men's fitness complete guide to home workouts

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WORKOUTS

COMPLETE GUIDE TO

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PLETE GUIDE TONEW!UPDATED

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COMPLETE GUIDE TO

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HOMEWORKOUTS

By Jon Lipsey

Design Ian Jackson, Stephanie GattoSubeditors Michael Donlevy, Jo Williams

Photography Tom MilesModel Tom Dyer@WAthletic

Thanks to Escape Fitnessand Fitness Superstore

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COMPLETE GUIDE TO HOME WORKOUTS ISBN 1-907779-29-9

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The health and fitness information presented in this book is an educational resource and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.Consult your doctor or healthcare professional before performing any of the exercises described in this book or any other exercise programme,

particularly if you are pregnant, or if you are elderly or have chronic or recurring medical conditions. Do not attempt any of the exercises while underthe influence of alcohol or drugs. Discontinue any exercise that causes you pain or severe discomfort and consult a medical expert.Neither the author of the information nor the producer nor distributors of such information make any warranty of any kind in regard to

the content of the information presented in this book.

MANTESHWER

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4 Men’s Fitness

ContentsGetting started

Dumb-bells & gym ball

Bodyweight

Extra kit

Barbell & bench

Home gym machines

Nutrition

Kettlebells

7 - 27

28 - 51

52 - 105

106 - 135

136 - 169

170 - 189

190 - 199

200 - 208

C O M P L E T E H O M E W O R K O U T


Men’s Fitness 7

Getting started | Introduction

W elcome to the Men’sFitness CompleteGuide To Home

Workouts, a comprehensivetraining resource for anyonewho wants to exercise athome. By using the exercises,advice and workouts in thisbook, you’ll develop a leanand muscular physique. Themoves and training systemswe’ve selected will give yougreat results whether you’vebeen working out for yearsor are a complete beginner.All you have to do is makesure that you structure yourworkouts to give yourmuscles progressivelytougher training challenges.

Working out at home isincredibly accessible becauseyou can start without havingto buy any kit. If you wantto make fantastic progress,buying simple equipment suchas dumb-bells and a gym ballwill allow you to do a widevariety of workouts, helpingyou to keep progressing andstay motivated.

What’s in the guide?This book starts with a clearand full guide to basic trainingtheory. By understanding thekey variables involved in aworkout, such as the numberof sets and reps you perform,you stand a better chanceof achieving the body you’vealways wanted.

The exercise demonstrationand workout pages of thebook are split into chaptersinvolving different bits of kit.The first contains all the bestmoves you can do by usingbodyweight alone, as wellas some sample workoutsyou can use depending onwhat you want to get out ofyour training sessions. That’sfollowed by a chapter on

dumb-bells and gym balls,which includes a gear guide,65 muscle-building movesand 15 sample workouts. Theextra kit chapter exploreshow adding a few simpleitems such as a pull-up bar,medicine ball and resistanceband can allow you to train innew and productive ways. Thebarbell, bench and kettlebellchapters complete the training

section and show you how touse big moves for maximummuscle growth.

If you’re really serious aboutbuilding a home gym, youmay want to invest in a cardiomachine or a multigym. Thehome gym machine sectionwill tell you what qualities youshould be looking for so youmake the right purchase.

What you eat has as muchof an impact on your bodyshape as the amount oftraining you do. That’s whywe’ve included a chapter thatgives you clear advice abouthow to eat healthily, wherefresh food is in and gimmickydiet plans are off the menu.There’s also a sample mealplan and a thorough guide tosports supplements.

How to use this bookYou can use the CompleteGuide To Home Workoutswhether you’re a beginner oran experienced exerciser. Thekit guide sections give youadvice on how to buy homeworkout kit. The exercisedemonstration pages showyou how to perform effectivemoves with perfect form, whilethe workout pages give youexamples of common trainingmethods. You can thendesign your own workoutsby arranging the exercisesaccording to the principles ofyour chosen training method.

Training begins nowWorking out at home is an accessible way of getting fitter and stronger.This book tells you everything you need to know to hit your muscle targets

8 Men’s Fitness


Introduction | Getting started

Muscle mythsDon’t let these common muscle myths hamper your training

Warm up properlyAlways warm up properly before doing anyserious exercise (see p20). This will help youto stay injury free.

Stop if it hurtsIf you feel pain at any time during yourworkout, stop immediately. The saying ‘nopain, no gain’ is popular in with old-school PEteachers who don’t know what they’re talkingabout. Working through pain could do seriousdamage to muscles, joints or tendons.

Watch your formMaintain perfect form for every repetition of

every exercise. Each exercise in this bookcomes with detailed notes on form. If youdon’t have good form you won’t get the fullbenefit of the exercise and may injure yourself.

Start lightPick a weight you can manage easily the firsttime you perform any lifting exercise. Thisway you can concentrate on performing theexercise perfectly, and then you can buildup the weight over time.

Brace your coreYou can help to stabilise your body andreduce your injury risk by engaging your

core during an exercise. To do this, start byensuring that you are standing or sitting upstraight with your hips in line with your torso.Now imagine that someone is about to punchyou in the stomach and you have to tenseyour abdominal muscles to take the blow.You need to maintain that contractionthroughout the move to protect your lowerback from muscle strains.

Keep trainingFor more advice on training, as well asdetailed workouts and eating plans, seeMen’s Fitness magazine every month.Go to mensfitness.co.uk for more details.

Myth: Weight training willmake you bulkyReality: Even if you trainregularly and push yourself toyour limit, you won’t suddenlysprout huge muscles. Trainingproperly will increase yourmuscle size, but this happensover time. If you don’t wantyour workouts to have amuscle-building effect, youneed to adjust key variables,such as how many reps youperform, so they have more ofeither a strength or enduranceeffect than a muscle gain one.

Myth: Endless crunches willgive you a six-packReality: Doing cruncheswill strengthen and defineyour abs but it will do little toremove any body fat that’shiding them. You can’t losefat from any one part of yourbody so, if you want to shiftyour spare tyre, eat healthily

and perform exercisesthat burn lots of calories.Crunches burn comparativelyfew calories, so they’re notgood for getting rid of yourgut. And doing hundreds ofany exercise is an inefficientway of training because if youcan do that many reps themovement isn’t challengingenough to stimulate newmuscle growth.

Myth: Running is better forfat loss than lifting weightsReality: Intense weightssessions will burn plentyof calories and have afat-loss effect. High-intensitycircuits give you an aerobicworkout, which improvesyour heart and lung function,as well as strengtheningmuscles. Running is goodfor developing your heartand lungs but won’t buildmuch muscle.

Myth: It’s safer to liftweights slowlyReality: In rehabilitation,patients are told to performexercises at a slow tempoto retrain their bodies toexecute movement smoothly,a tactic that has crept intogyms. But as long as you’realways in control of thelifting and lowering phasesof an exercise you won’tset yourself up for an injury.Indeed, performing reps withspeed trains the muscles toreact quickly in unexpected,real-world situations, which ishow you really protect yourselffrom injury. It also activatesmore muscle fibres, leadingto greater gains.

Myth: Machines are saferthan free weightsReality: The makers ofweights machines advertisethat their equipment isolates

target muscles and preventsinjury by eliminating roomfor error. But the restrictivemovements of machinesmight actually increase therisk of injury. Machines arefixed and rigid and thereforelimit natural movement,whereas when you usefree weights your bodynaturally makes adjustmentsthroughout the exercise’srange of motion according toyour strength level, speed ofmovement, and proficiency.

Myth: More training meansmore muscleReality: Muscle growthhappens while you’rerecovering, not while you’reworking out. If you don’tleave enough time betweensessions, you won’t let yourmuscles complete the repairprocess that makes thembigger and stronger.

Advice for beginnersIf you’re new to weight training, follow this advice to avoid injury


Men’s Fitness 9

Getting started | Introduction

O ne of the best thingsabout working outat home is that it’s

accessible. In fact, you couldstart right now, even if youdon’t have any kit. That’sbecause you can do lots ofchallenging exercises, such aspress-ups and chair dips, justby using your bodyweight.

You can’t do everythingwith bodyweight alone, butthe good news is you don’tneed lots of kit to lose fat andbuild muscle. A gym ball anda set of dumb-bells will allow

you to perform a wide varietyof exercises. Adding a coupleof accessories such as amedicine ball, pull-up bar andkettlebell will further increaseyour options. Finally, a barbelland bench will let you liftheavy weights for real strengthand size gains.

If you’re really serious aboutfitness you can add a squatrack and cardio machines, butif you’re starting out the simpleand cost-effective kit in theworkout chapters can whipyou into excellent shape.

Find your spaceBefore you start, make sureyou have enough space toexercise without damagingeither yourself or a pricelessfamily heirloom. A 2m by2m space should just aboutbe enough.

Choosing a room witha high-ish ceiling is alsoadvisable, if you want to avoidcracking your head or handsduring jumping moves. Andwherever you work out, don’tcompromise form if you’retight for space.

Working out at home and working out in a gym both have advantagesand disadvantages. Here’s how to get the most out of a home set-up

Home vs gym

It’s cost effectiveYou can do a huge variety

of moves with a gym ball, dumb-bells and a pull-up bar, thecombined cost of which can beunder £50. The more kit you buythe more expensive it’ll be, butyou can build a versatile homegym without breaking the bank.If you stick to your plans andachieve your fitness goals, you’llbe glad you made the investment.

You’ll save timeA major benefit of working

out at home is that you don’t haveto travel if you want to train.

It’s flexibleYour home gym will always

be open so if you suddenly get

the urge to do a workout, you can.And if you want to train at anti-social hours, you can do that too.

You don’t have toqueue for kit

Unless you invite friends to joinyou, you’ll be the only one usingyour kit. That means no waitingaround for someone else to finishtheir sets and you can make sureyou stick to your rest periods.

No gym villainsIn your own home you

won’t have to contend withposers on mobile phones, peoplewith hygiene issues and uglynaked men who spend far toolong towelling themselves offin the changing rooms.

The drawbacksIf you’re very short of space, youmay find working out at homedifficult. But provided you havethe space, there isn’t much youcan’t do with the kit included inthis book. There are, however,some bits of kit you’d find ina commercial gym that canenhance your workouts. If youdon’t have a squat rack (a standthat holds a barbell so you don’thave to lift it off the ground everytime you want to perform a lift), forexample, you’ll find it hard to doheavy squats and bench presses.

Another advantage commercialgyms have over home set-upsis the support network. A goodpersonal trainer can work out aprogramme tailored to your goals,

record your progression andgive you advice and motivationwhen you need it. Gym staff arealso on hand to offer techniqueadvice if you’re unsure howto perform a lift. Follow thecomprehensive form guides thataccompany every exercise inthis book, though, and you’ll bedemonstrating perfect form.

