Mondays With Thibs: Stripping Fat With Metabolic
Pairings
by Christian Thibaudeau


Spend this past weekend BBQ hopping and now you need to buckle
back down before the buckle snaps?
Instead of spending the next week pulling belt buckle shrapnel
out of your gut, get rid of it with these metabolic
combos.
The goal of these metabolic pairings is to drastically jack up
fat use for fuel by increasing energy expenditure and stimulating
the release of free-fatty acids. These fatty acids are shuttled
into the bloodstream thanks to an elevation in growth hormone
brought on by an increase in lactate production (which acidifies
the whole body).

The best way to create this ideal internal environment is by
using a combo of one weighted, relatively heavy exercise, and one
high-speed, lower load movement (an abdominal drill is also added
to the mix in the more advanced versions).


The Engine Principles
With these metabolic pairings, there are two key points to
respect called "the engine principles."

Engine Principle #1: The bigger the engine, the more fuel you
burn.
In other words, you want to simultaneously involve as much
muscle mass as possible, both in the strength and speed
exercises.

Engine Principle #2: The faster you go, the more fuel the engine
uses.
When doing this type of training, you should emphasize speed of
movement and avoid any pauses during the execution of each drill.
For example, once a repetition is completed, you immediately start
the next one.


Metabolic Pairings
It's time to get down to it with some of my favorite combos.

Combo 1A: Clean-Grip Power Pull and Burpees (Level I)
The clean-grip power pull offers many of the benefits of the
Olympic lifts since it's basically the pulling part of these
movements. But to make it effective, you must really use a powerful
thrust of both your arms and legs (ahem, engine principle).
To do so, lower the bar like in a Romanian deadlift and then
explode upward, bringing the bar to your sternum (much like an
upright row) using a full lower body extension (ankles, knees, and
hips) and upper body pull (arms, lower back, and traps).
Since this movement is less technical than the full Olympic
lifts, you can, and should do more reps, whereas you should stick
to no more than six for the Olympic lifts.
A1) Clean-grip power pull
8 to 10 reps
No rest

A2) Burpees
12 to 15 reps
Rest 75 seconds

For this combo and all of the ones to follow, you can add an
abdominal exercise after A2. In that case, you wouldn't rest
between A2 and A3 (abdominal movement). You'd rest after the
abdominal exercise.

Combo 1B: Thrusters and Burpees (Level II)
To make the thrusters even more effective for metabolic
purposes, start each repetition by "power curling" the dumbbells to
your shoulders. Thus, each repetition starts with your arms
extended alongside your body, and you then:




1. Curl them up to the shoulders (hammer curl style)
2. Squat down
3. Stand up from the squat
4. Press the dumbbells overhead
5. Return to the starting position

A1) Thrusters
10 to 12 reps
No rest

A2) Burpees
12 to 15 reps
Rest 75 seconds

Combo 1C: Power Clean from Hang/Push Press and Burpees (Level
III)
This is the most advanced version of the combo, and arguably the
most effective in terms of body transformations. However, you
should be somewhat efficient in the Olympic lifts before even
attempting this.
Being the beast that it is, the power clean from the hang and
push press movement involves the largest amount of muscle.
Furthermore, it's explosive by nature, so according to the engine
principles it's the most powerful body composition tool among the
strength exercises.
As with other Olympic lifts, no more than six reps should be
performed to avoid technical breakdown and injuries.
A1) Power clean from the hang and push press
4 to 6 reps
No rest

A2) Burpees
15 to 20 reps
Rest 75 seconds

Combo 2A: Bulgarian Squat and Shuffle Running (Level I)
Shuffle running is pretty simple: Imagine running in place, but
taking extra long steps and jumping in the air slightly. The goal
here is long steps and speed of movement. You switch legs in the
air, but you aren't actually moving. Just move your legs as fast as
you can without moving forward or backwards.
A1) Bulgarian squat
8 to 10 reps per leg
No rest

