Fitness : Easy 3-Day Workout Routine

"If you’re like the majority of weightlifters and just want to be stronger and more muscular, then ditch all the broscience and just focus on git ‘er done." 

It’s time to proactively synergize your core competencies toward an optimized fitness paradigm! Or something.

Welcome to James Fell's Strategic Fitness series.

Much of the focus on fitness is on micro details of sets, reps, nutrient timing, blasting bigger biceps and shredding that last gram of fat from your midsection. I don’t play there but rise above it. I’m a certified strength and conditioning specialist with an MBA, and Strategic Fitness is about the big picture of fitness, health and physical performance. We’ll work on making you pretty from the neck down in a way that takes your entire life into account. In this installment, I'll discuss my three-day workout routine.

I’ve been using the same split-routine for working out for well over a decade. The horror!

I know there is much in the weightlifting world -- especially by self-styled experts with blogs and writing skills that make me think their mom didn’t do such a good job childproofing the house when they were little -- who insist that every parameter of your routine needs to change regularly in order to BLAST YOUR TRAINING TO AN ALL-NEW LEVEL!

What a bunch of tools.

Yes, there are things you can do that involve maximizing every bit of your workout routine, but how much does that apply to you? Are you getting onstage all waxed, oily, tanned and Speedo-ed to flex for the crowd? No? Then maybe you need to read this piece of mine about focusing on the 90%.

If you’re like the majority of weightlifters and just want to be stronger and more muscular, then ditch all the broscience and just focus on git ‘er done.

“There is no data showing the 101 different ways of lifting is any better than focusing on a small number of core movements,” Stuart Phillips, a professor of Kinesiology at McMaster University, told me. “Personal training has become like men’s razors.” The latest gimmick sells.

So avoid those gimmicks and stick with what works for you. Let me tell you about a three-day workout that works for me, and why.

Actually, it’s been a while since I linked to my torso. I’m not a bodybuilder. I have never stepped on a stage, and I take no supplements except a glass of milk post workout. I’m a guy in his mid 40s who wants to look good for his wife. If I’m too puny for you, go read something else.

Back now? Going to stick around? Great. Let’s do this.

Push – Legs – Pull
That’s all you have to remember.

Day 1: Push
It is important to note that this is Upper Body Push. It’s all the exercises that involve pushing away from your upper body. Broken down in the simplest terms, it’s chest, shoulders and triceps. It can make for a pretty big workout, and I’ve found a way to make it more efficient to save time.

It’s important to focus mostly on chest, because that also works the shoulders and triceps. I’d say it is about 70% chest, 20% shoulders and 10% triceps. If it seems like shoulders and triceps are getting the short end, remember that every single chest workout is also training the other two, so don’t fret.

Chest is pretty hardcore, so I need rest breaks between sets. But with shoulders and triceps, I do a bit of switching back and forth to save time. It’s not quite supersetting, and it doesn’t qualify as compound sets either. It’s not-stopping-to-rest-between-sets-ing.

If you only do two, you feel like there is a big hole in your training and you’ll find time to make it happen."  Day 2: Legs
All of the legs, and just like with Day 1, you start with the big stuff first. That means squats. I would say squats take up half my leg day. Then it gets into things like deadlift, maybe some hack squats (stay away from this piece of sh*t machine), then perhaps some lunges, good-mornings, quad extensions and hamstring curls, then calf muscles.  Always work biggest to smallest, focusing on the most intense, hardest exercises first, and finishing your day with the easiest stuff when you’re nearly wiped.

Day 3: Pull
You guessed it: It’s Upper Body Pull. It’s the opposite of Day 1, now you do all the upper body exercises that involve pulling weight in toward your torso. Again, start big and work your way to small.

I like to alternate between angle of attack, which might mean starting off with a set of wide grip chin-ups (lat pulldown if you can’t handle it), then moving over to one-armed rows and then some traditional chin-ups, followed by bent-over barbell rows, neutral grip chin-ups, and then either seated rows or rows using a TRX. Then some upright rows. Just FYI, I do about 10,000 chin-ups a year.

Then, biceps. It’s at least a 5-1 ratio of back to biceps, because, again, remember that all those back exercises are working the biceps.

But what about midsection?

Glad you asked. I do midsection on this day, too. The reason why is that it’s technically like a “pulling in” exercise, and Pull takes less time than Push, so this is the day when there is time to do the midsection.

