After age 40, it becomes increasingly important to work on building and keeping muscle mass; and more often than not, people also have a goal of losing body fat. In the world of fitness, there are countless workout routines promising to help you either build muscle or shed fat.. but what if there was a method that could efficiently achieve both goals at the same time?
Enter German Body Composition (GBC) training, a highly effective approach that prioritizes muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth) while maximizing fat loss. It’s the best of both worlds. It originated in the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was popularized by a Canadian strength coach named Charles Poliquin.
This decades-old training style has stood the test of time primarily because, when performed correctly, it can help you burn fat while simultaneously building muscle, giving you a leaner, stronger body composition. It’s a type of high-intensity resistance training designed to spike your heart rate as you lift heavy loads, a one-two punch that can help you reach your goal—fast.
In this post, I’m going to guide you through the principles of GBC and show you how you can harness its potential to sculpt your dream physique.
The science behind GBC training
At the core of GBC lies the concept of metabolic stress, which refers to the build up of metabolites such as lactate and hydrogen ions during intense exercise. By inducing metabolic stress through high-volume training, GBC promotes muscle hypertrophy while triggering metabolic adaptations that promote fat oxidation.
Additionally, the elevated heart rate and increased calorie expenditure during these workouts are great for facilitating fat loss.
What does a German Body Composition workout look like?
GBC training is built around pairing lower and upper body exercises, working in moderate rep ranges, and minimizing rest between sets. The exercises are mostly compound movements that use many body parts at once, and you stack these exercises back to back.
For example, you might do a squat followed immediately by a lat pulldown, or a deadlift immediately followed by a bench press— alternating big movement patterns, such as squatting and pulling, or hinging and pressing.
The reps are in the moderate range— usually 6-20, because you’re working with both heavy and moderate resistance.
Going back and forth like this between 2 different exercises allows you to rest one part of the body while working a different part (this also makes it time efficient too). Your rest time between exercises is generally only 30-60 seconds… just enough time to take a short breather and get into position for your next exercise.
This gives you intensity within your strength training, using heavy resistance and racking up a lot of volume while moving at a quick pace. I definitely feel my heart rate up during these workouts!
What are the results I’ll get with German Body Composition Training?
The combination of resistance training exercises with short rest intervals in GBC training increases the metabolic demands on your body. It’s a lot of work done in a short amount of time. This allows your body to burn fat while simultaneously building muscle. A win-win in my book.
The key benefit is a shift in body composition. As a result of combining heavy compound movements and minimizing rest, you’re firing all muscles in your body and with that metabolic stress, your body has to rebuild muscle tissue so it’s better able to do it again in the future. It’s like a biological supply and demand. If you demand it, your body will supply it. As a result, you will gain muscle.
If you’re trying to lose weight, GBC training is also a great option because the high metabolic demand means you are burning a ton of calories. This can make it easier to create a calorie deficit at the end of the day, which is what you need if you want to lose fat and shift your body composition.
In fact, one 2010 study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that energy expenditure was 33% higher in people who performed a GBC-style workout compared with a more traditional training program.
Another benefit of this type of strength training program? If you didn’t already know about the afterburn effect of high-intensity resistance training, now is the time to learn. I’m referring to what is known as EPOC (post-exercise oxygen consumption).
This simply means that after you put in that hard work during the workout, you keep burning calories at a higher rate after the workout than you would from a traditional weight training workout. Even up to 22 hours! That’s like the “buy on get on free” of calorie burning.
Fat loss does, of course, depend on dietary factors (and other variables), and many training methods can create an environment where fat loss is possible; but, if you're looking to switch things up with a tough but effective workout that will help shape your body, you should give German Body Composition training a try.
My personal results with GBC training
I recently put myself through a tough but great GBC training program. My program was 4 weeks in duration, with training days 4x/week. As a personal trainer who is already in shape, I didn't have a lot to lose but like everyone else, I knew I could stand to gain some more muscle and lose a little fat.
For those 4 weeks, I pushed hard, stayed consistent, minded my diet, and also added on some low-intensity steady-state cardio either right after the strength workout or on non-strength days. It was a lot of work, but I loved it!
After completion, I had lost 2% bodyfat and put on 1.5 lbs of muscle! In just 4 weeks.
When I started another program for getting lean right after that, my fat loss results continued and I am very pleased. The program was like a jump start for my metabolism.. and after 40, a metabolism boost is a major win!
Interested in trying out the German Body Composition training for yourself?
Contact me for your own personalized program and find out what GBC training can do for you. I can create a GBC training program suited specifically for you, delivered either through an app or 1-on-1 in person or virtually, if you want more personal attention.
Have you done a program like this before? Let me know in the comments!
As always, you should get clearance from your medical professional before starting this or any other training program.
Stay active, stay healthy, and stay young at heart!
Mary