Burning Fat While Gaining Strength

July 14, 2009

Question: Jay, I just lost 25lbs of bodyfat and now my main focus is on getting strong and lifting heavy weights. I still want to continue getting leaner but the main focus is on strength right now. What kind of adjustments do I need to make in my training and diet?
Mike Flynn

Answer: Mike, if you want to keep burning fat the diet needs to remain tight. The majority of your carbs (50% or more) should come from veggies, about 25% from fruit and the remainder from brown rice, sweet potatoes and oats. I would either limit the starchy carbs to the early morning and afternoon or only have them on training days. Still I would cut them off at 6pm. I would also recommend keeping your sodium levels high. This will help you maintain strength while dieting.

Training sessions should be short, intense and heavy. Train hard and to the point of near failure but never train to the point where you literally fail and miss an attempted rep. That is the worst thing you can do for strength gains. This makes you weaker and like the saying, “success breeds success,” failure also breeds failure. Never attempt a set with a weight you’re not sure you can get. Also, remember that training hard and training smart are two different things. You can get fired up and hit smelling salts and head butt the wall for your main max effort lifts but you should probably turn it down a notch on assistance exercises or you risk burning yourself out. Of course, this is dependent upon your total volume, but in theory, it’s a good general idea to get nuts at the beginning and back off the intensiveness a bit toward the end of your workout.

Another thing that is important to note is that you need to be patient and be happy with small consistent increases over time. While it would be nice to add ten pound per week to every lift ad infinitum this is simply not possible. If it were we’d all be squatting 2,000 pounds after a few years of training. If you are on a streak where you can add 10-20 pounds per workout by all means ride it out. But after many years of training you may need to start making smaller jumps. This is completely fine and will actually lead to more consistent long term gains than huge jumps over a three week period that lead to a complete dead end plateau before you know it.

Use conditioning methods that will not interfere with strength gains. This will either be sprints done in the morning, six hours prior to your weight training workout or walking. These two methods will have the least impact on your strength gains. Sprints can be done three times a week and the total volume of the session should be 1000 yards or less. This is not speed training, because if it was the volume would be less than half that. It’s conditioning, with the goal being to lose fat without losing strength. Something like ten 100 yard sprints would fit the bill perfectly.

But if getting lean is a serious priority then I would also add in one or two steady state sessions on off days at about 70% of max heart rate for 30 minutes. Too much high intensity cardio (sprints, prowler, etc) will slow down your strength gains as well. Walking can be done every day for an hour if you like. This is best done first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

Please leave your comments below.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Fat Loss, Strength & Conditioning

Comments

40 Responses to “Burning Fat While Gaining Strength”

Ankit on July 14th, 2009 8:44 am

When people say keep sodium levels high, is sea salt ok or do they mean iodized salt?

Thanks!
Justin Bosley on July 14th, 2009 8:59 am

Awesome advice as usual. This is basically what I’m doing right now..however never thought of adding in a couple steady state sessions…might try that. Question though Jay

The hill I do my sprints on is kind of short but steep, should I just up the amount of sprints I do to make up for the distance?

Thanks

Justin (P.s. Give the girl in that photo my contact information.)
Christopher on July 14th, 2009 9:48 am

do you burn fat more efficiently in the morning on an empty stomach?

Why?
Jesse on July 14th, 2009 10:25 am

First off, where do you find photo’s of these smoking hot fit gals that you post on this site? Very . . . inspirational.

Great tip on adding sprints to a general conditioning routine. I keep reading that sprints is the way to go to jack your conditioning. I especially like the volume suggestion. I’ve always wondered how much is to much when it comes to sprints. In future post I’d love it if you would add more specifics on this type of training.

Thanks Jay
josh on July 14th, 2009 11:32 am

This isnt really related but i was wondering what you think of defranco WS4SB template as after reading some of your articles there is some slight differences and i just wondered about your opinion.
thanks
Stéphane on July 14th, 2009 11:45 am

Hi,

Why is sprinting (stairs) 100% instead of 70% on days off not good for strength… I guess it takes too much on the system, but I thought it was ok for geting a good cardio while gaining strength training hard.