In between almost every set is a midsection exercise. Note that I didn’t write “abs.” I prefer the big, twisting movements like wood chops or side chops, Bulgarian twist, etc. At the end I might do a bit of focused abdominal stuff on a Swiss ball.

How to mix it up
Just because I always do the same split routine doesn’t mean there isn’t change. I change mine all the time in terms of:

-Amount of weight
-Number of reps/sets
-Tempo
-Type of exercises
-Order of exercises

Why I like it
Because it’s simple, I always know what to do, and it allows me to completely fatigue one specific core movement, and, perhaps most importantly, it commits you to at least three days a week. I know there have been really hectic weeks when I’ve not hit my third workout and forced myself to find time, because when you’re on a three-day split like this, if you only do two, you feel like there is a big hole in your training and you’ll find time to make it happen.

How to do more
Depending on how work-life-etc. is going, I’ll do this routine three, four, five or even six days a week. Basically, you just start over at Day 1. If you do it four days a week, on Day 4, that’s a second Push day, which means the following week you start at Pull. Each week one upper body day –- either Push or Pull gets done twice, and you alternate which it is each week. Legs still get done once. To make it five days a week, do it like a four-day routine, except do legs twice a week. For six days a week, run through the whole thing twice.

But don’t forget to take that seventh day of rest. 

Credit : Ask Men

10 Fitness Facts

No.10 You need to train hard to see your abs

Remember Iggy Pop and his rippling abs? Do you think after a show he was going to the gym to do abdominal crunches on a Swiss ball? No, he was heading back to his hotel room to shoot smack and bang groupies.

And what he wasn’t doing was eating that much, because heroin suppresses appetite. Being in a state of regular caloric deficit kept Iggy’s frame at a low body fat level, and the abs popped out. That’s the way it works. You can enhance the look of your abs with some focused work, but if they’re covered in flab, no one will ever know.

No.9 Exercise is about burning calories

Burning calories is just about the least important thing exercise does. Far more important is what is known as a “training effect.” Exercise has the ability to make you stronger, faster, more agile, and more flexible. It can make you more skilled at various sports and enhance your cognitive capabilities. It also enhances immune function and promotes longevity.

No.8 Weightlifting is an effective fat-loss strategy

By far the most effective fat loss strategy is carefully controlling caloric intake. Sustained and intense aerobic exercise can be a valuable addition to this.

Weightlifting does burn calories, but when compared to hard aerobic training, it pales. A hard session with the iron burns only 20% more calories per hour than walking at 4 mph, according to Essentials of Strength Training and Condition. And I’m sorry to tell you that adding muscle does not rev up your resting metabolism.

No.7 Low-carb diets are effective for weight loss

The only thing that matters is calories. Caloric deficits can be done in a healthy way and an unhealthy one. Many experts consider low carb to be unhealthy, and I agree with them. I know that some experience weight-loss success with this approach, but I consider this diet as a last resort for the lazy.

Yes, there is evidence that it can be good for controlling appetite because of the high protein levels and the fact that the diet restricts a bunch of bad carbs that are high in calories. However, it also restricts the good carbs that are essential for exercise performance, the ones that can be quite satiating and contain valuable nutrients. 

No.6 A high-protein diet is effective for gaining muscle

At a certain point, you just don’t need it anymore. Unless you’re shooting the juice and training long hours to build muscle fast, your body can only use so much. I had some conversations with nutrition expert Alan Aragon who told me that those looking to gain weight only need about 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

No.5 Walking a mile burns the same number of calories as running it does

Walking at 4 mph increases your resting metabolic rate (RMR) by a factor of five. Running at twice that speed increases RMR by 13.5 times, more than three times the metabolic increase for only double the speed.

It’s also worth noting that running has a lot more of those beneficial training effects mentioned in No. 10 than walking does.

No.4 Exercising causes you to eat more

A pile of research fails to show that there is any such thing as “working up an appetite.” In reality, a significant amount of exercise does not contribute to increased appetite and, as mentioned in No. 9, can lead to healthier eating habits.

No.3 Getting in shape raises your metabolism

An in-depth and tightly controlled study of identical twins by renowned obesity researcher Dr. Claude Bouchard found the opposite to be true. Exercise boosts metabolism during the act of exercise. However, as you improve physical fitness, your body begins to operate more efficiently so that you burn fewer calories while at rest and during exercise. Losing fat will also contribute to burning fewer calories because fat is somewhat metabolically active and you have less body weight to cart around with you everywhere.