Unless you’re prepared tospend serious cash, your homegym won’t have the variety ofcardio machines offered bycommercial gyms. But this doesn’thave to hamper your fitness.Running outside can give yougreat cardiovascular workouts, ascan performing weights circuitswhere you do exercises back toback with light weights.

Home gym advantages

Expensivegym fees canbe off-putting

10 Men’s Fitness


Introduction | Getting started

Set realistic, measurable goalsDon’t set yourself up for a fall by aiming

for something unrealistic such as losing

two stone in two weeks. A measurable

goal, such as wanting to lift 80kg on the

bench press, will give you focus and you

can track your progress.

Change your routineEvery two weeks you should make

a change to your routine. It could be

something simple such as the order of

your exercises or introducing variations of

a move. Doing that keeps your workouts

fresh and gives your body the stimulus

it needs to keep progressing.

Give it five minutesOn days where you’re struggling for

motivation, get changed into your workout

gear and do five minutes of your routine.

The chances are that you’ll want to carry

on and do your full workout. If you don’t

want to carry on, you need to look at

your overall programme to work out why

you’re so unmotivated.

Take a step backIf you’re really struggling, ask yourself

what’s making things difficult. Are you

doing the same thing over and over again,

are you stressed or not inspired by your

environment? There will be a reason. As

soon as you’ve identified that obstacle

you can try to do something about it.

Keep a training diaryRecording and seeing your progression

down on paper gives you great motivation.

You don’t have to record every detail of

your workout, you could just write down

your performance for the two biggest lifts

in your workout. That will also help you

realise when you need to change your

routine because you’ll easily spot when

you’ve stopped progressing.

You’ll need to staymotivated to achieveyour goals. Here’show to maintain yourworkout enthusiasm

All the home workout kit shown in

this book is available from either

Escape Fitness (escapefitness.com)

or Fitness Superstore

(fitness-superstore.co.uk).

Home gym kit Get motivated


Men’s Fitness 13

Training principles | Getting started

Use the following advice to create workoutsthat will help you achieve your exercise goals

Designing your workouts

The number of repetitions youperform of each exercise is themost important workout variable

S tarting a workoutwithout knowing whatyou want to achieve,

what exercises you’re goingto do or how you’re going toperform them isn’t going togive you optimum results. Toachieve your workout aims,you need to design and stickto a specific programme.

But you can’t do thatwithout understanding thekey variables involved in howyou perform each exerciseand how you design yourworkouts. The main variablesto think about are:

RepetitionsAlso known as reps, thisis the number of timesyou lift a weight or performa particular exercise withina set.

SetsGroups of repetitionsperformed back to back.

RestThe inactive time you takebetween sets and exercises.

TempoThe speed at which repsare performed.

FrequencyThis refers to how often youperform a workout.

Once you understand thesevariables, you can decide howto use them to achieve yourmuscle-building goals. Thereis, however, no such thing asthe perfect muscle-buildingroutine. To understand that,you need to have a basicappreciation of what makesyour muscles grow.

Resistance exercisescreate microscopic tears inyour muscles. Your body thenresponds to this stimulusand your muscles repairthemselves to become biggerand stronger than they werebefore. But if you continueto repeat the same workout,your body will stop adaptingto the stimulus and your gainswill plateau. To avoid thathappening, you need to makesure you regularly alter thevariables described above.

The exercises you chooseto perform and the order inwhich you perform them willalso have an effect on theresults you see. This sectionwill give you all the informationyou need to decide what reps,sets, rest and tempo to use,as well as a brief guide onhow to order exercises.

The most common andeffective methods of groupingexercises have been givenworkout names. Thesenames tell you broadly what

the session involves so, forexample, a superset workoutwill typically involve doingpairs of exercises performedback to back, resting betweensets of pairs of exercisesrather than sets of individualexercises. More informationabout these common routinescan be found in the workoutssection of each kit chapter asyou progress through the restof the book.

It’s worth noting that thefollowing advice is a guideand that there isn’t one

perfect way of addressingworkout variables. That’spartly because peoplerespond to training inslightly different ways andpartly because strength andconditioning research isconstantly evolving. But it’sstill rare that new findingschallenge fundamentalworkout principles and thereason that conventions, suchas performing multiple setsrather than single sets, existis because there’s substantialand credible sports scienceto back them up.

RepetitionsThe number of repetitionsper set you perform of eachexercise is, arguably, the mostimportant workout variable.The reps you choose toperform will affect all the othervariables and will have ahuge impact on whether theprimary effect of your workoutis developing muscle strength,size or endurance.

Strength coaches generallyagree that certain repetitionranges have particular trainingeffects and these are shown

in the box on page 14. Lowreps in the one to eight rangeare best for building strength,between eight and 12 reps isbest for adding muscle massand 12 to 20 reps will developmuscle endurance. However,these are broad guides andare on a spectrum ratherthan self-contained blocks.Performing three or sevenrepetitions of an exercise, forexample, will have a strength-building effect, but the sevenrepetitions will have more of asize development effect thanperforming three repetitions

14 Men’s Fitness


Getting started | Training principles


Aim to reach failure – where youare unable to complete anotherrep without perfect form

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15+

How reps affect your training

Strength Hypertophy Endurance

Strength Hypertophy Endurance

Rep count:

Training effect:

because it’s closer to the sizegain range of the spectrum.

In each case, to get thedesired effect you should aimto reach failure – the pointwhere you are unable tocomplete another rep withoutcompromising perfect form– at your target rep count onthe final set of the exercise.If you reach your target repand feel that you couldperform more reps, you’re notusing a heavy enough weight.

It’s also important toremember that these repranges are general guides.Not everyone responds toresistance training in exactlythe same way and evendifferent muscles in thebody can respond differentlydepending on their function.For example, slow-twitchmuscle fibres (the smallermuscle fibres involved inlong-distance enduranceefforts) will generallyexperience strength gainsat a higher rep range thanfast-twitch muscle fibres (thelarger fibres involved in short,explosive movements).

Your training experience willalso play a part in the resultsyou see. Generally, peoplenew to weight training willdevelop strength into a slightlyhigher rep range than moreexperienced exercisers.

SetsThe convention for standardweight training programmes is

to recommend doing threesets of ten to 12 repetitionsbecause that allows you tofatigue your muscles in a timethat will maximise your trainingeffect. Current guidelines fromthe American College Of

Sports Medicine (ACSM),for example, advise beginnersto do between one and threesets of eight to 12 repetitions.

The number of sets youperform should be directlylinked to the number of

repetitions you do. Generally,the two should be inverselyrelated, so the more sets youdo the fewer reps you shouldperform and vice versa.

Studies have shown thatthe most effective workoutduration for strength andmuscle building is about45 minutes. After that, yourtraining efforts can becounterproductive becausetestosterone levels drop andstress hormone levels rise,so the number of exercisesin your workout should affecthow many sets you perform.If you include a high numberof exercises in your workoutyou may need to reduce thesets per exercise you perform.

Your level of experienceshould also be a factor. Ifyou’re very new to training,you may want to considerdoing one or two sets ofeach exercise to get yourmuscles used to performingthe movements withoutoverstressing them.

As you improve, you canincrease the total numberof sets you complete.Experienced lifters oftenget better strength andhypertrophy (muscle growth)results by doing highernumbers of sets with fewerrepetitions. That’s why theACSM guidelines for advancedweight trainers suggest doingthree to six sets of up to 12reps to maximise hypertrophy.

TempoThe number of sets and repsyou perform isn’t the onlyvariable that determines thetraining effect you’ll get fromyour workouts. The speed atwhich you complete eachphase of a rep also plays apart. Doing ten repetitions ofa biceps curl, for example, asfast as possible won’t have the


Men’s Fitness 15

same effect on your musclesas doing the move slowly.

To maximise strengthand size gains, conditioningresearch suggests that yourmuscles should be undertension for between 40 to 70seconds per set, providedyou’re not using extremelylow repetition ranges. Liftingin this way will cause you touse anaerobic energy, whichproduces lactate and promptsthe release of testosteroneand growth hormones.

It’s also important to use theright lifting speed within a rep.To make sure your musclesare under tension for longenough, take one second tolift the weight, pause then taketwo to three seconds to lower.The reason you should takelonger to lower the weight isthat size gains are best madeduring the eccentric (lowering)phase of the lift. Taking yourtime will also help yourecruit stabilisingmuscles, which protect

your joints and support yourbigger muscles when youattempt heavy lifts. Anotherbenefit is that slower liftingtakes momentum out ofthe exercise.

Some exercises, however,such as the snatch, have tobe performed at speedbecause they requireexplosive movements to lifta weight that’s heavy enough

for you to get a trainingbenefit. As with setsand reps, it’s also

important to vary the tempo,so try to avoid using the samespeed for every exercise andevery workout.

RestThe rest you take determineswhether or not you’re able tocomplete the next section ofyour workout. As a rule, setswith few reps will require themost rest. This is becausethey train the nervous systemand fast-twitch muscle fibres,which fatigue easily and take

16 Men’s Fitness


The good news is that you don’thave to work out seven days aweek to see great results

longer to recover – up to fiveminutes when you performvery low reps of an explosivemove with heavy weights. Asyou increase the number ofreps, you train your slow-twitchmuscle fibres, which areharder to fatigue.

Different exercises alsorequire different rest times. Bigcompound moves such assquats and deadlifts requirelonger rests of about twominutes. Single-joint isolationmoves, on the other hand, mayonly require 30 seconds’ restbetween exercises.

Those new to weighttraining may need to takelonger rests than moreexperienced lifters, who havea higher tolerance to thelactate produced during lifts.How much you weigh canalso affect your rest times, withheavier lifters needing longerto recover between sets.

Essentially, your rest periodsare effective if you can reachpositive failure on the last repof the set. This means you areunable to lift the weight withperfect form but can lowerit under control. If you don’treach that point, your restmay be too long.

It’s also important toremember rest is the sameas any other training variableand you should change therest you take to stimulate yourbody into new muscle growth.

Selecting andordering exercisesThe exercises you shouldperform depend on whatyou want to achieve. Thesample workouts in eachof the kit chapters will giveyou an example of how toselect exercises according togoals such as developing aparticular body part, losing fator developing explosive power.

Structuring your workoutproperly is important becausevarious exercises placedifferent demands on yourbody. Some work multiplemuscle groups, whereassome isolate small musclegroups. The speed, patternof movement and body partstargeted should all influencehow you order your exercises.The following guidelines willhelp you to structure yourworkouts to maximise musclegrowth and strength gains andto minimise injury risk.

Do big explosive movesearly in your workoutExplosive exercises suchas the hang clean are verydemanding so they needto be performed when youare relatively fresh. Do thesemoves earlier in your workoutthan simpler moves such astriceps extensions.