A2) Shuffle running
Max reps in 45 seconds
Rest 75 seconds


Combo 2B: Stationary Lunge and Shuffle Running (Level II)
For the stationary lunges, start standing up with both legs
together. Take a long step forward with the target leg and drop
down into a lunge position, and then push yourself back up to the
starting position. Alternate legs on each rep.
A1) Stationary lunge
8 to 10 reps per leg (alternate)
No rest




A2) Shuffle running
Max reps in 45 seconds
Rest 75 seconds

Combo 2C: Walking Lunge and Shuffle Running (Level III)

In a walking lunge, you aren't pushing yourself back up from a
lunge position, but rather moving forward by pushing yourself with
the front leg and bringing the back leg in front, into a lunge
position.
A1) Walking lunge
10 to 12 reps per leg (alternate)
No rest
A2) Shuffle running
Max reps in 60 seconds
Rest 75 seconds

Combo 3A: Snatch-Grip Deadlift and Three-Way Dumbbell Swing
(Level I)
For the three-way dumbbell swing, there's no rest between each
part of the set. So, you perform the required number of reps (15
for example) with the left arm, then immediately move on to the
right arm, and then finally to both arms.
Since you're using the same dumbbell for all three portions,
when you're up to the both arms portion, grab the one dumbbell with
both hands (don't use two dumbbells).
A1) Snatch-grip deadlift
6 to 8 reps
No rest

A2) Three-way dumbbell swing
15 reps left arm, 15 reps right arm, 15 reps both arms
Rest 75 seconds


Combo 3B: Snatch-Grip Power Pull and Three-Way Dumbbell Swing
(Level II)
The snatch-grip power pull is performed the same way as the
clean-grip power pull explained earlier. The only difference is the
width of the grip: wide for the snatch-grip pull.
A1) Snatch-grip power pull
6 to 8 reps
No rest

A2) Three-way dumbbell swing
15 reps left arm, 15 reps right arm, 15 reps both arms
Rest 75 seconds


Combo 3C: Power Snatch from Hang and Three-Way Dumbbell Swing
(Level III)
A1) Power snatch from the hang or blocks
4 to 6 reps
No rest




A2) Three-way dumbbell swing
20 reps left arm, 20 reps right arm, 20 reps both arms
Rest 75 seconds

Combo 4A: Dumbbell Squat and Vertical Jump/Bodyweight Squat
(Level I)
This one is essentially a triple set rather than a combo because
when you reach a point where you can't jump you switch to
bodyweight squats. On that later portion (squats), the goal is to
get as many reps as you can in 30 seconds.
A1) Dumbbell squat
15 to 20 reps
No rest
A2) Vertical jump and bodyweight squat
8 to 12 jumps plus max bodyweight squats in 30 seconds
Rest 75 seconds

Combo 4B: Leg Press and Vertical Jump/Bodyweight Squat (Level
II)

A1) Leg press
15 to 20 reps
No rest
A2) Vertical jump and bodyweight squat
10 jumps plus max bodyweight squats in 30 seconds
Rest 75 seconds

Combo 4C: Back Squat and Vertical Jump/Bodyweight Squat (Level
III)
A1) Back squat
15 to 20 reps
No rest
A2) Vertical jump and bodyweight squat
10 jumps plus max bodyweight squats in 30 seconds
Rest 75 seconds


Metabolic Program Design
When performing a metabolic session, I normally use two or three
combos during the workout. Each combo is then performed anywhere
from two to five times.
Usually, five sets are reserved for those with a good level of
conditioning, as it can quickly become hell on earth. Heck, I've
had tough-as-nails football players quit after two rounds of the
first combo because of severe leg cramps or nausea!
With this type of training, it's wise to gradually build up the
volume (number of sets) and difficulty (level) of work.
Also, you don't have to use combos of the same level. For
example, if you pick combos 1, 2 and, 4, you can do a level II for
combo 1, a level I for combo 2, and a level III for combo 4.
How you put it all together is up to your imagination and puke
tolerance.



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