mornings, about 5 days a week, as research shows that the fat burning potential is greatest a this point. I usually start off brisk walking the first week of my preparation for about 20 minutes. I try to keep a steady pace that allows me to be able to speak. If i find difficulty in doing this i slow down. Every 4 days i aim to increase the time of this activity by about 10 minutes until i reach an hour. By the end of week 2 i'm pretty much bored doing this so i try to mix it up. I may do HIIT training every 2 days for about 20 minutes by running as fast as i can for 30 seconds and then walking for a minute. Time passes quickly using HIIT training and its much more exciting than walking. My two dogs also join in the fun as i run with them. (yeh sometimes i can tire them out) Some days i may even play basketball or football on afternoons and weight train on mornings just to spice it up a bit. When i can build up enough conditioning i try to jog instead of brisk walking.

In terms of weight training, i try to mix it up as well. Sometimes i carry my reps up to about 12 and at least once a week i choose a bodypart to max out. This going heavy with low reps goes against a lot of what i read but i find myself totally exhausted after such workouts and i think i may burn just as many calories. It also helps me to better keep my strength and muscle. IN fact, by incorporating proper nutrition before and after my workouts i find that i can gain some lean mass although im on a caloric deficit.

High rep sample workout:
Monday: Chest, tri, calves
Incline bench press: 4sets x 12,10,8,8 superset
standing calf raises 4 sets x 10,8,6,6

flat barbell presses 3 sets x 15,12,10,8 superset
donkey calf raises 3 sets x 10,8,6,6

dips 3 sets to failure

incline cable flyes 3 sets 15,12,10,10 superset
lying tricep EZ bar extensions 3 sets 15,12,10,8

tricep rope pressdowns 3 sets 12,10,10


TUESDAY: back, biceps
Weighted Chins 4 sets x 15,12,10,8
Lateral pull down 3 sets x 12,10,8
Bent over rows 4 sets x 15,12,10,8
t bar rows 3 sets x 12,12,10
Straight legged deadlifts 3 sets 15,12,10

Alternating dumbell curls 3 sets 10,8,6
Standing barbell curls 4 sets 10,8,6 drop set last 2 by decreasing weight 30%

WEDNESDAY: legs
Squats 4 sets 15,12,10,8
Leg press feet close 3 sets 15,12,10
leg extensions 4 sets 15,12,10,10
lying leg curls 4 sets 15,12,10,8
donkey calf raises 4 sets 12,10,8,6
seated calf raises 4 sets 15,12,10,8
standing calf raises 3 sets 10,8,8

Thursday off

friday: shoulders
military presses 4 sets 10,8,6,6
arnold presses 3 sets 15,12,10
lateral raises 4 sets 15,12,10,8 (sometimes i use the stripping method on the last set)
bent over laterals 4 sets 15,12,10,10
shrugs 4 sets 12,10,8,6

saturday and sunday off but i may also do other outdoor activities like play sports or cut the lawn.

I don't increase my workout days because i do 2 sessions per day. I don't want to risk overtraining. I also try to minimize my time in the gym by cutting my rest periods between sets to about 30-45 seconds except the days im going heavy.

I try to lose not more than 2 pounds per week because im afraid of losing muscle. To ensure this, i dont cut any calories if im constantly losing weight. I love food and i only cut any additional calories if i find that im not losing the weight as i should. To calculate how much time i would need, i find the difference between my current and target weight and divide this by the 2 pounds per week i expect to lose. This will give me the approximate number of weeks.

over the christmas season ive actually lost weight but im certainly looking fatter. My abdominals are disappearing slowly but surely and i think ive gone up by about 2% bodyfat. Losing muslce and gaining fat my nightmare. Im gonna follow my plan and hopefully see some great changes.

[ManInTheBox]

Best of luck to everyone! See ya next year!

[Liquid_diet]

I don't do much cutting, but here's my attempt. Good luck.

[Blink41]

Here's my article. I hope you all enjoy it. Good luck to all the others who participated. Happy New Year

[Mtguy8787]

Here's mine. GL to all & Happy New Year's

[socadaddy1]

this is an improved version of a post i made earlier. Just some minor changes but they were key to having a complete article. hope its not too late.