I bought your book 2 months ago.. I thank you for all the answers provided in it. I am 6 feet 1, 37 years old and weigh 180 pounds now… something that was just impossible for me to get in the past. I never did squat before!!! Now I just love it.
I understand that patience is the key, but for the sunworrior protein… I don’t like the taste.. you are sure it’s ok for the body

And where do you get does girls?
Darren on July 14th, 2009 9:33 pm

Jason,

when talking about burning fat while gaining strength I have been looking at your friend Craig’s Turbulence Training Program. Would doing your program and his program on alternate days going into the realm of ‘overtraining’?

Even though both programs are heavy on the intensity I couldn’t imagine training for 45 minutes every day to be a problem (except maybe motivation wise).

What would your thoughts/recommendation be? My goal is increase strength, size and get lean.
Animal Mother on July 15th, 2009 2:26 am

Should only very low intensity cardio like walking be done on an empty stomach in the morning? Never high intensity, right?
Andy Campbell on July 15th, 2009 3:47 am

Great stuff Jay – my goals are similar to Mike’s and I appreciate the tips.
jasonferruggia on July 15th, 2009 7:51 am

Ankit,
Sea salt is exactly what you want. Table salt is no good.

Justin,
Yes, that’s what I would do. But how short are we talking?

Christopher,
Yes you do. This is one of those things that is not proven by science and probably won’t even make a huge difference, but it does make a difference. Bodybuilders have done it for years and they are always shredded.
The reason is that you have been fasting for anywhere from 9-12 hours and your glyogen stores are lower so in theory you will burn predominantly fat instead of stored carbohydrates.
Josh,
I like it. Very similar to what we do at Renegade. Some differences, of course, but very in line with my way of thinking. I get this question a lot so I may go into more in the future.

Stephane,
Stair running would be fine.
Glad to hear about your great progress.
I personally think Sun Warrior tastes great. If protein powder tastes like a Dairy Queen milk shake it’s most likely loaded with crappy ingredients and is very unhealthy. Sun Warrior is top notch and of the highest quality.
AnimalMother,
That’s my future ex wife.

Darren,
I definitely wouldn’t do both programs simultaneously.

AnimalMother,
Correct on the cardio in the morning. Since high intensity cardio doesn’t rely on stored fats for fuel anyway, it would be pointless. Not to mention the fact that you will feel like shit.

You got it, AC. You’re doing great. Keep killing it!
Chris on July 15th, 2009 10:06 am

Jason,

I know you strongly recommend the Ultimate Protein as your number one choice, but do you still cycle your protein powders on a daily basis to avoid developing a sensitivity, or do you use something like the ultimate protein every day since its non allergenic?

Thanks
billy on July 15th, 2009 11:34 am

Hey Jay,
2 things:
1-when you say prints done in the morning, six hours prior to your weight training workout or walking….you also say in one of your answers to animalmother) that it’s pointless to do high intensity cardio in the morning. Can you clear this up for me? Sprints are considered HI cardio right?
2-Much like Justin the only hill I can find is about 20…max 30 yards but pretty steep. How should one appraoch these sprints or would it be better to stick to flat ground sprints?
Thanks for great info…
Billy
jasonferruggia on July 15th, 2009 1:10 pm

Chris,
Sun warrior is non allergenic so it doesn’t matter as much.

Billy,
The walking should be done on an empty stomach. The sprints should be done an hour or two after waking and eating.

I would do both flat ground and hill sprints. Since your hill is short just do a shit load of them.
Daniel Zito on July 15th, 2009 1:46 pm

Ah, so sprints BEFORE weight training… i like it.

As far as off-days go on this regimen, is swimming an acceptable form of steady-state cardio?
jasonferruggia on July 15th, 2009 6:03 pm

Daniel,
The sprints are not right before training but rather six hours earlier. If you lift in the morning you could do the sprints at night. Either or.

Swimming is fine.
Joey G on July 15th, 2009 8:12 pm

Jay,

As always great stuff, I’m still waiting to get on the website now that mike got some press haha..maybe a monkey bar highlight film…while doing both strength and conditioning at Renegade I’ve only gained muscle and by both lifting hard 3 days a week and conditioning two days a week (Monday thru Friday – 5 straight days b/c of my schedule). It’s worked out great, I’ve gotten bigger, more conditioned, and have not had to compensate any strength. Coming back from a serious knee injury, getting back in condition is a big priority for me..I feel great because of it, never out of breath, and I continue to feel strong – only about two training days in the past 8 weeks where I’ve felt “broken” down. If you guys have the time and the ambition, jump rope, sprints and various other exercises have helped me out tremendously. I took off from conditioning this week b/c of work and I already feel like a slob..it gets addicting, and is just as important as lifting is to me now
Dave on July 15th, 2009 9:28 pm

Jay,

One thing you seem to mention a lot but didn’t in this post is the volume and loading for different levels of athletes. Experienced guys only need 1 ballz out main lift and 2 or 3 “lesser” supplemental lifts; whereas n00bs can handle 3 or 4 supplemental lifts, correct?