Do difficult moves firstand easier moves lastComplete large muscle groupmoves, such as squats anddeadlifts, at the beginningof your workout to makesure you keep perfect formand your core is strongenough to stabilise your body.Easier moves, such as bicepscurls, should be done later inthe workout.

Keep workouts balancedUnless you are specificallydoing an unbalanced workout– for example, one madeup exclusively of pushingmovements – try to keep yourworkouts balanced. So, forevery pushing exercise you do,you should do a pulling one.

Save core moves until lastIf you do core moves earlyin your workout you’ll fatigueyour muscles. Then, when

you come to do big dynamiclifts such as lunges that callon your core to stabilise yourmovement, your musclesmay not be able to provideadequate support, whichcan increase your injury risk.

FrequencyHow many workouts youdo each week is ofteninfluenced by work and familycommitments. But if you leada busy life, the good news isyou don’t need to work outseven days a week to seegreat results. Doing fromthree to five workouts a weekshould be sufficient to achieveyour workout goals.

Exactly how many sessionsyou do will depend on anumber of factors. One thingthat should influence trainingfrequency is what sort ofworkouts you’re doing. A hardfull-body session may meanyou need to leave at least48 hours between sessionsin order for your muscles torecover and repair themselvesto be stronger then before.However, if you are focusingon a particular body part ineach workout, you may beable to train the followingday if you workon a differentbody part.

Onecommonmistake isto think thatthe moreworkouts youdo, the strongerand more muscularyou’ll become. In fact it’s

while you’re resting, ratherthan while you’re working out,that your muscles get biggerand stronger. If you stress yourmuscles before they’ve had achance to repair themselvesthis may cause what’s knownas overtraining, where you losestrength and muscle massand feel lethargic.

Some muscle groupstake longer to recoverthan others. Larger musclegroups, particularly thosewith a comparatively higherpercentage of fast-twitchmuscle fibres such as thehamstrings, may take longer torecover than smaller musclegroups such as the calves.

Doing big compoundlifts such as deadlifts alsoplaces more of stress on yournervous system than smallerlifts, such as wrist curls, soyou’ll need longer to recover.You should also take longer torecover from intense sessions,where you do low reps ofheavy weights, than you dofrom endurance and stabilitysessions, where you do highreps of light weights.

Getting started | Training principles

18 Men’s Fitness


Getting started | Cardio

Y ou may think thatadding long runs toyour home workouts

will complement your musclebuilding work. In fact, it canhave the opposite effect.While cardio training willimprove your heart and lungfunction and prepare yourlower body for enduranceevents, it doesn’t have a greateffect on muscle size. Doinglong, steady-state cardiosessions can even breakdown your muscle tissue,replacing bulky fast-twitchfibres with slender slow-twitchones that are better suited topounding the pavements formile after mile.

Weight training is good forbuilding muscles but it doesn’t

offer all the benefits you getfrom running, swimming orcycling. To make sure you getthe best of both worlds, followthese rules:

1 Don’t do weights andcardio back to back

If your main goal is to buildmuscle, keep weights andcardio sessions separate.Doing cardio immediatelybefore weights will leave youfeeling tired and will lead topoor lifting performance. Doingcardio straight after a weightssession can undo the muscle-building effects of a workout.

The answer is to do themon separate days, which givesyour muscles time to recoverbetween sessions.

2 Keep cardio sessionsshort and intense

When you start a run – or anyother type of cardio activity– your body uses energy fromits own fat supplies and thefood you’ve eaten. After about45 minutes of exercise itthen switches to take energyfrom your muscles, andwill eventually break downmuscle tissue as you steadilyplod away. The solution,unsurprisingly, is to keep yourcardio sessions to under 45minutes in length.

To avoid losing out on thecardio benefits of a long run,make your sessions intense.The best way to do this is bydoing intervals. An intervalsession involves periods of

intense activity followed byperiods of lower intensityrecovery. Try the intervalsession in the box below.As your fitness improves, youcan increase the duration orintensity of intervals withoutlengthening the session.

3 Keep eatingThe right nutrition is

vital to achieving the bodyyou want. If you’re doingboth weight training andcardio it becomes even moreimportant because you needto fuel your exertions in thecardio sessions and still haveenough calories to build themuscle you’ve trained so hardfor. For more nutrition advice,go to page 200.

This session builds up your bursts of speedgradually and tapers off at the end as yourenergy levels are dwindling. Use a runningwatch to time your intervals. If you can’tcomplete the session, do as much as youcan and do more as you improve.

Improving your cardio fitnessStructure your cardio sessions to complement your weight training

Sample interval runWelcome to the pyramid interval

10 minutes easy jog

30 seconds fast, 60 seconds recovery










10 minutes easy jog


Men’s Fitness 19

Muscles | Getting started

Know your musclesThe body has over 600 muscles. These are the key ones you’ll target

Concentric contractionThis is a controlled

shortening of your muscle,such as the upwards phase

of a biceps curl.

Jargon buster

Eccentric contractionThis is the controlled

lengthening of a contractedmuscle, such as the downward

phase of a biceps curl.

Jargon busterCalves

GastrocnemiusSoleus

PectoralsPectoralis minor

(beneath thepectoralis major)Pectoralis majorSerratus anterior

DeltoidsAnterior deltoid (front)Medial deltoid (middle)

BicepsBiceps brachiiBrachialisBrachioradialis

ForearmFlexor carpi

radialis

AbdominalsExternal obliques

Transverseabdominis (beneath

internal obliques)Internal obliques(beneath external

obliques)Rectus

abdonminis

QuadricepsVastus lateralisRectus femorisVastus intermedius

(beneath rectus femoris)Vastus medialis

BackRhomboid

(beneath trappezius)Teres major

Lower backErector spinae

TrapsTrapezius

DeltoidsRotator cuff

(beneath deltoids)Posterior deltoid

(back)

TricepsTriceps brachii

lateral headTriceps brachii

long headTriceps brachii

medial head

LatsLatissimus dorsi

GlutesGluteus maximus

HamstringsBiceps femoris

SemitendinosusSemimembranosus

20 Men’s Fitness


Getting started | Warm-up

T he warm-up is one of the mostneglected aspects of a workout.It can seem like a boring waste

of time but doing a proper warm-up willhelp you avoid injury and get the mostout of the meat of your session.

The purpose of a warm-up is simple:to raise your core temperature andprepare your muscles for the work tocome. Doing some light cardiovascularexercise, such as jogging on the spot,will make your heart beat faster, whichpumps oxygen and nutrients to yourmuscles and elevates your body’stemperature. Warm muscles are moreelastic, which means you can work themthrough a fuller range of motion to getthe best results from your exercises.

Once you’ve done that, do a fewdynamic stretches (described opposite).These will target the muscles you’ll useduring the workout so they’re primed forheavy lifting. Dynamic stretches involvemoving continuously, placing the muscleunder more tension with each repetition,which prepares your muscle joints andnerves for the actions they’re about toperform. They differ from static stretches(see pages 22-23) which, according tothe latest research, should not be donebefore a workout. A recent study foundthat pre-workout static stretches reducethe power available to a muscle duringthe workout, which has a negative effecton strength gains.

When you start your workout youshould perform a warm-up set of eachexercise, where you do the move witha light weight. This will allow you tomake sure your form is correct butdoes not count as one of the sets youplan to perform.

Get your body ready for muscle growth and reduce your injuryrisk with this quick pre-workout warm-up

Pre-workout warm-up


Men’s Fitness 21

Warm-up | Getting started

Lunge withreverse flye

Alternatingsplit deadlift

Lateral lungewith twist

Squat to reach

Do ten repetitions of each of the following exercises, alternating sideswith each rep where appropriate. Start gently and aim to increase therange of motion with each rep

Warm-up dynamic stretches

01 Step forwardand bend yourknees

Spread yourarms wide

03 Feel thestretch in yourhamstrings

Step forwardand lean overfrom the hips

02 Step to theside and bendyour knee

Rotate yourbody to the side

04 Squat downwith your backstraight

Stand up andraise your arms

22 Men’s Fitness


Getting started | Stretching

Do the following stretches after aweights session to increase yourflexibility and reduce injury risk

Post-workoutstretch

P ost-workout stretchingis an area of weighttraining that divides

expert opinion. Some coachesthink that it offers no benefitsand others recommend staticstretching, where you relaxa muscle and hold it undertension for a specific periodof time without moving. Themajority advocate stretchingat the end of a workout.

Benefits of stretchingStatic stretches lengthenthe muscle after it hascontracted as a result ofweight training and giveyou the following benefits:

Greater flexibilityRegular stretching will allowyou to perform exercisesacross a wider range ofmovement, giving you greatermuscle-building effect.

Fewer injuriesWhen you have less tension inyour muscles you significantlyreduce your chances oftearing muscle fibres ortendons when you performdynamic movements.

Faster recoveryStretching improves blood flowto your muscles and helps

to flush out toxins, meaningyou will be ready for your nextworkout sooner.

Better postureTense muscles can pull yourshoulders, hips and spine outof alignment, which can causeback pain.

How to stretchAfter you’ve finished yourworkout spend five minutesdoing some gentle cardio,such as jogging on the spot,to bring your heart rate down.Then perform the stretchesopposite, paying particularattention to the ones thattarget the muscles you workedduring your session.

Get into the stretch positionand allow your muscle torelax. As you place pressureon your muscle you shouldbe able to feel it relaxingand lengthening.

You can slowly increasethe pressure on the musclethroughout the duration of thestretch but you should neverforce it or ‘bounce’ becausethat can damage the muscle.

Hold each stretch forbetween 15 and 30 secondsbut if you feel pain stopimmediately to avoid makinga potential injury worse.


Men’s Fitness 23

Stretching | Getting started

CalvesTake a step forwardand press your backheel down to feelthe stretch in yourrear calf.

HamstringsKeep your frontleg straight andlean forward to feelthe stretch in thehamstring of yourfront leg.

QuadsHold your ankleand push your hipsforward to feel thestretch in your thigh.

Hip flexorsStep forward intoa lunge so thatyour back kneeis in contact withthe ground. Keepyour body uprightand push yourhips forward.

AdductorsTouch your solestogether and pressgently on your kneeswith your elbows.

GlutesStand on one legand balance thebottom of yourraised shin on yourstanding knee.Sink down untilyou feel the stretchin your glutes.

Lower backKeeping yourshoulders flat on thefloor, bend one kneeat 90˚ and rotate yourhips to send oneleg over the other,pressing down to feelthe stretch.

ChestWith your palmsfacing forwards, takeyour arms backto feel the stretchacross your chest.

