Guess what, I need to lose weight. I’ve needed to lose weight for a long time and I just never seem to be able to do so. I’m a relatively active guy (for a computer geek). I play ball hockey every week that I can which is pretty intense. I almost always walk the course when I’m playing golf. Even when forced to use a cart I still make sure to walk as much as I can — the other guy can drive. Snowshoeing, preparing and carrying firewood, baseball, swimming … I have to say that I’m pretty active. I’m still about 90 lbs overweight.
My doctor and my naturopath both have told me that I need to lose the extra weight, so I need to step up the intensity a little. My naturopath has given me some guidelines to follow that should help.
High Intensity is the Key
The key to this workout philosophy is high intensity. We need to stress the body to its limit (and allow sufficient time to recover). There are two distinct types of workout that I need to work on — this article will talk about the Grunt n Growl and then we’ll follow up later with the Grizzly Bear.
Catabolic Workout
The secret of the Grunt n Growl is to push your major muscle groups to the max and beyond. This is not done by completing a fixed number of repetitions or excessive weight. You need to listen to your own body as the guide.
You must use about 75% of the maximum weight that you can handle for each exercise. You start off with a light warm up set of the exercise and take a short break. Then you do another set which is done to the point of muscle failure. In other words, you do it until you can’t do it any more. Then do one more. This is where the name comes from as your last rep will have you grunting and growling as you force that one last effort out of the muscles.
Once you’ve completed one exercise you will move on to the next exercise/muscle group. What this does is use up ALL the energy stores in the muscles. There is absolutely nothing left. Now the body is forced to turn to the long term stores of energy which never gets used when the short term energy is available. Now we’re burning fat!
This is also a catabolic activity which breaks down the muscles. This forces the body to rebuild (and it will rebuild stronger) and increases your metabolic rate. This will help burn extra calories for days after the workout.
Anabolic Rest
Once the workout is complete, it is important to let the body rest for a couple of days. You will be sore and as long as it is just muscle soreness then you are actually doing well. If you feel join pain then you’ll need to change your exercises accordingly.
It is important that you listen to your body and don’t do another Grunt n Growl workout two days in a row. In fact, you shouldn’t do more that 2 or 3 of these in a week. If you’re still sore from the last workout, wait another day. Pushing too hard will damage your body rather than strengthen it.
The Circuit
You need to do exercises that work the major muscle groups of the body. My naturopath recommended the following cycle for me:
- Warmup with some form of aerobic exercise (bike, treadmill, walking) and light stretching
- One circuit of warmup reps (not to fatigue)
- One circuit of supersets (i.e. to fatigue) You need to have one exercise from each of the following (example in parenthesis):
- Legs (squats)
- Push horizontal (pushups or bench presses)
- Pull horizontal (bent over rows)
- Push vertical (overhead presses)
- Pull vertical (pull ups)
- Core (crunches, planks, etc)
- Cool down
Diet
Along with this workout, we need to make sure that we supply the body with lots of good nutrients to rebuild during the anabolic phase (but don’t overdo the calories 8=) My naturopath recommends that I try to eat at least 6 times a day and get plenty of good protein. And drink lots of water! Lots!
My Results
I’ve only just begun with this program, so I can’t give you any results yet. I do know that my muscles were sore after this first workout, but probably not a sore as they should be. I don’t have any weights at this point (on the to buy list) so I’ve been focusing on the weight free exercises. Most of muscle groups can be pushed to the max with my body weight alone, but the pull horizontal and push vertical groups cannot.
I’ll post updates on my progress over the next months, so check back and see how I’m doing. And if you’re doing a similar workout let us know what results you’re getting.
[…] workout is to be done in conjunction with the Grunt n’ Growl workout that we learned about earlier. The idea behind these workouts is that you need to give […]
Pingback by Grizzly Bear Workout — April 27, 2010 @ 2:06 pm
To lose and maintain body weight we must do exercise regularly and watch what we eat. Add fresh fruits and vegetables more in our diet meals, increase water intake, avoid beverages and flavored juices.
Comment by san antonio gyms — July 4, 2012 @ 5:52 am
Before you start on your exercise, my advise is that start it with a prayer and then follow a warm up but I usually walk around and jog in the park then follow with a warm up then the proper exercise.
Comment by Daniela — September 8, 2012 @ 2:38 pm
Good point Daniela. Warming up should be done before and after every workout and prayer is always a good way to start any activity.
One thing to keep in mind is that warmup should be done before stretching. Many people think stretching is part of warmup, but it should be done when the muscles are warmed up.
I’ve also heard that a stretch before warming down is also helpful. I do it sometimes, but I usually forget 8=(
Comment by LoneWolf — September 8, 2012 @ 4:46 pm
Before you start on your exercise, you need to pay attention to your health at the present time, to workout accordingly. I hope you will have a healthy body
Comment by Dinh Nha — July 29, 2014 @ 10:42 pm
A good workout plan always starts where you’re at, health-wise. Good advice Dinh!
LoneWolf recently posted…The Waiting Game — Dealing with Slow Play
Comment by LoneWolf — August 13, 2014 @ 10:41 am
Good advice! I do this sort of thing with my client’s in the gym. The afterburn effect is very effective for burning fat.
Comment by Mark — December 11, 2014 @ 3:17 am
From the view of Tai Chi, in addition to intensity, consistency is the key in promotion of health and wellness. Consistency insures that the individual keeps the benefit of the exercise and ensures health benefit for a life time.
Comment by Frank — December 30, 2014 @ 10:38 am
I’ve been fascinated by Tai Chi. I think it would help promote fluid motion and power in the golf swing, in addition to the benefits to your overall health.
