Over at the S&C forum at mma.tv, forum member "JudoKid21" asked the following question:

Hey Guys,

I have a question. I weigh 186 lb and will start lifting on Monday of next week. I will lift four days a week, do judo four days a week, and try to run three days a week. I would like to be at about 165-167 by March 1st. I have about 18% body fat. Is this possible while lifting? The weight lifting will be mostly circuit style.

Thanks!

Here was my response:

The first thing you're going to have to do is get your diet in check. Weight gain/loss is all about calories in vs. calories out (there are other factors, but that's the main deal). You can have the best workouts in the world, but if you're eating like crap, you're not going to lose the weight you want.

2nd of all, you have to consider how important your Judo is. You can concievably lose more weight by doing more S&C activity, but your Judo will ultimately suffer, as your energy and recuperative abilities won't be there for your Judo when you need it. You'll also open yourself up to burnout and overtraining.

All that said...

There are two ways you could go about your S&C training. You'll want to do some basic strength training. When in a caloric defecit, your body will be turning on itself for energy. In this case, muscle breaks down quicker/easier than fat does, so your body will want to attack it first. A basic strength training program (coupled with appropriate protein intake) will ensure that your body burns primarily fat. You can never lose all fat (and no muscle), but this will minimize your muscle loss.

For your conditioning (cardiovascular, muscular, and strength), there are two options - either traditional "cardio" options (running, rowing, versaclimber, etc.) or circuit-training. If you go the former, then most would argue that HIIT is a better alternative. For fat loss it is, but just know that for it to be effective, it has to be sufficiently intense, which can also end up leading to CNS burnout - so you have to watch for that. LSD can also be used, and is easier on the CNS, but takes a lot more time, and can drain your recurperative abilities. (For another idea, check out the "Cardio Workouts" thread on the UG, where I describe MFD - Medium Fast Distance).

On the other hand, instead of "traditional" cardio, you could go circuit/complex training route. This is where you string together multiple exercises with little to no rest in between. Circuit training got a bad rap in the '80s when people started doing half-assed sets on machines and getting no results. Well no kidding - you weren't putting in any effort! When done correctly, circuit/complex training can be *very* demanding - it can work not only your cardiovascular conditioning, but also total-body muscular endurance and even (if you go heavy enough) strength endurance.

There are two ways I would setup workouts - if you go the "cardio" route, do a basic strength program 3x/week (full body) or 4x/week (upper/lower split). If you're set on running 3x/week, alternate LSD and HIIT each session so that you do each 3x over 2 weeks. Or you could try doing MFD 3x/week (just watch out for overtraining - MFD might be better done with an upper/lower split).

If you go the circuit/complex training route (which would probably be better for your Judo training), do a very basic/abbreviated strength training program (a push, a pull, and a squat/DL). Then follow it up with circuit/complex training. Examples could include Randy Couture's complexes, the ones Martin Rooney put together for Renzo's guys, Javorek complexes, John Davies Bear (one of my favorites), or the ones I put together in "Working Class Fitness - The Programs".

If I were you, I'd probably go the latter route. It'd be better for your Judo, get you the fat loss goals you want, and drastically reduce your number of training sessions/week (a total of 7 S&C and Judo versus the 11 you described above). If you have extra energy or want to do some more work, go for a jog, ride a bike, play a pickup game of football, or the like - do something physical for enjoyment, mental relaxation, and active recovery.

When I put together WCF - The Programs, I put together an entire program like this. Others of it were very similar, utlizing sandbag workouts as well.

Hope this helps.