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The Minimal Effective Dose—

How to Lose 3% Bodyfat in One Hour a Month

Fleur B. didn’t have as much weight to lose as Tracy.

Fleur was, like many people, simply unable to lose those last few pounds of extra fat, no matter how hard she tried. She’d hit the wall.

Running a few miles three times per week had no effect: “For the amount of exercise I do, the results should be much better.” She was, however, against crash dieting and wanted to keep the curves she loved.

How to cross the last mile of fat-loss?

Fleur was a major breadoholic by culture (European) and a workaholic by training (journalist). I purposefully set the expectation that it would be difficult and that she would need to commit to exercising militant self-control for the first two weeks until her cravings disappeared. This way, she would be doubly encouraged when it didn’t prove hard after the first 72 hours. Setting the expectation that things will be easy results in disappointment and quitting at the smallest hiccup. If you prepare yourself for massive challenges and no such challenges crop up, it will be a pleasant surprise. This encourages you to be even more aggressive with changes.

Remember: body recomposition depends more on behavioral modification (reread “From Photos to Fear” if needed) than on memorizing the right list of instructions.

I proposed a four-week test focusing on the swing and minuscule dietary changes, which Fleur agreed to:

1. She switched her breakfast to a high-protein meal (at least 30% protein) à la the Slow-Carb Diet. Her favorite: spinach, black beans, and egg whites (one-third of a carton of Eggology liquid egg whites) with cayenne pepper flakes.

2. Three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), she performed a simple sequence of three exercises prior to breakfast, all of which are illustrated in the next few pages:

One set: 20 two-legged glute activation raises from the floor

One set: 15 flying dogs, one set each side

One set: 50 kettlebell swings (For you: start with a weight that allows you to do 20 perfect repetitions but no more than 30. In other words, start with a weight, no less than 20 pounds, that you can “grow into.”)

That’s it. Total prescribed exercise: about 5 minutes per session × 3 sessions = 15 minutes per week. One hour over the course of a month.

Fleur’s before-and-after measurements were separated by five weeks because she was traveling. Even if we increase the estimated exercise time to 75 minutes total, the results are impressive.

BEFORE AND AFTER

Total weight: 139 lbs. → 136 lbs.

Bodyfat %: 21.1% (29.33 lbs.) → 18% (24.48 lbs.—almost 1 pound of fat lost per week)

Thigh fat thickness: 10.4 mm → 10.2 mm

Tricep fat thickness: 9.7 mm → 7.7 mm

Waist fat thickness: 7.0 mm → 4.1 mm

Once you achieve the proper height (the last picture), each rep is alternating between the last two photos.

The easiest way to learn the swing is based on a method developed by Zar Horton:

Stand with the kettlebell directly between the middle of your feet. Bend down and do deadlifts (head up, eyes straight ahead), first slowly, then in a “touch-and-go” fashion, picking up the kettlebell explosively as soon as it touches the ground. It is critical that you touch the same spot on the ground every time. This spot between your insteps is point A.

I strongly suggest doing this facing a wall with your toes about six inches from the wall. This will force you to keep your head up and use the proper deadlift motion: hinging at the hip and sitting back, instead of squatting down. Keep any bending at the ankle minimal or nonexistent.

Repeat the above touch-and-go deadlift, but use point B: place the kettlebell on the floor between your feet but this time further back, with the front of the kettlebell aligned just behind your heels. You must return the kettlebell to exactly this spot every time:

Now when you come up and explosively pop your hips forward (think “violent hips”), the angled rise of the kettlebell