High-Speed Fat Loss

Start by taking a baseline measurement of your endurance at high speeds. Head to a track, football field, or other measured area with room to run. Sprint for 45 seconds and record your distance. Rest for 60 seconds, then sprint again for 45 seconds. If you don't regularly run intervals or don't participate in intermittent sports, your second span will probably shorten by as much as 25 percent, says Craig Ballantyne, M.Sc., C.S.C.S., owner of TurbulenceTraining.com. "A distance drop of only 10 percent between runs is excellent," he says. Use this plan to improve your endurance and burn fat, measuring your progress every week.

The Program

Alternate between workout A and workout B for a total of 3 sessions a week for 6 weeks.

Workout A

Jog 2 minutes, do the exercises on pages 2 and 3, then do the intervals below.

REPS EFFORT TIME REST

1 50% 60 sec 60 sec

1 75% 60 sec 60 sec

3 OR 6* 100% 30 sec 90 sec

Workout B

Jog 2 minutes, do the exercises on pages 2 and 3, then do the intervals below.

REPS EFFORT TIME REST

1 50% 60 sec 60 sec

1 75% 60 sec 60 sec

3 OR 6* 100% 45 sec 90 sec

* Do 3 of these high-intensity intervals the first week, and 6 each week after.

Burn Fat for Tight Abs

If you want to lose your gut, don't think of lifting weights as an option; consider it a requirement. Why? When dieters don't pump iron, 22 percent of their weight loss comes from losing muscle, according to a Penn State study. So if you drop 20 pounds without lifting, almost 5 pounds will be from muscle.

That won't happen with this program. It's designed to work your muscles intensively 4 days a week so you can banish your belly but keep your biceps. In fact, scientists discovered that men using a similar approach lost 37 percent more fat than those who didn't hit the weights. The end result: the lean, muscular body you want.

Directions:
Perform these workouts 4 days a week. Do the upper-body and lower-body workouts on consecutive days, rest a day, and repeat. For your first upper-body day, use the low-rep workout. For your first lower-body day, follow the high-rep workout. Then switch for your second 2 days of training, so every week you end up performing both high and low reps for your upper and lower body.

For the upper-body workout, alternate between the exercises that have the same number (1A and 1B, for example). Do 1 set of the first exercise and rest, followed by 1 set of the second exercise, and rest again. Complete all your sets for each exercise pair and then move to the next pair (2A and 2B).

For the lower-body workout, do 1 set of exercise 1, rest, and repeat until you've finished all the sets.

Do the same with 2. Then perform 3A and 3B as pairs, alternating between them as you did with the upper-body workout. Do the same for exercises 4A and 4B.

Low-rep workout
Complete 5 to 8 repetitions of each exercise, resting 60 seconds between sets.
Upper body: Do 2 or 3 sets of each exercise
Lower body: Do 2 or 3 sets of each exercise*

High-rep workout
Perform 12 to 15 reps in each set. For exercises 1 and 2, rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets. For 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B, rest 30 to 45 seconds between sets.
Upper body: Do 2 or 3 sets of each exercise
Lower body: Do 2 sets of each exercise*

*Do just 1 set of the Swiss-ball plank

7 Fixes to Help You Play Tennis Like a Pro

Before you blame your shaky tennis stroke on your racket or the distracting girl in the tank top, look at your form. We asked some of the top tennis pros in the country about the most common mistakes they see casual players make, and how to fix them.

1. The Workout
Joggers "play a more subdued form of tennis," says David Lampson, tennis director at the Cortina Inn and Resort in Killington, Vermont. Instead of a slow slog, do interval training—sprints with rest in between. Like the game itself.

2. The Grip
Hitting it high and long? Try a Western grip. Lay your racket on the ground and pick it up so that the base knuckle of your index finger is facing up.

3. The Stance
"In a good ready position, there's no need to bend at the waist," says Dennis Ralston, tennis director at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. "Stand up straight and track the ball with your eyes, not your entire head."

4. The Serve
Sure, it's a tense moment, but try to stay loose, says Lampson. The tighter your grip, the less racket-head speed you generate.

5. The Backhand
People usually wait too long to turn into position, says Craig Wittus, instructor at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. For better aim, turn early and point your shoulder at the contact point.