TrapsPull gently onyour head andpull your oppositeshoulder down.

TricepsBend one arm atthe elbow and dropit down behind yourback. With your otherarm, push downgently on your elbow.

BicepsWith your palmsfacing backwards,press your armsbehind you tofeel the stretchin your biceps.

AbsLie on a mat with palms under your shouldersand your elbows tucked in. Then raise yourshoulders while keeping your hips on the ground.

LatsKneel down and extend one arm out so it restson the ground. Press down on your leading armto feel the stretch down your side.

24 Men’s Fitness


Men’s Fitness 25

Foam rolling | Getting started

Use this recovery tool to simulate a sports massage

Foam rolling

release is a form of therapythat relaxes these muscles.

How it worksFoam rolling breaks the cycleof inflammation that leads tofibrosis, or thickening of theconnective tissue, that causesthe muscular tension thatresults in further inflammation.Myofascial release providessustained, gentle pressure fora short time, which relaxes theaffected muscles, increasescirculation and fluid drainageand stimulates the stretchreflex of the muscle andconnective tissues.

What you needReebok Short Roller, £19.49(Amazon.co.uk).

F oam rolling is anincreasingly popularpart of post-workout

recovery when it comes toinjury prevention. It has similareffects to a sports massagewith the added advantage thatyou can use it on yourself.

The purpose of foam rollingis to improve your muscles’range of motion and reducemuscle soreness. The targetis the fascia – the soft partof the connective tissuethat supports and protectsthe muscles.

Why you need to do itOvertraining, impact or injurycan restrict the fascia, resultingin muscular inflammation,pain and tension. Myofascial

HamstringsBalance on your handswith one or both ofyour hamstrings onthe roller. Roll from theglutes to the knee.

Hip flexorsBalance on yourforearms with onehip on the roller.Roll from your upperthigh to your hip.

26 Men’s Fitness


GlutesStart in the sameposition as for thehamstring roll, butmove the roller toyour backside.

Iliotibial bandPosition the roller underthe outer thigh. Roll fromyour hip to your knee.

QuadsBalance on yourforearms with one orboth thighs on theroller. Roll from yourhips to your knees.

Getting started | Foam rolling


Men’s Fitness 27

Foam rolling | Getting started

LatsLie on your side on theroller with your lowerarm outstretched. Rollfrom your underarm toyour waist.

Lower backLie with the roller underyour middle back, thenroll until it reaches thetop of your glutes.

CalvesStart in the sameposition as thehamstring roll butroll from your kneesto your ankles.

ChestLie on the floor withthe roller at the baseof your chest and yourarm outstretched. Rolltowards your underarm.

Upper backLie on your back withyour hands behind yourhead and the rollerunder your middleback. Roll until youreach your underarms.

Bodyweightintroduction

Start building muscle right nowusing just your bodyweight

I f you’ve bought this bookbut haven’t yet got round tobuying any workout kit, don’t

worry. You can start buildingmuscle straight away by doingbodyweight exercises.

For a muscle to grow in sizeand strength, it has to moveagainst resistance (in this case,yourself) to create microscopictears in the muscle fibres. Thesefibres will heal to be biggerand stronger than before. Youstill have to follow the trainingprinciples outlined in the previouschapter so you may need toadjust your tempo, for example,if you want to work in a muscle-building rep range. If you do that,you can start gaining musclebefore you’ve bought any kit.

This chapter begins bydemonstrating moves that willtarget different muscles. Onceyou know how to do the moves,we’ll show you how to putthem together to achieve yourparticular muscle-building goals.

Bodyweight exercises suchas one-leg squats are good atdeveloping joint stability because

you have to push a significantlevel of resistance whilebalancing on one leg. Controllingyour own bodyweight will alsogive you practical strengthbecause you’re working withthe load you carry aroundin everyday life.

There are lots of bodyweightmoves you can do to targetyour core muscles, which you’llneed to develop if you want toprogress safely to doing big liftssuch as a lunges with dumb-bells or even a barbell.

You can use bodyweightexercises to target any musclegroup. However, as you improveyou’ll find it increasingly difficultto achieve the overload that willlead to muscle growth. Whenthat happens, introducing someof the basic bits of kit outlined inlater chapters will help you avoidgetting stuck in a training rut.You should, however, still includebodyweight exercises in some ofyour workouts because you needto constantly refresh and tweakthe way you work out to makesure your muscles are stimulated.


Men’s Fitness 29

30 Men’s Fitness

Bodyweight | Exercises


Chair dip

01

Target: tricepsDevelop yourtriceps withthis compoundbodyweight move,which will alsoimprove shoulderjoint stability.

Start positionGrip the edge of the

chair with your handsKeep your feet together,

your legs straight and yourback upright

Chair dipwith leg lift

02

Start positionKeep your shoulders

back and your core braced

MovementPerform a chair dip but

lift one leg off the floor asyou lower your body

Alternate legs witheach repetition

Target:triceps, coreRaising yourleg introduces arotational elementto the exercise,which calls on yourcore to stabilisethe movement.

MovementLower your body straight

down, keeping your elbowspointing back, then pressback up powerfully

Exercises | Bodyweight


Men’s Fitness 31

Start positionLie under a solid table

and grip the edges aboveyour shoulders

Keep your body in astraight line from headto heels

MovementPull up until your chest

almost touches the table,pause for a second whileyou squeeze your shoulderblades together, then returnslowly to the start

Start positionRest your fingers on

your temples and don’tpull your neck

Hold your head offthe floor

Bend your knees at90˚ and keep your feetflat on the floor

MovementContract your abs to lift

your shoulders off the floorKeep your lower back

in contact with the floorand curl your chesttowards your knees

Pause at the top ofthe move to squeezeyour abs, then lowerslowly to the start

Tablechin-up

03

Target: biceps,lats, forearmsUse a table asa prop to buildyour biceps.

Crunch

04

Target: upperabdominalsWork your absto build a solidsix-pack withthis classic mid-section move.

Don’t do sit-ups

Sit-ups where you keep your feet

planted work your hip flexor muscles.

If you want to target your six-pack,

crunches are much more effective

Fit tip

32 Men’s Fitness



Reversecrunch

05

Target: lowerabdominalsHit your easilyneglected lowerabs with thissimple move.

Start positionKeep your head and

shoulders on the floor andyour arms by your sides

Your thighs should bevertical and your kneesshould be bent at 90˚

Obliquecrunch

06

Target: obliquesWork your sideabs for a fullerdevelopment ofyour abdominals.

MovementContract your abs,

then curl your kneestowards your chest,keeping your kneesbent at 90˚

Pause at the top,then lower slowly tothe start

Start positionLie on your side

with one arm in frontof you, bending yourknees for stability

Touch your fingers toyour temples on the sideyou’re going to crunch

MovementUse your side abs to

crunch up sideways, pauseat the top of the move andlower slowly to the start



Men’s Fitness 33

Start positionStart with your fingers

by your temples andcrunch up to bring yourright elbow to your leftknee while extending yourright leg

MovementTwist your torso to the

other side to bring yourleft elbow to you rightknee while extendingyour left leg

Use your abs to controlthe move and try not tostrain at the neck

Start positionPosition yourself so your

feet are together and your bodyis straight from head to heels,with your elbows underneathyour shoulders and your headlooking down

Hold the position as longas possible without lettingyour hips sag

Bicycles

07

Target:abdominalsUse this dynamicmove to hit yourmid section froma range of angles.

Plank

08

Target: coreDevelop themuscles thatsupport yourspine with thisclassic staticstability move.

34 Men’s Fitness



Side plank

09

Target: coreHold the plank ina different way totarget your coremuscles from anew angle.

Start positionPosition yourself

so your elbow isdirectly underneath yourshoulder and your bodyis in a straight line fromhead to heels

Hold the positionfor as long as you canwithout letting your hipsdrop, then repeat it onthe other side

Sideplank star

10

Start positionStart in the side plank

position

MovementSimultaneously raise

your top arm and legHold that position for as

long as possible and don’tlet your hips sag

Target: coreBy raising your armand leg you bringother musclesinto the moveand increasethe challengeto your core.

Do more than crunch

For an all-round abs routine include

flexion exercises such as a crunch, two-

point box, oblique crunch, woodchop

and static holds such as the plank.

Fit tip



Men’s Fitness 35

Start positionLie on your back

with your arms out tothe sides and your legsstraight up in the air

MovementTwist over to one

side, keeping yourlegs straight and yourshoulders on the floor

Don’t let your feettouch the floor andalternate sides witheach rep

Start positionStart with your arms

behind your head, heldoff the floor, and your feettogether, also off the floor

MovementContract your abs

to bring your arms andlegs up to meet aboveyour stomach, keepingyour legs as straightas you can

Squeeze your abshard at the top of themove and lower tothe start as slowly asyou can

Lower-bodyRussian twist

11

Target: lowerabdominalsBy transferring therotation to yourlower abdominals,you can do thismove withoutany kit.

Jackknife

12

Target: upper andlower abdominalsThis move requiresa strong core tomaintain perfectform and is greatfor developinga large part ofyour abs.

36 Men’s Fitness



Squat thrusts

13

Target:core, quadsGet your heart rateup and work yourcore with this tiringmove, which isalso good fordeveloping yourleg speed.

Start positionBegin in a

press-up position

Tablepull-up

14


and grip the edges aboveyour shoulders so yourfingers are pointing awayfrom you

MovementPull up until your chest

touches the table, pausefor a second while yousqueeze your shoulderblades together, thenreturn slowly to the start

Target: mid-traps,lats, rhomboidsUse yourbodyweightand a simpleprop to build amuscular back.

MovementJump your feet forward

to land them so your kneesare under your chest

Jump your feet backto the start and repeatthe move



Men’s Fitness 37


and grip the edges aboveyour shoulders so yourfingers are pointing awayfrom you

MovementPull up, then reach

as high as you can withone hand

Bring your hand backto the table and lowerback down

Alternate hands witheach rep

Start positionKneel on all-fours,

then bring your elbow tomeet your opposite kneebeneath your stomach

Keep looking down andstretch your arm and legout straight

MovementYour body should form

a straight line from foot tofingertips – don’t let yourhips rotate

Hold that position for acount of two, return to thestart and repeat on theopposite side

Tablepull-upand reach

15

Target:mid-traps, lats,rhomboids, coreThis move buildsstrength andrequires good corecontrol to stabilisethe movement.

Two-pointbox

16

Target:lower backThis move isexcellent forstrengtheningthe muscles thatsupport your spine,reducing yourchance of injuryduring big lifts.

