I don't generally bother dispensing training advice because to be honest just about anything works for me, as long as I'm eating enough and put some weight on the bar. Losing fat is especially easy - to be honest, all it takes is being less disciplined about stuffing myself with food.

Still, I know that a lot of people have gotten a bit fatter over the holidays and now want to get back to where they were a few weeks ago. Although this workout was described by coach Dan John as a soul-cleansing, character-building challenge and not as fat loss training, I've done it a few times and found out that it's also an exceptional way to get leaner quickly, then go back to regular training. (Yeah, that means it won't do you any good if you don't regularly train. You'll probably just get seriously hurt.)

I once entered a friendly "100 reps" competition. The rules were simple: 100 singles with an exercise. Not 10 sets of 10, mind you, 100 singles.

The first time I tried it, I did squat snatches with 165 pounds. That was insane. I lost about six pounds the next few days after the attempt. I think most of it was skin off my hands.

Another time, I power cleaned 205 for 100. Another, I clean and jerked 185 pounds. I also front squatted 255 for 100 singles. Unrack, squat, rack, rinse and repeat.

It will take you a few hours. You will be changed.

I tried this a couple of times when I knew I wouldn't be able to lift for a few days anyway. I found out that doing it works great for getting lean quickly. Just pick a lift that you can do well that many times and that uses as much of your muscle mass as possible. I've done it a few times with front squats off a pair of sawhorses. A weight that I could do for about eight reps seems about right and getting to 100 takes about two hours. Then take the next few days off, eat normally and get plenty of sleep, then go back to normal training. You'll end up a few kilos lighter. In six months you might feel like doing this again.

Looking forward to your horrible injury reports in the comments.