I’m about to reveal to you one of the most effective fat-loss workout I have ever used. Not only does it rip fat off the body but it dramatically increases anaerobic and aerobic conditioning, strength, and flexibility all at the same time. An hour of traditional cardio will seem like a piece of cake compared to this. This workout does things to your body that cannot be described in words. Only after the four minutes are done will you understand. The following workout is so effective that many of my clients have lost twenty to thirty pounds of fat in just four to six weeks. The most exciting part about the extreme fat loss is that it is accomplished with only a four minute workout multiple times per week and walking on the “off” days. Think of these four minutes as the “bread & butter” of the Blow-Torch The Fat program.

I have to give credit where credit is due.  I first learned of this insane but effective 4 minute workout from Dan John.  He has some of the best material for strength and conditioning at his website www.danjohn.org. A number of years ago, a company came out with an exercise machine that guaranteed results with weight loss, flexibility, and strength in only four minutes a day. Celebrities such as Anthony Robbins own two of them, one for traveling and one for at home. Unfortunately this piece of equipment is nearly $15,000.

I did a google search to learn more about how this piece of equipment was developed and learned about a Japanese researcher by the name of Tabata. Tabata developed a “training system” that increased an athlete’s anaerobic and aerobic conditioning at the same time all in less than 5 minutes. Strength coaches from different backgrounds have used these workout parameters on their athletes because it seamed to help with a variety of different sports. Again Dan John seemed to explain its effects best. Cyclists, tennis players, baseball players, basketball players, Olympic lifters, and the person looking to lose fat quickly have all benefited from this program.

I was curious to say the least. I’m always looking for new ways to accelerate fat loss and do it in less time. Since most people can’t afford the $15,000 price tag, I wanted to see if I could take this information and develop it for the average person looking to lose fat in a hurry. You see, most people who did the 4 minute workout were athlets.  The clients I wanted to use this on were regular folk that just wanted to lose fat and get in shape at break-neck speed. About 3 years ago I took a group of members from my fitness facility and tested them. I used a group of full body movements that was easy to teach and highly effective. The results were exciting.

Experience has taught me that the average person falls into one of three categories: never been in shape, used to be in shape or in shape and has reached a plateau. I took people from each category and worked with them for 4 weeks. They would perform the 4 minute workout three times per week. The average body fat loss per week was between 2 to 5 pounds. Losing 2-5 fat pounds per week never surprises me when my clients eat well and exercise properly. What was exciting is that this was accomplished with only 4 minutes a day three times per week! And none of them followed a sound nutritional program.

Although this workout is only 4 minutes, it will be the hardest 4 minutes of your life. What is it? It's simple: take one exercise and follow these simple steps:

1) For twenty seconds, perform and exercise with as many repetitions as possible.

2) Rest for ten seconds

3) Repeat seven more times for a total of eight sets!

4.) Next time you do the workout try to beat your repetition number from the last time.

5.) Once you are able to do 80 total reps during the 4 minutes then increase the resistance.

That’s it! You’re done in less time than it takes to watch commercials in between your favorite TV show. Eight sets of as many repetitions as you can do. I have just eliminated the #1 excuse for you not exercising: Time! Time is no longer an excuse you can use for not exercising.

One of my favorite aspects of this workout is that you only compare your results to yourself. You make improvements on every workout based on your results from the previous workout. You’re doing more work with each 4 minute time frame. Let’s say after your first workout you ended up with 50 total reps. The next time you perform the workout try to beat that number. With each workout you are doing more work in the same amount of time thus becoming more efficient aerobically, anaerobically, strengthening, toning, and melting the fat off your body!

After you finish the 4 minute workout anything else you do (exercise wise) will seem easy. As an added benefit many of my clients report feeling as though they are still burning an insane amount of calories a couple of hours after the workout! You may still be sweating long after the workout. Although I trained a variety of people on this program they all reported one very similar thing. They said, “The first time was the hardest and although the second time was equally hard, I recovered much faster!” That comment made me excited. Not only are we blowtorching the fat off, but it seems that a person’s physical conditioning dramatically improves over a very short amount of time. This is great for people who want to lose fat in a hurry and equally fantastic for athletes of all backgrounds and levels.

You may be wondering what types of exercises are allowed. Full body movements are the best choices for this workout. Sorry, small movements like triceps kick backs and leg lifts are out of the question. We want to utilize movements that give you the most “bang for your buck.” Remember when I told you we are trying to turn your metabolism into a Ferrari or a Hummer? This is the workout that is going to do just that.

