Check these boxes for your training and you’ll build muscle and burn fat

I’m not an accountant, or a carpenter (although I’ve become good at building shelves) or a farmer (though I am pretty good at growing peaches). Unlike fitness training which seemed to make sense to me early on, I find many things confusing which is why I prefer to have others do it unless I want to take it on as a personal challenge.  I also know many of my people can find the world of fitness training confusing, so I don’t hold it against them.  That’s what fitness professionals like yours truly are for.

One of the key things that is a valuable tool for creating training programs for various goals is having check lists.  Having a checklist helps with being methodical, systematic and keeping things in balance.  When it comes to designing well rounded strength programs, I like to think of it simply.

• Upper body push like bench press
• Upper body pull like chin ups or lat pulldowns
• Knee dominant movement like squats or lunges
• Hip dominant movement like deadlifts and kettlebell swings

As long as the criteria are met, it’s going to be well rounded as long as the volumes and loads are in balance (unless you need to correct an imbalance).  If there is room in the program, I can add a bridging type movement (like a hip thrust for physique goals) or an explosive power movement (like kettlebell swings or barbell cleans or something along those lines) for athletic goals.

Recently I was watching a lecture by Alwyn Cosgrove who is one of the thought leaders when it comes to fat loss training.  I had purchased his fitness professionals program design bible years ago and often refer to it.  Also recently bought his book, secrets of successful program design and read it when I get a quiet moment.  Anyway, at the end of a lecture filled with scientific studies he had a summary, which I can use a checklist to balance out all that I’ve learned about training info I’ve pulled from various sources to tweak and modify what I already know and optimize it even further.

• Full body training with weights (hit the entire body)
• Include explosive lifts (like kettlebell swings or slam balls)
• Use paired or circuit formats (density)
• Rest pause techniques or cluster sets (density)
• Select non competing exercises (some exercises pair better than others)
• Mechanical advantage extended sets (accumulate fatigue metabolites)

Couple that with supportive nutrition (prioritize protein and water and just make sure your calories are in the right ranges) and you have a program that adds up to rapid and sustainable results.  The good news is you don’t have to figure any of this out. When my car starts acting funny, I could try to figure it out, or I can take the direct path and outsource someone else’s knowledge, or in other words take it to a mechanic.

I have a free trial so you can see if it’s for you.  Just send me a text at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started.

Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Kinnelon, Pine Brook, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.