Groom Duties

Losing Fat Before The Wedding – The Groombuilder Speaks: Part 3

In Part 3 of this series, our friend Anthony from groombuilder.com looks at the second key thing you’ve got to do to lose weight: work out.

Fat Loss: Training

The second question that guys who are trying to lose weight for their wedding ask is: “What should I do in the gym?”

Too many guys still think the key to fat loss is cardio. Sure, cardio can help you burn a few extra calories, but it doesn’t build the muscles under your fat. Worse, if you’re dieting, doing too much cardio can eat into your muscle and make you weaker.

If your goal is to lose fat and get lean, you need to lift heavy weights and build real strength. Lifting will help you maintain (and even add) muscle as you lose weight, which will drop your bodyfat percentage while increasing your definition.

Instead of traditional bodybuilding splits (ex. chest/triceps or back/biceps), use total-body exercises that crank up your fat loss and muscle gain:

Legs: front squat, goblet squat, deadlifts, hip bridges, split squats;
Back: dumbbell rows, inverted rows, cable rows, pullups;
Chest: pushups, bench press, dumbbell bench press;
Shoulders: military press;
Abs: deadbugs, planks, side planks, Pallof press, and carries.

As for sets and reps, this can get really complicated; for now, focus on doing fewer reps (4 – 6) for more sets (4 or more). This will help you build a strong foundation, which will help with everything else you’ll do in the gym.

Once you have a foundation in strength training, it’s time to add cardio.

Start with aerobic exercise. Just do 2 – 3 times a week for 30 minutes or more at your aerobic zone (130 – 150bpm). You can do things like a treadmill hike, bike ride, light hike, rowing machine, etc. — exercises that won’t pound too hard on your joints.

Then, add anaerobic exercise, which is more of your traditional high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Use circuits, sprints, and max-effort intervals to fire up your metabolism and accelerate your weight loss.

Continue Reading Part 4  |  Learn More about Groombuilder

Join The Plunge (Don’t Worry: It’s Free)

Even More Groom Duties