Often, this is one of the most challenging points of a fat-loss program such as Operation Aesthetic. You’re so close to the end, but you have to dig in and really stick the landing on these last two weeks.
I consider back workouts among the most challenging on this program because it’s the third day of three workouts for large body parts.
You should really be feeling your reduced-calorie diet at his point. You want to keep your nutrition as clean as possible, but you shouldn’t feel so depleted that your back workout for today suffers. You can rotate calories a bit, getting in a few more before your workout today while cutting others from later in the day.
Getting in fiber and healthy fats later in the day may provide satiety to get you through the night without encouraging an insulin release that undermines fat loss.
OPERATION AESTHETIC NOTES
*Burnout sets are a great option when you’re not as strong because you have less gas in your tank. These lower-weight sets with little rest between them (I like to go with about 45 seconds) also help create more detail in your target muscles.
*Remember that rest-pause is a technique where you stop your set when your last rep was choppy; then, you take a short rest, maybe only 2–3 seconds before performing another rep or two. You can perform as many rest-pauses as needed to get to the end of the set when you really want to emphasize reps with good form, but your target muscles are fried.
*In addition to changing exercises and their order, you can also go with different handgrips to work your back in different ways. You can shift the width of your grip or the angle based on the apparatus and position you choose.
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Early morning cardio
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1
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25 minutes
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Perform this session upon waking before consuming food.
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EXERCISE
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COMMENT
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Deadlift
Use rest-pause to get in all your reps. Don’t let go of the bar during those 2–3-second rests between reps, but reduce weight more than usual for the next set if you needed to use rest-pause.
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6 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS
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One-arm dumbbell row
Grip is a crucial component of this move—your hands are really going to be tired after deadlifts. Use your back to lift the weight.
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5 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS
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Lat pulldowns
SUPERSET: You can allow your upper body to travel a bit forward for seated cable rows, but avoid momentum, driving all of the squeeze action into your back.
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5 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS
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Seated cable row
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5 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS
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T-bar row
Make sure you’re holding your upper body solid as you perform every rep. Stop when your form starts to get choppy.
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5 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS
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Post-Workout cardio
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1
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25 minutes
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You can also perform this later in the day.
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TIP: Maximal success on a fat-loss program is based on four factors: training, nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle choices. I’ve emphasized the first three quite a bit, but don’t forget that you really need to make healthy lifestyle choices to enhance recovery and physique improvements. You should get in at least 7 hours of sleep every night—and even more if you need it. I also recommend a calm phase beginning about an hour before bedtime. Shut off your phone, get off social media, and shut off the TV. You can meditate, ruminate, read a book, or review and make notes in your Operation Aesthetic journal.
