Pavel Ythjall
Previously, I gave you the first installment of my fat-loss superfeature. Nutrition plays an absolutely pivotal role in maximizing changes in body composition; however, so does training. In this second part, I’m going to show you how to maximize fat loss through training in the gym and your cardio. Follow this plan to the letter, and you can show off a shredded physique.
FAT-LOSS PITFALLS IN THE GYM
Usually when people switch to a fat-loss phase, there are common pitfalls that slow down progress. After almost 30 years in the world of bodybuilding and performance coaching, I’ve noticed the same mistakes arise on a consistent basis. These are:
- Not focusing on performance in the gym while on a calorie- restricted diet. As a result, overall performance goes down significantly, leading to an unnecessary loss in muscle mass and reduction in energy expenditure. This leaves the individual with a less aesthetic physique as well as a more compromised metabolism going forward.
- Losing sight of the fact that overload and training intensity are still relevant during a fat-loss phase. People often become one-dimensional in the gym during a fat-loss transformation, doing lots of volume and just chasing the pump. Since there’s no focus on periodization or global muscle fiber recruitment, their progress suffers dramatically.
- Overtraining. More is not always better. Training is there to create a stimulus, which then must be fueled through nutrition and supplementation. By overtraining while in a calorie deficit, you’re at your most vulnerable when it comes to losing muscle mass. Do not fall into this trap—remember, the fundamentals of training remain the same.
Y3T OVERVIEW
After decades of fine-tuning Y3T, I sincerely believe that this is the optimal way to burn body fat in the gym.
Using a broad spectrum of rep ranges, which means that all energy systems become engaged and conditioned to a higher capacity. In essence, this leads to greater energy expenditure.
Extreme intensity, which is also tracked specifically over the three-week cycle to generate overload across all muscle fibers, energy systems, and the central nervous system. As such, overall energy expenditure is achieved while positive adaptations within natural hormone output also take place.
Specific rep tempo and rest-period prescriptions within the context of various rep ranges. This leads to greater muscle engagement, more significant hormonal response, and higher energy expenditure.
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Pavel Ythjall
HORMONAL RESPONSE TO TRAINING
Whenever you train you will experience several hormonal responses. During a fat-loss phase, Y3T helps maximize these processes to enhance the rate at which you’re able to lose body fat. The main ones I’d like to focus on are these three pillars.
INSULIN SENSITIVITY
To maximize fat loss you need to be focused on improving insulin sensitivity, which is achieved through nutrition as well as training. By optimizing insulin sensitivity, you will utilize fuel more effectively. Because Y3T training is so physically demanding, it encourages greater glycogen expenditure, resulting in improved insulin sensitivity. Ultimately, it creates more of a need for fuel to be used more quickly and efficiently.
TESTOSTERONE PRODUCTION
Testosterone production is key for fat loss because ultimately it helps you retain more lean muscle tissue in an energy de cit, as in a fat-loss phase. Improving natural testosterone output can also help improve your free testosterone-to-estrogen ratio, which is also linked to improved fat loss. Y3T training de nitely puts the required level of stress on the body, which forces it into a position where it needs to produce as much testosterone as it can to keep up.
GROWTH HORMONE PRODUCTION
Increasing natural growth hormone output is linked with improved fat loss because of its ability to help improve fat metabolization. Again, the body tends to increase growth hormone output when it requires more because of a specific stimulus. In this instance the intensity of Y3T will provide the necessary trigger, indirectly improving fat loss as a result.
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Per Bernal
OPTIMIZED ENERGY EXPENDITURE
Increasing energy expenditure is obviously one of the key things to consider for fat loss. Y3T will definitely help you do this through the following pathways.
- Increasing net oxygen debt, which is achieved through the accumulation of lactic acid in the gym. Y3T pushes the lactic acid threshold far harder than most standard weight-training techniques, which means that over the course of a week your body will have to recover from a much more severe oxygen debt. As a result, calorie expenditure is increased, making fat loss happen quicker.
- Because of the severe intensity of Y3T, you will become far more efficient at the disposal of glycogen. As a result, your daily calorie expenditure will increase significantly, giving you the opportunity to create more of an energy deficit. This is one of the reasons why most Team Y3T athletes tend not to do as much as other people—they don’t need to.