No.2 Running wears out your knees

This 18-year-long study compared runners with non-runners and found no difference in the development of knee osteoarthritis between groups. In reality, running provides valuable training and lubrication for various body joints to enhance cartilage health.

No.1 "X" is the best form of exercise

You want to know the real best form of exercise? It’s the one you love. It’s the one you are motivated to do regularly and train hard at. It’s the one you want to keep improving at. That one is best.

Fitness Video : Woman Has Incredible Skills On The Treadmill

Health : Fitness - Build A Better Body

"This means that physical traits that imply the presence of "mating qualifiers" are important for increasing your stock with the ladies."

People have a tendency to treat training for a “look” differently than training for an athletic or a strength goal. The truth is, whatever your fitness goals are, it is important to structure your program in a way that allows you to meet those goals in the shortest time period possible.

You have a tremendous variety of tools available to you, and it’s sometimes easy to forget that not all methods are effective for all goals. Athletes training for their sport practice some highly specific drills; training for fat loss requires adjustment of nutritional strategies; powerlifters work on becoming skilled and efficient in their primary lifts.

Given these examples, it’s easy to see that none of these scenarios would really benefit from using strategies intended for the others. So, if your goal is simply to build a lean, symmetrical and attractive body -- the ultimate male body -- the obvious solution is to gear your diet and training structure toward those goals.

1- Focus On Building An X-Shaped Physique

When it comes to being physically attractive to the opposite sex, it’s important to understand that certain body dimensions are visually important from an evolutionary perspective. That’s why you should focus on creating what we call an “X-shaped physique.” Developing such a body will automatically make you more attractive to women while making you more imposing to men.

You see, our progenitors credited desirable traits like strength, productivity and virility to corresponding physical attributes. While societal needs may have changed in a way that no longer makes it necessary to have the characteristics to succeed, to a certain extent, we carry our ancestors’ tastes. This means that physical traits that imply the presence of “mating qualifiers” are important for increasing your stock with the ladies.

To that end, an X-shaped physique means broad shoulders, a narrow waist and strong, well-developed calves. For broad shoulders, focus on core movements that allow for maximal recruitment, such as the push press and some isolation exercises to focus on the medial delts and increases in width, such as lateral raises.

A narrow waist is primarily the result of a low level of body fat, obviously. However, it is important to understand that the muscles around your waist respond to weight training in much the same way that all other muscles do: by growing. So while it isn’t necessary to avoid certain exercises completely, train with the caveat that you should avoid rotational exercises with either a heavy weight or high volume. The goal, overall, is to develop a waist-to-shoulder ratio of about 1.618 -- the Golden Ratio.

Now, as for strong, well-developed calves, these are not easy to come by. Calves are a notoriously stubborn body part to grow, so I recommend training them multiple times per week. Work your calves first in your session, not last. By focusing on these muscles and building a physique more in line with what our ancestors considered desirable (and let’s be honest, we still do), you are on the road to a sexier body.

2- Push Less, Pull More

In keeping with the above ideas, the goal of training for sexiness should clearly include balance and symmetry. This means that not only should you train the right way, but also that you need to make a concentrated effort to avoid training the wrong way.

As men, we’re highly visual creatures. As trainees, this translates into becoming highly focused on mirror muscles -- that is, those you can readily see in any mirror. In general, guys tend to do a lot more work on muscles like chest than back. I cannot begin to describe the drawbacks of this mentality. With specific regard to appearance, lopsided training that focuses on anterior (front) muscles over posterior (rear) muscles usually leads to pretty ugly imbalances. In addition to this being a great way to get yourself injured, it can lead to a round, forward-shouldered look that is not the goal of any training program I’ve ever heard of.

 

 

It’s worth noting that building the ultimate male physique isn't just about the aforementioned. Instead, we should focus more on the muscles of the upper back: latissimus dorsi, teres major, trapezius, et al. These muscles, developed correctly, will help pull your shoulders back, helping to create the broad-shouldered look that men find powerful and women find attractive.

To prevent imbalances and to help create such a look, try to maintain a 3:2 ratio of pulling exercises to pushing exercises. As an example, 3 sets of rows, 2 sets of bench presses. Following this pattern, you are far less likely to develop unattractive imbalances. And, in addition, you will be less likely to incur injury. And probably more likely to get naked.

