Have you ever wondered what types of workouts burn the most calories? I can save you some time by telling you “Metabolic Workouts” are among the most efficient (and challenging) workouts to help burn the greatest number of calories in the least amount of time. Metabolic Workouts combine exercises that engage different muscle groups, or use different movement patterns with very little rest between sets.
I have to the right (with a summary below) an example of a Metabolic Workout that pairs upper body and lower body movements that is guaranteed to burn a TON of calories. If you’ve read my Efficient Strength Training 101 article series, this workout will help solidify what you’ve learned.
Be warned, this workout is NOT easy. In fact, if I try to shoot for under 10 reps for each exercise during this type of workout, I feel like my life force has been stripped from my body. I just get wiped out. The goal is not to deeply engage the muscle fibers for any particular muscle group, but to engage your entire musculoskeletal system, which helps elevate your metabolism for days.
While this workout is tough, it’s VERY effective and efficient. If you are in decent shape, I think it’s worth trying it out to see if you like this style of strength training, which works great for men and women:
Metabolic Workout Guidelines
Perform 2-3 Sets of each Superset (about 30-45 seconds rest between supersets), shoot for 10-15 reps. A superset pairs two different exercises that should be performed back to back with little, or no rest. Always warm up. For more detail, click the top right image of the report.
Metabolic Workout
Superset #1
Barbell Squat
Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Superset #2
Standard Lunges
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Superset #3
Single Arm Dumbbell Row
V Up (lying flat on the ground keeping your legs straight, bring your legs off the ground 2 feet and simultaneously crunch up, arms extended, and touch your knees, then back down).
If you are doing this workout at home, just replace the barbell squat with dumbbell squats and you should be fine (dumbbells are at your sides when you squat down, keeping your back straight, head facing forward).
You can do this type of workout 2-3 times per week, and if you still have some energy, you can finish it off with some cardio. You can also try alternating between light/heavy days, where for one workout you shoot for 15 reps on each exercise (light day) then the other day you shoot for 10 reps (heavy day).
If you are brave enough to try this workout (and you are in good enough shape), let me know your thoughts!
you know i have to try this right….
Burning calories in the least amount of time works for me. I am definitely up for the challenge.
ok, i tried it yesterday and…made it except for the very last set! i needed energy to walk home after. whew! this i must do again.
Hey RJ,
Happy you tried out the workout. It’s tough. To make it even tougher, try adding drop sets after the last set of each exercise.
Personally I prefer supersets that work opposing muscle groups, so that one can rest while the other works. In contrast, 3 of the first 4 excercises work the front shoulder muscles. But variety is key, so I’ll give this a shot
Sorry, I misread the program – this one does work opposing muscle groups. My mistake!
Think I’ll give it a try, but what do you think about supersets in one muscle group For instance chest. Starting with flat bench. incline bench, flys resting 15 secs each.
Hey Paul,
I think this metabolic workout is worth a try just to see if it works for you. I personally prefer supersetting opposing muscle groups (i.e. chest/back, chest/bis etc.), although I occasionally superset upper body/lower body exercises like in this metabolic workout. I think the downside of this workout is that you don’t stimulate your muscle fibers intensely enough because the volume per muscle group is relatively low.
Regarding same muscle group supersets (technically called compound sets), I’m a big fan, it’s just important to choose the right exercises and not burn yourself out too fast. For example, your legs in general are more resilient to supersets and recover quicker than say your chest. So I superset legs exercises all the time and the workouts are awesome. For chest supersets, my favorite is chest flyes (using the machine) supesetting with pushups. I do this at the end of the chest workout. Your chest will feel an amazing pump. I would suggest not using too much weight at all when doing upper body supersets and pairing a compound exercise with a single joint exercise. Higher rep, low weight. Another superset I love is military dumbbell press with lateral raises, great pump. If you do use these techniques, make sure to give those muscle groups plenty of rest because there will likely be trauma to the muscle fibers that need time to repair.
Hope that answers your question!
Greetings,
I have a question for the webmaster/admin here at http://www.builtlean.com.
Can I use some of the information from this post right above if I provide a backlink back to your site?
Thanks,
Harry
It took me a long time to search online, only your site open up the fully details, bookmarked and thanks again.
- Kris
I tried it, and I was gasping for air on the 2nd superset. I did 5kg dumbbells on each hand, and I can only do 2 sets of the 2nd while the others were completed in 3 sets. it was a good sweat. very efficient workout! I will do this until I can do all 3 sets with little rest in between.
@nikki – impressive you gave this workout a try! Usually about midway through my lips turn white and I swear I will never do another heavy full body workout again! Kudos to you for wanting to improve your fitness and thanks for the comment. Best of luck with this workout.
Should you do cardion in between sets of weight training?
@Jim Williams – That’s a great question. The answer depends on another question, which is “what is your goal?”. If your goal is to build strength, or build muscle, I would recommend against doing cardio in between strength training exercises. For a great article discussing cardio and weights together in a workout, read this: http://www.builtlean.com/2011/11/07/cardio-before-or-after-weights/.