It's time to think outside the box with your training and exercise selection...and start thinking "sideways."

Most gym exercises that you're likely familiar with are done either straight up and down or in a "front-to-back" movement plane (called the Sagittal Plane).

There's nothing inherently wrong with that...however, we also need to think about moving LATERALLY (i.e. sideways).

There are two major reasons for this.

1. If you're an athlete, you need to strengthen your body for moving sideways...football, basketball, soccer, volleyball...all of these require sideways movement.

2. To burn fat, you'll get results by being INEFFICIENT...and that means using exercises and movement patterns that your body is not used to. The best way to visualize this is two people running down the street...one is a very good runner, practically floating as they go. The other is slogging. Who do you think is burning more calories and expending more effort?

Because lateral training is so rarely used, your body is likely going to be very inefficient with it...and this training will be VERY challenging.

 

The Lateral-Focused Metabolic Monster Circuit

We're going to be running through a four-exercise circuit, with a loaded carry in between every exercise. Each exercise will have a lateral component to it to train your body in a "sideways" fashion.

Here's the rundown...

 

Exercise #1 - Lateral-Grip-Shifting Pull-Ups

To perform this exercise, you'll need to have access to a pull-up bar. If you're not yet strong enough to do at least 8 to 10 normal pull-ups, you'll need to perform this exercise as an Inverted Row (feet on the ground, body at an angle).

This is a VERY tough exercise to do as a pull-up and requires a solid base of strength.

First, take a palms-forward, overhand close grip on the bar, in the center.

Pull yourself up to the top position.

Now, slide your right hand out to the side a foot or so. To accomplish this, you'll need to "pop" yourself up a little bit to release the tension on the right hand so you can slide it. The bulk of your bodyweight will be placed on your left hand.

Hold your right hand out there wide for a second then bring it back in to the center.

Now move your LEFT hand out to the side.

Hold for a second and bring it back in to the center.

Lower yourself back down.

That's ONE rep.

Perform as many reps of this exercise as you can (I was doing 4 reps per set).

As I mentioned, you can use this same hand-moving method on an Inverted Row, if you're not strong enough to do it as a pull-up.

The next round through of this circuit, shift your LEFT hand first, to help keep the sides balanced.

 

** Loaded Carry Exercise-In-Between-Exercises - Single Dumbbell Overhead Carry

In between each of these four exercises, you're going to do a loaded carry with one dumbbell held at arms-length overhead. You'll walk down the floor about 20 feet, then turn around come back. Then you'll switch arms and do it again.

If you have more floorspace, you can also just go straight for 40 feet, switch arms, then come back.

The benefit of this loaded carry is that it works the shoulders and the core VERY strongly. When carrying one dumbbell overhead like this, it puts tremendous stablilizing requirements on your deep abdominal muscles and your shoulder girdle.

It also has the benefit of challenging your breathing muscles, strengthening them very effectively. This carries over very well to the rest of your training...stronger breathing is a key facet of training that many people don't really consider or purposefully incorporate into their training.

Training it like this in a circuit is incredibly effective.

Start with the dumbbell in a "hang" position. We're not looking to use giant weights for this one. I'm using a 65 lb dumbbell for this carry. It should be a weight you could normally shoulder press for 8 to 10 reps.

Now do a hang power snatch, bringing the dumbbell straight up and locked out overhead in one movement.

Hold that lockout and start walking!

Bring the dumbbell back down to a hang, switch hands, snatch it back up to lockout then walk again.

This is what you're going to do in between EVERY exercise.

The next time you do this one, start with your OTHER arm first (i.e. your left arm overhead). This helps keeps the strength balanced.

 

Exercise #2 - Side-Stepping Goblet Lunges

Take the same dumbbell you were using for the overhead carries and get it into a Goblet position (dumbbell vertical, hands under the top plates).

You should have some open floorspace to do this one.

Take a step to your right.

And come down into a Goblet Squat.

Push-up with a powerful movement and bring your left foot in beside your right foot. Then take another step to the right.

Continue in this pattern, moving down the floor.

When you've covered about 15-20 feet, go back the other way (to keep things balanced) until you're back where you started.