6. The Forehand
Again, it's positioning. Turn and load up on your right foot (if you're right-handed). Point your left shoulder toward the net post to your right. When you finish the stroke, your weight should be on your left foot, and your right shoulder should be pointing at the same net post. This way you're balanced, Wittus says, and can recover to react to your opponent's return (or celebrate his inability to return).

7. The Volley
"If you have a swinging volley (a short hit before the ball bounces), you're more likely to make an error," Ralston says. Work on a short, compact stroke. Wittus suggests a trick his college coach used: Stand with your back against a fence and practice volleys. It eliminates your backswing and teaches you to step into the volley.

Swim Your Way to a 6-Pack

Swim Tall

"Water is 1,000 times denser than air," says Laughlin. "So the single most important factor is to slip your body through the smallest hole in the water." Imagine a central axis extending from the top of your head to the opposite end of the pool. Rotate your body along this axis with each stroke, stretching your leading arm (the one reaching out front) as far forward as you can. Keep the muscles in your lower back and abs taut as you power through the water—doing so will keep the propulsion coming from both your arms and legs and stop your midsection from sagging like an old first-mate's belly.

Drop an Anchor

Swimming with just your hands is like jumping with just your feet. Instead, grip the water with your entire forearm and hand, holding your forearm at a right angle to your upper arm and digging in like you're gathering sand with a shovel. Keep your hands broad, flat, and firm. You're not pushing your arm through the water as much as anchoring it and pulling your body over it.

Put Yourself on Heavy Rotation

Each stroke begins with your leading arm having entered the water, and that side of your body—the low side—pointing almost at the bottom of the pool. The other side of your body—the high side—should be raised, with the arm that just finished its stroke getting ready to return to the water. Power is triggered when you drive down the high side of your body, Laughlin says, throwing your high-side arm forward along the central axis into the leading position and forcefully rotating your hips and torso. Meanwhile, your low-side arm becomes the pulling arm underwater, working with your rotating torso to provide acceleration.

Keep Your Head Down

Freestylers used to hold their heads high. That forced the rest of the body to drop, turning it into a high-drag plow. "I look pretty much straight down at the bottom of the pool," says Phelps. Not only does this technique cut drag, it keeps your torso high, reducing strain on your neck and lower back.

Find Your Glide Path

In the pool, fewer strokes is better. Your goal should be a high DPS—swim-speak for "distance per stroke." Elite swimmers like Phelps can easily traverse a 25-yard pool in seven strokes (each hand entry counts as a stroke). Try to keep yours below 20 by conserving momentum. Pull yourself over your anchor and continue to glide forward with one arm forward and the other back. "You'll travel farther and faster with your legs streamlined near your axis," says Laughlin. When you begin to slow, start the next

Drag Your Feet

"If you're a good kicker, you're a good swimmer," says Phelps. The secret is turning your feet into fins. Here again, leverage rules: Your legs should be taut, scissoring you through the water, while your feet remain flexible. This will help them snap at the downstroke of each kick, adding oomph and helping twist your torso along the central axis. If your feet don't flex well, buy a set of kicking fins (we like the Slim Fin, forcefin.com) to add flexibility.

Don't Waste Your Breath

Gasping for air every time your head nears the surface is a great way to drown. Instead, make each breath count. Emphatically exhale the air from your lungs (all of it, not just 90 percent) before snagging a quick, full breath on the high side. Beginning swimmers need to breathe after each stroke, but as your endurance improves, try breathing on alternate sides—that is, after three strokes. It'll reduce the strain on your neck and shoulders that results from always breathing on the same side.

The Fastest Payoff

Circuit 1
Do 5 rounds, then rest for 2 minutes.

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Sprint on a treadmill at 10% gradient or use a stairclimber - 40 sec
Dumbbell squat (in rounds 1, 3, and 5 only) - 10 reps
Body-weight squat (in rounds 2 and 4 only) - 20 reps
In round 1, do a front bridge - 40 sec
Rd 2: Side bridge on left arm - 40 sec
Rd 3: Side bridge on right arm - 40 sec
Rd 4: Front bridge - 40 sec
Rd 5: Hold bottom of a pushup - 40 sec

Circuit 2 Do 3 rounds, then rest for 2 minutes.

Run or climb at top speed - 80 sec
Rest - 20 sec
Pushup - 30 sec
Dumbbell bent-over row - 10 reps

Circuit 3
Do 4 rounds, then rest for 2 minutes.