If you’re already suffering from “computer guy” posture resulting in a round-shouldered look, you can start fixing this by incorporating some corrective exercises into your routine. A good place to start is corner stretches for your pecs, followed by stick-ups. Do this for 5 sets of 5 reps before you train, and you’ll fix that posture in no time.

3- Lift Heavy At Least Four Days Per Month

The benefits of heavy training are widely documented, so once again, I’ll just focus on the relevancy of building a bang-worthy body. Training heavy doesn’t just make you strong; it makes you look strong. Training in low-rep ranges (3 to 5 reps) necessitates the use of near-maximal weight. In general, you would be working within 75% to 85% of your 1RM.

This elicits some profound physiological changes. Training with heavy loads leads to an increase in both neurogenic and myogenic muscle tone, both of which are important for building an attractive physique. First, it is necessary to recognize that for the purposes of this writing, the word “tone” means the level of tension in a muscle. With that understood, let’s talk about each type.

Neurogenic tone refers to the level of tension in a muscle in a working or flexed state. That is how “hard” a muscle is when you are training it or just flexing it for some chick at the gym/beach/World of Warcraft party.

Myogenic tone can be defined as residual tension in a resting muscle. What this really means is how hard, full and dense your muscles are when you’re just hanging out. Rather than some artificial pump, an increase in myogenic tone is a permanent increase in the appearance of your muscles.

Increasing neurogenic and myogenic tone also has the benefit of making muscles more visible at slightly higher levels of body fat. There is a lot to be said for having your triceps pop out a bit more at 10% (just imagine how they’ll look at 8%). To achieve the increases, my clients all have at least one day per week dedicated to lifting near maximal loads. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, heavy training also leads to strength increases, which has obvious implications for training in the future.

Takeaway: Lift heavy, get hard. Wait, what?

4- Mix Up Your Training

In order to create a body suited for a variety of physical tasks, you need to change up your workout pretty frequently. Training variety keeps you motivated and invariably leads to better results. In terms of helping you increase your rating on the scale of sexy, the main benefit is from a fat-loss perspective.

While you can argue that training ADD can inhibit muscle gains (which is only true if you are changing haphazardly with no thought to programming), exposing yourself to consistently changing stimulus is an excellent way to ramp up metabolism, and it consistently increases the processes by which fat loss is made possible.

Certainly, I do not advocate switching programs day to day. Instead, I recommend choosing or designing workouts that have multiple training methods built into a week.

An easy way to work variety into your training is to change exercises for the same movement pattern. For example, switching form bench presses to pushups, counter intuitive though it might seem, can actually help you increase muscle mass as well as lose fat. Even a change as simple as trading in barbells for dumbbells for a single workout can make significant changes and keep you lean year-round.

For more structured change, consider trying out timed workouts. That is, instead of counting reps, each set will be for a given length of time. The goal is to get as many reps in that time period as possible. Not only will increasing training variety make you sexier, but it also keeps training fresh and fun.

5- Tame Your Hormones

It probably isn’t news to you that men and women have vastly different fat storage patterns. Moreover, these vary pretty heavily from man to man. In general, men tend to store fat around the abdominal and love-handle areas. Once again, we have our ancestors to thank (read: blame) for this one. So, after 10,000 years of evolution, we’ve adapted to storing fat where it wouldn’t get in the way of hunting, killing, skinning, and devouring dinosaurs, wildebeests, umber hulks, and squirrels. Women, alternatively, store fat in the hip and thigh area.

Evolutionary favoritism notwithstanding, these differences are due in large part to differences in hormonal environments between men and women. To make it basic, men generally have higher levels of cortisol, which will lend itself to storage of midsection fact, whereas high estrogen leads to lower body-fat storage.

Of course, we can't talk about dude hormones without mentioning testosterone. Men, listen up: Testosterone is your friend, and the more of it you have, the faster you’ll gain muscle, lose fat, meet women, and read my blog posts. Therefore, high levels of testosterone are good.

Unfortunately, when you are on a fat-loss program, the way testosterone effects insulin management gets a little screwy. Insulin (or rather insulin resistance) is a tremendous problem for most guys trying to lose fat. In fact, with many male trainees, as they get closer to their goal body-fat level, it gets much harder to lose fat in those more “masculine” areas, such as the abs, obliques and lower back. Therefore, as you continue to lean out toward your ideal sexy body, you will probably notice that you are suffering from Chronic Love Handular Fatittude.

