Body mass is composed of fat mass and lean mass. Lean mass is all tissues excluding your body fat. Muscle and bone make up a large portion of your lean or fat-free mass. You may decrease your body fat doing only aerobic exercise though you will not build much muscle and bone mass. The only way to lower your fat mass and increase your lean mass is to do fat-burning exercises in addition to highly-intense aerobic and resistance exercises, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
Step 1
Complete an upper body weight training workout on Mondays to build upper body muscle and bone mass. Use heavy weights so you are only able to perform six to 12 reps per set of each exercise; do four sets of two exercises per muscle group. Choose from flat dumbbell presses, incline bench presses, decline bench presses, lateral pull downs, barbell rows, seated cable rows, dumbbell curls, hammer bar curls, concentration curls, two-arm triceps extensions, triceps rope press downs and triceps dips.
Step 2
Perform a high-intensity interval run on Tuesdays followed by a plyometric leg and abdominal workout to burn fat and increase your trunk and lower body bone mass. Use a treadmill to do 30 seconds of "all-out" sprinting then 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. Then, do alternating sets between each plyometric-exercise pair. Pair box jumps with overhead medicine ball throws, lunge jumps with oblique medicine ball throws and lateral squat jumps with medicine ball catches on a decline bench. Complete three sets of 10 repetitions per exercise.
Step 3
Do a 60-minute cardio workout two days per week to reduce your percentage of body fat. Take a step aerobics, kickboxing or dance class. Complete a run and walk workout on the treadmill or on the field. Do these long workouts on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Step 4
Complete a lower body, shoulder and abdominal weight training workout on Thursdays to build bone and muscle mass in your spine, shoulders, abdominals, pelvis and legs. Do squats, dead lifts, lunges, dumbbell shoulder presses, lateral raises, weighted crunches and hanging leg raises. Lift heavy enough weights you can only do six to 12 reps per set. Perform four sets of each exercise.
Step 5
Perform a 60-minute, low-impact aerobic workout on Fridays such as a 30-minute walk, 15-minute elliptical session and a 15-minute ride on a stationary bike; this burns primarily stored body fat to fuel your exercise.
Step 6
Take Sundays off from your exercise program to give your muscles a day to rest and build more muscle tissue; this reduces your risk of over-training, improving your ability to shift your body mass from fat mass to lean mass.
Tips and Warnings
- Eat immediately after every workout to refuel your body for your next training session so you can maintain your exercise intensity.
- If your body feels worn out from six days of exercise, take an extra day off as needed to prevent injury.
Things You'll Need
- Gym equipment
- Medicine balls
- Rebounder
References
- American College of Sports Medicine: Physical Activity and Bone Health
- American College of Sports Medicine: Progression Models in Resistance Training for Adults
- "Strength and Conditioning Journal"; Fat Burning; Bruce Craig, PhD; October 2006
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