I need a(nother) fat loss program like I need a(nother) hole in my head. First of all, fat loss isn't a personal priority at the moment. I'm not exactly sure what my body fat percentage is at the moment, but I do know that it's well within the healthy range for a woman my age, and since I'm not looking to do a photo shoot or physique competition any time soon I really don't feel the need to be leaner than I already am.
Second, I already have access to any number of excellent fat loss programs. I've Burned The Fat, Fed The Muscle, I've Turbulence Trained, I've felt the Afterburn, and I've had the life sucked out of me by the Cabo Vampire Workout. They all work, which is probably why I don't feel desperate to lose fat right now.
So, anyway when the new Warp Speed Fat Loss program was released earlier this month I didn't feel as though it was a purchase I could justify making. Still, I was curious about it, as I am about any new Alwyn Cosgrove program.
But is Warp Speed Fat Loss really new? Obviously I can't tell you since I haven't purchased the program. But the general idea seems to be as follows: Resistance training 3x per week, followed by metabolic circuits. Metabolic Circuit A consists of 30 seconds of very high intensity effort followed by 90 seconds of active recovery, repeated 6x. Metabolic Circuit B consists of 120 seconds of high intensity effort followed by 120 seconds of active recovery, repeated 3x. On the days you don't do resistance training you perform interval cardio, alternating 60 seconds of high-intensity effort with 120 seconds of active recovery, repeated 3-6x depending on what week of the program you're in. Then, once you've done your intervals you finish with 20 minutes or so of low-intensity steady state cardio to burn off all the free fatty acids you released into your bloodstream during the HIIT. The low-intensity steady state cardio isn't something I've seen in a Cosgrove program before now, but it's something Christian Thibodaux has been recommending for a while now although he generally tacks it onto weight training sessions, which also release triglycerides into the bloodstream.
I have no clue what the resistance training looks like, but since Alwyn Cosgrove is involved I'm guessing there's a total-body Workout A and a total-body Workout B, both involving supersets and/or giant sets. Since it's only a 4 week program I am guessing the exercise selection stays pretty constant but I would imagine there's some variation in volume and rest periods from week to week. If anyone out there has actually sprung for the program feel free to let me know whether I've guessed right or not!
I imagine the nutritional guidelines involve mini-meals, a fairly aggressive calorie deficit, and minimal starch intake, with most calories coming from lean protein and veggies. Not quite a strict cutting diet but close. Again, this is a 4 week program, not something you're meant to follow for months at a time. When it's only for 4 weeks you can be pretty aggressive without sending your body into starvation mode.
Anyway, that's the Warp Speed Fat Loss program I would write, if I were to write such a thing. Not so new, but it works. In all honesty if it were too new I wouldn't trust it. The fact is, most of us don't need "new" fat loss strategies, what we need is motivation to stick to the ones that have been around forever, that people have been successfully using for decades.
