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So first off, F.I.R.E. is an acronym for Chad's philosophy when it comes to fat-loss training.
In this program, every workout you do is going to work every major part of your body, the goal of which is to increase the metabolic cost of each training session. In terms of fat loss, the idea is to demand more of your body by working more of it each time. This is an excellent strategy. If you think about it, working the biceps and triceps and calves...not a whole lot of metabolic stimulation there as compared to the big muscles of the legs, back and chest. By training athletically with total-body training (you'll rarely see athletes doing bodypart split training), you'll develop the more athletic-looking physique and reap the performance benefits.
According to Chad (and it's something we TOTALLY agree on) "A workout must be challenging to ramp up the metabolic cost. The simplest way to do it is by performing all exercises as fast as possible. In the early 1990’s slow tempo training gained traction because people thought it was safer, and it allowed people to really feel their muscles “burn.” Neither is true. Athletes have the best bodies because they never train slowly. They need speed and performance. Research shows that exercising fast will burn more calories." And intense training is what you'll get with the exercise portion of the FIRE program. It's challenging stuff...lots of bodyweight training along with free weight (no machines).
In order to best lose fat, you have to keep and BUILD strength. Your fast-twitch muscles fibers are the real energy powerhouses in your body and you HAVE to focus on them in order to burn fat efficiently. A program that simply burns calories isn't going to give you optimal results. By increasing strength, you'll be able to lift more weight and being able to lift heavier weights increases the metabolic cost of every set you do. Second, boosting strength will carry back over to your explosive lifting allowing you to move the weights even faster, which also increases metabolic cost. This is right on the money. --- So that's Chad's fat-loss philosophy. It's right in line with what we preach here at Staley Training - we want to build better athletes...performance is the major goal but it invariably results in dramatically improved body composition (a.k.a. fat loss!). One other thing I like about this program is AMAP (which stands for As Many As Possible). It refers to how many reps you'll be doing in each set. Basically, you pick an appopriate load then do as many reps as posisble with it! No set ranges...just try to get your best performance out of every set you do.
So given the basis of this book, does the training program bear out the FIRE principles? Absolutely. The training is very nicely laid out and well-put-together. The training sessions are clearly scheduled for you so you'll know exactly what to do every step of the way through the program. You'll find detailed pictures and descriptions of all the exercises in a separate exercise manual. And these are very good exercises in terms of metabolic cost...rows, kettlebell presses, bodyweight movements, etc. The prep/mobility section is really nice to see as well (this is stuff that prepares your body for the training to come - important for injury prevention and optimal performance). Chad also takes you through the progression of the program, increasing workload as your performance levels increase. Not a lot of programs take this into account but Chad has really integrated it well right into the program itself.
Another thing I like about this program is the simple approach to eating. The idea is to not count calories (which never really works anyway) but to select foods that are naturally low-calorie with high nutrient density. The caloric deficit tends to take care of itself that way. When it comes to supplementation, Chad's approach is very minimalist, too. Protein, fish oil, BCAA's, and a few other select items. All quality stuff. It's the training and the eating that drives your results...not the supplements, which is very much in line with our philosophy.
This program doesn't have a lot of weaknesses, to be honest. The program itself is quite sound and very effective, by the look of it. The only things that might have been useful to add in would have been videos of the exercises being and possibly a more holisitic overview chart of how everything in the program fits together. But that's more of a personal preference and not anything that should stop you from picking up this program.
Overall, this program is very well done and from a practical perspective, very much in line with what we practice and teach here at Staley Training. It's performance-oriented and based on sound training and eating techniques. Definitely worth the price.
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