Phase 1: Furious Fat Loss

Alternate between the following workouts each week, resting a day between them. If you do Workout A on Monday, for example, do Workout B on Wednesday, A again on Friday, and B on Sunday. Do each exercise for 20 seconds, resting 40 seconds before moving on to the next one. For each workout, complete the entire circuit of six exercises four to six times total.

DIRECTIONS

WORKOUT A
A B C D A B

1 Burpee with Jump

Stand with your feet slightly beyond shoulder width and your arms hanging naturally by your sides [A]. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body into a squat until you can place both hands on the floor [B]. Kick your legs back so youre in a pushup position [C]. Quickly pull your legs back into a squat and jump [D]. Land and repeat.

2 Rotational Lunge

Grab a dumbbell and hold it by its ends just below your chin [A]. Step forward with your right leg and slowly lower your body until your front knee isbent at least 90 degrees and your rear knee is a few inches off the floor. Asyou lunge, rotate your upper body toward the same side as your front leg [B]. Pause, and push yourself back up to the starting position. Repeat for 10seconds and switch legs.

3 Chinup

Grab a chinup bar with a shoulder-width, underhand grip and hang at arms length [A]. (You should return to this positionknown as a dead hangeach time you lower your body back down.) Pull your chest to the bar [B]. Once the top of your chest touches the bar, pause, and then slowly lower your body to a dead hang.

4 Explosive Pushup

Get down on all fours with your arms straight and your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Set your feet together and straighten your legs [A]. Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor [B]. Pause at the bottom, and then push yourself up so forcefully that your hands leave the floor [C]. Land softly and repeat.

P h oto g r a p h s by b e t h B i sc h o f f

5 Single-Dumbbell Corkscrew

Squat down and hold a dumbbell with both hands at arms length to theoutside of your left knee [A]. Push up to a standing position and simultaneously swing the dumbbell up and across your body until its above your right ear [B]. Return to the starting position and repeat. Switch sides after 10 seconds.

6 Jump Rope

Hold the handles of a jump rope and stand with your arms at your sides and the rope resting on the floor behind you [A]. Swing it in an arc over your head and down toward your feet, jumping over it by pushing off with the balls of your feet and pointing your toes down as you leave the floor [B]. Land softly, never letting your heels touch down.

M e n s H e a lt h

Most circuits keep rest to a minimum to maximize your metabolism. But without rest theres no recovery, so you cant keep pushing yourself, says Robert dos Remedios, C.S.C.S., head strength and conditioning coach at Californias College of the Canyons. Thats why for each of the exercises below youll work for 20 seconds and rest for 40. But dont think youre getting off easy. Empty the tank during those 20 seconds, says dos Remedios. The rest is your reward, so earn it.

WORKOUT B
A B C A B

Grab two dumbbells and hold them at arms length next to your sides with your feet hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent [A]. Without rounding your lower back, simultaneously hinge forward at your hips and swing your arms behind you [B]. Thrust your hips forward and raise your torso until youre standing upright, letting momentum swing the weights up to chest level [C]. Repeat in a continuous swinging motion.

1 Dumbbell Skier Swing

2 Dumbbell Single-Leg Straight-Leg Deadlift

Grab a pair of dumbbells with an overhand grip and let them hang at arms length in front of you. Lift your right leg a few inches off the floor behind you [A]. Keeping your right leg in line with your body, lower your torso until its almost parallel to the floor [B]. Return to the starting position without letting the toes of your rear foot touch the floor. Repeat for 10 seconds; switch legs.

3 Inverted Row

Secure a bar at waist height and grab it with an overhand, shoulderwidth grip [A]. Initiate the move by pulling your shoulder blades back, and thenpull with your arms to lift your chest to the bar [B]. Pause; then slowlylower your body back to the starting position. If you dont have anadjustable bar, do a dumbbell row instead.

4 Dumbbell Push Press

Hold a pair of dumbbells just outside your shoulders with your arms bent and palms facing each other. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent [A]. Bend your knees [B] and explosively push up with your legs as you press the dumbbells overhead [C]. Slowly lower the dumb bells back to the starting position.

5 Plank Stepup

Assume a pushup position facing a low step (any type of sturdy raised platform will do). Your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles [A]. Move one hand at a time up onto the step [B] and then back down again.

6 Jump Rope

Hold the handles of a jump rope and stand with your arms at your sides and the rope resting on the floor behind you [A]. Swing it in an arc over your head and down toward your feet, jumping over it by pushing off with the balls of your feet and pointing your toes down as you leave the floor [B]. Land softly, never letting your heels touch down.

M e n s H e a lt h