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Get In Shape and Feel Great!

Fat-Burning Moves

 

Tweak your current routine to drop more blubber

1. Shorten rest periods.  Progressively shaving seconds off your rest period can help to raise your metabolism.  You need a minimum of 30 seconds rest or you risk burning out.  There is one exception: circuit training.  You do not need rest between sets.

2. Train the whole body.  Your growth hormones will spike if you work your entire body each session, and that burns fat.

3. Alternate sets.  Do lower body exercise followed by upper body, such as a squat then a row.  This allows one muscle group to recover with you train the next one.

4. Increase lifting speed.  You can burn more calories by doing explosive exercises like plyo pushups and box jumps or by using lighter weights and lifting them more explosively on the upward phase of the movement.

5. Decrease reps.  Most guys work based on the idea of 10 reps per set.  You’ll get a bigger spike in metabolism by reducing your reps and tacking on an additional set.  Try sets of six to eight reps.

For more great tips, visit Men’s Fitness!

 

Trash

 

Þ High calorie dips, spreads, condiments.  Get rid of nacho cheese, French onion dip, blue cheese dressing and mayo.  Replace with salsa, vinaigrette dressings and mustards, and other low-carb  sauces that are free of added sweeteners.

 

 

Þ Fruit on the bottom yogurt.  It’s usually more sugar than anything else.  Stick with the sugar-free variety and mix in your own fresh fruit and nuts for flavor.

 

 

 

Þ Extra beer.  Only chill a couple at a time.  If the beer isnt’ there, available and cold, you’ll be much less likely to overdo it on a weekly basis.

Spring Clean Your Diet

 

Stock Up

 

Þ Lean proteins like chicken, turkey, fresh fish and red meat.  Buy in bulk and freeze smaller servings to save money.

 

 

 

 

Þ Lots and lots of produce. Strive to eat things with one ingredient—the food itself.  Broccoli. Spinach. Apples. Buy precut veggies to save time on prep but only buy what you can eat one week at a time.

 

 

 

Þ A giant pitcher of water.  Get yourself a good water filter and keep it topped off at all times so you always have cold water at an arm’s reach.

 

Visit Men’s Fitness for other great tips!

A Better Body in 5 Minutes

No matter what kind of work you do now, you can make it better.  All you need is an extra 5 minutes.  Simply choose one of the bonus muscle builders that follow, and tack it on to the end of your current routine.  It won’t take long and it allows you to customize your training to achieve any goal.  Whether you want to build bigger arms, sculpt a rock solid core, or eliminate back pain, it’s just 5 minutes away.

Build Sleeve Busting Arms

 

Simply pick two exercises that target your arms, for example you might choose the EZ curl bar curl and the dip.  For either, select the heaviest weight that allows you to complete 8-10 reps and then alternate between the exercises doing 5 or 6 reps without resting. 

Perfect Your Posture

 

Lie face down on the floor and rest your arms at your sides, palms down.  Contract the muscles in your glutes and lower back to raise your upper torso and legs off the floor.  At the same time, rotate your arms outward till your thumbs point toward the ceiling.  Hold this position for 60 seconds, rest for 60 seconds, then repeat two more times for a total of three sets.

Banish Back Pain

 

Sit on a foam roll on the floor, with your feet up and your hands on the floor for balance.  Now slowly roll your butt over it, stopping on the tenderest spots (these are knots) for 20 to 30 seconds or until the pain subsides.

Pump Up Your Pecs

 

This workout plan is designed to trigger a growth spurt by maintaining tension on your chest muscles for a full 5 minutes.  Make sure to use a timer—you will need to know when to stop.

 

Set an incline bench to a 30 degree angle and grab a pair of dumbbells, choosing the heaviest weights that allow you to complete 10 repetitions of the dumbbell incline fly.  You’ll use this weight for both exercises 1 and 2.  Do the moves in the order shown, following the step by step instructions for each.

Exercise 1: Dumbbell Incline Fly

 

Hold the weights above your chest, with your arms slightly bent.  Without changing the bend in your elbows, lower the weights out to your sides.  Reverse the motion to return to the start.

 

Do one set of eight reps.

 

Don’t release the weights, hold them straight about your chest and rest for 15 seconds in that position.  Do as many more reps as you can.

 

Rest for 15 seconds, then move on to exercise 2.

Exercise 2: Dumbbell Incline Bench Press

 

Hold the weights above your chest, with your arms slightly bent.  Bend your elbows to lower the weights to the sides of your chest.  Pause then push the weights up.

 

Do as many reps as you can.  Rest for 15 seconds with the weights held above you.  Do as many reps as you can.  Rest for 15 seconds, then set the weights down, and move on to exercise 3.

 

Exercise 3: Wide-grip Pushup

 

Get into pushup position, but with your hands placed about twice shoulder-width apart.  Do as many pushups as you can.  Rest for 15 seconds, and keep repeating until your 5 minutes are up.

Bench More, Save Your Shoulders

 

Hanging Scapular Retraction

Grab a pullup bar with an overhand grip, hands just beyond shoulder width apart, and hang at arm’s length.  Without bending your elbows, squeeze your shoulder blades down and together.  Hold, then rest by relaxing your muscles without letting go of the bar.

 

Serratus Dip

Grab the bars of a dip station and lift your body until your arms are completely straight.  Without bending your elbows, press your shoulders down as you push your torso up.  Hold, then relax your muscles, which will cause your torso to lower relative to your shoulders as if you were shrugging them.

The 5 Minute Six Pack

 

Plank

Assume a pushup position, but place your forearms on the floor. Brace your abs as if you were about to be punched in the gut, and hold for 30 seconds.

 

 

 

 

 

Side Plank

 

Lie on your left side and prop your upper body up on your left elbow and forearm.  Then raise your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to ankles.  Brace your abs for 30 seconds.  Then repeat on your right side.

Swiss Ball Crunch

 

Lie on your back on a Swiss ball so that your hips and your lower and upper back rest on the ball.  With your fingers placed behind your ears, raise your torso as high as you can by crunching your chest toward your hips, then returning to the starting position.  Do 15 reps.

 

 

 

 

 

Reverse Crunch

 

Lie on your back on the floor with your knees slightly bent.  Raise your knees to your chest by lifting your hips up and in.  Lower your legs to the starting position.  Do 15 reps.

Cable Woodchopper

 

With your right side toward the weight stack of a cable station, grab the rope handle of a high pulley with both hands.  Pull the rope down across your body until your hands are just outside your left knee.  Reverse the move to return to the start.  Do 15 reps, then face the opposite direction and do 15 more. 

 

 

 

 

Reverse Cable Woodchopper

 

Now attach the rope handle to the low-pulley cable.  Bend over and grab the rope with both hands, your arms nearly straight and just outside your right knee.  Pull the rope up and across your body until your hands are in line with your left ear.  Reverse the movement.  Do 15 reps then face the opposite direction and do 15 more.

Visit Men’s Health for more great workouts!