Simple Fat Burning Workout

The ultimate goal I have for all of my clients is to be independent with their workout programs and to adopt the 'fitness lifestyle'. As much as this includes knowing how to do various exercises with proper form, it also includes the basic nuts and bolts of program design - of how to put a solid workout together. To give you an example of what I'm talking about, here's a basic template for a beginner/intermediate fat-burning workout:

-Pick a multi-joint upper body exercise (ex: push-up, pull-up, shoulder press - multi-joint means moving at more than one joint during the exercise - no curls or lateral raises in this program)

-Pick a multi-joint lower body exercise (squat, lunge, step-up)

-Do a high-rep set of the upper body exercise (12-20 reps), and with minimal rest, do a high rep set of the lower body exercise

-Repeat three times

-Do three or four 'rotations' of different exercises to complete the workout

Here's an example of what a workout might look like:

Squats - 20 reps
Push-ups - 15 reps
Repeat for three sets each

Pull-ups or Rows - 12 reps
Step-ups or lunges - 12 reps each leg
Repeat three times

Sit-ups or crunches - 15 reps
Shoulder press - 12 reps
Repeat three times

There you have it - a simple (but far from easy) fat burning workout. Give it a go and let me know what you think - please post any feedback/questions to comments!