Burn Belly Fat And Build Muscle At The Same Time

What does body recomposition mean?

On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m showing you a body recomposition workout training style to burn belly fat and build muscle at the same time.

If you’re not familiar with the term body recomposition a.k.a. “body recomp”, it’s a process of reducing body fat while building lean muscle tissue.

Body recomposition is a great goal for people who are in that gray area, where they aren’t overweight, but they aren’t lean and defined either.

Essentially, maintaining the same healthy weight, yet redistributing where the weight is coming from.

What does body composition mean?

Body composition is simply the percentage of your body weight that comes from body fat versus lean muscle tissue.

So based on this, you may not need to bulk up, nor lose weight.

You may just need a body recomposition workout program style to redistribute the weight from a few pounds of body fat, into a few pounds of lean muscle.

An excellent body recomposition workout style is called descending pyramid training.

This is one of the four training styles that our Afterburn 1.0 trainees are using to get lean while maintaining, and in some cases, building muscle, faster.

The idea behind descending pyramid training is that it stimulates muscle tissue growth while also increasing your body’s overall metabolic response.

In other words, helping you burn more fat, while building lean muscle.

By the way, I’m giving away my complete 42 day Live Lean Afterburn 1.0 program for free.

You can go sign up for it here.

Here’s how descending pyramid training works

It’s a simple concept that uses low rep counts, programed in a descending pyramid format.

This allows you to do a lot of work over a shorter period of time.

In our Afterburn 1.0 program we use descending pyramid training protocols following unilateral exercises and full body circuit style training.

Lets look at unilateral exercises first.

Unilateral exercises:

Unilateral exercises are movements that work one arm or leg at a time, for example a dumbbell reverse lunge.

This means one leg or arm is working, while the other leg or arm is in its built in rest period.

Once you hit your rep count goal for each leg or arm, you are done.

Here is an example of a unilateral exercise descending pyramid training set:

Exercise:

Click the links below for a step-by-step exercise demonstration of each exercise.

A1. Dumbbell Reverse Lunge

Reps: 5-4-3-2-1/leg

Rest: 60 second rest between circuits

Circuits: 3

Notes: Select a weight that is the same or slightly heavier than you’d lift for a 10 rep range. If you normally use 20 pound dumbbells for 10 reps of the reverse lunge, select that weight.

Complete 5 reverse lunges with your left leg, then after finishing your fifth rep, immediately switch legs and complete 5 reps with your right leg. Once you complete 5 reps with both legs, without resting, immediately move down the pyramid by completing 4 reps with each leg, then 3 reps, then 2 reps, then 1 rep with each leg. You’ve just completed one descending pyramid training circuit.

Rest 60 seconds between each circuit, then complete 2 more circuits for a total of 3 circuits. After your last circuit, rest 30 seconds and proceed to a full body circuit style descending pyramid training set.

Full body circuit style:

We program up to 4 different exercises that each target a different muscle group.

Complete each exercise following a lower rep range.

Your goal is to complete the reps for each exercise, then immediately moving on to the next exercise, until all reps have been completed within the descending pyramid.

Here is an example of a full body circuit style descending pyramid training set:

Exercises:

Click the links below for a step-by-step exercise demonstration of each exercise.

B1. Standing Dumbbell Bicep Curl

Reps: 6-5-4-3-2-1

Rest: No rest between exercises within the circuit

B2. Dumbbell Top Squat

Reps: 6-5-4-3-2-1

Rest: No rest between exercises within the circuit

B3. Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Reps: 6-5-4-3-2-1

Rest: No rest between exercises within the circuit

Circuits: 2

• 60 second rest between circuits

Notes: Choose a weight that you would normally use when completing 10 reps of the weakest of the 3 exercises. For example, if you normally lift 20 pounds for standing dumbbell bicep curls, 30 pounds for dumbbell top squats, and 15 pounds for standing dumbbell shoulder presses, select 15 pounds dumbbells for the entire circuit. This will be the weight used for all these exercises.

Start by completing 6 dumbbell bicep curls, then at the top of the last curl, immediately raise the dumbbells to your shoulders and complete 6 reps of the dumbbell top squat. After the last rep of the dumbbell top squat, immediately complete 6 reps of the standing dumbbell shoulder press. Once you’ve completed the 6 reps of the standing dumbbell shoulder press, immediately move into completing 5 reps of the standing dumbbell bicep curl, 5 reps for the dumbbell top squat, then 5 reps for the standing dumbbell shoulder press.

Continue that process, without taking any rest, for 4 reps, 3 reps, 2 reps, and then finish with 1 rep of each exercise. Take a 90 second rest between the circuit, then repeat one more time for a total of 2 circuits.

Traditional 10 rep set vs descending pyramid training set

So lets compare the total weight lifted during a traditional 10 rep set versus a descending pyramid training set.

If you lifted a pair of 20 pound dumbbells for the traditional 10 reps/leg set, that would equal a combined weight of 400 pounds/leg (2 x 20 lbs x 10 reps/leg).

However, when you use the same pair of 20 pound dumbbells during a 5-4-3-2-1 rep descending pyramid training set, you’d lift a total of 15 reps.

Therefore, it would equal a combined weight of 600 pounds/leg (2 x 20 lbs x 15 reps/leg).

That equals lifting 50% more weight than a traditional set of 10 reps.

Essentially you are completing more work, by lifting more reps of a weight that you normally could only lift 10 times.

Since you are applying more overall work to the muscle, this is an example of one of the mechanisms required for muscle growth, called progressive overload.

Success!

Plus, since you are doing more work than you normally do, you’ll also be burning more calories during your workout, which means more fat loss.

Also if you’re very strategic with your rest periods, you can keep them shorter to also add a metabolic training aspect to the workout, which helps boost your metabolism.

This all equals more muscle growth and faster fat loss.

Now that’s what I call a solid workout.

Burn belly fat and build muscle at the same time

As I always say, it’s important to implement different training styles, such as descending pyramid training, into your workout programs.

This not only keeps your workouts fresh and fun, but it also helps keep your body from adapting to the same old boring workouts it’s used to.

By continuously following the same workouts you’ve always done, your body can adapt and find more efficient ways to get the work done.

This essentially means your muscles are not working as hard as they once did to complete the same amount of work.

So if you want to continue to see more muscle growth, faster fat loss, and get rid of that stubborn layer of belly fat, I recommend you go take our Live Lean Body quiz to find the best program for your goals, fitness level, and access to equipment.

Our Live Lean programs are filled with these unique and fun workout routines that will shock your body to change, and finally destroy that layer of belly fat covering up your six pack abs.

Get ready to burn belly fat and build muscle at the same time!

I can’t wait to see your before and after transformation photos.