This is a guest article by Dr. Kareem Samhouri creator of the Double Edge Fat Loss program. I hope you enjoy it.
Muscle Sequencing
Dr. Kareem Samhouri
by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri, CSCS, HFS, Neuro Metabolic Fat Loss & Strength Expert.
Muscle sequencing is about the specific order you should strengthen your body in order to grow muscle as quickly as possible. In this article, I’m going to present two opposing stories of people who work out to ‘gain more definition’ in their arms. These are real stories of clients I’ve trained in the past, but the names have been substituted for client privacy. For the record, I’ve proven the moral of this story over and over again. I no longer am even testing it.
Bob and Lisa.
Bob wants bigger arms, he’s 36 years old, and he feels a bit flabby compared to the way he used to be. Definition’s cool, but he really wants to focus on the size of his biceps and triceps so that he can wear around a tank-top and feel more self-confidant. He’s often thought about shaving down the hairy patch he has by his shoulder, but he figures “What’s the point? I have to wear sleeves anyway…”
Lisa, well, she’s 38, and she’s been a master of the treadmill for about 5 years now. She does various classes at the gym from Zumba to Yoga to Pliates, and Kickboxing. She basically works out 5-6 days a week, sometimes twice. Still, she’s got some stubborn fat around the back of her upper arms. She (cutely) calls them ‘turkey wings.’
They are both at 17% bodyfat when they hire me.
Each one will need to lose about 4% bodyfat from our initial interview in order to reach their goals. Bob feels as though he doesn’t have to lose bodyfat, but gaining muscle will do the trick. Lisa’s worried it’s not possible, considering all that she’s doing right now.
3 months go by. Here’s what happens:
Bob and I focus on lifting arms for about 40 minutes of every 60 minute session. The other 20 minutes go towards new exercise education and other body parts.
Month 1 - Bob’s arms are looking awesome! I’m blown away.
Month 2 – Bob’s arms look about the same as last month.
Month 3- Bob’s missing sessions and plumping up again. His arms look about the same as they did, but he’s got a belly now.
Lisa and I focus on whole-body fat loss. She’s hesitant to do this and really wants to just focus on her ‘turkey wings,’ but with a shoulder injury, there’s no choice. We really can’t even exercise her right arm very much right now without irritating her rotator cuff. Lisa’s program consists of strengthening all of her trunk musculature first, building a ridiculously strong core, and then starting to move into arms on month 2.
Month 1 – Lisa’s happily seeing her clothes fit looser, but no dramatic change. Incidentally, her shoulder feels like a million bucks!
Month 2 - Lisa thinks her arms look the same until she takes a look at her ‘before’ pictures and realizes that her whole body shrunk, she’s standing up straighter (was slouched before), and she’s rather impressed by her ‘new guns.’
Month 3 – Lisa knows about Bob. She asks to see their pictures side by side. She’s blown away that her arms look twice as good as his, but her whole body is trimmer. She’s 12.8% bodyfat – crazy!
I used to put my money on Bob. I was wrong.
Where’s your money? On you?
Make the smart choice and join Double Edged Fat Loss today. It’s less than 54 cents a day for a year and you get the equivalent of a Ph.D. in fitness education, killer fat loss workouts, and an exercise video database to choose from for a lifetime.
