5 Little Known Workouts to Burn Fat and Build Muscle

September 7, 2015

5 minute read

Learn about five workouts that I personally do as a part of my fitness, muscle building, and fat loss routine. Each workout combines three different elements of training that work together to
provide a big fitness results.

251 GFG 5 Little Known Workouts to Burn Fat and Build Muscle

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In the episode “Does Biohacking Your Body Really Work,” I tackled the often uncomfortable and
awkward topic of forsaking standard gym workouts, bypassing standardized fitness routines, and instead delving into the world of techniques such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, electrostimulation, cold
thermogenesis, whole body vibration, and more. I discussed how one of the more appealing aspects of this type of fitness “biohacking” is the ability to get maximum effects with a minimal effective dose of
effort, or to achieve more than one fitness result at the same time with as much efficiency as possible.

There are five such workouts that I personally do as a part of my fitness, muscle building, and fat loss routine, and each workout combines three different elements of training that work together to provide a
big fitness response. Happy biohacking!

1. Cold Water Swimming + Hypoxia + Weights

Pro surfer and fitness icon Laird Hamilton first popularized the concept of carrying rocks, kettlebells, and dumbbells underwater (
here’s a video example), and author Neil Strauss introduced me to these type of workouts several months ago during a
longevity conference in Los Angeles. The basic workout consists of holding your breath underwater in a pool, river, or lake, and treading water, running, walking, doing explosive squats, or simply swimming
underwater with a weight held to your chest, your side, or between your legs.

Even in the absence of long breath-holds or cold water, these type of workouts build strength, stress-resilience, mental focus, and lung capacity all at the same time. But when combined with the
calorie-burning and positive cardiovascular effects of cold water exposure, and the growth hormone and enhanced oxygen utilization benefits of breath-holding, these underwater workouts become all the more
potent.

Here’s a sample routine:

Get in a pool, preferably a cold, outdoor pool, with a 10 lb dumbbell.
Hold the dumbbell to your chest and attempt to swim to the other end of the pool underwater.
Come back, but this time on your back in a seated position with your feet above the surface of the water, treading water with your hands, holding your head above water, and clutching the dumbbell between your thighs.
Repeat for 3-5 rounds.

2. Sauna + Resisted Breath Training + Yoga and Body Weight Exercises

I’ve lately been using a hot, insulated, infrared sauna for heat acclimation training and detox,
an N=1 experiment you can read about in more detail here. But rather than simply sitting
cross-legged in the sauna and staring at the wall, I’ve instead been working on mobility, isometric strength, and inspiratory and expiratory muscle capacity by also including yoga and resisted breathing
during my 30 minute forays into my very sweaty “pain cave.”

First, I pre-heat the sauna while I warm up my body with a 20-30 minute run, bike ride, or weight training routine. Then I go into the sauna, put on a resisted breath training mask, and perform a routine like
the one outlined below:

– 5 repetitions of yoga “chatarunga” motion
– 1 round of yoga sun salutations
– Repeat chatarunga to sun salutations three times
– 10 body weight squats
– 1 repetition of chatarunga
– 60 second isometric lunge hold on right leg
– 1 repetition of chatarunga
– 60 second isometric lunge hold on right leg
– Repeat squats, chatarunga, and lunge holds three times
– Finish with 5 minutes of box breathing while still wearing a mask

3. Foam Rolling + Resisted Breath Training + Calisthenics

As I’ve written about before, I’m a big fan of frequent use of a foam roller to keep injuries at bay and to
keep the body mobile. Problem is, the 20-45 minutes it takes to perform a full body foam rolling routine are 20-45 minutes that you aren’t spending “getting fit.” So when I do my foam rolling routine, (which
I do two times per week), I put on a podcast or an audiobook, put on a resisted breath training mask, and inject calisthenic exercises into my rolling so that I am able to achieve injury prevention, breath
training, and cardiovascular exercise all at once. Here’s how to do it:

For every area that you foam roll, do 20-30 “passes” with the foam roller on the muscle group. One “pass” means you roll up the muscle group and back down the muscle group. Do each station below one time,
progressing from one station to the next with minimal rest.

Station 1: 10 burpees. Foam roll achilles and calf R side.
Station 2: 10 burpees. Foam roll achilles and calf L side.
Station 3: Foam roll hamstring R side. 20 high leg swings R leg forward to backwards.
Station 4: Foam roll hamstring L side. 20 high leg swings L leg forward to backwards.
Station 5: 10 burpees. Foam roll R outside of hip.
Station 6: 10 burpees. Foam roll L outside of hip.
Station 7: Foam roll IT band R side. 20 side-to-side leg swings R leg.
Station 8: Foam roll IT band L side. 20 side-to-side leg swings L leg.
Station 9: 10 burpees. Foam roll R adductors/inside of thighs.
Station 10: 10 burpees. Foam roll L adductors/inside of thighs.
Station 11: 50 jumping jacks. Foam roll back bottom-to-top.
Station 12: 50 jumping jacks. Foam roll entire right shoulder complex.
Station 13: 50 jumping jacks. Foam roll entire left shoulder complex.
Station 14: 10 burpees. Foam roll neck (back, L side, R side)
Station 15: 10 burpees. Foam roll entire front of quads.

If you need videos or demonstrations of any foam roller exercises above, then you can
click here for a series of videos from yours truly. And yes, you get extra
fitness bonus points if you do this routine in a dry or infrared sauna.

4. Hiking + Weighted Vest + Resisted Breath Training

I love to get out in nature and hike, especially with my kids, but frankly, once you’ve gotten into pretty good shape, hiking is not a very difficult activity. However, once you add extra weight in the form
of a weighted vest or weighted backpack and add resisted breath training with a mask, hiking becomes a much
more challenging cardiovascular and strength building routine.

I’m certainly not saying that every hike you do needs to be a masochistic sufferfest, but if you’re pressed for time, it can be convenient to have the option to turn a family foray into the park into a more
challenging workout for you.

The concept is pretty simple: put on weight (usually about one-third to one-quarter of your body weight is a good amount of weight to achieve a significant training effect), put on a mask (optional, but
certainly good for introducing even more difficulty), and then start hiking. If the going gets quite steep, you can always remove the mask, then put it back on for the downhills.

5. Walking + Electrostimulation + Sprinting

In my home office, I have a manual treadmill in front of my standing desk. Although I typically use the treadmill for
easy walking during phone calls or consults, I also have an upper body strength training and lower body aerobic routine that I occasionally perform on the same treadmill. For this workout, you’ll need an
electrostimulation (EMS) device, which you can learn more about here.

Prepare for a lung-busting, muscle-burning experience. Here’s how this routine works.

– Attach electrodes to your biceps and triceps, or to your chest and shoulders. Your choice.
– Set the EMS device in strength training mode or power training mode so that it’s “grabbing” as many muscle fibers as possibly, which it will typically do for 10-30 seconds before giving you another 10-30
seconds of recovery.
– While the EMS device is doing the stimulation of your upper body, walk on the treadmill.
– While the EMS device is giving you the recovery periods, run or sprint on the treadmill.
– Repeat for the entire EMS session, which typically lasts 20-30 minutes.

Warning: for this routine, you’ll probably need to reinforce the electrodes with ace bandages or some other kind of wrap to ensure they don’t fall off while you run.

So, what do you think? Do you plan on trying any of these workouts? If you have more questions or comments about these five little known workouts that build muscle and burn fat at the same time, then head
over to
https://www.Facebook.com/GetFitGuy and join
the conversation there! I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.