Run or climb at top speed - 60 sec
Single-leg rotation squat - 5 reps/leg
Ab exercise of choice - 60 sec

Circuit 4
Do 3 rounds, then stop.

Run or climb at top speed - 40 sec
Rest - 40 sec
Hold bottom of a pushup - 40 sec

Switch to Cable

Squat and Row

Attach a rope handle to a low-pulley cable and grab with both hands. Stand facing the weight stack, your elbows bent and your hands next to the sides of your torso. Lower your body by bending at your hips and knees as you allow your arms to straighten in front of you. When your thighs are parallel to the floor, reverse the movement back to the starting position.

Punch and Pull

Grab the handle of a low-pulley cable with your left hand, and the handle of the opposite high-pulley cable with your right. Face the low pulley and stagger your feet, left foot forward. Hold your right hand next to your shoulder, keeping your left arm straight. Pull your left hand back as you punch your right hand forward. Do all your reps, then switch arm and leg positions and repeat.

Split Squat and Press

With the weight stack to your left, grab the handle of a low-pulley cable with your left hand and bring it to your shoulder. Stagger your feet, right leg forward. Bend at the knees and lower your body as you press the weight overhead and bend your torso to the right. Do all your reps to one side, then switch arm and leg positions and repeat.

Woodchopper

With your left side toward the weight stack, grab the rope pulley of a high-pulley cable with both hands. Keeping your arms straight, bend your knees and rotate your hips as you pull the rope down and across your body until your hands are just outside your right knee, then reverse the motion. Finish your reps before switching sides and repeating the movement.

Perform three or four sets of eight to 12 reps of each exercise, resting 30 seconds after each set.

Marsh column: Strength workouts for football players

Q. Getting ready for football season, should a receiver have the same strength workout as a linebacker?

A. Absolutely not. When you develop a strength program for your athletes, you look at the purpose of your strength workout. For example: The main need for your running backs, receivers, cornerbacks, and safetys is strength and speed. The purpose for your offensive and defensive lineman, tight ends, linebackers and half backs is mainly strength and power.

I was talking to one of our Salisbury Speedsters sprinters who is also getting ready for football season (by the way, look for awesome results from AAU State championships and the USATF Jim Law invitational of our Salisbury Speedsters coming soon!).

He started a program which is completely geared toward strength and power, meaning short bursts of strength and power. Continuing this workout would actually defeat the purpose of him creating more strength and speed as a receiver but also as a Salisbury Speedster 100m and 200m track star! If I were working with a football team in a pre-season strength workout, this is what I would do:

For strength and speed:

No less than 10 reps per exercise, preferable 12-15 reps for 3 sets no more than 1 minute rest in between.

Squats

Lunges

Leg extensions

Leg curls

Knee ups (for hip flexors)

Calf raises

Bench press

Incline d-bell press

Cable row

Lat pull

Shoulder press

Front lateral raises

Hammer curls

Triceps push down with rope

Crunches, 4 sets of 25 reps

Obliques, 4 sets of 20 reps (each side)

Leg raises 4 sets of 20 reps

I would hit the weights with them two or three times a week, preferably full body with at least one day in between. Other days, I would work on cardio drills, push- ups, plyometrics.

Now our "big" boys:

No more than 8 reps per exercise focusing on 4-6 reps per exercise, 4-5 sets. Three to five minutes, rest in between. Split body parts example can be: Legs and shoulders, chest and triceps, Back and biceps, core each day

Day one

Squats

Hack squats

Thrusts

Lunge squats

Leg extensions

Leg curls

Calf raises

Barbell shoulder press

Side lateral raises

Front lateral raises

Bent over flies

Day two

Dead lifts

Clean and press

T-bar rows

Lat pull

D-bell rows

Barbell curls

D-bell curls

Seated concentration curls

Day three

Bench press

Incline bench press shoulder width grip

D-bell flies

Cable cross over

Chest expanders (also called pull-overs)

Reversed grip shoulder width bench press

Triceps "skull crushers"

Triceps push down

Core added each day, every other day add neck strengthening exercises. Put LOTS of emphasis on flexibility (yes, even your big power guys). It will help prevent injuries.

Gain a Pound of Muscle Every Week

overview

Maybe you've had sand kicked in your face. Maybe you've lost one too many attainable women to beefier guys. Or maybe you've read so much about weight loss that actually admitting you want to gain weight is a societal taboo. Whatever the reason, you want to bulk up. Now.
But forget about your alleged high-revving metabolism, says Doug Kalman, R.D., director of nutrition at Miami Research Associates. "Most lean men who can't gain muscle weight are simply eating and exercising the wrong way," he says.
Here's your fix: Follow these 10 principles to pack on as much as a pound of muscle each week.

