The First Ever Turbulence Training Fat Burning Workout

In case you missed it…part 1 of the “History of Turbulence Training” can be found here at Turbulence Training for Fat Loss.To make that long story short, I was working 16 hours per day and trying to fit in a fat burning workout in just 50 minutes…and that’s where today’s story picks up.

I was just about to bust my tail to get over to the gym. I had to run through the cold, dreary Canadian winter afternoon, and when I got to the gym, I did a quick but thorough warm-up. Unlike most people, I wasn’t wasting my time doing a 5-minute walk on the treadmill, that’s pointless and does nothing to prepare you for Turbulence Training. Instead, I did a bodyweight circuit that was specific to my lifts.

For my specific warm-up, I did bodyweight squats, pushups, and lunges. I also did some light sets of the resistance training exercises as well.

Once I got through the warm-up for the fat burning workout, I then chose the best total-body, multi-muscle exercises and did as many non-competing supersets as I could in the remainder of the 20 minutes.

Non-competing supersets simply mean doing 2 exercises back to back with little to no rest between exercise, however each exercise must not interfere with the other. That tends to be different from classic bodybuilding supersets that tend to focus on the same muscle groups.

In the Turbulence Training fat burning workouts, you want to perform each exercise as challenging as possible, so you want to be fresh, not fatigued.

Classic non-competing supersets include barbell squats plus chin-ups, dumbbell split squats plus dumbbell presses, and deadlifts plus military presses. Heck, each of those supersets are full body belly fat burning workouts in themselves!

The one mistake you must not make with non-competing supersets is to pair two “grip-intensive” exercises together.

For example, using dumbbell split squats and dumbbell rows together in a superset requires too much grip strength, and so both exercises will suffer.

By using the non-competing supersets, you can train your entire body in just 5 minutes, but I added a couple of extra supersets to make a full 20 minutes of fat loss resistance training.

Here’s the legendary first TT-style workout I ever did…

Strength Training Superset #1
1A) Barbell Squats – 8 reps
– No rest.
1B) Dumbbell Chest Presses – 8 reps
– Rest one minute and repeat 2 more times.

Strength Training Superset #2
2A) DB Rows – 8 reps per side
– No rest.
2B) Barbell Lunges – 8 reps per side
– Rest one minute and repeat 2 more times.

Immediately after I did the resistance exercises, I went straight to interval training on the bike. After a warm-up that increased in intensity over time, I did six 45-second intervals followed by 45 seconds of easy recovery interval and then a short cool-down to finish those intervals in under 20 minutes.

Stationary Bike Intervals
– 5 minute warmup (gradually increasing in intensity)
– 45 seconds work
– 45 seconds recovery
– repeat those intervals 6 times
– 5 minute cool-down

Lift first, intervals second. Forget that old wives tale about doing cardio first to burn more fat. That’s just junk.

And that was it. That’s all you need for a fat loss program. Well, that and a quick shower before I headed back to the lab. You don’t need long, slow cardio workouts. You just need short, burst exercise workouts and a the right fat burning diet for your personality.

And since that day, millions of men and women have used Turbulence Training – thanks to the Internet and my programs being in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention, Oxygen, and Muscle and Fitness Hers. It’s amazing to hear folks finally getting results, rather than wasting time with slow cardio workouts.

Glad to have you as part of the Turbulence Training Lifestyle Revolution.

Tell me about YOUR favorite TT workout…

And just say NO to cardio,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Click here to get started with Turbulence Training