Whether you’re a personal trainer or just a fitness enthusiast, an understanding of the metabolic conditioning program helps you and your clients achieve fitness goals faster. In this article, I’ve shared all about metabolic conditioning (MetCon), including the best workouts and routines.
This guide will help you design a MetCon workout program and scale your fitness to the next level.
What is Metabolic Conditioning?
Metabolic conditioning (MetCon) is a kind of workout program that involves performing bodyweight cardio and resistance exercises and helps enhance aerobic and anaerobic fitness.
Features of Metabolic Conditioning Workout Program (MetCon)
- It includes various types of workouts, such as traditional cardio, strength workouts, CrossFit, and Tabata.
- The exercises in a MetCon program are performed at a moderate to fast pace.
- Metabolic conditioning exercises burn more calories, support weight loss, build muscle, and help you become stronger and leaner.
- It boosts metabolism, increases VO2 max, and improves aerobic and anaerobic fitness.
3 Best Metabolic Conditioning Workouts and Routines
Some of the best examples of metabolic workouts include Circuit Training, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), and Resistance Training (barbell and dumbbell complexes).
1. Circuit Training
Circuit training involves performing a set of exercises with no rest between them. It is a high-intensity training program requiring you to perform exercises at a moderate to maximum heart rate.
It helps increase weight loss, enhances fat-free mass, promotes cardiovascular health, strengthens the entire body, and improves aerobic and anaerobic fitness.1 Functional High-Intensity Circuit Training Improves Body Composition, Peak Oxygen Uptake, Strength, and Alters Certain Dimensions of Quality of Life in Overweight Women – Frontiers in Physiology, 2 Circuit Weight Training: A Critical Review of Its Physiological Benefits – The Physician and Sports Medicine, 3Effects of Resistance Circuit-Based Training on Body Composition, Strength and Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – Biology Basel
This program involves performing bodyweight and weighted exercises at a moderate pace, neither slow nor high intense. It is great for people who find HIIT challenging.
Here, I’ve designed a weekly routine for you as an example.
Instructions:
- Intensity: 60-75% of your maximum heart rate (MHR)
- Rest between exercises: 30-60 seconds
- Number of Rounds: Do as many as possible in 30 minutes.
- Rest between rounds: 2-3 minutes
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Dumbbell Squats | 10 Squat Jumps | 15-sec High Knees |
| 10 Push-Ups | 15 Overhead Presses | 20 Kettlebell Swings |
| 10 Bent-over Rows | 10 Deadlifts | 10 Standing IYT Raises |
| 10 Crunches | 30-sec Mountain Climber | 10 Incline Plank Row |
| 12 Front Lunges | 10 Pendlay Row | 12 Incline Bench Press |
| 10 Floor Press | 30-sec Overhead DB Walk | 10 Burpees |
| 10 One-arm Rows | 1-min Forearm Plank | 10 DB Oblique Chop |
2. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is designed to work on the full body with little or no equipment.
HIIT exercises are intense bursts and are performed in a couple of intervals. For example, 30 seconds work and 30 seconds rest.
Various studies have proved the importance of HIIT for overall health and fitness. You can check out the pros and cons in detail.
HIIT is a part of the MetCon, but not all HIIT exercises are included in the metabolic conditioning program.
The selection of exercises, intensity level, intervals between sets, and duration of a workout session all depend on your or your fitness level.
Here’s how a Metabolic Conditioning HIIT program looks:
Monday
- 15-sec High-knees, 15-sec rest
- 10 Burpees, 30-sec rest
- 10 Push Presses, 30-sec rest
- 10 Snatches, 30-sec rest
- 15-sec Mountain climbing
- 10 Bent-over Rows, 30-sec
- Repeat five times
Wednesday
- 10 Pop Squats
- 10 Push-ups
- 15 Bent-Over Rows
- 10 Sit-ups
- 10 Jumping Lunges
- 15 Overhead Press
- 15-sec Flutter Kicks
- Repeat five times
Friday
- 10 Squat Jumps
- 20 Kettlebell Swings
- 10 Barbell Clean
- 10 Knee Tap Push-up
- 12 Dumbbell Step-ups
- 10 Floor Presses
- 15 Reverse Crunches
- Repeat five times
3. Metabolic Resistance Training Workout
Whether you’re a male or female, underweight or overweight, beginner or pro, you can incorporate weight training in your Metabolic conditioning training to enhance your cardiovascular health, build fat-free mass, and achieve an aesthetic physique.
