Increase Training Volume During The Holidays To Prevent Fat Gain

Train hard with a high volume of repetitions during the holidays to prevent fat gain. This will burn a lot of energy, increase the amount of calories your body burns during recovery, and improve fat burning.

Other benefits of high volume training include the following:

Glycogen depletion—when you eat carbohydrates they are stored as glycogen in the muscle and can be used for fuel during exercise. However, if your glycogen stores are all full, carbs will be turned into fat. Depleting the stored glycogen means you get to replace it post-workout. Glycogen depleting workouts are ideal before holiday meals—just don’t overindulge!

Accomplish glycogen depletion by weight training with multi-joint lifts, moderately heavy weights using 8 to 10 reps, and lots of sets. Consider doubling your regular number of sets for a potent energy burning workout. For example, use a weight that you reach failure with by rep number 10, and try 6 to 10 sets per exercise. Decrease the weight if necessary as you progress through the sets. Shoot for doing more than 300 reps per workout.

Elevate growth hormone—training hard with a high volume will result in lactic acid buildup (yes, your muscles will burn, but just push through it). High levels of lactic acid lead to more growth hormone being released, which is the primary hormone you want to elevate for fat burning.

Using short rest periods will elevate growth hormone as will sprint interval training. Try circuit training in which you move quickly from exercise to exercise, limiting rest to 10 to 30 seconds. Or try interval training on a track or bike with 15 to 30 second sprints and an equal rest interval. Limit interval workouts to 20 to 25 minutes total.

Avoid doing steady-state aerobic training because it elevates cortisol and has no effect on glycogen depletion or growth hormone. If you want to get more exercise, go for a brisk walk.