Figure competitors often email me and ask me, what is the hardest workouts that I give to competitors to really burn body fat. Well it's called the 'tree'.... and it works like this:
(the explanation below is a little hard to follow - the video is a lot easier to understand)

   Choose 8 exercises and number them 1-8
   for example:
       1. Jump squats:          15 reps
       2. Db swings:              20 reps
       3. Pushups:                 15 reps
       4. Squat row:               20 reps
       5. Mountain climbers: 80 reps
       6. Db squat curls:       15 reps
       7. Frog jumps:            20 reps
       8.1 arm high pull:        20 reps each arm

Using the exercises above the following sequence is done without interruption:
    A) perform exercise #1
    B) immediately perform exercises #1 and #2
    C) immediately perform exercises #1, #2 and #3
    D) immediately perform exercises #1, #2, #3 and #4
    E) immediately perform exercises #1, #2, #3,#4 and #5
    F) immediately perform exercises #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6
    G) immediately perform exercises #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7
    H) immediately perform exercises #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 ,#7 and #8
Basically every time you add a new exercise you start over at the beginning
The video below shows an abbreviated circuit of 5 exercises (db swings, jump squats, pushups, mountain climbers, 1 arm press). Most of the your circuits should contain more exercises and higher reps (15-20 reps for most exercises)
When to use:
  • You can perform this workout once or twice a week in place of your regular 60 minute workout.
  • You could repeat the above circuit for your entire 60 minute workout.... or come up with others and perform a few of them.
  • I wouldn't suggest not working out like this too often to avoid over-training, unless you are getting ready for a show and you are close to your goal weight but the last few pounds are holding on tight. Then you might want to alternate this with your regular workout. Otherwise, once or twice a week is good.
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Practice * Practice * Practice
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   The most overlooked aspect of getting ready for a figure competition is posing. Too many competitors wait until the last minute before they start practicing. Posing takes months to master - you must know how to pose correctly. New competitors often look uncomfortable onstage. With proper practice you can look like a seasoned veteran the very first time you step onstage.
   I never understood how competitors could train and diet so hard week after week but not work on presenting their physique. It's what the people coming to the show are paying to see.
   I use a variety of things at my gym to improve posing. Sometimes I have the girls hold weight while they are posing to build stamina in the arms or weight jackets to build stamina in the torso. The girls also do a lot of repetition... that's the only way you are going to master posing.
   I will show you how to pose properly and give you drills to practice at home to improve much faster in my FigureReady program. You will learn prejudging poses and night routine poses. To be on the safe side you should start working on posing about 2 months before your show.
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Plain and simple…If you are a figure competitor then Interval Training is better than trying to stay within a certain heart rate range (THR: target heart rate training) fat loss cardio workouts. The leanest athletes in the world usually train in an interval-like manner. Take a look at track sprinters (100, 200 and 400 meters). These athletes are very lean and muscular… and the shorter the distance the more muscular (the 100 meter runner is more muscular that the 400 meter runner). NFL running backs and wide receivers. These athletes aren’t calculating numbers so that they only work out at a certain level of intensity. No… they just work out hard every workout!

Research shows us that you can burn more calories with interval training than you can with other forms of cardio. What this means is that you can get the same results while working out less, which leads us to our next example…

Look at the difference between an elite marathon runner and an elite sprinter. Although the marathon runner is also lean…. he/she will also be very thin from excessive cardio. The sprinter, by contrast, will be just as lean but much more muscular.

The goal of a figure competitor is to get lean while keeping as much muscle as possible – therefore interval training is the best type of training for competition. The last thing you want to do is burn hard-earned muscle.

