How to Lose Weight in 4 Weeks
Get a 4 week workout to lose fat quickly.
Ben Greenfield
Listen
How to Lose Weight in 4 Weeks
(correction_with_script)
In Part 1 of How to Lose Fat Quickly, you learned how you lose fat, how fast you can safely lose fat, the best fat loss exercises, and a little bit about fast fat loss diets. In this article, you’ll get a four-week workout to lose weight quickly.
Recap: A Fast Fat Loss Review
As you learned in part 1, to lose fat fast you must
-
put your body into a state where it doesn’t have excess fuel coming in;
-
use full body, multi-joint weight training exercises;
-
use low impact cardio since you’ll be exercising a lot, and
-
cycle your calories.
How to Lose Weight in 4 Weeks
So let’s say your cousin Tony’s wedding is in June, and you’ve got about 30 days to get trim and lose weight. Assuming you’ve been mildly active but not extremely serious in your workouts, your first week of activity should involve preparing your body for what’s to come by being active every day, but not using much weight or impact. Here’s an example of what you could do:
Weight Loss Week 1
Monday morning: 30-60 minutes low-impact, light cardio on an empty stomach (swimming, cycling, elliptical, etc.)
Monday afternoon: body weight only workout circuit, with 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions of push-ups, elastic band rows, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, and an abdominal exercise of your choice.
Tuesday: Same as Monday, but instead of afternoon body weight only workout, simply do 5-10 repeats of 30-60 seconds of intense, low-impact cardio, such as bicycling. Recover completely after each intense effort.
Wednesday: Same as Monday.
Thursday: Same as Tuesday.
Friday: Same as Monday and Wednesday.
Saturday: Long hike, bike ride, easy run or any other form of cardiovascular exercise, with minimal eating. Try for 1.5-2 hours.
Sunday: Yoga or stretching
Weight Loss Week 2s and 3
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Full body workout, preferably the exact workout described in the article, “What Is the Best Workout For Fat Loss?” and “Which Workout Burns the Most Fat?”
Basically, you’ll do a full body weight training workout with short bursts of intense cardio after each workout. This workout will take you about an hour, and you’ll repeat the workout on Wednesday and Friday.
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday: These days will be very similar to the days in week 1, with easy cardio in the morning and hard bursts of intense intervals in the afternoon– but you should be gradually doing more intervals each day.
Week 4:
You’re almost there! We’re just going to make one slight modification to the protocol you followed in weeks 2 and 3. This time, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, you’re going to add in 20-30 minutes of light, unfed cardio. So in week 4, you’ll be up to nearly 1.5 hours of exercise each day. Remember–you asked for fast fat loss!
Once you have finished 4 weeks, you should do an easy week of light cardio and yoga before continuing with intense intervals and weight training to avoid a suppressed immune system and puffy inflammation. It’s always a good idea to give the body a break.
What to Eat For Fast Weight Loss
Although many studies show insignificant long term weight loss differences among people who follow low carb, moderate carb, or high carb diets, there is a definite immediate and significant drop in weight in those who follow a high protein diet. Carbohydrate carries up to four times it’s weight in water, and so you lose quite a bit of your storage carbohydrate when you switch to a high protein diet.
But the dangers of a high protein diet include a lack of energy, depressed immune system, and of course, you going stir crazy because you can’t have oatmeal for breakfast.
So here is how to avoid those problems, get adequate energy, and not damage your body with fast fat loss: use calorie cycling. To do this, simply eat a lower carbohydrate, low starch, low sugar diet on any days that require cardio exercise only or short cardio interval bursts.
Next, on your “intense” weight training days, eat a moderate carbohydrate diet–up to 50-60% of total dietary intake. It’s that simple. And for the entire first week of this fast fat loss program, you can also eat a lower carbohydrate intake (meaning that weeks 2, 3 and 4 are weeks in which you would calorie cycle).
That’s it! Now what are you waiting for? Go get fit just in time for Cousin Tony’s wedding. If you have questions, be sure to head over to the Get-Fit Guy Facebook page and ask away!
Scale image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.