A couple of weeks ago I told you about my halt in progress in my climbing improvement plan. I explained that I have gained weight, and although much of it is muscle weight it is putting extra stress on my fingers (which is impairing my performance, especially on overhanging routes).

I’m into my third week of a body composition workout, designed to cut weight while maintaining lean muscle mass. I said I would share the workout with you, so as promised here it is…The workout is split over 3 days.

The exercises are performed in a circuit format – no rests! The idea is to stress your muscles and your cardiovascular systems at the same time, so you should be out of breath for much of the workout. Don’t be tempted to slow down so you can do more weight. You will notice that many of the exercises are the same ones used in the strength conditioning workouts, this is because we want to make sure we keep as much strength conditioning as possible as we shed excess weight. For this weight loss workout perform the exercises faster, more explosively and with less weight.

At the end of each workout you perform 15 – 20 minutes of interval training. For those of you that don’t what interval training is, it is where you have short bursts of very high intensity cardiovascular training. You slow down in between bursts just long enough to let your heart rate and breathing slow to a comfortable level, then go again. Rinse and repeat until the wheels fall off (or 20 minutes – whichever comes first).

Circuit x 4

• Step up with shoulder press
  With a dumbell in each hand, step up onto a bench or a chair bringing your trailing knee up in front of you so you’re standing on one foot. As you step up and your leg straightens out, swing the dumbells up in a curl-movement, finishing with you hands palm up, wrist facing forward. Then, still standing on one leg, drive through with both hands to press the dumbells above your head. Lower them back to your shoulders and step down, allowing your hands to swing back down by your sides. Alternate feet for each repetition (10 – 12 repetitions either side)
• Chin ups
• 1 leg hamstring curls on a swiss ball
• 1-arm dumbell chest press on a swiss ball
• Barbell high pull
  Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart, holding a barbell with a narrow, overhand grip (palms toward you). Squat down, keeping your back straight (like you would for a dead-lift) until the weight just touches the floor. Return explosively to your start position but pull the weight up to your chin at the same time in an upright row. Repeat for 12 repetitions.

3 sets of swiss ball crunches

15 – 20 minutes of intervals (I like to do rowing, cross trainer then running for about 7 minutes each – do whatever cardio vascular exercises do it for you, Make it as hard as you can. No wimping out!)

Circuit x 4

• 1 arm / opposite leg dumbell shoulder press
  Perform single arm dumbell shoulder presses while stood on one leg (the opposite leg to the side you’re holding the dumbell). Be careful not to fall over – start with light weights.
• Bent over barbell row
• Front squats
• 1-arm high cable chest press
• Alternate leg stride with rope triceps press
  Set up a cable machine at about chest height, with the rope triceps extension attachment. Hold the rope in both hands, elbows bent, hands at neck height with your back to the machine (palms facing in). Move forward so you get a little bit of tension in the cable. Step one foot about 3 feet in from on the other one and lean forward to take the strain. Push off explosively from your back foot, stepping through and past your front foot. At the same time, use the momentum to extend your arms out in front and above you in a triceps press. Return your arms to their original position as you step back. Repeat for 12 repetitions on the same foot. Swap feet on the next circuit (so you do 2 sets for each side).

3 sets of kneeling, oblique cable crunches

15 – 20 minutes of intervals – feel the gurn!

Circuit x 4

• Half kneeling cable wood chop
  Very similar to the standing wood chop, but kneeling on one knee (the knee furthest from the machine)
• Alternate lunge on BOSU
  There’s a good example of this exercise on Youtube (but with a twist, they incorporate a lateral raise – cool)
• Dumbell straight leg deadlift
• 1 arm dumbell clean and press (with dumbell or kettle bell)
• Rope row to neck (performed seated in this video, but you can do standing or seated)

3 sets of kneeling swiss-ball balances

15 – 20 minutes of intervals – feel the gurn!

I’m going to be doing this workout for 4 to 6 weeks. In 1 and a half weeks I have lost about 2lbs so far. It’s imperative to eat a low carb diet with this work out if you want to cut up. Try reducing your intake by 200 calories per day.

I think for future workout posts I’m going to try to do video demonstrations myself. It’s very difficult to describe the exercises, and the video on Youtube is often pretty suspect. Until then, I hope you can work these out. Just drop me a comment if you have any questions.