Maximize Muscle Building

The more protein your body stores—in a process called protein synthesis—the larger your muscles grow. But your body is constantly draining its protein reserves for other uses—making hormones, for instance. The result is less protein available for muscle building. To counteract that, you need to "build and store new proteins faster than your body breaks down old proteins," says Michael Houston, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition at Virginia Tech University.

Eat Meat

Shoot for about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, which is roughly the maximum amount your body can use in a day, according to a landmark study in theJournal of Applied Physiology. (For example, a 160-pound man should consume 160 grams of protein a day—the amount he'd get from an 8-ounce chicken breast, 1 cup of cottage cheese, a roast-beef sandwich, two eggs, a glass of milk, and 2 ounces of peanuts.) Split the rest of your daily calories equally between carbohydrates and fats.

Eat More

In addition to adequate protein, you need more calories. Use the following formula to calculate the number you need to take in daily to gain 1 pound a week. (Give yourself 2 weeks for results to show up on the bathroom scale. If you haven't gained by then, increase your calories by 500 a day.)
A. Your weight in pounds.
B. Multiply A by 12 to get your basic calorie needs.
C. Multiply B by 1.6 to estimate your resting metabolic rate (calorie burn without factoring in exercise).
D. Strength training: Multiply the number of minutes you lift weights per week by 5.
E. Aerobic training: Multiply the number of minutes per week that you run, cycle, and play sports by 8.
F. Add D and E, and divide by 7.
G. Add C and F to get your daily calorie needs.
H. Add 500 to G. This is your estimated daily calorie needs to gain 1 pound a week.

Work Your Biggest Muscles

If you're a beginner, just about any workout will be intense enough to increase protein synthesis. But if you've been lifting for a while, you'll build the most muscle quickest if you focus on the large muscle groups, like the chest, back, and legs. Add squats, deadlifts, pullups, bent-over rows, bench presses, dips, and military presses to your workout. Do two or three sets of eight to 12 repetitions, with about 60 seconds' rest between sets.

Have a Stiff Drink

A 2001 study at the University of Texas found that lifters who drank a shake containing amino acids and carbohydrates before working out increased their protein synthesis more than lifters who drank the same shake after exercising. The shake contained 6 grams of essential amino acids—the muscle-building blocks of protein—and 35 grams of carbohydrates.
"Since exercise increases bloodflow to your working tissues, drinking a carbohydrate-protein mixture before your workout may lead to greater uptake of the amino acids in your muscles," says Kevin Tipton, Ph.D., an exercise and nutrition researcher at the University of Texas in Galveston.
For your shake, you'll need about 10 to 20 grams of protein—usually about one scoop of a whey-protein powder. Can't stomach protein drinks? You can get the same nutrients from a sandwich made with 4 ounces of deli turkey and a slice of American cheese on whole wheat bread.
But a drink is better. "Liquid meals are absorbed faster," says Kalman. So tough it out. Drink one 30 to 60 minutes before your workout.

Lift Every Other Day

Do a full-body workout followed by a day of rest. Studies show that a challenging weight workout increases protein synthesis for up to 48 hours immediately after your exercise session. "Your muscles grow when you're resting, not when you're working out," says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S.,Men's Healthexercise advisor and a former skinny guy who packed on 40 pounds of muscle using this very program.

Down Carbs After Your Workout

Research shows that you'll rebuild muscle faster on your rest days if you feed your body carbohydrates. "Post-workout meals with carbs increase your insulin levels," which, in turn, slows the rate of protein breakdown, says Kalman. Have a banana, a sports drink, a peanut-butter sandwich.

Eat Every 3 Hours

"If you don't eat often enough, you can limit the rate at which your body builds new proteins," says Houston. Take the number of calories you need in a day and divide by six. That's roughly the number you should eat at each meal. Make sure you consume some protein—around 20 grams—every 3 hours.

Make One Snack Ice Cream

Have a bowl of ice cream (any kind) 2 hours after your workout. According to a study in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this snack triggers a surge of insulin better than most foods do. And that'll put a damper on post-workout protein breakdown.

