Summary: Are there alternatives to traditional cardio for fat-burning and metabolic optimization? In this episode we discuss Scott’s use of metabolic circuits of various kinds: when, why, and how, plus the history of their development.<br> <br> ------------------------------------<br> ♦ HOUSEKEEPING / NEW STUFF ♦ <br> ------------------------------------<br> <br> Mike’s new book is out! The Journal Writing Superpower Secret is available at Amazon now. The book presents a variety of frameworks, structures, a ton of journaling prompts to help you set and achieve goals, stay focused, and deal with self-sabotage.<br> <br> As well, you can pick up both Scott’s new Great Glutes “At Home” Metabolic Circuits (scottabelfitness.com/greatglutes), as well as Awesome Abs by Andy (absbyandy.com)<br> <br> -----------<br> ♦ HABITS ♦<br> -----------<br> <br> Technically speaking, habits never go away. You can’t “unwrite” them.<br> In Mike’s words, you can add links to the chain, but you can’t get rid of that chain.<br> It’s also worth remembering that a lot of habits are tied to very specific triggers. You might not be able to remove the habit, but with a bit of strategy, you can remove the trigger (or remove yourself from the trigger).<br> <br> This also means that automatic neural reflexes are just that: automatic. If you have a certain habitual pattern of thinking, it doesn’t make you a bad person. That’s not you. That’s just a habit. It’s fine. The trick is to go through it, and then not worry about it, or not entertain or believe those thoughts. Let them come up, then let them go away.<br> <br> --------------------------------------------------<br> ♦ USING METABOLIC CIRCUITS FOR FAT LOSS ♦ <br> -------------------------------------------------<br> <br> One of the most common questions we get has to do with cardio and fat loss, since Scott is very wary of cardio, but he does assign it. One way to partially address this is to discuss the metabolic circuit protocols he often adds “on top” of an existing program, almost just like cardio, but with bodypart-specific emphasis: abs in the case of Awesome Abs, and glutes in the case of Great Glutes.<br> <br> Scott says he was influenced by changes in the industry from about 10-15 years ago, especially those brough about by JC Santana’s work on functional training. This influenced Scott’s 5-Day MET, Whole Body Hypertrophy, and the Ultimate Figure Program.<br> <br> Mike pointed out that (good) programs have a kind of underlying internal logic to them. Once you understand the logic, you immediately get heuristics that you can use: would this exercise work here? Yes, it fits the logic, or, No, it doesn’t fit the logic. (Example: the second exercise of this a biplex calls for some kind of pushing movement in such-and-such plane of motion, but this exercise is pulling. Or, it is a pushing motion, but it is a big compound movement with too many work capacity demands, and the bi-plexes towards the end of the workout on this program should always be mostly isolation movements.)<br> <br> When Scott first started getting feedback on his more metabolic programs, he found that the circuits and such were hard to do at big-chain, busy gyms. There are always grey areas here where the trainee has some responsibility to try to make things work, but at the same time, “I can’t do these circuits” can be totally legitimate feedback.<br> <br> Although a complete train-at-home program is harder, it’s much easier to make this sort of thing work in a short metabolic circuit that’s just done one to three times per week in addition to the rest of that person’s training (which can be more traditional).<br> <br> This kind of issue is becoming more of an issue, with traffic and increasing work hours, etc.<br> The idea for the currently released programs is to get a little something extra,