38 Men’s Fitness



Dorsalraise withshoulderrotation

17

Target:lower backThis move protectsyour lower backfrom injury andthe twist at thetop of the moveintensifies themuscle contraction. Start position

Start by lying on yourfront with your face andshoulders off the floor andyour arms out to the sides,palms facing down

Press-up

18

MovementLift your chest off the

floor, twisting your thumbsback so they point towardsthe ceiling

Squeeze your shoulderblades together at the topof the move

Start positionStart with your

hands level with yourshoulders, just wider thanshoulder-width apart

Keep your body in astraight line from head toheels throughout the move

MovementLower your body,

making sure you keepyour elbows pointing backrather than to the sides

Target:chest, tricepsDo this classicmove to build yourchest and arms.



Men’s Fitness 39

Start positionHold your body in a

straight line from head toheels, with your thumbsand index fingers togetherto form a diamond shape

MovementLower your body,

making sure you keepyour elbows pointing backrather than to the sides

MovementLower down, keeping

your elbows tucked into your body (B)

Push up powerfullyand twist your body,rolling on to the sidesof your feet andkeeping your bodyin a straight line

Raise one armoverhead with your armstraight, then return tothe start and performthe move on theopposite side

Diamondpress-up

19

Target:triceps, chestPlacing your thumband index fingerstogether shifts theemphasis on toyour triceps.

T press-up

20

Target:chest, coreTurn the press-upinto an explosivemove that worksyour body in morethan one planeof motion.

Start positionBegin in the

press-up position

A

B

C

40 Men’s Fitness



Jumppress-up

21

Target:chest, tricepsDevelop yourfast-twitch musclefibres by pushingup explosively soboth palms leavethe floor.

Start positionBegin in the

press-up position

Press-upwith knee lift

22

MovementLower down, keeping

your elbows tucked in toyour body

Push up explosively soyour hands leave the floor,land and go straight intothe next jump press-up

Start positionGet into a press-up

position with your handsbeneath your shouldersand your body in a straightline from head to heels

MovementLower your chest to the

floor while bringing oneknee up to your elbow

Take care not to rotateyour body as you lift yourknee, and alternate sideswith each press-up

Target: chest,triceps, coreAdding a knee liftto the press-upchallenges yourcore because it’sforced to stabiliseyour body in anawkward position.



Men’s Fitness 41


position with your feet ona chair or box, your handsbeneath your shouldersand your body in a straightline from head to heels

MovementLower your upper

body, keeping your elbowspointing back, not out,until your nose almosttouches the floor, thenpush back up

MovementLift one foot off the

floor and lower your chestto the floor, keeping yourelbows pointing backrather than out

Complete your reps forthat set and swap legseach set


position with your handsbeneath your shouldersand your body in a straightline from head to heels

Declinepress-up

23

Target: upperchest, triceps,shouldersBy raising your feetyou place moreemphasis on yourupper chest.

One-legpress-up

24

Target: chest,triceps, coreKeeping one legraised while youperform the movewill challenge yourcore becauseyou’re trying tokeep stable whilebalancing onone leg.

42 Men’s Fitness



Squat

25

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsThis classiclower-body movebuilds muscle andstabilises yourankle, knee andhip joints.

Start positionStand with your feet

shoulder-width apartand your toes turnedout slightly

Hold your armsstraight out in frontof you

One-legsquat

26

MovementKeeping your back

upright, lower your bodyuntil your thighs areparallel to the floor, thenreturn to the start

MovementHold your hands

out in front of you forbalance and sink downuntil your knee is bentat 90˚

Keep your kneein line with your footand a natural arch inyour back

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsDoing the moveon one legensures you getbalanced muscledevelopment aswell as improvingyour stability,coordination andleg-pushing power.

Start positionStand on one leg

with one foot slightlyoff the floor behind you



Men’s Fitness 43

Start positionLower into a

squat, then push offexplosively to jumpoff the ground

MovementAbsorb the

impact as you landand sink straight intothe next repetition

Start positionPosition yourself so

your shoulders and hipsare pressed against awall and your knees arebent at 90˚

Hold the positionfor as long as youcan without breakinggood form

Squat jump

27

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsThis movedevelops explosivepower, which isuseful for activitiessuch as sprinting.

Wall squat

28

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsHolding thisisometric positionwill flood yourmuscles with lacticacid, so do it at theend of a workout tocompletely fatigueyour legs.

Wiggle when you squat

For squats and lunges, wiggle your toes

at the base of the move. If you can’t,

it means your weight is too far forwards.

Push up through your heels, not toes

Fit tip

44 Men’s Fitness



Lunge

29

Target: quads,hamstringsThis dynamicmove tests yourcoordinationand builds lower-body strength.

Start positionStand upright with

your feet together andyour hands on your hips

Lunge jump

30

Start positionBegin in a

lunge position

Target: quads,hamstringsAdding a jump tothe move developsyour explosivepower while testingyour balance andcoordination.

MovementJump up, swapping

your leg positionsin mid air

Land in the lungeposition [C], absorbingthe impact before goingstraight into the nextlunge jump

MovementTake a stride

forwards and loweryourself in a fluidmotion until your frontknee is bent at 90˚ andyour back knee nearlytouches the floor

Keep your front kneeover your front toe andyour back upright

Push back to thestart, then lungeforwards with youropposite foot

A B C



Men’s Fitness 45

Start positionPlace one foot on

the chair with your backupright and your armsby your sides

MovementPush up with your

leading leg then stepback down the wayyou came

Start positionStand on one leg

with your hands byyour sides


straight, tilt forwardfrom the hips, ratherthan the waist, until youfeel a strong stretch inyour hamstring, thenstraighten up again

Chairstep-up

31

Target:glutes, quadsThis exercisebuilds practicalstrength becauseit’s similar tothe movementyou make whenclimbing stairs.

One-legdeadlift

32

Target:hamstringsStrengthen thebacks of your legswith this movethat also improvesyour balance.

46 Men’s Fitness



Invertedshoulderpress

33

Target: shouldersIt’s difficult to targetyour shouldersusing bodyweightalone, but thismove will getthem working.

Start positionPlace your feet on a

chair or box and put yourhands on the floor beneathyour shoulders

Shuffle back with yourhands and bend at the hipsuntil your body forms aninverted V-shape

Woodchop

34

MovementBend at the elbows

to lower your upperbody until your headalmost touches the floor,then press back up


shoulder-width apartand your hands in frontof you

Squat and twistto one side so yourhands are outsideone of your knees

MovementStand up and twist

to the opposite side,lifting the heel you’retwisting away from andraising your hands overyour shoulder

Target: core,lower back,quads, shouldersDevelop your abilityto transfer forcefrom the lower tothe upper half ofyour body with thissporty move.


Men’s Fitness 47

Workouts | Bodyweight

Full-body workout

T he best thing aboutfull-body workouts isthat they allow you

to work a large number ofmuscle fibres in a short spaceof time. The result is thatyour body releases a floodof growth hormones that willmake your muscles get biggerand stronger. They’re great ifyou’re new to training becausethey get your muscles used toweight training without puttingthem under too much stress.

The downside of thisworkout is that it’s hard to fullyexhaust your muscle fibres.

Designing your workoutThe key to a sound full-bodyworkout is balance. That

means making sure you havea pushing motion for everypulling motion you do and thatyou spend a roughly equalamount of time on your upperand lower body.

Opt for compoundexercises (multi-joint movesthat work several musclegroups at once), as these willgive you maximum muscle-building benefits.

Leave abs-specificexercises, such as the crunch,to the end of your workoutbecause you don’t want toexhaust your core musclesbefore they’re called on tostabilise your spine in moredemanding moves such asa table pull-up.

2 One-leg deadlift | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 45

1 Squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 42

3 Table pull-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 36

4 Press-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 38

5 Inverted shoulder press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 46

6 Woodchop | Sets: 2 reps 10 each side Page: 46

Full-body sample workout

7 Jackknife | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 35

1 2

3 4

5 6

7

48 Men’s Fitness

Bodyweight | Workouts


Circuit training

T his is a great optionif you’re short on timeor if your main goal is

fat loss. By doing differentexercises back to back withno rest in between you keepyour effort level high andforce your heart to pumpblood to different parts ofyour body, giving you both acardiovascular and a muscle-building benefit. Circuits aren’tthe best way to build muscle,but they will help you to looklean and defined.

Designing your workoutCircuits require you to moveswiftly from one exerciseto the next, which is easier

with no kit. Aim to target asmany different muscle groupsas possible and alternatebetween upper and lowerbody moves to make yourheart work harder withoutexperiencing excessivemuscle fatigue.

Include a mix of pushing,pulling, lunging, bendingand rotational moves, to giveyour workout balance. Youshould also try to completethe reps quickly but withoutcompromising good form.

Once you’ve completed thecircuit, rest for three minutesthen do it all again. The fitteryou become, the more circuitsyou’ll be able to complete.

2 Inverted shoulder press | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 46

1 One-leg deadlift | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 45

3 Chair step-up | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 45

4 T press-up | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 39

5 Lunge | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 44

6 Woodchop | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 46

Circuit training sample workout

7 Bicycles | Sets: 1 Reps: 0 each side Page: 33

1 2

3 4

5 6

7



Men’s Fitness 49

Core stability workout

T The term ‘corestability’ has becomeincreasingly popular

in recent years as strengthcoaches acknowledgethe important role the coremuscles play in virtually everyarea of physical performance.

Your core muscles arethe ones around your midriff,including your abs and lowerback, and their function is toprovide a link between yourupper and lower body. They’reparticularly important duringwhole-body moves, whichneed a strong core to transferpower between the upperand lower halves of your body.They’re also called upon tostabilise your spine duringsporty movements such asrunning or kicking a football.

A weak core can causelower back pain and poor

posture. You may also findthat you are ineffective attransferring power, so thework you do on other musclegroups may be lost if yourcore lets you down.

Designing your workoutThe mistake most men makewhen training their coreand abdominal muscles isfocusing too heavily on theupper abs by doing endlesscrunches. You need to placeequal emphasis on trainingthe muscles at the side andback of your midriff.

Target your core musclesfrom different angles, includingrotational movements, for athorough workout. Becausethis workout focuses onstability, you should completea relatively high number ofreps per set.

2 Woodchop | Sets: 2 Reps: 10-12 each side Page: 46

1 One-leg deadlift | Sets: 2 Reps: 10-12 each side Page: 45

3 Crunch | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 Page: 31

4 Dorsal raise | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 Page: 38

5 Oblique crunch | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 each side Page: 32

6 Two-point box | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 each side Page: 37

Core stability sample workout

7 Lower-body Russian twistSets: 2 Reps: 15 each side Page: 35

1 2

3 4

5 6

7

50 Men’s Fitness

Bodyweight | Workouts


Explosive power workout

E xplosive, or plyometric,workouts give you morethan one type of benefit.

They build muscle but theyalso develop your power (thecombination of speed andstrength) and coordination.

