Metabolic Conditioning: why this hot new trend is the real deal

I run a metabolic conditioning class at my studio in central Vermont. The idea behind the 50-minute class is simple: get more out of class (more benefits, more burn, more muscle), by exercising in a way that creates EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). That’s fancy speak for “make your body work harder for an extended period of time in order to recover from your workout”. Here’s how metabolic conditioning works.

You work out to burn calories and to build lean mass (aka improve your body composition). Whether you are doing a metabolic conditioning workout, a strict bodybuilding workout or hiit, a good workout pretty much covers those two things.

So what makes metabolic conditioning different?

 The “Metabolic” Piece

Metabolism is the biological process of turning food that you eat into fuel for your body to use. It occurs in every cell in your body. It happens whether you have a “slow” metabolism or a “fast” metabolism. The largest component of your metabolic rate has less to do with exercise and food, and more to do with basic functioning to stay alive.

The fuel that your body uses to “make” energy is called ATP, adenosine triphosphate. When you need energy, your body uses three energy systems to release it from ATP: the phosphagen system, the glycolytic system and an oxidative/aerobic system. Without getting into too much detail, each system is adept at producing energy at different levels and durations of intensity.

The phosphagen system supplies ATP quickly, but runs out fast and needs time to recover. It kicks in when you sprint or perform an explosive exercise for a short period of time.

The glycolytic system kicks in to provide ATP at about the 10-15 second mark and lasts for up to 120 seconds. A good sign that the glycolytic system has taken over is when you slow down after that first huge sprint push, but you can still carry on at a pretty fast pace.

After that, your body needs more oxygen to produce energy and the oxidative/aerobic system kicks into gear. Think running longer distances and muscular endurance exercises.

The primary goal of metcon (metabolic conditioning), is to condition your body to become more efficient at producing energy at different levels of exertion.

The “Conditioning” Piece

Conditioning, in short, means getting in better shape. When it comes to metabolic conditioning, think strength and efficiency.

Metcon incorporates high-intensity interval training, circuit workouts, cardio intervals and muscular endurance to build muscle and create EPOC.

Why muscle? Because though genes play a role in your metabolism, the amount of muscle you carry on your body in comparison to the amount of fat you carry affects your metabolic rate. The more muscle you build, the more you improve your body composition and in turn, your metabolic rate. Muscle requires more energy to maintain than fat does. Any great metabolic conditioning class that you take should have a strength and muscle building component to it.

Why EPOC? Because you want your body to burn more calories throughout the day, not just in the 60 minutes you are in class. To create EPOC, you have to train at an intensity great enough to create an oxygen deficit. It’s this deficit that your body works harder, for an extended period of time, to fill.

Who Can Benefit From Metabolic Conditioning?

Everyone.

Everyone can benefit from metabolic conditioning training and the good news is, anyone can do it.

As long as the workout challenges your current abilities and limits, you’ll see results. If you’re a beginner, that might mean walk/jog intervals. If you are an athlete, that might mean box jumps, barbell cleans and stair sprints. Intensity is relative to your current fitness ability. As long as you push your fitness limits, your body will work to recover and grow so that it can be stronger, more prepared and more efficient next time.

That’s progress.

Make Metabolic Conditioning Work for You

Metabolic conditioning works best as a component of a balanced program. Too much and you can’t recover properly. Too little and you won’t see the effects on performance.

I offer MetCon 1-2 times a week, and encourage my strength training clients who are also runners, skiiers and mountain bikers, to attend. I break these classes up into three sections so that we can target each system and see progress in all areas.

High Intensity Interval Training

HIIT is a great way to create that oxygen deficit I mentioned. You’ll perform short bursts of intense effort that are unsustainable for a prolonged time, paired with rest intervals. This kind of training doesn’t require equipment but you can incorporate equipment that is easy on your joints if you’d like.

Interval duration is dependent on both your fitness level and the exercise you are performing. To progress you can add time to the work interval, add another interval completely, raise your intensity, add resistance or shorten your rest periods. You might find that you need longer rest periods between hill sprints and shorter rest periods between cycling sprints.

*Remember, intensity is subjective and very dependent on the person performing the exercise (namely, you). You’ll know when you’ve hit an intensity that’s unsustainable for a long period of time.

Circuit Training

The goal with circuit training is to build muscle while still burning calories at a high rate. The trick is finding the sweet spot between strength training and calorie burn.

Choose 4-7 exercises and complete each set with little rest in between. I suggest using light-to-moderate weight for circuit training. You want to challenge your muscles, but you need them to recover as much as possible in the small rest window that you are given. So if you usually shoulder press 15 pound dumbbells, pick up the 10s or 8s.

I like to use the EMOM (every minute on the minute), training method for this portion of the workout. I give the group 4 exercises for a set number of reps. When the buzzer goes off to start the circuit, perform the first exercise for the set number of reps. Once down, you rest until the buzzer goes off at minute 2. At the buzzer, you perform the second exercise for the set number of reps.

For example:

• 15 Goblet Squats
• 10 Push Ups
• 15 Medicine Ball Slams
• 15 Russian Twists

When the buzzer goes off at the top of minutes 0, 4, 8 and 12, perform 15 goblet squats.

When the buzzer goes off at the top of minutes 1, 5, 9 and 13, complete 10 push-ups.

When the buzzer goes off at the top of minutes 2, 6, 10 and 14, do 15 medicine ball slams.

When the buzzer goes off at the top of minutes 3, 7, 11 and 15, execute 15 Russian twists.

*Again, intensity is subjective and personal. If you are an advanced exerciser, add weight or reps to the set or increase the difficulty of the exercise (i.e. do decline push-ups).

Muscular Endurance Sets

I always finish metcon workouts with muscular endurance. Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle to produce force over a period of time. You can do this by performing an exercise for high reps, or performing an exercise for a set period of time.

Choose weights that are fairly light (less than half of your 1 rep max). I usually set up a circuit of 5 strength training exercises, each done for 30 seconds with a rest at the end of the circuit. These exercises are purley focused on muscular endurance: no power movements, no Olympic lifts, no cardio.

By this point, your body is tired and you don’t have much explosive power to pull from. This is all about bringing your muscles almost to fatigue in a controlled, low-intensity manner.

Here’s an example of a circuit that I would perform at this point in the workout:

Reverse Lunges

Dumbbell Rows

Shoulder Side Laterals

Bicep Curls

Tricep Kickbacks

Perform each exercise for 30 seconds. Rest for 60-90 seconds in between circuits.

(Elevate your results by constantly challenging your body do be better at doing more. Use a Workout Journal to track your workout and crush your goals. Here’s how).

Metabolic conditioning, when understood completely, can work for any one. Yes, you will have to adjust intensity levels. Yes, some exercises will need to be less advanced or more advanced. But at the end of the day whether your goal is to get stronger, get leaner or simply improve your overall health, metcon can be a part of that.