When you’re talking about cars or job applicants, efficiency is a good thing. When you’re talking about working out so you can see your abs, it’s a bad one. The problem is, the more efficient your body becomes performing any exercise, the fewer calories it burns doing it.
The goal of this program is to make your body more inefficient (like a trip to the DMV, only a lot more fun) so that it burns more calories and stimulates muscle. While it’s not the most “efficient” training, it is the fastest route to defined abs. Go figure.
The best way to throw the body off and fight efficiency is to keep changing up your workouts to prevent adaptation. You’ll need to train three days a week for two weeks with the following routines: a high-rep, calorie-burning workout; a barbell-based strength day to stimulate muscle; and a strongman-inspired circuit to recruit new muscle. This three-pronged attack will confuse your metabolism and trick your body into burning more fat (assuming your diet is clean), and you should see results within two weeks. It’s inefficiency at its most effective.
Directions
Perform each workout once a week, resting for one day between sessions. Exercises marked “A” and “B” are to be performed back-to-back with no rest. On Day 3, perform the exercises as a big circuit for a total of 30 minutes. During Days 2 and 3, aim either to reduce the completion time or to add weight with each session. For each exercise on Day 2, choose a weight with which you can perform six to seven reps.