To aid in shedding the love handles and creating a body worth seeing naked, there are a few ways to improve insulin management via supplementation and diet. For supplements, fish oil, along with the myriad of other benefits, has been shown to vastly improve insulin management when taken in high doses.

Additions to your diet can include cinnamon. When added to meals containing carbohydrates, it has been shown to mitigate the effects of insulin spikes and fat storage. Along those same lines, there is some evidence to support that drinking a moderate dose of apple-cider vinegar prior to meals containing carbohydrates has similar effects.

A combination of an intelligent diet and training program, as well as a few tricks like the supplement recommendations above, are a great way to make your endocrine system work with you to create a sexy body, instead of against you.

So there you have it: Five simple strategies to help you lose fat, put muscle on the right places and build a body women are evolutionarily programmed to want to see naked.

Health : The Truth About Protien

If you are what you eat, what does that make a vegan? A string-bean, milquetoast kind of a guy? Of course not—and renowned strength coach Robert dos Remedios, a vegan, is strong evidence to the contrary. Really strong.
But most men eat animal products. And we really do become what we eat. Our skin, bones, hair, and nails are composed mostly of protein. Plus, animal products fuel the muscle-growing process called protein synthesis. That's why Rocky chugged eggs before his a.m. runs. Since those days, nutrition scientists have done plenty of research. Read up before you chow down.
 
Truth #1: You Need More

Think big. Most adults would benefit from eating more than the recommended daily intake of 56 grams, says Donald Layman, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of Illinois. The benefit goes beyond muscles, he says: Protein dulls hunger and can help prevent obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

How much do you need? Step on a scale and be honest with yourself about your workout regimen. According to Mark Tarnopolsky, M.D., Ph.D., who studies exercise and nutrition at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, highly trained athletes thrive on 0.77 gram of daily protein per pound of body weight. That's 139 grams for a 180-pound man.

8 Foods That Pack on Muscle

Men who work out 5 or more days a week for an hour or longer need 0.55 gram per pound. And men who work out 3 to 5 days a week for 45 minutes to an hour need 0.45 gram per pound. So a 180-pound guy who works out regularly needs about 80 grams of protein a day.

Now, if you're trying to lose weight, protein is still crucial. The fewer calories you consume, the more calories should come from protein, says Layman. You need to boost your protein intake to between 0.45 and 0.68 gram per pound to preserve calorie-burning muscle mass.

And no, that extra protein won't wreck your kidneys: "Taking in more than the recommended dose won't confer more benefit. It won't hurt you, but you'll just burn it off as extra energy," Dr. Tarnopolsky says.

Truth #2: It’s Not All The Same

Many foods, including nuts and beans, can provide a good dose of protein. But the best sources are dairy products, eggs, meat, and fish, Layman says. Animal protein is complete—it contains the right proportions of the essential amino acids your body can't synthesize on its own.

It's possible to build complete protein from plant-based foods by combining legumes, nuts, and grains at one meal or over the course of a day. But you'll need to consume 20 to 25 percent more plant-based protein to reap the benefits that animal-derived sources provide, says Dr. Tarnopolsky. And beans and legumes have carbs that make it harder to lose weight.

So if protein can help keep weight off, is a chicken wing dipped in blue-cheese dressing a diet secret? Not quite: Total calories still count. Scale down your fat and carbohydrate intake to make room for lean protein: eggs, low-fat milk, yogurt, lean meat, and fish.

But remember, if you're struggling with your weight, fat itself is not the culprit; carbs are the likely problem. Fat will help keep you full, while carbs can put you on a blood-sugar roller coaster that leaves you hungry later.

The Carb-Lover’s Survival Guide

Truth #3: Timing Is Everything

"At any given moment, even at rest, your body is breaking down and building protein," says Jeffrey Volek, Ph.D., R.D., a nutrition and exercise researcher at the University of Connecticut. Every time you eat at least 30 grams of protein, Layman says, you trigger a burst of protein synthesis that lasts about 3 hours.

But think about it: When do you eat most of your protein? At dinner, right? That means you could be fueling muscle growth for only a few hours a day, and breaking down muscle the rest of the time, Layman says. Instead, you should spread out your protein intake.

