Question: I’m here today with Arnel Ricafranca, and we’re going to talk about his unique program for rapid fat burning, the 1000 Calorie Challenge. But before we get to the program, Arnel, why don’t you tell us a bit about your own body transformation and how you became a fat loss expert?
Answer: Right after college, I started working as a personal trainer at a local chiropractic office. I had gotten so busy from training my clients that I neglected my own health.
Before I knew it, I gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of muscle. As a “fat loss expert” I felt completely embarrassed. That is why I decided to put myself on the line and did my own body transformation challenge and posted it online for everyone to see. Within just a couple of weeks, I started to have a huge following because people were getting results with me using the same workouts that I had programmed.
Question: How did the 1000 Calorie Challenge come to be? What made you create this program?
Answer:
Back in early May, I was on the call with Joel Marion, Vince Del Monte and other top leading fat loss experts. It was a challenge from Vince Del Monte himself to design a series of workouts that would truly burn a THOUSAND calories each.
1. Each workout should be able to burn 1,000 calories DURING the actual workout without including the afterburn.
2. The 1000 calorie challenge should be designed with just basic equipment (dumbbells, bench, and a pullup bar).
3. The 1000 calorie workouts needs to be time-efficient without having to spend hours in a gym.
Question: In your new program, you use Metabolic Circuits as your primary workout method. Why are metabolic circuits so effective for fat loss?
Answer: Metabolic circuits are basically extreme fat blasting full body movements formulated to utilize all the largest muscle groups that you have. Joel Marion personally calls it “Insane Circuit” for a reason. It is just absolutely brutal in a way that causes a metabolic disturbance; spiking up your metabolism for up to 48 hours. Therefore, not only can you burn 1,000 calories DURING the session, but you can burn an additional 1,000 calories AFTER the session is over.
Our Metabolic Circuits, plus the built in SMART Low-Calorie diet (by best selling author, Joel Marion) can easily create a huge negative calorie balance that yields a net fat loss of 3-5 pounds per week!
Question: Can a person who isn’t fit today use the 1000 Calorie Challenge, even if he or she can’t do 1000 Calorie workouts at this time?
Answer: That’s a great question. Yes. We don’t expect beginners to be able to the 1,000 Calorie Workouts. It is very difficult to burn 1,000 calories from someone who hasn’t worked out in a year and is overweight.
That is why we created a formula called R-Quattro
With R-Quattro
1. Reps – the number of repetitions performed for each exercise
2. Resistance – the load used for each exercise
3. Rest – the length of rest periods between exercises and rounds
4. Rounds – the number of times a circuit of exercises is completed
Within 4 weeks, even someone who isn’t fit today can handle the “insane circuits”.
In fact, our test group stated that the week 4 workout was easier than week 3. But their calorie burn was 200 calories over the previous week and that’s when they realized how powerful R-Quattro can be. Their bodies when following this program, will be able to handle a higher work capacity as R-Quattro does it’s job.
Question: What kind of equipment do you need to perform the exercises in the program and do you provide any instructions on how to perform each exercise correctly?
Answer: The beauty about the 1000 Calorie Challenge program is that it doesn’t require any equipment besides a bench (or chair), pairs of dumbbells, and a pullup bar. That’s it.
The program comes with a complete Exercise Library containing all the exercises in the program with photos and descriptions showing how to do them safely and properly.
It also comes with alternative exercises for special circumstances.
Question: Let’s talk a bit about nutrition, the 1000 Calorie Challenge includes days with a total intake of 1000 Calories. Isn’t there a risk of metabolic slowdown which is known to happen in so many other diets?
Answer: As you already know, 1000 Calorie Workouts are done during a 1,000 Calorie Diet. A common question is, ‘would I lose muscle due to my limited source of calories consumed during that day?’
In one study, the researchers broke the subjects into 2 groups: an aerobic group (4 hours per week of aerobic training) and a resistance training group (2-4 sets of 8-15 reps of ten basic exercises). Both groups consumed an 800-calorie liquid diet.
The results are astonishing. Both groups had an increase VO2 max. In laymen‘s terms, even the resistance group improved their cardio without doing cardio.
However, the resistance-training group lost a significant amount of body fat (compared to the aerobic group) even at the 800 calorie intake, without ANY sacrifice to their muscle.
Not only that, but the resistance training group actually boosted their metabolism; while the aerobic group had a decrease in metabolism.
Source: Byner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R.
Effects of resistance training vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate. J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr; 18(2):115-21.
Because there is a concern for muscle development from the 1,000 Calorie Challenge, the demand for muscle is greater.
Question: How do the Cheat Days fit into the overall program? What is their purpose?
Answer: One day each week will be designated as a Cheat Day. Everyone loves the cheat day.
Without getting too scientific, the higher the Leptin level, the more fat you lose. However, the truth is when you restrict your calorie intake for an extended period of time, your body adapts by lowering the leptin level. That’s bad. 
The good news is Leptin levels can be raised by over-feeding during cheat days. That is why cheat days are a very important component of this product.
Question: What kind of results can a person expect to achieve by following the 1000 Calorie Challenge?
Answer: Combining the SMART Low-Calorie Intake with “Calorically Expensive
Workouts” in this program creates a metabolic disturbance that forces metabolism to spike up for days. This results in an enormous negative calorie balance that yields a net fat loss of 3-5 pounds per week!
Question: What was it like working with Joel Marion on this project?
Answer: Working with Joel has been truly a blessing. He is one of the most knowledgeable nutrition experts that I have come across. We’re like peanut butter and jelly (Goober!) My powerful program designed with his SMART strategic diet plan makes the most powerful fat loss system available.
Question: If you could give one tip to a man or woman about to begin this program, what would it be?
Answer: I highly recommend everyone starting out with this program to have a support team (workout partner). I recommend doing this 1000 Calorie Challenge with someone for multiple reasons:
1. It keeps you both motivated; therefore, you and your partner(s) are more likely to stick with the program.
2. It makes this workout journey more enjoyable.
3. It holds each other accountable.
Even better, it gets everyone you know to live a permanent healthy lifestyle. The more people you surround yourself with the same common goal, the easier it is to achieve the goal that they are also trying to achieve.
For more about Arnel Ricfranca’s 1000 Calorie Challenge visit 1000CalorieChallenge.com