What the heck is a Fat Burning Ladder workout?
A Ladder Workout is a training technique that I often use, especially with bodyweight / calisthenics workouts. It’s also one of the training methods I will be introducing in my upcoming ebook/ video program, Bodyweight MASS Builder. It’s a high-intensity, high-volume super-set workout that will build muscle, increase muscular endurance, and burn fat. It’s a simple but challenging form of antagonist supersetting that you can apply to almost any exercises, but which I find particularly well suited to body weight exercises.
Here’s how you perform this workout protocol: choose two exercises, typically one pushing movement and one pulling movement (antagonist muscle groups), OR a lower body exercise paired up with an upper body exercise, and you super-set these two exercises, moving back and forth between them with minimal rest. But here’s where the ‘ladder’ technique gets interesting: you begin with only ONE repetition on one exercise and gradually increase reps on every set, and you start with a high number of reps on the other exercise and gradually decrease reps on each set. One exercise moves up the ladder in reps and the other one moves down.
Here’s an example, starting with 1 to 10 repetitions, which should be suitable for most beginners:
I’m going to superset chin ups and dips, although if these are too challenging you could use inverted rows and pushups.
I suggest starting with the higher number (ie: 10 reps) on the more challenging exercise, so that as you fatigue you will have fewer reps to perform. I find chin ups tougher than dips, so I would start with 10 chinups, then immediately perform 1 dip. Then back to only 9 chinups and 2 dips. Then 8 chinups, and 3 dips, and so on. So the progression would look like this…
That adds up to 10 sets and a total of 55 total repetitions for each exercise. That’s a lot of volume with minimal rest intervals, which is why it is great for not only building muscle but also for metabolic conditioning. We do suggest you keep a note pad or training journal beside you while doing this workout to keep track of your sets and reps, as it is easy to lose count as you fatigue. Just consider it a workout for your brain AND your body!
Give this workout a try yourself this week and after you do post a comment below to let us know how you like it. If you want a more advanced challenge, try a Burning Ladder with 1 to 12 reps, or even 1 to 15 reps!
Enjoy the BURN!