Put simply, a plyometricexercise is one that involvesextending a muscle acrossits full range of motion beforeexplosively contracting it. Thisdynamic movement targetsyour fast-twitch muscle fibres,exhausting them quicker thana conventional workout butwithout having to add extraweight. The intensity will alsoraise your heart rate, burningextra calories and releasingmuscle-building hormones.These types of workouts

are popular with sportsmenbecause they can be usedto develop fast, powerfulmovements and improve skills,such as your vertical leap.

Designing your workoutFor each target body part, startby doing an activation moveto warm up and stabiliseyour muscles. Then do theplyometric exercise beforeperforming a single-joint moveto exhaust the muscles.

The emphasis of thesesessions is on speed andpower, rather than developingendurance. This means it isessential for you to rest forat least one minute betweensets and at least two minutesbetween exercises.

2 Squat jump | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 43

1 Squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 12 Page: 42

3 Static wall squatSets: 1 Time: hold as long as possible Page: 43

4 Table pull-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 8 Page: 36

5 Table pull-up and reachSets: 2 Reps: 6 each side Page: 37

6 Dorsal raise | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 38

Explosive power sample workoutLegs and back

1 2

3 4

5 6



Men’s Fitness 51

Superset workout

A superset is twoexercises performedback to back with no

rest in between. Once youhave finished both exercises,you rest before performingthe superset again, just asyou would do with a regularset. The reason for doingsupersets is that they aretime efficient because you’rereducing the amount of restyou take during a workout.

You can pair any twoexercises to form a superset,but the most popular optionis to create antagonisticsupersets, where the twomoves work opposing bodyparts. An example would beto perform a press-up, whichworks your chest, then atable pull-up, which worksyour back. The advantageof antagonistic supersets isthat they give one body parta chance to rest while the

opposing muscle group works.They also give you balancedmuscle development.

Other common formsinclude non-competingsupersets, which targetunrelated muscle groups suchas pairing a lower-body movewith an upper-body one, andpost-exhaustion supersets,where you do a multi-jointmove followed by a single-joint move targeting thesame body part.

Designing your workoutIf you’re going to doantagonistic supersets, foreach exercise find one thatworks its polar opposite, soif you do one exercise thattargets your quads do anotherthat targets your hamstrings.Biceps exercises should bepaired with triceps moves andso on. After each superset, restfor two minutes and repeat.

3 Superset C 4 Superset D

1 Superset A 2 Superset B

2 Superset BOne-leg squat | One-leg deadliftSets: 2 each side Reps: 10-12 Page: 42/45

1 Superset APress-up | Table pull-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 38/36

3 Superset C Table chin-up | Chair dipSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 31/30

4 Superset D Crunch | Dorsal raiseSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 31/38

Superset sample workout

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Dumb-bells &gym ball

introductionA set of dumb-bells and a gym ballcan give you serious muscle gains

T he foundation of any homegym set-up should be a setof dumb-bells and a gym

ball. The reason they’re so usefulis that they are so versatile.You can target any body partin a variety of ways, increasingyour chances of losing fat andgaining muscle.

This chapter will give youa wide variety of exercises foreach major body part. You canthen begin to explore a rangeof workout techniques that willmake sure you keep challengingyour body and help you getbigger and stronger.

Dumb-bells allow you tofatigue your muscles easily withinyour desired rep range, helpingto build new muscle. The fact thatyou hold one in each hand givesyou balanced muscle growthand develops your stabilisingmuscles because you’re forcedto control their movement.

A gym ball is excellent atincreasing the instability of anexercise, which will improve yourcore strength. The greater theinstability, the harder the exercise.For that reason, a gym ball is agreat tool to use in conjunctionwith a set of dumb-bells becauseyou’ll struggle to complete yoursets of unstable exercises, even ifyour heaviest dumb-bell is 10kg.

Of course, there are somethings that you can’t do withdumb-bells and gym ball. If youwant to do heavy compound lifts,which will burn lots of caloriesand flood your body with musclegrowth hormones, you’ll need toinvest in a barbell and bench.But before you do that you needto build a solid base of fitness.And even once you introduce abar and bench into your routine,you should still do dumb-bell andgym ball moves to get an all-round training effect.


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54 Men’s Fitness


Dumb-bells & gym ball | Buyer’s guide

A gym ball and a set of dumb-bells are the cornerstone ofa home gym. Here’s what they do and how to buy them

Dumb-bells allow you toperform an enormous numberof resistance exercises. Theyare incredibly versatile andcan be used to exhaust,and therefore develop, thestrength and size of anymuscle. Because you holda dumb-bell in one hand itcreates instability, which forcesthe body to control itself andencourages balanced muscledevelopment. There are threemain types of dumb-bell: fixed,plate-loaded and adjustable.

Adjustable dumb-bellsThis type of dumb-bell lets youchange the weight you lift withouthaving to mess around with weightplates. The most sophisticatedversions allow you to position adial next to the value of the weightyou want to lift. They are moreexpensive than plate-loaded dumb-bells but they’re more convenientand they do allow you to stick rigidlyto rest periods.

Dumb-bells andgym ball gear guide

What it doesGym balls, also knownas stability or Swiss balls,promote increased joint andcore stability by forcing thebody to stabilise itself on anunstable surface. Stabilityballs are relatively cheap andportable so they’re perfect forhome training.

What to look forDurability: Check that the ball

is durable. The cheaper theball, the more likely it is thatyou’ll need to replace it aftera few months, so buy onethat’s anti-burst. You needto make sure it can supportyour bodyweight and anyadditional weight such asa pair of dumb-bells.

Size: Gym balls come indifferent sizes. You want to beable to sit on top of the ball

with your knees bent at about90˚ and your feet flat on thefloor, so taller people will needa larger size than shorterpeople. Use the followingguide to find the right size:

User height Ball size

1.50-1.64m 55cm1.65-1.81m 65cm1.82-2.00m 75cm

Gym ball

Dumb-bells

Fixed dumb-bellsAs the name implies, the weightcan’t be altered. The advantage isthat it’s quick and easy to use yourdesired weight, but the downsideis that they’re expensive and takeup a lot of space. If you do invest ina set of fixed dumb-bells, try to getones with hexagonal ends becausethey can be used on the floor forexercises such as T press-upswithout rolling around.

Plate-loaded dumb-bellsThese are the low-cost option, sothey’re appealing if you’re on atight budget. They have two collars,which secure plates to either endof the dumb-bell bar. When they’reloaded they work your body inexactly the same way as fixedand adjustable dumb-bells. Thedifference is that it can be time-consuming to keep altering theweights between exercises.


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Dumb-bells & gym ball | Exercises

Dumb-bellcurl

01

Target: bicepsUsing dumb-bellsworks your bicepsevenly, givingyou balancedmuscle growth.

Start positionStart with the

dumb-bells by yoursides with your armsfacing forwards

Keep yourshoulders back andyour core braced

Gym balldumb-bellcurl

02 Start positionSelect a ball that

allows you to sit on thetop of it with your kneesbent at 90˚

Sit with yourtorso upright, yourshoulders back andthe dumb-bells by theside of the ball

MovementKeep your elbows

tucked into your sidesas you lift the weight

Pause at the top ofthe move then lowerslowly back to the start

Target: bicepsIntroducing a gymball forces youto engage yourcore muscles tostabilse your body,which promotesgood posturewhen performingthe move withouta ball.

MovementAs you lift the weight,

keep your elbowstucked into your sidesand don’t rock back andforth to use momentum

Pause at the top ofthe move and lowerslowly back to the start


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Exercises | Dumb-bells & gym ball

Start positionRest your elbow

just inside your knee

MovementKeep your upper body

still and curl the dumb-bellup to your chest

Start positionRest your upper arms

on the ball and keep aslight bend in your elbows

Turn your wrists inwardsslightly to take some of thestress off that joint

MovementKeep your upper

body still and curl theweights up towards yourshoulders before loweringslowly to the start

Concentrationcurl

03

Target: bicepsBy locking yourelbow in place youremove any upper-arm swing andfocus the stresson your biceps.

Gym balldumb-bellpreacher curl

04

Target: bicepsAs well as hittingyour biceps, thisis a great movefor developingcoordination ofyour shoulders,hips and core inthe frontal planeof motion. Use alighter weight tomake sure youperform themove correctly.

Stretch your triceps

to build your biceps

To get the most out of your biceps

moves, do a triceps stretch before each

set of bicep curls to temporarily weaken

the triceps. Provided you follow good

form on the bicep curls, you should be

able to get bigger arms, faster

Fit tip

58 Men’s Fitness



Hammer curl

05

Target: bicepsCurling the weightwith a neutral griptakes some of theemphasis off yourbiceps and placesmore stress onyour forearms.

Start positionStand with your

back straight, yourshoulders back andyour core braced

Grip the dumb-bellswith palms facinginwards and tuck yourelbows into your sides

Hammer curlwith twist

06 Start positionStand with your

back straight, yourshoulders back andyour core braced

Grip the dumb-bellswith your palms facinginwards and tuck yourelbows into your sides

MovementCurl one dumb-bell

up at a time, turningyour wrists out at thetop of the move toplace extra tensionon your biceps

Target: bicepsPerforming themove one arm ata time encouragesyou to stayupright and takemomentum outof the move. Byrotating your wristsat the top of themove, you targetyour biceps fromtwo angles.

MovementCurl the weight

without rotating yourwrists and make sureyou keep your elbowstucked in

Avoid rocking backand forth becausethis allows you to usemomentum to completethe movement


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Start positionStart with your upper

back and shoulders incontact with the gymball and hold a singledumb-bell above yourface with both hands

MovementLower the weight

behind your head,pivoting at the elbowsto keep your upperarms still

Keep your bodyhorizontal and yourknees bent at 90˚

Start positionStart with your torso

upright and the weightabove your head withyour arm straight


slowly by pivoting atthe elbow and keepingyour upper arm still

Keep your bodyupright throughoutthe move

Gym balllying tricepsextension

07

Target:triceps, coreDoing a tricepsextension on agym ball calls onyour core musclesto stabilisethe movement.

Dumb-belloverheadtricepsextension

08

Target: tricepsThis moveencourages you tostabilise your bodywhile working thelong head of thetriceps brachii fordefined muscles.

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Two-armdumb-bellkickback

09

Target:triceps, coreWork the tricepson both armsand challengeyour core at thesame time.

Start positionBend forwards at

the hips and keep yourback in its natural arch

Start with yourelbows bent at 90˚

Gym ballchair dip

10

MovementStraighten your

arms while keepingyour upper arms asstill as possible

Keep your corebraced throughoutthe move to maintaina neutral arch inyour spine

Start positionGrip the edge of the

chair with your hands andrest your heels on top ofa gym ball

Keep your feet together,your legs straight and yourback upright

MovementLower your body

straight down, keepingyour elbows pointingback, then press backup powerfully

Target:triceps, coreIncrease thechallenge to yourtriceps and core byplacing your feeton a gym ball.