The Missing Piece of The Puzzle:

Because figure competitors must keep as much muscle as possible – You  must include resistance training in your workouts. This is extremely important because If you don’t stimulate muscle often enough, you will lose it during the precontest phase. The best thing about using resistance training is that research shows us that metabolism may stay elevated up to 72 hours (it may be as short as 24 hours depending on the intensity.. but that’s still a great benefit). Regular cardio only elevates metabolism during the workout – your metabolism returns to normal right after a regular cardio workout (regular = cardio with no resistance exercises included)

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Muscle vs Fat 11/07/2010
 
Can Figure Competitors Lose Fat & Build Muscle At The Same Time?
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Answer: This may help you figure out the answer
1) In order to build muscle you must eat MORE calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight

2) In order to lose body fat you must eat FEWER calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight

The answer is a resounding NO! NO! NO!

There should be a clear distinction between the gaining phase (off-season) and the fat loss (precontest) phase… never the two shall meet. Competitors who try this are only spinning their wheels and often wonder why they don’t make progress. It’s like trying to build a house when someone takes a brick down as soon as you put one up – gonna take a long time to build that house!

When it comes to women it’s especially important not to mix the two because it’s really hard for most women to gain muscle… even with proper rest, eating and heavy lifting. If you want to build muscle, stay away from cardio during the building phase.

“But I read something that said….“

I know, I know, I know… you read in XYZ Magazine or ABC website that if you follow this ‘special’ program or drink that ‘new and improved’ protein powder you can gain muscle and lose body fat. Don’t listen to them… most likely they are just trying to sell you something or trying to get you to sign up to train with them. When I tell new competitors that they should do NO cardio in the offseason if they need to gain muscle (which most newcomers need to do)… a look of shear horror comes on their faces: “Omg! no cardio? I’m going to gain a ton of weight!!!” I tell them there is only one way to gain too much weight… and that is to eat too much food!

Fear of weight gain…

Many figure competitors are afraid to gain weight in the off season so they try to slow weight gain down by doing cardio, while trying to gain muscle. This will result in minimal gains in muscle size. The nervous system only has so much ‘energy’ in it’s reserve each day… you need all of the energy going toward building muscle. If half is used for your 60 minute treadmill run... how much do you think is left over for building muscle?

If you need to build muscle you must take the time in between shows to lift heavy and build some size. Get over the fact that you need to gain a few pounds. you can gain muscle holding 10 lbs over competition weight. You don’t have to gain a ton of weight. If you find yourself gaining too much fat then do more push-backs everyday…. push back from the table! don’t do cardio…. save the energy for building muscle, otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels.

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No trainer? ...No problem - just cut out all the clutter and stay focused
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I get this question from all over the country... new competitors struggling with the decision to compete or not compete. The truth is... Yes you can do it alone.... but it's hard without proper direction - really hard! It's hard if you don't have someone looking over your shoulder, checking your progress, making sure you're following the diet etc. My group of competitors not only have me but they have each other to lean on (...and there's a lot of leaning goin' on). If you are trying to do this alone then you need to understand that there will be many rough days and doubtful nights.... you just gotta get through them and keep working hard. I would say that 80% of women who start training for a figure competition will not finish. I think a big problem is the enormous amount of misinformation out there being disseminated in gyms and on the internet. It can get extremely confusing, this is some of the stuff you might hear:
  • "take this supplement"
  • "don't take that supplement"
  • "you have to use steroids to get muscles"
  • "doing cardio while trying to build muscle (in the off-season) is ok"
  • "you can build muscle while losing body fat for a show"
  • "you gotta carb deplete/carb load before a show"
  • ....or maybe it was salt load.... or was it fat loading that was so important before a show?
  • "you shouldn't be eating less than 1500 calories to get ready for a show"
  • "you have to take all of your carbs out when dieting for a show"
  • you must increase your carbs 2 days before a show
  • don't work your legs the week of a competition
  • ....and on, and on, and on
With all the advice 'out there' who wouldn't be confused. I know a lot of the information is incorrect but some of it almost convinces me it's good - but I quickly come to my senses.... because if i can't find real research to back up a claim OR have not seen it work with my competitors, then I won't endorse it!
Everyone seems to be an expert and has some secret. The truth is... getting ready for a competition is simple and straightforward. Train hard and diet correctly - that's all you need to do. You don't need special supplements, crazy diet tricks or fancy equipment.... and you definitely don't need advice from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about.
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