Your body can process only so much protein in a single sitting. A recent study from the University of Texas found that consuming 90 grams of protein at one meal provides the same benefit as eating 30 grams. It's like a gas tank, says study author Douglas Paddon-Jones, Ph.D.: "There's only so much you can put in to maximize performance; the rest is spillover."

Eating protein at all three meals—plus snacking two or three times a day on proteins such as cheese, jerky, and milk—will help you eat less overall. People who start the day with a protein-rich breakfast consume 200 fewer calories a day than those who chow down on a carb-heavy breakfast, like a jam-smeared bagel. Ending the day with a steak dinner doesn't have the same appetite-quenching effect, Layman says.

Truth #4: Workouts Require Food

Every guy in the gym knows he should consume some protein after a workout. But how much, and when? "When you work out, your muscles are primed to respond to protein," Volek says, "and you have a window of opportunity to promote muscle growth."

Volek recommends splitting your dose of protein, eating half 30 minutes before the workout and the other half 30 minutes after. A total of 10 to 20 grams of protein is ideal, he says. And wrap a piece of bread around that turkey, because carbs can raise insulin; this slows protein breakdown, which speeds muscle growth after your workout. Moreover, you won't use your stored protein for energy; you'll rely instead on the carbs to replenish you.

One study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, pinpointed 20 grams as the best amount of postworkout protein to maximize muscle growth. (See 5 Perfect Protein-Packed Gym Snacks.)

You're doing this because resistance exercise breaks down muscle. This requires a fresh infusion of amino acids to repair and build it. "If you're lifting weights and you don't consume protein, it's almost counterproductive," says Volek. Protein also helps build enzymes that allow your body to adapt to endurance sports like running and biking.

Truth #5: Powders Are For Everyone

Everyone—not just muscleheads—can benefit from the quick hit of amino acids provided by a protein supplement, bar, or shake. Your best bet is a fast-absorbing, high-quality kind like whey protein powder (derived from milk): "It appears in your bloodstream 15 minutes after you consume it," Volek says.

Whey protein is also the best source of leucine, an amino acid that behaves more like a hormone in your body: "It's more than a building block of protein—it actually activates protein synthesis," Volek says. Whey contains 10 percent leucine while other animal-based proteins have as little as 5 percent.

Casein, another milk protein sold in supplement form, provides a slower-absorbing but more sustained source of amino acids, making it a great choice for a snack before you hit the sack. "Casein should help you maintain a positive protein balance during the night," says Volek. Building muscle while you sleep? Thanks to protein, anything's possible.

Fitness : The Spartacus Workout: 10 Exercises to Sculpt Every Part of Your Body

To create the Spartacus Workout, we chose 10 exercises that collectively work every part of your body. Then we made each exercise a 60-second station so you can challenge your heart and lungs as well as your muscles. The final product is a high-intensity circuit designed to torch fat, define your chest, abs, and arms, and send your fitness level soaring. You'll sculpt a lean, athletic-looking body—and be in the best shape of your life.

The Spartacus Workout

DIRECTIONS: Do this circuit 3 days a week. Perform 1 set of each exercise in succession. Each station lasts 60 seconds. Do as many reps as you can (with perfect form) in that time, and then move on to the next exercise. Give yourself 15 seconds to move between exercise, and rest for 2 minutes after you've completed 1 circuit of all 10 exercises. Then repeat twice. If you can't go the entire minute, rest a few seconds and then resume until your time at that station is up. Use a weight that's challenging for 15 to 20 reps.

 

20 Tips to help you stick to your new workout... 

Goblet Squat

With both hands, grab one end of a dumbbell to hold it vertically in front of your chest, and stand with your feet slightly beyond shoulder width [A]. Keeping your back naturally arched, push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until the tops of your thighs are at least parallel to the floor [B]. Pause, and push yourself up to the starting position. If that's too hard, do a body-weight squat instead.

Mountain Climber

    

Assume a pushup position with your arms completely straight. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your ankles. Brace your core. [A]. Without allowing your lower-back posture to change, lift your foot off the floor and slowly raise your knee toward your chest [B]. Return to the starting position, and repeat with your left leg, alternating back and forth each repetition.

 

Single-Arm Dumbbell Swing

Hold a dumbbell (or a kettlebell) at arm's length in front of your waist. Without rounding your lower back, bend at your hips and knees and swing the dumbbell between your legs [A]. Keeping your arm straight, thrust your hips forward and swing the dumbbell to shoulder level as you rise to a standing position [B]. Swing the weight back and forth. At the 30-second mark, switch arms.

