Metabolic Resistance Training - hype or truth?

Vee

Cathlete
By my mid thirties, I had gained 25 pounds over a few years from a sedentary lifestyle and bad eating habits.

When I first realized what I was doing to myself and decided to clean up my act, I did cardio and "toning" exercises with little to no weight. The scales did not budge.

It was then that I discovered Cathe and heavyish lifting.

Simultaneous to discovering Cathe I also educated myself on nutrition and clean eating. I thought I was eating healthy but my diet was too heavy on processed carbs. I was not getting enough protein. I was / am vegetarian. The only thing right about my diet was that I ate adequate fruits and veggies.

For some reason I started out with Cathe's 3 day body splits rather than full body workouts. I mixed in cardio twice a week in my rotation. I met a trainer who encouraged me to continue with split body / endurance style lifting (rep range 15 to 16 with heavy enough weights to hit failure). I ate really well (balanced, no under-eating or over-eating) In three months my body transformed totally. I was lean and firm and looked strong. The 25 pounds had gone, but there was in some ways a better body than me at this same weight earlier. I wasnt even trying to lose weight that fast and would have been content to see it drop slower. I did not "bulk" at all.

This MRT approach says splits are more of a body building thing. (MRT style lifting is not just full body routines. It is different from some full body workouts that emhpasize isolation exercises for small muscle groups.) MRT recommends that circuit training (full body) with compound exercises (not simultaneous upper and lower body "compound", but multi-joint") and short rest breaks, set as a a routine that keeps heart rate elevated are best to lose fat. MRT refers to "after burn" and Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption to talk about effects on metabolism from this type of workout, even when the body is not exercising. That sounds a bit gimmicky to me.

Does it not matter at all what you do, as long as you are consistent and that you are shocking your body?

If MRT is really the "best way" to get lean, how come I saw great results with split training in my mid thirties? (I am 41 now).

??:confused:??

BTW, I have just started a new rotation based on MRT. Too early for results yet, but I want to see what it does for me. I regained some weight from indulging in my old, bad habits. Sigh! But this gives me a chance to see how I fare with this style of training, so perhaps there is a silver lining. The workouts are a lot of fun (My sis got the routines off the internet and I do them on my own at the gym). They are also way more time efficient and since my work is particularly demanding right now, I appreciate that.

Personally, I like splits. They have always worked for me and even if MRT works I am sure I will still go back to splits even if just to vary my routine.
 
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Hype.

There is no one best way for training, and anyone who tries to tell you that is trying to sell you that. What works for one person might not work for another, and indeed what works for one person at a certain point in time might not work for that same person later on down the road. Clearly you reaped great results from the split program you worked, and you might indeed reap great results from this so-called "MRT" program. Maybe it's you that's the success, not the type of program you selected.

A-Jock
 
Vee, my dear, I feel like I haven't "seen" you in AGES!!!! I miss you!!

ITA with A-Jock. I don't know much about MRT but it does seem to be all the rage these days. My own theory about it is... well kind of like the theory behind STS -- you need to trick your body. It's like anything else in that if you continue to do the same thing over and over again you get used to it and your body stops responding. I kind of feel like the success people are reporting with MRT could be due to a switch in routines that had become stale over time. I don't know that for sure, but that's my guess.

IIRC you didn't get STS did you? I think you were waiting for the gym version. I'm in my second week of Meso 1 (actually, I'm doing Meso 1 twice so I'm repeating discs 1 - 3 this week) and I love it! I'm hoping to see some great results, especially since I stopped working out back in September and I'm just getting back into it. I've never actually done a 1 body part per week rotation before (I usually hit everything twice by adding a full body workout), so it should be interesting to see how it goes. I can tell you this much -- I appreciate the rest my parts are getting between workouts! ;) :D

It's good to see you -- it's always a bit dim around here in your absence.
 
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I started doing what's considered metabolic training about a year ago. I do heavy weight complexes, and also kettlebells. I absolutely love it, and find that my body responds well to this type of workout. I still do isolation movements for specific areas, and usually do them after the complex workout. I alternate these workouts with upper/lower body splits at times also.

I think it's beneficial to keep your body guessing, and to change things up frequently. I agree that there isn't a "best" way that works for everyone. I do know that after I had been doing kettlebells for about a month I saw improvements in my definition and body composition that I had never been able to attain when I did body splits and cardio separately.
 
I started doing what's considered metabolic training about a year ago. I do heavy weight complexes, and also kettlebells. I absolutely love it, and find that my body responds well to this type of workout. I still do isolation movements for specific areas, and usually do them after the complex workout. I alternate these workouts with upper/lower body splits at times also.

I think it's beneficial to keep your body guessing, and to change things up frequently. I agree that there isn't a "best" way that works for everyone. I do know that after I had been doing kettlebells for about a month I saw improvements in my definition and body composition that I had never been able to attain when I did body splits and cardio separately.

I have to say, I DO enjoy kettlebells!! I haven't done a KB workout in several months but I saw some real improvements in core strength and definition very quickly into a KB rotation.
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Even if I see good results from my new rotation, I doubt I will believe this is the "best" way to lean out. I think confusing the body like Cathe says by changing it up, and consistency, especially with the eating, is the solution.

The one thing that can be said for MRT is that it is time efficient and a good way to get / stay fit for times when you are very busy. I am also finding it more realistic to fit in yoga since the workouts are shorter.

At times in my life I have had the luxury of working out two hours per day, most days (including yoga). Right now, fitting it all in seems difficult so MRT is nice for my current lifestyle.

In the current routine, it has me mix in some kettlebell moves with standard multi-joint moves. I use a heavy dumbbell (kettlebells are not available here yet). I learnt form off youtube videos from crossft and the like and recently with Iron Core's tutorial DVD just to make sure I had it right.

Michele: Thank you for your kind words. Big hug.
 

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