The Dirty Dozen

When it comes to training for aesthetics and fat loss, intensity trumps overall duration. Because when you train with great intensity, you increase something called EPOC, or “Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption”. Which is fancy trainer language for the fact that when you train so hard that you’re out of breath, your body has to keep working long after the workout is complete to feed those hard-working muscles. Think of it as an “afterburn” – your body continuing to chew through calories (fat stores) while you’re at rest. It’s a terrific thing, and it doesn’t happen if all you do is steady-state cardio.

Naturally, many people ask me how to add intensity. The easiest way is to add weight to the bar, but the world of intensity techniques is much bigger than that. My trainer Steve Wrona is here with 12 ways to add intensity to your workouts without just adding more plates. The 12 ways are listed below, and in the accompanying video, Steve explains exactly how to employ them. Because all lists need a catchy name, and because I love old war movies, I’m going to call this list… The Dirty Dozen.