Make sure to warm up your chest with this routine to avoid injury...

T-Pushup

Grab a pair of hex dumbbells and assume a pushup position, feet hip-width apart, your arms straight, dumbbells set slightly wider than shoulder-width apart [A]. Bend your elbows and lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor [B]. As you push yourself back up, lift your right hand and rotate the right side of your body as you raise the dumbbell straight up over your shoulder until your body forms a T. As you rotate your body, pivot on your toes and then lower your heels to the floor. This should all happen in one fluid motion [C]. Reverse the move and repeat, this time rotating your left side.

Dumbbell Split Jump

From a standing position, lower your body into a split squat, keeping your torso as upright as you can [A]. Now jump with enough force to propel both feet off the floor. While you're in the air, scissor-kick your legs so you land with your left leg forward [B]. Repeat, alternating your forward leg for the duration of the set.

Dumbbell Row

Grab a pair of dumbbells, bend at your hips (don't round your lower back), and lower your torso until it's nearly parallel to the floor. Let the dumbbells hang at arm's length [A]. Without moving your torso, row the weights upward by raising your upper arms, bending your elbows, and squeezing your shoulder blades together [B]. Pause, lower the dumbbells, and repeat.

Dumbbell Side Lunge and Touch

Hold a pair of dumbbells at arm's length at your sides [A]. Take a big step to your left and lower your body by pushing your hips backward and bending your left knee. As you lower your body, bend forward at your hips and touch the dumbbells to the floor [B]. Repeat for 30 seconds, and then switch to your right leg.

TIP: If the exercise is too hard, do the move without the dumbbells; just reach for the floor with your hands.

 

 

Try this: The best dumbbell workout ever... 

Pushup-Position Row

Grab a pair of hex dumbbells and assume a pushup position, your arms straight [A]. Keeping your core stiff, row the dumbbell in your right hand to the side of your chest, bending your arm as you pull it upward [B]. Pause, and then quickly lower the dumbbell. Repeat with your left arm.

Dumbbell Lunge and Rotation

Grab a dumbbell and hold it horizontally by its ends, just under your chin [A]. Step forward with your right foot and lower your body into a lunge. As you lunge, rotate your upper body to the right [B]. Return to the starting position, and repeat with your left leg. Alternate left and right until your 60 seconds are up. If the exercise is too hard, perform the movement without the dumbbell.

Dumbbell Push Press

Stand holding a pair of dumbbells just outside your shoulders, with your arms bent and palms facing each other. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent [A]. Dip your knees [B], and then explosively push up with your legs as you press the weights straight over your shoulders [C]. Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position and repeat.

Fitness : 15-Minute Workout: 3 Moves, 300 Muscles

Perform this routine as a circuit, says its creator, Martin Rooney, P.T., C.S.C.S., author of Ultimate Warrior Workouts. Do 10 reps of each exercise, and complete as many circuits as you can in 15 minutes. Rest briefly when you need to, and resume working until the time is up. As your conditioning improves, increase reps or decrease the amount of rest.

Body-Weight Squat

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lower your body as far as you can by pushing your hips back and bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Pause, and slowly stand back up.

Judo Pushup

Begin in a pushup position but move your feet hip-width apart and forward, and raise your hips so your body almost forms an upside-down V. Lower the front of your body until your chin nears the floor. Then lower your hips as you raise your head and shoulders toward the ceiling. Now reverse the movement and return to the starting position

Sprinter Situp

Lie on your back with your legs straight and arms at your sides, keeping your elbows bent at 90 degrees. As you sit up, twist your upper body to the left and bring your left knee toward your right elbow while you swing your left arm back. Lower your body to the starting position, and repeat to your right. That's 1 rep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fitness : The Turth Behind 5 Popular Abs Gadgets

Abs Seen on TV

Are those infomercial exercise devices six-pack saviors, or money-wasting scams? You don't have to call an 800 number to find out. Researchers at Slippery Rock University, in Pennsylvania, measured muscle activation in five different abs gadgets and compared them with the classic situp.

Ab Sling

These hanging straps activated people's abdominal muscles most—but were also the most despised exercise, says study coauthor Jeff Lynn, Ph.D. "It's very uncomfortable. Many complained about arm and shoulder fatigue, pain, and numbness."

