A guy who works out but can't show off his abs in the summertime is like a Corvette Z06 that sits in the garage. It doesn't matter how many pounds you added to your bench press in the past year, or how many inches your arms grew - if you can't sport a chiseled midsection by mid-July, people will ask why you bother working out at all (and that's if they can tell you do in the first place).
Sound harsh? You know MF - we're tough, but fair, and it's our job to save you from embarrassment. But if you want to uncover that six-pack before the sun goes down on this season, you'd better get moving. Luckily, we've got just the plan to get you in gear. The following is our highly intense, four-week plan for fast fat loss, guaranteed to unveil the body you've worked hard for-so you can finally take it out for a joyride.
THE LOWDOWN
It doesn't matter what people believed in the '70s-high reps do not get you "cut." Muscle definition is the result of low body-fat levels, which, more than anything, come as a result of cutting calories from your diet. However, studies have shown that lower-rep sets (usually eight or fewer reps) do build more muscle and cause greater calorie expenditure than those that feature 12-15 reps or more. That's because heavy weights tax your system harder, activating more muscle than lighter sets and requiring more calories to be burned in order to fuel them. The workouts featured here follow that model, prioritizing the heavy, low-rep sets you need for frying fat off the belly while keeping strength levels high.
NO PLACE FOR THE WEAK
A big part of our plan to get you leaner entails strengthening the weak points in your physique. Chances are, you've spent years favoring certain exercises over others, failing to train what you don't see in the mirror as hard as what you do see. This can result in underdeveloped muscles that may slow down your progress.
The workouts we prescribe here reprioritize your training, emphasizing muscle groups you've long neglected and helping bring them up to par. Simply put, when you put your muscles in balance with each other (by bringing your rowing strength into proportion with your pressing strength, for example), your whole body grows faster - and burns significantly more calories. With that in mind, our program blitzes the weak points common to most guys - the glutes, upper back, rear shoulders, and various other components of your back view. The snatch-grip row, wide squat, lunge, and Romanian deadlift burn loads of calories, and they'll ensure that you look as good leaving the beach as you did walking onto it. (For a more detailed description of how your weak points will be corrected, see "What They Work and Why" below.)
HARDIER CARDIO
The word has begun to get out that interval cardio - intermittent bouts of intense exercise and more moderate paces - is more effective than long, slow distance running for burning fat. But what no one in the fitness industry can be sure of is what intervals work best for fat loss - and given that you haven't got long to look good for the beach, we don't have time to conduct any further research. That's why we've covered all the bases, prescribing three different interval sessions of varying intensities.
Think of it as you do lifting weights: You couldn't lift heavy all the time or you'd burn out; but by scheduling a heavy day, a moderate day, and even a light day, you keep the stimulus to your muscles fresh and avoid overtraining. Same idea here: You'll rotate very fast-paced interval days with medium - and lighter-intensity sessions, never allowing your body to adapt to any one protocol fully but working it hard each time. Regardless of whether a single "magical" interval routine exists, these three workouts leave nothing to chance - ensuring you'll get lean in no time.