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Start positionTouch your fingers to

your temples and leanas far back as you canon the ball

MovementContract your abs to

curl your chest towardsyour knees, keepingyour lower back incontact with the ball

Pause at the top ofthe move to squeezeyour abs, then lowerslowly to the start

Start positionKeep your feet on the

floor and your knees bentat 90˚ throughout the move

Hold your head offthe floor but keep yourlower back in contactwith the floor

Hold the dumb-bellto your chest


lift your shoulders off thefloor, pause at the top ofthe move to squeeze yourabs, then lower slowly tothe start

Gym ballcrunch

11

Target:abdominalsUsing a gymball increasesyour range ofmotion, givingyour abdominalmuscles a fullerworkout whilethe instabilitychallengesyour core.

Dumb-bellcrunch

12

Target: upperabdominalsAdding weightrather than doingmore reps will havea better muscle-building effect onyour abs so, if youfind crunches easy,add resistance byusing a dumb-bell.

Stay on the ball

Gym balls are great because they’re

wobbly. This forces your muscles,

including your abs, to work harder to

stabilise your body during any exercise

than if you were on a solid surface

Fit tip

62 Men’s Fitness



Gym ballobliquecrunch

13

Target: obliques(side abs)Hit your absfrom the sidesand get a broadrange of motionby performing anoblique crunch ona gym ball.

Start positionJam your feet against

a supportLie sideways and curl

your body around the ball

Gym ballside plank

14

MovementUse your side abs

to crunch up sideways,hold for a second at thetop of the move, andlower under control


straight line from headto heels, and positionyour elbow directlyunder your shoulder

Use your coremuscles to controlthe instability

Hold that positionfor as long as possiblewithout letting yourhips drop, then repeatthe move on theopposite side

Target: corePlank exercisesare great fordeveloping corestrength. Doingthem on a gym ballmakes them evenmore challenging.


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straight line from headto heels, and positionyour elbow directly underthe shoulder

MovementHold the plank position

while slowly raising andlowering the weight

Use a light weight tomaintain perfect form

Start positionRest your instep on top

of the ball with your bodyin a straight line and yourhands directly beneathyour shoulders

MovementRoll your feet over the

ball to draw your knees into your chest

Try to avoid raising yourbackside as you movethe ball

Side plankwith lateralraise

15

Target:core, deltoidsAdding a lateralraise to a sideplank increases thechallenge to yourcore and improvesyour coordination.

Gym balljackknife

16

Target: upper andlower abdominalsThe instability andrange of motioninvolved in thismove allow youto hit both yourupper and lowerabdominals.

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Gym ballpassingjackknife

17

Target: upper andlower abdominalsUsing a gym ballencourages youto maintain perfectform throughoutthe move.

Start positionHold the ball behind

your head

SeatedRussian twist

18

MovementKeeping your arms and

legs as straight as youcan, pass the ball fromhands to feet at the topof the move

Lower slowly with theball clasped betweenyour feet and return theball to your hands onthe next rep

Target: obliquesWork your sideabs and your corewith this functionalexercise that isgood for sportsthat involvetwisting moves.

Start positionKeep your back straight,

your body at 45˚ to thefloor and your knees bentat 45˚

Hold the dumb-bell inboth hands to one sideof your body

MovementTwist your torso

to one side but keeplooking straight ahead

Twist your torso tothe opposite side, usingyour abs to controlthe momentum

A B

C


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shoulders resting onthe ball, your bodyin a straight line anda dumb-bell at armslength above your head

MovementTwist your torso to one

side until your arms areparallel to the floor

Twist back to theopposite side, lookingtowards the dumb-bell


back straight, yourcore braced andshoulders retracted

Lean forward fromthe hips, not the waist

Stand with your feetshoulder-width apartand bend yourknees slightly

Hold thedumb-bellsjust outsideyour knees

MovementPull the weights

up to your sternum,allowing your wrists toturn naturally during themovement andsqueeze yourshoulder bladestogether at thetop of the move

Slowly lowerthe dumb-bellsback to the start

Gym balldumb-bellRussian twist

19

Target: coreUsing a gym balltakes some of thestrain off your lowerback but still posesa challenge to yourcore muscles.

Dumb-bellbent-overrow

20

Target: traps,lats, rhomboidsDoing this classicback-buildingmove with dumb-bells will give youbalanced muscledevelopmentbecause it preventsyour stronger sidefrom taking more ofthe strain.

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Bent-overflye

21

Target: upperback, shouldersGet a strongupper back withthis move thatdevelops scapularretraction (theaction of pullingyour shoulderblades together).


back straight, yourcore braced and yourshoulders retracted

Lean forward fromthe hips, not the waist

Stand with yourfeet shoulder-widthapart and bend yourknees slightly

Hold the dumb-bellstogether just in frontof your knees,keeping aslight bendin the elbows

Gym ballbackextension

22

MovementRaise the weights

straight out to the sideswithout moving yourupper body

Start positionWrap your body

around the ball andjam your feet againsta wall for support

MovementLift your back until

your body forms astraight line, butdon’t over-extend

Target:lower backUsing a gym ballgives you a broadrange of motion.It’s also a crucialmove for balancingthe trainingeffect of doingcrunches and forimproving posture.


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Start positionUse a light weight and

keep your stomach on thecentre of the ball

MovementRaise the dumb-bells,

keeping your arms inthe ten-to-two positionand your thumbspointing towards theceiling to activate yourstabilising muscles

Pause at the top ofthe move and lower theweights slowly


dumb-bells in frontof your thighs

MovementRaise your elbows

to the sides to liftthe dumb-bells upto your chest

Gym balldumb-bellreverse flye

23

Target: back,shoulders, coreChest andshoulder pressingmoves workthe front of yourshoulder. Thismove will helpyou achievebalanced musclegains because itworks the back ofyour shoulders.

Dumb-bellupright row

24

Target: uppertraps, shouldersDevelop yourupper back andshoulders whileincreasingyour uprightpulling strength.

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Dumb-bellshrug

25

Target:upper trapsAdd size to yourupper back withthis balancedmove, which willalso help stabiliseyour shouldergirdle and reduceyour chancesof sustaining ashoulder injury.


palms facing inwards

Gym balldumb-bellchest press

26

MovementRaise your shoulders

straight up withoutbending your elbowsand hold the topposition for one ortwo seconds

Start positionSupport your head and

shoulders on the ball andhold the dumb-bells atchest level

Brace your core andmake sure that your bodyis straight form head toknees and your knees arebent at 90˚

Target: chestUsing dumb-bellsfor this classicchest exercisewill give youa good rangeof movement,balanced muscledevelopment andwill recruit yourglutes and core tostabilise the move.

MovementPress the weights

up, then lower slowlyto the start


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Start positionKeep your body in a

straight line from headto heels

Grip the sides of theball roughly in line withyour shoulders

MovementLower slowly by

bending at the elbows andpush back up powerfully

MovementPerform a press-up but

don’t let your hips sag

Start positionStart with your hands

on the floor beneathyour shoulders

Rest your feet togetheron top of the ball

Gym ballpress-up

27

Target:chest, tricepsPerforming a press-up on a gym ballforces your chestmuscles to controlthe movement,which will helpwhen you cometo perform heavierpressing exercises.

Gym balldeclinepress-up

28

Target: chest,shoulders, tricepsand coreResting your feeton top of a gymball adds instability,to give your core agood workout.

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Gym balldumb-bellflye

33

Target: chestThis exerciseprimarily targetsyour pecs butalso recruits yourcore and glutes tostabilise the move.

Start positionSupport your head

and shoulders onthe ball

Keep a straight linefrom head to kneeswith your knees bentat 90˚

Dumb-bellT press-up

34

MovementHave a slight bend in

your elbows and lower thedumb-bells in an arc outto the side

Use your chest musclesto return the weights tothe start without archingyour back

Start positionGrip the dumb bells with straight wrists and position them below your shouldersKeep your body in a straight line and your elbows tucked in to your bodyKeep your feet shoulder-width apart and don’t let your hips sag

MovementPush up powerfully and

twist your body, rolling onto the sides of your feetand keeping your body ina straight line

Raise a dumb-belloverhead with your armstraight, then return tothe start and perform themove on the opposite side

Target: chest,shoulders, armsand coreTurn the press-upinto an explosivemove that worksyour body in morethan one planeof motion.

A

B

C


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Start positionSupport your head

and shoulders on theball with the dumb-bellin both hands aboveyour chest

Engage your coreand keep your feet flaton the floor


slowly behind your head,keeping a slight bend inyour elbows

Use your chest musclesto pull the weight back tothe start but avoid archingyour back to aid the move


shoulder-width apartwith your toes turnedout slightly and yourcore muscles braced

MovementHold the dumb-bells

by your sides and loweruntil your thighs areparallel with the ground

Don’t round yourback and keep yourknees in line withyour feet

Push back upthrough your heels

Gym balldumb-bellpullover

31

Target: chest,lats and coreUse thissingle-joint moveto hit multiplemuscle groups.

Dumb-bellsquat

32

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsHit several majormuscle groupsat once with thismust-do leg move.

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Dumb-bellsumo squat

33

Target: quadsBy taking a widerstance you placemore emphasison the inside ofyour quads.

Dumb-bellgym ballwall squat

34

Target: quadsThis is a greatmove if you’reunused to doingsquats becauseusing a ball willengage yourcore and improveyour coordinationfor this kindof movement.

Start positionTake a wide stance

with your toes pointingout slightly

MovementGrip a dumb-bell with

both hands and loweruntil your thighs areparallel to the floor

Keep your knees inline with your toes andkeep your back upright

Start positionPlace the ball behind

your lower back

MovementLet the ball roll up

your back as you squat


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Dumb-belllunge

35

Target: quads,hamstringsBuild muscle,increase yourpower and improveyour coordinationwith this classicleg move.

