Workout Routines: Burning Fat vs Gaining Muscle

This is a guest post by Esther Spencer.

You’re working hard to look your best. You’re either trying to lose fat or build muscle. You’ve cleaned up your diet, but you need a routine to help you reach your goal. No problem. We’ve got a few tips on workout routines for each goal so you can achieve your ideal physique.

Fat Burning Routine

Warm up before you start your fat burning workout. An effective fat burning workout will incorporate circuit training, which combines both resistance and cardio exercises. With a fat loss routine, you’ll want to amp up the cardio to 4 or more days per week. You want to do 2-5 sets of 8-20 reps of light weight resistance exercises. The rest period between sets should be 30 seconds. With fat burning exercises, you want to work out the entire body and expend more energy to lose more fat.

Fat Burning Workout Example

You want to alternate the muscle groups you work out. Here is a sample routine where you’re training 6 days and resting 1 day using a variety of dumbbell exercises.

Day 1

Chest

Flat Dumbbell Bench press 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps
Incline Dumbbell press 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps
Dumbbell Flyes 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Biceps

Dumbbell Curls 3-4 sets of 10 to 12 reps
Preacher curls 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Calves

Standing toe raises 5 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Seated toe raises 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Abdominals

Incline sit ups 4 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Seated leg raise with bent knee 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Day 2

Legs

Extensions 4 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Leg press 4 sets of 15 reps
Squats 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps
Leg curl 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Triceps

Pull downs 4 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Dumbbell Extensions 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Abdominals

Incline sit ups 4 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Seated leg raise with bent knee 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Day 3

Back

Lat Pull downs 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps
One arm row 3-4 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Cable rows 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps
Hyper extensions 2 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Shoulders

Military press 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Lateral raise 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps
Upright rows 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Rear Delt Raises 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Calves

Standing toe raise 5 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Seated toe raise 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps

Abdominals

Vertical leg raise 4 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Seated leg raise with bent knee 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Muscle Building Routine

Building muscle will require more reps and heavier weights. You’ll want to do 3-4 sets of 6-20 reps for each body part you want to work out. Steadily decrease the reps as your sets progress. For an example: 1st set of 15 reps, 2nd set of 12 reps, 3rd set of 10 reps, 4th set of 8 reps. As you bench press, steadily increase the weight in increments for each set. The rest period should range from 1-2 minutes. To increase growth, you will want to focus on each muscle group. You should perform 3-4 exercises per group.

Muscle Building Workout Example

In this example, you’re in the gym 3 days and resting 1 day. Remember to always warm up before training.

Day 1

Chest:

Barbell Bench press 4 sets; 8-10 reps
Flat bench dumbbell press 3 sets; 6-8 reps
Incline barbell press 4 sets 8-10 reps
Incline dumbbell flyes 3sets; 8-12 reps

Biceps:

Barbell curls 4 sets; 6-8reps
Incline Dumbbell Curls 4 sets; 8-10reps

Triceps:

Triceps Extentions 4sets; 10-12reps
Nose Breakers 4sets; 6-8reps

Day 2

Legs:

Extensions 4 sets; 12-15reps

Squats: 4-5 sets; 8-10reps
Leg Press: 4-6 sets; 10-12 reps
Hamstring curls 4sets; 8-10reps
Stiff leg deadlifts: 4 sets; 8-10reps

Day 3

Back:

Lat Pull downs 4sets; 8-12 reps
Bent over barbell rows 4 sets; 6-8reps
Cable rows 4sets; 8-10reps
Shoulders: Military press 4-5sets; 8-10reps
Lateral raises 4 sets; 8-10reps

Rear Delt Raises 3 sets 8-10 reps
Upright rows 4 sets; 6-8reps

Day 4 Off

*Repeat Cycle*

Note: Abdominal and calves are to be trained twice a week.

Abdominal:
Incline sit ups 4 sets; 15-20reps
Seated leg raise 4 sets; 15-20reps

Calves:
Standing toe raises- 6 set (2 sets toes straight, 2 sets toes inward, 2 sets toes outward); 15-20reps
Seated toe raise- 4 sets; 15-20 reps

Conclusion

Whether you are working to lose fat or build muscle, you will want to vary your workout program to avoid hitting a plateau. Diet also will be the most important factor no matter what you are trying to do. While an average diet is 2,000 calories per day, a fat burning/weight loss diet may be 1,500 calories/day. However, a muscle/mass building diet may require 3,000 to 4,000 calories/day. To achieve your goals, eat a clean diet and work out regularly.

Esther Spencer grew up in her family’s health store. She is the lead blogger for NutraPlanet, a website that offers health and vitamin products, bodybuilding supplements, and fat burners such as OxyElite Pro.