METABOLIC CONDITIONING
Because of the structure of the Y3T training cycle, where you’re moving among low, moderate, and high reps with various intensity factors built in, along with adjustments in training volume, there is a great deal of metabolic conditioning to be gained from this.
Bearing in mind that Y3T has the potential to push each energy system to its limit while simultaneously targeting specific muscle-fiber types at any given point, the metabolism becomes more stimulated. Why? Simply because the body is being put through a structured program that targets many different physiological responses along the way, causing huge demands for energy. As such, around-the-clock Y3T helps drive the metabolism upward, making fat loss happen quicker.
GETTING CARDIO RIGHT
I’ve already explained here that usually people using Y3T tend to do less cardio—because the energy demands are so extreme, it isn’t necessary. But this doesn’t mean cardio doesn’t have its place along-side Y3T. In fact, I’m a big advocate of fasted cardio in the morning to increase your rate of fat loss.
The key thing is to start small and gradually build according to your rate of progress and the time available to achieve the goal at hand. For instance, you may start with 20 minutes every other morning. Then, as you begin to plateau—and only then—you consider increasing it slightly.
The biggest mistake people make with cardio is starting with far too much and then having nowhere to go when they hit a wall. If you begin with one hour every day, what will you do when you hit a plateau? This is how people end up with inefficient metabolisms and have to spend 11⁄2 to two hours per day doing cardio. Do not fall into this trap—start small and gradually build. Remember, Y3T will help you burn fuel very efficiently compared with more traditional programs.
SUMMARY
Training and nutrition have to work synergistically to achieve an optimal rate of fat loss. While nutrition is the foundation for fat loss, you should never underestimate the difference a specific training approach can make. Y3T will undoubtedly give you all the necessary forms of stimulation to burn fuel more efficiently and retain lean muscle tissue during the process.
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Per Bernal
CHEST & TRICEPS
- Incline Dumbbell Press (warmup) | SETS: 4 | REPS: 15-20
- Incline Dumbbell Press | SETS: 3 | REPS: 15-20
- superset with Incline Dumbbell Flye | SETS: 3 | REPS: 15-20
- Low-Cable Crossover | SETS: 3 (dropsets) | REPS: 15-20 per drop
- Smith Machine Press | SETS: 3 (dropsets) | REPS: 15-20 per drop
- Seated Dumbbell Extension (warmup) | SETS: 3 | REPS: 15-20
- Seated Dumbbell Extension | SETS: 3 (dropsets) | REPS: 20-25 per drop
- Lying EZ-Curl Bar Skull Crusher | SETS: 3 | REPS: 20-25
- superset with EZ-Curl Bar Press (close grip, and with the same weight) | SETS: 3 | REPS: As many reps as possible
THIGHS & HAMSTRINGS
- Squat (warmup) | SETS: 3 | REPS: 15-20
- Squat | SETS: 3 | REPS: 20-25
- superset with Leg Extension | SETS: 3 | REPS: 14-18
- Leg Press (wide stance) | SETS: 3 | REPS: 40-50
- superset with Lunge | SETS: 3 | REPS: 20-25 per leg
- Lying Leg Curl (warmup) | SETS: 3 | REPS: 15-20
- Lying Leg Curl | SETS: 3 (dropsets) | REPS: 20-25 per drop
- Stiff-Leg Deadlift | SETS: 3 (dropsets) | REPS: 15-20 per drop
Per Bernal
BACK & BICEPS
- Two-Arm Dumbbell Row, both hands, arms together (warmup) | SETS: 4 | REPS: 15-20
- Two-Arm Dumbbell Row | SETS: 2 (dropsets) | REPS: 18-25 per drop
- Lat Pulldown (wide grip) | SETS: 2 | REPS: 18-25
- superset with Lat Pulldown (narrow grip) | SETS: 2 | REPS: 18-25
- Rack Pull | SETS: 2 | REPS: 20-25
- Hammer High-Lever Pulldown | SETS: 2 | REPS: 20-25
- Seated Dumbbell Curl (warmup) | SETS: 4 | REPS: 15-20
- Seated Dumbbell Curl | SETS: 3 (dropsets) | REPS: 20-25 per drop
- Standing EZ-Curl Bar Curl | SETS: 3 (dropsets) | REPS: 20-25 per drop
FLEX
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