Have Some Milk Before Bed

Eat a combination of carbohydrates and protein 30 minutes before you go to bed. The calories are more likely to stick with you during sleep and reduce protein breakdown in your muscles, says Kalman. Try a cup of raisin bran with a cup of skim milk or a cup of cottage cheese and a small bowl of fruit. Eat again as soon as you wake up. "The more diligent you are, the better results you'll get," says Kalman.

6 Ways to Run Faster and Injury-Free

Running hard is good. Running smart is better. By focusing on small but important movements and body alignment, you'll save energy, avoid injury, and sprint past your competition.

1. Feet

Running injuries are made worse whenever your heel strikes the ground. "It acts like a brake, slowing you and creating stress," says Rick Fishell, a running coach at Athletes' Performance in Carson, California. To prevent this, pull your toes up toward your shins as soon as they leave the ground, and aim to land on the balls of your feet.

2. Hips

The correct stride length is shorter than you may think. Your feet should land beneath your hips, says Fishell. Any longer and you're "reaching," which adds destructive force. Strong glutes (butt muscles) will pull your legs back under your hips as your feet hit the ground and safely propel you forward.

3. Abs

Contract your abs so they can help you maintain good form (chest up, shoulders over hips). But don't flex consciously, Fishell says. By doing that, you could distract yourself. Instead, activate your core by performing a dynamic warmup (jump squats, for example) prior to running.

4. Shoulders

Keep your shoulders back and shoulder blades pulled down toward your back pockets. Move your arms from your shoulders to save energy. Swinging your arms improperly can throw off your alignment and increase your risk of injury.

5. Hands

They should be lightly cupped. If you make a fist, your forearms will tense up and impede proper shoulder motion. Don't carry your iPod or water bottle in your hand, because that could cause your torso to rotate instead of remaining straight and rigid.

6. Elbows

Swing them at about 90 degrees, pulled close to your body. If your elbows flare out, your arm action will be less efficient and your upper-body mechanics will suffer.

The Best Exercises for Everything

1. Best Exercise for Opening a JarThe oversize-grip deadlift. You do it just like a standard deadlift, but increase the thickness of the bar by wrapping a towel (or two) around it. The thicker bar and heavy weight force the muscles of your forearms to work harder than ever, which will give you a hand-crushing grip—perfect for popping the lid off a pickle jar.

Do this: Stand in front of a barbell with your feet shoulder-width apart and grab the bar with an overhand grip, your hands placed just outside of your legs. Lift your chest, pull your shoulder blades back, and focus your eyes straight ahead. Now, push down through your heels and stand up.

2. Best Exercise Before Your Big National TV AppearanceSharpen your brain with 30 high-intensity minutes on a treadmill. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that men processed information faster and more accurately 50 minutes after their exercise session than they did prior to the session. The benefits won't last all day, but the residual effects will probably keep you sharp long past that 50-minute marker.

Do this: Run on a treadmill for 30 minutes at 80 percent of your max heart rate.

3. Best Exercise for Winning an Arm-Wrestling ContestThe overgrip chinup works your forearms (which will give you a strong grip and wrist strength) as well as your biceps and back (to help you pull your opponent's arm down).

Do this: Perform a regular chinup using an underhand grip, but use a bar that's at least 2 inches in diameter. The side of a power rack works well—or simply wrap a towel around a normal-size bar. Do one to three sets of as many repetitions as you can.

4. Best Exercise for Powering Up Your Sex DriveWork your thrusting muscles with the hanging leg raise.

Do this: Grasp a chinup bar with an overhand grip and hang from it at arm's length, with your knees slightly bent. Without bending your legs any more, lift your knees as close to your chest as possible by rounding your back and curling your hips toward your rib cage. Pause, then slowly lower your legs to the starting position. (If that's too hard, perform the exercise while lying on the floor or on a slant bench.) Do three sets of as many repetitions as you can.

5. Best Exercise for Sweeping Your Girlfriend off Her FeetYou need strong legs. But you also need to hold the weight the same way you'd hold her. The solution? The Zercher squat.

Do this: Hold a barbell in the crook of your elbows and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your torso as upright as possible (lift with your legs, not your back) and squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Do three sets of eight to 10 repetitions.

6. Best Exercise for Throwing a 90-mph FastballYou want to throw the heater like Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens? Then develop power—that is, speed and strength—in the muscles of your thighs, hips, and shoulders with an exercise called the dumbbell snatch.