Ab Rocket

The makers of this abdominal rocking chair tout its neck-and-back-supporting design. But according to Lynn, users reported neck strain and thought the motion felt unnatural.

Bender Ball

In theory, it sounds smart: Increase your range of motion with a squishy ball wedged beneath your lower back. But science finds otherwise: Standard situps produced 25 percent greater lower-ab activation than the Bender Ball. What's more, a rolled-up towel can serve a similar purpose.

Ab Lounge

Testers enjoyed this exercise; their backs, however, did not. "It allows you to hyperextend your back," Lynn says. "This puts potentially damaging pressure on the low spine."

The Bean

Banish this blow-up chair to the kiddie pool. "The Bean was the worst of the lot," Lynn says. "It actually facilitates movement forward, so you do less work."

Health : 6 Reasons to Take a Walk

As anyone who makes a habit of regularly walking knows, it makes you feel good. Swinging your arms and stepping briskly on a nature path, sandy beach, or treadmill makes you feel energized and works the body. What’s more, recent medical research gives you lots of reasons to step out. From staving off stroke to keeping your GI tract in working order, here’s the latest on why a regular brisk walk should be part of your day.

1. Live longer

The faster you walk, the longer you likely will live. That’s the conclusion of a report revealing a strong correlation between walking pace and expected survival rates for people older than 65. The average gait speed of the 34,485 participants from nine studies included in the analysis was three feet per second, but University of Pittsburgh researchers found the faster participants lived longer.

"Walking requires energy, movement control, and support, and places demands on multiple organ systems, including the heart, lungs, circulatory, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems," the researchers recently wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Slowing gait may reflect both damaged systems and a high energy cost of walking."

2. Fight dementia

Walk six miles a day and prevent brain shrinkage and dementia. A study of nearly 300 people in Pittsburgh who kept track of how much they walked each week showed that those who walked at least six miles had less age-related brain shrinkage than people who walked less.

Researchers reporting last fall in the journal Neurology said more studies need to be done on the effects of exercise on dementia, but because there are no effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease, walking may be one thing people can do now that may help in the future.

3. Battle breast cancer

Women who regularly take brisk walks have a lower breast cancer risk after menopause, a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests. Researchers reviewed data collected from nearly 100,000 postmenopausal women and found that those who walked briskly for at least an hour a day (or an equal amount of activity) were 15 percent less likely to get breast cancer than women who walked less than one hour per week. And those who got little exercise but increased their activity level after menopause were 10 percent less likely to develop the disease than those who remained sedentary.

Physical activity "is one of the few breast cancer risk factors that women can do something about," study author Dr. A. Heather Eliassen told Reuters Health. "And it's never too late."

4. Soothe your tummy

Move regularly and calm an irritated bowel. In a study of 102 adults with irritable bowel syndrome, 43 percent of those who got 20 to 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise — like brisk walking or biking — three to five days a week showed significant improvement in their symptoms of cramps, diarrhea, bloating, and constipation. Only a quarter of the participants who maintained their regular lifestyle reported improvements.

Researchers, whose work recently appeared in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, noted previous studies have shown that exercise can relieve gas and constipation by getting the digestive system moving.

5. Slash your stroke risk

Reduce your stroke risk — one step at a time. A study of 39,000 healthy women 45 and older found that those who walked two or more hours a week had a lower risk of stroke than those who walked less than two hours a week. The most active women were 17 percent less likely to have a stroke, compared with the least active. And those who walked more than two hours per week were 30 percent less apt to suffer a stroke than those who didn’t walk at all.

"More active people generally demonstrate a 25 to 30 percent lower risk of stroke," Jacob Sattelmair, the study's lead researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health, told Reuters Health.

6. Protect your prostate

Even moderate exercise — like walking — may lower your risk for prostate cancer. In a study published in 2009 in the Journal of Urology, researchers from Duke University Medical Center found that among 190 men who underwent prostate cancer biopsies, those who regularly exercised were less likely to be diagnosed with the disease than sedentary men. Moderate exercisers—those who exercised the equivalent of three or more hours a week—were two-thirds less likely to have prostate cancer compared with those who were inactive.

Exercise decreases the amount of testosterone and other hormones that help prostate tumors grow, and bolsters the immune system, researchers noted, which may help explain the findings.