P.S. Still waiting for my freebies.
Adam on July 16th, 2009 1:25 am

Thanks Jay
I look forward to reading it!
Vig24 on July 16th, 2009 1:55 am

Jay, I’m a huge fan of your work… But, I’m having a problem with the diet. I’m a 5′7″ 16 year old weighing no more than 140, so I’m sure YOU realize how much like a pussy I feel. I need to know what carbs to eat and when. I need to gain as much muscle as possible and also as quickly as possible. Plus, is it ok to do sprints on off days, coz my training time per day is limited to 40 minutes max. There’s not enough time for me to fit sprints in the mornings without sacrificing sleep. Hope to hear from you..
jasonferruggia on July 16th, 2009 6:04 am

Joey,
Good stuff, man. Awesome progress.

Dave,
Yes and no. Noobs need more volume on the main lifts because they are weak, learning form, improving intramuscular coordination, etc. That is correct. And advanced guys do better by working up to one balls out set.

For assistance work what you said can be true and can work.

But another way to look at it, and the approach I usually take, is that since we have to do more volume with the noobs and they don’t have perfect technique, I would actually prefer to limit the assistance work to 2-3 exercise so that they can do a little more volume on each.

The advanced guys could do more assistance work because they need fewer sets.

But they don’t necessarily have to either. Just depends on the situation.

Vig24,
I’m gonna make this as simple as possible for you. You are going to eat anything and everything at all times. And you are not going to run sprints or do any type of energy system work or cardio at all. Unless, of course you are training for football right now.
Billy on July 16th, 2009 12:39 pm

Thanks for the reply post Jay…you da man!
One other quick question: with respect to walking…are you a fan of weighted vest walking or just b/w?
Thanks again.
BK
Dave on July 16th, 2009 4:48 pm

Thanks for clearing that up. I sometimes go with more volume on the supplemental lifts with beginners because they can teach intramuscular coordination too and are sometimes even more of a difficult movement, i.e. Bulgarian split squats, seated DB cleans, etc. But hey, who am I to argue with the master? I definitely see where you’re coming from.

Peace!
jasonferruggia on July 16th, 2009 5:31 pm

Weighted vest walking is good. I wouldn’t go too heavy though, and always start light.
Carl on July 17th, 2009 7:35 am

Great post, as ever!!

This fits with my own goals (increasing strength and getting very lean) but I have a question around frequency of training.

My preference is for short, whole body sessions (focused around squats, chin ups, rows, clean and presses, push ups, dips etc) and finised off with some core work. I wondered, if my main focus is strength (not size) whether I should be shooting for 1 or 2 sessions a week? Is 1 session a week enough to progress on in your opinion for times when work and family take over?

In terms of sprints, I can cover these in the morning pre work so they do not present the same challenge in terms of making the time for them.
Rob on July 17th, 2009 9:28 am

I gotta say Jay, I’ve recently discovered your blog and it’s instantly become my favorite. I always find myself saying, “Why can’t anyone else say it like that?” Thanks for making it simple, informative, and telling people what they need to hear (whether they want to hear it or not).

I’m once again motivated! Thanks man.
Steve on July 17th, 2009 12:23 pm

Hi Jason!

Sorry to be a n00b and bug you…

I’m a Male, About 5′ 5 , ~130 pounds, ~6% BF, Been doing all barbell work (bench, squats, deads, rows, etc) as well monstrous amounts of dips and all variations of pull ups. Occasional dumbbell/body weight stuff too. Also doing uphill sprints (and sometimes jumping rope) ~2 days a week. Not seeming to gain some meat on me.

I assume as you mentioned earlier above, just keep eating around the clock, drop cardio, and don’t be shy on carbs? I guess I am just scared to lose my six pack. I went vegetarian for the month of July to change things up so I assume that only pushes me to have to eat even more?