You can design a metabolic conditioning strength workout plan using various isolation and compound exercises, such as deadlift, biceps curl, clean and press, bench presses, lateral raises, overhead presses, and squats.
Here, I’ve designed a weekly metabolic resistance training program you can start with:
Monday
| Dumbbell Complex | Barbell Complex |
|---|---|
| 10 Front Squats | 10 Back Squats |
| 10 Push Presses | 10 Hang Cleans |
| 20 Pendlay DB Rows (10/side) | 10 Thrusters |
| 20 Dumbbell Lunges (10/leg) | 10 Deadlifts |
| Two to three rounds | Two to three rounds |
Wednesday
| DB Complex | BB Complex |
|---|---|
| 20 Steps Farmers Walk | 5 Front Squats |
| 10 Dumbbell Clusters | 5 Hang Cleans |
| 10 Floor Presses | 5 Thrusters |
| 20 DB Wood Chops (10/side) | 5 Pendlay Rows |
| Two to three rounds | Two to three rounds |
Friday
| DB Complex | BB Complex |
|---|---|
| 5 Pop Squats | 5 Landmine Press |
| 5 Clean and Press | 5 High Pulls |
| 10 Squat to Twist Press (5/side) | 10 Thrusters |
| 10 Incline Plank Rows (5/side) | 5 Bent-over Rows |
| Two to three rounds | Two to three rounds |
How Often Should You Do Metabolic Conditioning Workout?
It depends on what you want to achieve, but two or three times a week would be good to go if you’re a beginner.
However, don’t force yourself. Always listen to your body. When you start, focus on technique and form and build a good foundation in the beginning.
Sleeping and rest are also crucial for muscle recovery.
Metabolic Conditioning (MetCon) Workouts PDF
Is Metabolic Conditioning Good for Weight Loss?
Metabolic Conditioning workouts burn more calories and help you lose or maintain weight.
Burning more calories throughout the day is the ultimate goal of every overweight person. Metabolic conditioning exercises do this work.
Moreover, the metabolic conditioning program also boosts your metabolism and allows your body to release calories even after completing your workout.
If you follow a calorie-deficit diet and metabolic conditioning workouts, you will see some improvement.
Can You Build Muscle with Metabolic Conditioning?
The MetCon workout isn’t effective for Mass Gain.
Metabolic conditioning training includes moderate to high-intensity calorie-burning exercises that are suitable for weight loss but inefficient for hypertrophy4 Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review of Advanced Resistance Training Techniques and Methods – National Institute of Health Database.
Muscle grows when you lift maximum weights throughout the workouts. Lifting heavier weights engages more muscles, especially type II muscle fiber, which is responsible for mass gain.
Metcon exercises are intense bursts with little rest between sets so you won’t get enough rest, and as a result, you won’t be able to do exercises with proper form and execution.
Although the metabolic conditioning program builds muscles only at a certain level, after that, you won’t see much gain.
Please Note: Before starting this kind of training, it’s always essential to consult with your doctor if you have any issues.
Related: List of CrossFit MetCon Workouts with PDF
References
- 1Functional High-Intensity Circuit Training Improves Body Composition, Peak Oxygen Uptake, Strength, and Alters Certain Dimensions of Quality of Life in Overweight Women – Frontiers in Physiology
- 2Circuit Weight Training: A Critical Review of Its Physiological Benefits – The Physician and Sports Medicine
- 3Effects of Resistance Circuit-Based Training on Body Composition, Strength and Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – Biology Basel
- 4Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review of Advanced Resistance Training Techniques and Methods – National Institute of Health Database