This lateral movement will target your abductors (gluteus medius and minimus) very effectively, in addition to the gluteus maximus, quads and hamstrings. Holding the dumbbell out front like this also continues to crush your core (in a good way!) and challenge your breathing muscles.

The next round of this circuit, instead of moving to the right, turn around and start moving to your left, to help balance strength.

Do another round of the Overhead Single-Dumbbell Loaded Carry here.

 

Exercise #3 - Lateral-Walking Push-Ups

This exercise requires a bit of coordination and a base level of strength. You can also do it off your knees, if you need to. I would recommend you practice this one a bit before you try this circuit, just to get the idea.

This is actually a VERY tough exercise, especially after the other exercises you've already done. The lateral movement pattern is very different than what your body is used to.

Start in the top of a close-grip push-up position with your feet together as well (this is important).

Now step your right hand and right foot out to the side a little ways (about a foot and a half).

Then come down into the bottom of the push-up.

Push back up with POWER...and as you do so, bring your left hand and left foot in close again.

Continue this pattern down the floor, then head back in the other direction.

Set your left hand and left out to the side.

Then come down into a push-up.

Pop back up, bringing your right hand and right foot in to the center.

The next round you do this exercise, start in the other direciton (i.e. go to the left instead of the right).

It's important with lateral training to keep things even in terms of loading and fatigue.

Do another round of the Overhead Single-Dumbbell Loaded Carry here.

 

Exercise #4 - Single-Leg Lockout Partial Squats

This exercise is likely one you would never have thought you'd find in a fat-loss focused circuit training workout...yet, it's INCREDIBLY effective to perform at this stage in the circuit.

Essentially, you'll be doing just the top few inches of the range of motion of a squat...primarily pushing with just one leg.

And even though it may not SEEM like a lateral-based exercise, the positioning and the path of the push actually does involve lateral exertion (this will be easier to explain once you see it).

In terms of modifications, if you don't want to do heavy partials like this or don't have the rack setup for this exercise, you can sub in any other squat movement (like a back squat, front squat, or goblet squat). If you DO have the rack, I would absolutely suggest giving it a try, though (you can also use a Smith Machine for partials - it's actually what that machine was designed for!).

Now, it would seem like the heaviest exercise of the group should be done first, however because it's a very short range of motion, you'll have plenty strength to get those top few inches of the squat, activating your high-threshold motor units and further challenging your core.

I also like it because you can extremely heavy with it...loading the body like this when training for fat-loss helps stimulate the body to preserve muscle and strength.

If you've not done any heavy partial training before, start with less than your normal squat 1 RM and stick with that. It does take time to develop the internal support structures of your body (muscle and connective tissue), so don't try to push too heavy. I'm using 495 lbs on the bar, but I've been doing partials for 20+ years, so my body is used to them.

Set the rails in the rack to a few inches below your lockout height. We'll be starting with the focus on your left foot.

Set your left foot directly under your left shoulder. Set your RIGHT foot out to the side, like an outrigger. This other leg is there primarily for balance, not to help push the weight.

Now stand up, pushing with your LEFT leg, locking out the squat.

Set the bar back down on the rails. This is where the lateral muscle activation comes into play. It's a subtle thing, but when you push with one leg like this, the other foot acts as a pivot, making for a very small arc in the movement. This activates the gluteus medius and minimus strongly to move the weight.

Bring your right foot in, set it under your right shoulder.

Now set your left foot out to the side.

Perform the lockout squat, pushing with your RIGHT leg.

Set the bar back down and repeat, alternating sides and performing 4 to 6 reps on each leg.

Finish the circuit with a final round of Overhead Single-Dumbbell Loaded Carries.

And you're done!

 

The Wrap-Up

This circuit covers every major muscle group in your body, targeting lateral movement patterns.

Because lateral movements are very rarely utilzed in most programs, you'll likely be quite inefficient at the exercises, placing tremendous demands on your body...much more so than standard "up and down" or "forward and back" exercises.

End result...your metabolism will be CRANKED.

If you'd like to see the full video of this circuit in action, I've got it posted on my YouTube channel here.

Enjoy!

Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"