By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

If you are going to the gym and spending too much time while not getting the
results you deserve, then you probably aren’t using the right exercises.

Over my 16 years of training and training men and women for fat loss, I’ve
stumbled across the “Big 5” movements that must be used in a total-body fat
burning, muscle-building workout.

The “Big 5” movements are guaranteed to boost your metabolism and help you
lose belly fat. If you don’t have these types of exercises in your program,
then you are wasting your time and money when trying to lose fat.

So I designed this workout around the Big 5, and put them into a circuit to
help you get more results in less time. But first, let’s go over the Big 5
fat burning exercises…

Actually, let me clarify something. The Big 5 are not specific exercises.
Instead, they are specific movements, but this allows for a huge number of
exercises to be used, and therefore a lot of variety in your workouts. And
don’t forget, variety is one of the 3 main principles that explain why
Turbulence Training works so well.

Here are the Big 5 movements, starting with the most important of them all.

1) Squat movements

This could be a barbell squat to a dumbbell squat, it could be a deadlift
because that’s the same type of movement, or it could even be a kettlebell
or dumbbell swing, which is becoming a very popular exercise these days.

Kettlebells are becoming more popular for fat-burning because it’s just that
movement of pushing your hips back, bending you knees, and dropping your
body. You’re moving your entire body there.

The squat movement allows you to do a lot of mechanical work which is one of
the keys to burning a lot of calories. So that’s the first movement in
the “Big 5”. Always start your Big 5 workouts with a squat.

Please note: Lunges and split-squats also qualify as a “Squat-type”
movement, even though you will also be able to use them in the Single-Leg
Exercise category below. Sometimes the lines blur between movement types for
such great multi-muscle exercises.

2) Pushing exercises

The next exercise to use is any type of push-up or dumbbell press or bench
press or even standing shoulder press. Again, very large amount of muscle to
be used in those exercises that burn a lot of calories.

Plus, using the “non-compete” principle of Turbulence Training, by using a
pushing exercise next, we let our leg muscles recover (and often our grip
strength too, depending on the first movement used).

3) Pulling exercises

The next movement is any type of pulling exercise, so it could be rowing or
pull-ups, dumbbell rows, seated rows, anything in a pulling motion is going
to work a lot of musculature so a lot of your upper back, some of your arms,
your lats, and even a little bit of your lower back if you keep that – by
holding yourself in that static upright position.

This is a powerful fat burning, muscle-building movement. You could even use
the deadlift at this time because it is a pulling movement. Again, often the
lines blur between movement types for such great multi-muscle exercises.

And at this time, you’d have gotten about 80-90% of your results. So if you
are really crunched for time, you could stick to only the first 3 movement
patterns. But if you want to put the finishing touches on your body and rev
up your metabolism even more, then you’ll need the last 2 pieces of the Big
5 circuit.

4) Single leg exercises

This could be a dumbbell lunge or split squat or a reverse lunge or a single
leg squat, anything that works one leg at a time. Because you’re using the
lower body, it’s a lot of musculature.

This is a tricky movement to do right after the Pulling movement, because
your grip strength will be fatigued from the rowing or chin-ups or whatever
you did. So try to use a bodyweight only single-leg exercise, such as the 1-
leg squat or 1-leg lying hip extension.

This would also be a great place for a single-leg stability ball leg curl,
or a single-leg exercise holding the barbell across your back. If you must
use a dumbell exercise, choose the Bulgarian Split Squat or DB Step-up
because less weight is needed than for lunges or split squats (and therefore
less competition for grip occurs).

5) Total body ab exercises

The final movement in the Big 5 circuit could be anything from a mountain
climber to a stability ball rollout, it could be using the old infomercial
gadget – the Ab Wheel since that works great – or it could be a hanging knee
raise. Alternatives include cable chops and cable crunches if you have
access to cables in a gym.

But you’ll notice these aren’t just basic crunches. Instead, you’re working
your arms, legs, and torso. That’s why you must use a total-body ab exercise
to finish off the Big 5 circuit workout.

Those are all the exercises that you could use for the Big 5 movements.

Fortunately, you have an endless variety of exercises and set-ups that you
can choose.

If you did those exercises, you would have a total body workout, you’d have
an incredible muscle-building, fat-burning, metabolism-boosting training
session and if you did that type of stuff 3 days per week and maybe did your
interval training after each circuit you’d lose a lot of belly fat. Man, it
would just melt right off!

That’s my Big 5 exercise movement system for building a better body.

If you want to burn fat, you want to build muscle, and you want results that
are absolutely guaranteed, implement the Big 5 into your workout today.

To recap, here are the Big 5 Movements:

Squat
Push
Pull
Single Leg Exercise
Total Body Ab Exercise

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

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