to those with a few years of training experience though, it is well known that increasing muscle mass and decreasing body fat are two conflicting goals. most people fall into the trap of increasing their workout intensity by turning to low weight, high reps, and minimal rest in order to decrease body fat. a much more realistic expectation is to decrease body fat and maintain muscle mass (which in my opinion is truly the holy grail of fat loss). the …

while i would like to argue that circuits are not the only way to lose fat, you can still lose fat with regular strength training and some sprinting. i am referring to circuits that use the same muscle group for all the exercises in the circuit, and the resultant lactic acid build up. in the pha style training, you will perform a circuit of 5-6 exercises for about 4-5 rounds. to be honest, i feel that pha is the best …

“pha training dates back to the 1960s when mr. universe, bob gajda, popularized it. like circuit training, it’s a dynamic and fast-paced way to work out and one that places greater demands on your cardiovascular system, yet still leads to gains in strength and muscle size.” –cathe friedrich as an amazon associate i earn from qualifying purchases. so maybe your goal isn’t to look like mr. universe but that’s ok.  neither is mine. however, mr. universe was on to something… …

pha stands for peripheral heart action and is the forerunner of what is commonly called circuit training today. one of the key differences between this type of training and more conventional cardio is the resistance. the idea is to provide uninterrupted blood flow throughout the body while taking no rest in between sets. you are going to expend a tremendous amount of energy, and that translates into tremendous conditioning and fat loss. here is an example of a russian kettlebell …

however, with pha training, while you are moving from one exercise to another, you are focusing on alternating upper and lower body exercises. for example, nasm uses a vertical loading circuit training system that begins with working the chest, followed by working the back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, and legs. however, while using a pha system clients are performing a variation of circuit training; yet, they are simply alternating upper and lower body exercises. this form of training gives weight loss …