HOW TO TRAIN

GET COMPLEX

Complexes – routines where you pick up a dumbbell or barbell and don’t put them down until you’ve done every rep – allow you to get a lot of work done in minimal time, ramping up your fat loss. “Grab a pair of dumbbells and do six reps each of Romanian deadlifts, bentover rows, upright rows, curls and renegade rows,” says trainer Pieter Vodden. “Repeat for three sets and do it twice a week, upping the weight when it gets easy.”

VARY YOUR HIIT

High-intensity is the way to go if you’re limited for time – in a 2008 study published in the International Journal

Of Obesity, subjects lost an average of 11% of their body fat doing just 20 minutes of training, three times a week. Vary the intervals and the exercises. “You’ll adapt to any work-rest ratio,” says Adamson. “So change it up: do 20 seconds on, ten seconds off one session, then 30/30 the next.” That 2008 study used an 8/12 structure, but no number’s magic.

ADD FINISHERS

Your main aim might be fat loss but you should still do regular resistance training. And even the most strengthfocused session can leave you burning fat if you add a fiveminute “finisher”. In a College of New Jersey study that compared 13 exercises, battle ropes had the highest fat-burning effect, created by doing ten seconds of single-arm waves, ten of double-arm waves with half squats, then ten double-arm slams. Do that all-out, rest for two minutes and repeat twice.