LoneWolf recently posted…Grizzly Bear Workout
Comment by LoneWolf — January 26, 2015 @ 4:53 pm
i have been trying high intensity workout for about 3 months, the resaults are simply amazing, not only that i lost weight so fast i have also built my body so quickly
Comment by natan dotan — January 19, 2015 @ 10:34 am
Our body needs time to rest especially after workout.
Comment by Kathy — January 21, 2015 @ 7:19 am
exercises can actually help an individual reduce excess weight. It also improves blood circulation in the body. There are also studies that shows that aerobic exercises also lifts the emotional status and psychological well-being of an individual.
Comment by Ericka — February 8, 2015 @ 8:57 am
To lose and maintain body weight we must do exercise regularly and watch what we eat. Add fresh fruits and vegetables more in our diet meals, increase water intake, avoid beverages and flavored juices.
Comment by mark hanry — March 9, 2015 @ 10:16 am
Any one of these strategies will help flatten your belly. Do all three to get maximum benefits.EAT right- eat foods rich in healthy monounsaturated fats Exercise Smart – Target those areas first where you need to lose fat ,then you can start on toning the restRepeat – Repeat the above two and go harder every week
cheers
jeff
Comment by jeff — March 19, 2015 @ 10:51 am
Good advice!!!!!
One thing to keep in mind is that warmup should be done before stretching. Many people think stretching is part of warmup, but it should be done when the muscles are warmed up.
Comment by EglobalFitness — March 20, 2015 @ 9:13 am
Drinking lots of water subsides your hunger.
Comment by Pique Dan — March 23, 2015 @ 11:58 am
exercising is really the best way to keep fit and stay healthy. the true secret of living a long life 🙂
Comment by chern — April 25, 2015 @ 12:29 pm
exercising is just part of it, but really watching what you eat is the key importance. 70% protein 30% carbo i think its the best combination 🙂
hope this helps!
Comment by chern — April 25, 2015 @ 12:34 pm
Eating after exercise rather than before will help burn of excess calories. Plus stay hydrated and drink lots of water. As the comment states above water helps you fell full.
Comment by Jacob — April 29, 2015 @ 11:16 am
Dead lifts are another good cound exercise. It’s so important to maintain form on that last rep. It’s so easy to cause an injury when you are grunting and forget posture.
Comment by Richard J D'Souza — May 30, 2015 @ 7:00 am
I agree for an after burner effect high intensity workouts are the best way to go. Am and advocate for them, I could never tell someone to just run to lose weight. Nice article and fair play to you hope you reach your target weight. Remember sweat is fat crying.
Comment by Kenneth — June 10, 2015 @ 2:52 pm
yes, this is a good advice! And I do this sort of thing with my client’s in the gym. The afterburn effect is very effective for burning fat.
thanks for sharing and good luck!
Comment by Nick Carter — August 13, 2015 @ 1:20 am
Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn. You don’t need to set aside large chunks of time for exercise to reap weight-loss benefits. If you can’t do an actual workout, get more active throughout the day in simple ways — by taking the stairs instead of the elevator or revving up your household chores.
Comment by Dale Stevens — August 13, 2015 @ 6:09 am
This is the kind of workout that I enjoy. Minimum rest, reps till failure and sweating like a pig = muscle gain. 😀
Comment by Alan — August 31, 2015 @ 3:12 pm
Yeah, agreed. Drink plenty of good old H2O and vary the work outs too. I find this makes it far more interesting. Great article.
Comment by Tony Cook — October 7, 2015 @ 6:24 pm
Workout is good for the health in terms of fitness and weight maintenance both. Workout gives you confidence and strength.
David clarke recently posted…Reasons to be a recumbent bike owner
Comment by David clarke — February 10, 2016 @ 2:43 am
Good post there. Don’t worry about the results. I can tell you right now that intensity type training works. We apply it to our MMA classes and it helps trim you down real fast, especially when combined together with a good diet with little sugar and no fat. You can’t go wrong. I would like to hear your results though when you have them
Comment by Pete's — June 7, 2016 @ 4:30 am
hey man,
Bit of an old post, but on doing some research for my old site came across this. Nice little practical workout guide that will actually help build muscle.
I am a huge fan of super sets and really hitting it hard in a short space of time
Quality stuff.
Comment by Steven Price — August 11, 2016 @ 8:48 pm
Really great post on this workout so great actually brilliant and benefits me as well as a lot more, thanks for sharing
Comment by Marie — August 16, 2016 @ 6:58 pm
Its important to do each excersice as slowly as possible and squeeze the reps as many as possible. Thanks for the good post.
Comment by Schumeck — August 22, 2016 @ 1:06 pm
I’m glad you included the section about “anabolic rest!” Most people breeze over the importance of rest, but it’s so vital to fast muscle growth and healthy fat loss. Your muscles grow and repair while you’re resting, not while you’re in the gym. Great stuff.
Comment by Jeff Masterson — October 11, 2016 @ 12:23 pm
I always watch for different articles about exercises as exercise keeps us healthy and fit. But I never heard of anabolic rest. Nice article with lots of useful information.
Comment by Anjali — January 19, 2017 @ 2:29 am
As you mentioned in the last paragraph the role of diet. I really appreciate this because most of the authors not provide the importance of diet in fitness.
Thanks for nice post..! @massgainersupplements
Cheers
Ram Kumar
Comment by Ram Kumar — January 20, 2017 @ 5:31 am
75% is definitely high intensity – have definitely tried this philosophy with a few of clients but everyone is different.
Comment by Trevor McClintock — January 20, 2017 @ 6:10 pm