Do this: Grab a dumbbell in your throwing hand and hold it just in front of your body at arm's length. Bend at your knees and waist so that the dumbbell is hanging between your legs. In one explosive movement, push up with your legs and pull the dumbbell up and over your head with your arm and shoulder until your arm is straight. Do three sets of six repetitions.

7. Best Exercise for Hitting Your Tee Shot 300 Yards and Convincing People You're Tiger WoodsThe medicine-ball rotation throw works the muscles in your hips and midsection—the power source for your swing. Now if only you could learn to chip like Tiger. Or putt like Tiger . . .

Do this: Grab a medicine ball and stand with your left side toward a concrete or brick wall. Hold the medicine ball next to your right hip and throw it against the wall by rotating your upper body and hips, while keeping your feet in place. Catch the ball as it rebounds off the wall and reverse the movement until the ball is back in the starting position. Do three sets of 10 repetitions for each side.

Your Best Body in One Hour

There's a workout program that can help you look great at 20 and at 80. Every man I train uses some variation of it, and it's yours for free.
The biggest difference between this workout program and the one you're doing now is balance. Not stand-on-one-leg-and-curl balance, but the well- rounded-approach-to-training kind of balance.
What's that? You already hit the weight room and work the treadmill on training day? That's still incomplete, not to mention inefficient.
For starters, you need to stop thinking about going to the gym to "lift" or "do cardio." Instead, the perfect workout program is actually a combination of six different yet equally important component parts.
Don't worry: This plan is easy to use, and we've carefully organized your gym time minute by minute, so you won't train longer than you do now. You'll just train more effectively and appropriately for your goal: a bigger, stronger, leaner body that works as great as it looks.
Fire Up Your Muscles
The strategy: Put your body in motion in ways that will recruit more muscle fibers in your workout, leading to bigger gains in the end.
The investment: 5 minutes
The drill: Junk your traditional warmup. If this were just about getting warm, you could sit in a hot tub. Instead, do calisthenics. They not only hot-wire nerve pathways that connect your brain to your muscles, but also help you move through full ranges of motion before adding weight. If the workout is the show, this is your rehearsal. See "Kickstart Your Workout".
Target Weak Spots
The strategy: Troubleshoot problem areas to eliminate weak links and reduce injury risk.
The investment: 4 minutes
The drill: Do any of your joints or muscles hurt? If you answer "a little" or "only when I . . . , " see a physical therapist. And train your glutes--your butt muscles--and your scapular muscles, which include the rhomboids, trapezius, serratus anterior, and pectoralis minor. You don't need to be able to pinpoint them on a dangling skeleton. Just remember that weakness in these areas signals "Danger: Work Ahead" for hips, knees, and shoulders. Use the exercises in "Injury-Proof Your Body," to ward off trouble now. For years to come, your body will thank you every time you get out of bed.

Build the Body You Want

Goals

I assume the closet lady would start by asking, "What do you need this closet to do for you?" Me, I'd ask the same question, substituting the word "workout" for "closet." Usually, these goals fall into three categories:

Lose weight: If you're a beginner, start with a circuit routine in which you do 10 to 12 exercises one after the other, 10 to 15 repetitions per set, with little or no rest in between. Do two or three circuits.

If you're more advanced, try supersets. In these, you do two exercises back-to-back, rest 60 seconds, and then repeat once or twice. There are many ways to do supersets, but for fat loss, I'd like to see you use as much muscle as possible. One way is to pair exercises that work completely different muscles, such as squats and seated rows.

Build muscle: For most men, I recommend exercises that allow you to do eight to 12 repetitions per set. You can do them as straight sets-complete a set, rest about 60 seconds, do the next set of the same thing, and keep going that way until you've finished all your sets and are ready to move on to the next exercise.

If you have more experience, try supersets, but not the way you did them for fat loss. Pair synergistic exercises-two moves that work the same muscles. Usually, the first is a compound move to work a lot of muscles, the second a single-joint exercise to focus on one large muscle. So barbell bench presses might be followed by dumbbell flies. Shoulder presses could lead in to lateral raises.

Gain strength: There's no secret here-heavy weights, low repetitions (usually three to five per set for the most important moves, such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses), and longer rest (up to 4 minutes) between sets. You don't have to do every exercise this way, of course. Start with low reps on your main moves, then do more repetitions with lighter weights and shorter rest periods on less important ones.