Thanks J!
Adam on July 17th, 2009 12:25 pm

Jay,

Just wanted to give you props. You’re a badass and your info is extremely legit and I wish I would have found it sooner! Keep doing what you do man.

-Adam
jasonferruggia on July 17th, 2009 4:08 pm

Carl,
One is not optimal but you may be able to make some limited progress. Try to get at least two sessions in.
jasonferruggia on July 17th, 2009 4:09 pm

Rob,
Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
jasonferruggia on July 17th, 2009 4:12 pm

Steve,
You can’t be scared to lose your six pack if you want to pack on serious amounts of size. Cut the cardi/ energy systems work for a while and crank up the calories. See how your body responds and then slowly add back in a little bit of conditioning if necessary. The body is most anabolic at around 10-12% so you are going to have to accept some fat gain in order to really pack on the muscle
jasonferruggia on July 17th, 2009 4:12 pm

Thanks Adam.
Jack on July 18th, 2009 5:35 pm

Another great piece!
Lou on July 18th, 2009 6:13 pm

Great stuff man. I always enjoy your writing.
Jeremy on July 23rd, 2009 11:50 am

Jay,

I just started reading your site…great stuff! I like how you train with reason and evidence; Not just because some pinhead cites some anecdotal story about some guy he saw a long time ago blah blah blah. So, again, great stuff!

My question is this: regarding rest times in between sets, what are some of the basic principles? My training us usually very intense and fairly short (45-60mins). Like most others, I want to burn a little fat and put on some serious muscle. I just dont know much about the basics of rest times in between sets. I know it depends on the type, volume, frequency etc, but could you break it down for me?

Thanks!!
Alejandro on July 24th, 2009 2:28 pm

Hi Jason;

I bought you book a week ago, and started with the intermediate phase 1 routine. Right now I feel very confident with the training, and think I actually can make some serious change in the next weeks.

My question is, on the training stage I’m currently going trough, when are the best days for my cardio training?
I thought of make it on mondays right after my upperbody training, wednesday on my day off, and on friday right after my lowerbody training; but I don’t know if those are the best moments for cardio. I thought that if I hit cardio on an upperbody day, I should also do cardio on my lowerbody training day, you know, to keep things balanced, but my stunning reasoning may be shit too.

Another question, for abs. On your book you told about substituding forearm/grip excercise from the training. So I decided to leave one forearm excercise on the second lowerbody training day (friday for me), and exchange the grip excercise for abs and obliques the first lowerbody training day (tuesday for me).
So, can I do that, or I should something else? Maybe training forearm and abs on tuesdays, and forearm and abs on thursday? What should I do on this issue?

Thank you a lot for yout time Jason.
Flint on July 27th, 2009 7:26 pm

Jason,
first off I want to thank you for helping turn my life around. I cannot express in words how much your site and muscle gaining secrets ebook have done to change my life for the better. Thank you.
Now i am a part of a ROTC program and we do an awful lot of jogging/running in boots. Would you recommend jogging/running in the morning on an empty stomach or is that too demanding on the system? I would like to walk but I think I might be better served by running or jogging. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!
jasonferruggia on August 3rd, 2009 9:41 pm

Jeremy,
Without getting into the science of rest periods, I typically tend to prescribe a one to two minute rest period on most exercises and almost always use antagonistic super sets. If you are training for a 1-5 rep max you will want to take a little longer rest period. Squats and deads will also demand a longer rest period than calf raises or wrist curls.

Flint,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m glad I could help. Jogging on an empty stomach would be fine. Sprinting would not.
Jason on September 2nd, 2009 5:56 pm

Jason, i have been using your MGS programme now for about 7 weeks and its great. I want to get lean fast and lose alot of BF. What cadio should i do and when?

Also one of my arm is little weaker then the other. What can i do to improve it.

As always Jason, great advice and its great to have someone stright to da point. I have bought your MGS book but i see you now have some new ones? how do i go about getting the new one only.

Cheers
Lee on December 18th, 2009 5:24 pm

With the cardio mentioned above, is the Renegad Cardio program necessary? I would like to have the program but do not want the other stuff for the additonal cost. Does the Muscle Gaining Secret course cover cardio?
James on February 8th, 2010 4:55 pm

Sounds great Jason, although I have two questions. Can the conditioning training be done after my traing? Because I train in the mornings. And if I choose to walk for conditioning on a leg day how long should I walk for?

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