The Weight Training 300 workout from Men's Health magazine was the most popular workout of 2007. It combined fat burning bodyweight exercises with muscle building weight training exercises to help men (and women) build Greek God (and Goddess) bodies.

So what is going to be the most popular workout in 2008?

Well, it looks like another fat burning, muscle building, body sculpting workout, and again it comes from Men's Health magazine.

The programs are similar in name, but much different in design.

I designed the Bodyweight 500 workout for the Men's Health magazine website. So far, it has helped men burn over 40,000 pounds of belly fat in only 4 months (At the time of this article.)

Many guys are reporting up to 20 pounds of weight loss in only 8 weeks. The results are outrageous. Even I am shocked by the results.

So let's talk about the similarities and differences between the two workouts.

First, and most importantly, I want to state clearly, for the record, that I did not invent the 300 workout. Never claimed to. All I did was film the exercises for Men's Health magazine and Youtube.

That said, the 300 workout was described in the original Men's Health article as a "rite of passage".

I look at the 300 workout as being like a powerlifting event. You only do that once in a while. Not every week, let alone everyday. You need to get really "psyched up" for that.

The 500 is different, because in each of the weeks preceding the 500 workout, there was an incrementally more difficult bodyweight challenge, starting with the lowly, yet still tough for many, bodyweight 100 in week 1.

Then depending on your fitness, it could take you 4-8 weeks to work your way up to the 500.

Its kind of, and I emphasize "kind of", like training for a marathon, or better yet, a 10k road race.

When training for a marathon or 10k, you do your regular workouts during the week and then a long run on the weekend.

Similar to what we are doing here...2 workouts during the week, and then a bodyweight challenge on the weekend.

Similar to the 300, but different, and unique.

Lots of fun though.

The main lesson I've learned from doing these types of workouts is that so many men and women - mostly men, but women too - love the challenge aspect of the program because it keeps them motivated and interested.

Doing the same thing week in and week out is easy for the dedicated, but for those easily distracted by shiny objects, knowing that you have a new challenge each week - and one that you can compare slightly to the week prior or to a friend - keeps you much more motivated to keep going on a fat loss program.

You can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. All you need to do is focus on resistance training with free weights or your bodyweight, and do interval training instead of long slow cardio workouts.


About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com