Big Muscles, Made Bigger

Build a Better Back

"Scapular retraction" sounds like a surgical procedure -- and, for all we know, it very well may be. But in the weight room, it's a muscle action that strengthens the middle part of your trapezius, one of your back's biggest muscles.

The movement: Pull your shoulder blades (scapulae) together in back (retracting them). The exercise: any variety of row -- seated using a cable machine; bent-over with a barbell, dumbbells, or T-bar; or standing, pulling a cable down to your face.

Latest retraction: For something a little different, try the bow and arrow, suggests Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S., a strength coach in Toronto. Attach a stirrup handle to a high cable pulley. Stand with your right side facing the weight stack, as if you were a left-handed archer. Grab the handle with your left hand and hold it in front of your face, like a bowstring you're about to pull back. Now pull it back and to the left using midback muscles, pause, return to the starting posi-tion, and repeat. Do one set of 10 to 12 repetitions with each arm for starters. Add one set each workout, to a maximum of three sets. This will build strength and muscle mass in your scapular retractors.

Arm Yourself

Your arm muscles aren't isolated hunks of meat. They work hardest in conjunction with bigger, stronger upper-body muscles. "If you want big arms, do chinups and dips," says Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., a strength coach and owner of Cosgrove ResultsFitness Training in Newhall, California. "The rest is fun, but it's just details."

Dip tip: If you can't jump right onto the parallel bars and knock out a set of dips, start with bench dips. Sit on the edge of a bench or chair, palms alongside your hips, fingers pointed toward your legs, feet flat on the floor. Straighten your arms so your butt comes off the bench, then bend your arms as you slowly lower yourself (in front of the chair) until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Pause, then push back up. When you can do more than 10, progress to parallel-bar dips.

Chin music: Most men can't do chinups. The kneeling lat pulldown is an exercise that helps you get there. Attach a straight bar to a high cable pulley, grab it with a shoulder-width, underhand grip, kneel on the floor, and then pull the bar down past your chin. Gradually increase the weight and decrease the repetitions until the weight's so heavy it pulls you off the floor. Now you're ready for the chinup bar.

Pack Your Chest

The exercises that use the most muscles build the most muscle. That's why bench presses are better than flies. "Adding 100 pounds to your bench will put on way more mass than anything else," says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S.

Bench it up: Everyone knows how to do the bench press: Lie on bench, grip bar, lower bar to chest, and so forth. But few pay any more attention to their foot position during bench presses than they would during sex.

Try this: Imagine that you're doing the exercise standing up. Set your feet in a wide, athletic stance. And push out the repetitions as if you were throwing the bar to someone standing in front of you, rather than lifting it off your chest. The extra vigor in your execution will result in extra inches on your body.

Be a Leg Man

If you know how to squat, you can get an entire lower-body workout with one set, says Tim Ziegenfuss, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., an exercise physiologist and nutrition researcher in Wadsworth, Ohio. You use 200 muscles to walk; you'll hit more when you squat with a barbell across your back.

Squat till you drop: Here's the drill: Warm up thoroughly. Select a weight you think you can squat for 10 repetitions. Now squat as many times as you can with that weight. When you can't do any more, stand and catch your breath, then do single repetitions until you get to 20. (These are sometimes called "breathing squats," since you're allowed to breathe as many times as necessary between repetitions.)

The key: The weight stays on your shoulders until you've finished all 20 repetitions. Then you rack the barbell and crawl home.

Reinvent Your Wheels

But as a speed, strength, and conditioning coach, I've watched both athletes and nonathletes transform their bodies by shifting their training focus to their legs and building muscle there. Developing the largest muscle groups in your lower body -- your quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteal muscles -- boosts your metabolism by increasing your body's lean muscle mass. It also revs up production of hormones that help you build muscle.

You'll look leaner and more muscular, and you'll feel stronger. Check that -- you'll be stronger.

A Stronger Upper Body

Training large muscle groups with heavy lifting produces a natural surge in growth hormone and testosterone. And there's nothing like squats to involve the large muscle groups. To perform the following variation on the squat, you have to activate most of your body's muscles simultaneously

Bulgarian split squat

Stand with a bench behind you and a barbell across the back of your shoulders. Place your left foot on the bench. Keeping your torso upright, lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Pause, then push yourself back up. Perform three or four sets of eight to 10 repetitions on each leg.