The following exercises were used in my study and proved to be the most efficient. Some of the movements are more advanced than others. Depending on how much fat weight you have to lose and your current level of conditioning you may have to practice some of the movements first to find out which ones you are able to perform. At the end of the article is a link to video of the movements.

SQUAT/PUSH-PRESS

This movement is my top choice. It works virtually every muscle in the body and works your body like you have never been worked before. Start with a light pair of dumbbells (between 10-20 pounds) and perform this movement in the following manner.

1.) Start by standing in front of a low box or chair that is low enough to force you to squat at a depth where your thighs are parallel or lower to the floor. The chair or box should be at least a foot behind you so that you will be forced to reach back with your hips.

2.) Grab two dumbbells and rest the dumbbells on your shoulders while still holding on to them. With a shoulder-width stance, squat down. Initiate the squat with your hips in other words sit down as if a chair were way behind you. Keep your lower back arched (not rounded) tight and your belly button drawn in.

3.) Once you squat down stand up as fast as possible. As you squat back up, accelerate with your legs while pushing the dumbbells up with your arms overhead. Press the dumbbells up as you rise or use the momentum to help "throw" the dumbbells overhead. You will probably find that you’ll do a little of both during the four minutes.

4.) The key word to this movement is explosive! Don’t perform this movement slowly. Slow and controlled is great for rehabilitation but not good for strength and fat loss. The faster you perform the movement the more tension you create, the more muscle fiber recruitment, and there is more energy expenditure. We want to turn you into a fat burning machine!

BODYWEIGHT SQUAT

1.) Initiate the squat with your hips, in other words sit down as if a chair were way behind you. Keep your lower back arched (not rounded) tight and your belly button drawn in. Curl your toes up so as to keep the weight on your heals and the balls of your feet. Stand up and repeat.

SIT-UP/JUMP

This is a more advanced movement and requires flexibility. As you progress and get into better shape this is one of the best and most demanding exercises. You won’t need to add weight to this one. Perform this movement as smoothly as possible, in one continuous movement

1.) Assume a traditional sit-up position on the floor with your knees bent and arms extended behind you.

2.) Thrust your arms forward and perform a sit-up as fast as possible and stand up (arm thrust acts as momentum to help you up). Once you stand up, jump up as high as you can with your arms extended overhead. Squat down to the floor, roll back to the starting position, and repeat the movement.

SQUAT THRUST/PUSH-UP

This movement can be performed with just your bodyweight, however as you progress you may hold dumbbells at your sides.

1.) From a standing position, squat down to the floor, jump your feet back so you're in a push-up position, and perform one push-up. Jump back to the previous position then stand up.

2.) Repeat exercise from the beginning.

DUMBELL SWINGS

This will strengthen and tone your entire posterior chain (the muscles from your neck down to your ankles) as well as your abdominals. This and the squat press are my favorite choices. The key word to this movement is momentum! Don’t try to “muscle” the weight up. Use momentum from your legs and hips to “throw” the weight up.

1.) Start by holding the dumbbell with two hands and your feet just outside shoulder width apart.

2.) Keep your arms straight throughout the entire movement.

3.) As you begin, reach back with your butt as far as possible while keeping your lower back arched and belly button drawn in.

4.) “Sit back” with your hips and swing the dumbbell between your legs

5.) Immediately swing the dumbbells forward and extend your hips

6.) Finish with arms straight overhead

RECAP

1.) Perform a movement for 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds and 10 seconds only!!!

2.) Repeat seven more times for a total of 8 sets (4 minutes).

3.) Add the total number of repetitions and beat that number the next time you do the workout.

4.) After you reach 75 total reps go up in weight.

5.) When using weight it is a good idea to keep a chair or bench in front of you so that you can rest the weight during the 10 seconds of rest.

THE FOUR WEEK CYCLE THAT STARTED IT ALL!

The following is a four week cycle that has been most popular with my clients. Rather than doing just one movement, you may cycle through three movements to keep from getting bored and to challenge yourself. You can either use the same movement for four week cycles or choose multiple movements and cycle them for 4 weeks. Perform the 4 minutes three times per week. On your “off” days accumulate an hour of walking throughout the day. It can be 10 minutes 6 times per day, 30 minutes twice per day, whatever. Just accumulate an hour of walking on “off” days.

The following example is one I have used many times with great success. Let’s say you choose to do the workout on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Monday’s perform the squat press, on Wednesday’s perform dumbbell swings, and on Friday’s perform squats. Remember to beat your scores from the previous workouts each week. After a four week cycle switch the movements around or perform the same movements again.