Dumb-bellside lunge

36

Target: adductorsFocus on yourinner thighs tomake sure youdon’t have anyweak spots inyour legs andimprove yourproperioception– the body’sability to senseits movements.


slightly apart, your backupright and the dumb-bells by your sides

MovementStep forward and,

in one fluid motion,bend your front kneeand lower your backknee until it almosttouches the floor

Keep your torsoupright throughout themove and make sureyour front knee is overthe front toe

Push off the front footto return to the start

Start positionStart with your feet

close together andfacing forward, yourtorso upright and thedumb-bells at your sides

MovementTake a big step to

the side, lowering onto your leading leg

Keep your torsoupright throughout themove and your headfacing forwards andyour bent knee in linewith your foot

74 Men’s Fitness



Dumb-bellreverselunge

37

Target: quads,hamstringsBy steppingbackwards insteadof forwards youtarget your quadsand hamstringsin a different wayand increasethe coordinationchallenge.


slightly apart, your backupright and the dumb-bells by your sides

Dumb-bellchair step-up

38 Start positionTry to find a chair

or box that is nohigher than kneeheight and place onefoot flat on the top

Keep your backupright and holdthe dumb-bells byyour sides

MovementPush up with

your leading legwhile keeping yourback upright

Step back downwith your trailing legand repeat as beforefor all your reps beforeswapping sides

Target:quads, glutesThis exercise hasreal-life benefitsbecause you dothis move everyday when youclimb stairs.

MovementStep back into a

lunge, bending yourback leg so yourback knee nearlytouches the floor

Keep your torsoupright throughout themove and make sureyour front knee is overyour front toe

Push off the backfoot to return to the start


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Start positionRest the instep

of your back footon the ball and plantyour front foot so it’sfacing forwards

Your hips shouldbe facing forwardsand your torso shouldbe upright with yourcore braced

MovementKeeping your torso

upright, lower until yourfront thigh is parallel tothe floor

Keep your front kneein line with your footbut make sure it doesn’ttravel beyond your toes

Start positionRest the instep

of your back footon the ball and plantyour front foot so it’sfacing forwards

Your hips shouldbe facing forwardsand your torso shouldbe upright with yourcore braced

MovementHold your hands

out in front of you and,as you lower, twistyour torso to one side,alternating sides witheach rep

Gym balldumb-bellBulgariansplit squat

39

Target:quads, glutesPlacing one foot onthe ball deactivatesthat leg and placesall the emphasison your front leg.

Gym ballBulgariansplit squatwith twist

40

Target:quads, glutesRemoving thedumb-bell butadding a twistmakes the movemore of a test ofcoordination andworks your body inseveral planes atthe same time.

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Splitdumb-bellRomaniandeadlift

41

Target:hamstringsDevelop the backsof your legs butmake sure youuse perfect form toprotect your back.This move hashuge functionalbenefits becauseit’s similar tothe movementsyou make whenbending down topick something up.

Start positionStart in a split stance

with the whole of yourfront foot and the toesof your back foot onthe floor

Gym ballhamstringcurl

42

MovementHold the weight

either side of yourthigh and initiate themove from your hips,not your waist

Keep your backflat and let theweights travel downyour shins or until youfeel a good stretch inyour hamstrings

Start positionRest your head and

shoulders on the floorand keep your body in astraight line from shouldersto heels with your arms byyour sides and your heelson top of the ball

MovementRaise your hips and

drag the ball towards yourbackside with your heels,keeping your body straightthroughout the move

Pause at the top of themove and return slowly tothe start

Target:hamstringsThis move willdevelop yourhamstrings whileimproving yourstability in your hipsand lower back.


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shoulders on the matand keep your body ina straight line fromshoulders to heels

Position your arms byyour sides with one heelon top of the ball and theother leg raise slightly

MovementCurl the ball towards

your backside with yourheel, pause and return tothe start

MovementRaise your hips until

your body is straight fromshoulders to heels

Drag the gym balltowards your backsidewith your heels


body flat on the floor

One-leggym ballhamstringcurl

43

Target:hamstringsDoing the curlwith one leg reallygets your musclesworking hard tocontrol the wobbleof the ball.

Gym ballhip raiseand leg curl

44

Target:hamstrings,hip flexorsStarting the movewith a hip raiseworks your hipflexors beforetargeting yourhamstrings.

A

C

B

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Supinegym ballcalf raise

45

Target: calvesThis works yourhard-to-targetcalves, forcingthem to stabiliseyour entire body,which will helpduring bigger lifts.


shoulders on the ballwith your body in astraight line and yourknees bent at 90˚

Gym balldumb-bellshoulderpress

46

MovementPush up on to your toes

and hold for a two-countbefore lowering

Start positionSit on the ball with

your feet flat on thefloor and the dumb-bells held at shoulderheight and your elbowsout to the sides

MovementKeep your core

braced throughout themove and avoid archingyour back

Press the weightsdirectly overhead butdon’t let the weightstouch at the top

Target: deltoidsUsing dumb-bells allows yourarms to movein a natural arcand will give youbalanced muscledevelopment.The gym ballcalls on yourstabilising musclesto keep your torsosteady throughoutthe move.

Limit your reps

Increase muscle size by increasing

the resistance rather than the

number of reps. Try holding a dumb-

bell on your chest during calf raises.

Fit tip


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Start positionStart with your palms

facing you and yourelbows out to the front

MovementRotate your palms

forwards as you pressthe weights up

End with palmsfacing forwards andreverse the movementback to the start


shoulder-width apartwith your torso uprightand your core braced

Start with the dumb-bells at shoulder level

MovementAs you lower one

dumb-bell, raise theother and use your coremuscles to stabilisethe movement andavoid rocking fromside to side

Gym balldumb-bellArnold press

47

Target: deltoidsIntroducing rotationto the move hitsyour deltoids fromseveral angles inthe same exercise.

Alternatingdumb-bellshoulderpress

48

Target: deltoidsFocusing on oneshoulder at a timemakes each sidework as hard aspossible and givesyou balancedmuscle growth.

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Rotatingsquat press

49

Target:whole bodyAdd a squat androtation to turn ashoulder moveinto a whole-bodyexercise.

Start positionStart with the dumb-

bells at shoulder level

Alternatingwideshoulderpress

50

MovementSink into a squat

and, as you rise up,rotate your body andpress the dumb-belloverhead, lifting yourheel as you turn

Return to the startand repeat the moveon the other side


dumb-bells atshoulder level

MovementPress the weight at a

45˚ angle to your bodyYou may need to use

a slightly lighter weightthan you would for aregular shoulder press

Target: deltoidsHit your deltoidsfrom a slightlydifferent anglewith this variationof the classicshoulder press.


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shoulder-width apart,your body upright andyour core braced

MovementLift the weights

out to the sides withstraight arms

Stop at shoulderlevel and hold fora moment beforelowering slowly

Start positionHold the dumb-

bells in front of yourthighs with your palmsfacing you

MovementLift the dumb-bells

to shoulder level, pauseand lower slowly tothe start

Lateral raise

51

Target:middle deltoidUse a light weightand target yourdelts and uppertraps to giveyourself broad-looking shoulders.

Front raise

52

Target:front deltoidBy raising thedumb-bells in frontof you, you placethe stress on yourfront shoulders.

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Front/lateralraise

53

Target: middle,front deltoidsAlternate betweenfront and lateralraises each timeyou lift the weightto hit your front andmiddle deltoids inthe same move.

Start positionHold the dumb-

bells by the front ofeach thigh

Cuban press

54

MovementLift the weights to

the front and to the sidesimultaneously andpause at the top beforelowering under control

MovementLift your arms out to the

sides until your elbows arebent at 90˚ with the weightshanging straight down [B]

Rotate your arms so yourhands point up, keeping yourupper arms horizontal [C]

Press the weights directlyoverhead and reverse themovement to the start [D]

Start positionHold the dumb-bells

out to your sides with yourarms straight and yourpalms facing back

Target: rotator cuffStrong and stablerotator cuffs arevital if you wantto avoid shoulderinjuries duringheavy lifts. Thismove targets thatoften-neglectedmuscle.

A B C D


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Start positionRest your stomach

on the ball with yourbody in a straight lineand your arms hangingstraight down

MovementLift your arms out to

the sides, ensuring yourelbows are still bentat 90˚ [B]

Press the weightsahead of you [C & D]

Use a light weightto make sure you don’toverstress your muscles

MovementPull the dumb-bells

up in front of youpowerfully, keepingyour elbows high

Catch the dumb-bells level with thetop of your chestwith your elbowspointing forward

Start positionSit on the gym

ball with your armsby your sides

Gym balllying Cubanpress

55

Target:rotator cuffsUsing a ballencouragesgood posturebecause your bodyneeds to stabilisethe wobble.

Gym balldumb-bellcleans

56

Target: shouldersDoing thisexplosive movewith dumb-bellsdevelops yourshoulder stability,enabling youto pile onweight when youperform cleanswith a barbell.

A B

C D

84 Men’s Fitness



Internaldumb-bellrotation

57

Target: rotator cuffDo this move asa warm-up beforeheavy shoulderexercises or at theend of a workoutto develop yourstabilising muscles.


with your knees bentfor stability, your upperarm in line with yourbody and your elbowbent at 90˚

Hold a light dumb-bellwith an upturned palm

Externaldumb-bellrotation

58

MovementRotate your arm so

the dumb-bell pointsupwards with your elbowstill at 90˚


with your knees bentfor stability

Hold a dumb-bellwith your upper arm inline with your body andyour elbow bent at 90˚

MovementRotate your arm as

far as is comfortable,then return to the start

Target: rotator cuffMove yourshoulder inthe oppositedirection to theinternal rotation.

Work your rotator cuffs

If you don’t work on your rotator cuff

you risk injuring your shoulders during

big lifts such as snatches. Use a light

weight and comparatively high reps to

stabilise your shoulder joint

Fit tip


Men’s Fitness 85


Start positionHold a dumb-bell

by each side and bendyour knees, keepinga neutral arch inyour back

MovementExplosively thrust

your hips forward tostraighten your legs andswing the dumb-bellsup in front of you

Don’t raise theweights above shoulderlevel and control theswing back to the start

Start positionStart with your knees

bent and hold a dumb-bellbetween your legs, keepingyour shoulders square on

MovementStraighten your legs

and use the momentum tolift the weight up in front ofyou powerfully [B]

Squat down beneaththe weight to catch it withyour arm straight [C]

Stand up straight tocomplete the move [D]

Dumb-bellswing

59

Target: frontshoulders, coreand hamstringsWork severalmuscle groupsat once with thisdynamic stabilitymove that’s goodfor power sports.

One-armdumb-bellsnatch

60

Target:whole bodyThis whole-bodymove requiresconsiderablecoordination anddevelops power,so it’s great forsports such asfootball and rugbythat require you togenerate force inan upright position.

A B C D

86 Men’s Fitness



Dumb-bellwoodchop

61

Target:whole bodyThis move is greatfor sports suchas tennis thatrequire twistingpower becauseit connects yourupper and lowerbody with one bigrotational lift.


shoulder-width apartand your knees bentso your thighs arealmost parallel tothe floor

Keep your back flatand twist your torsoto the side, holdinga dumb-bell in bothhands on the outsideof your thigh

Woodchoplunge

62

MovementAs you stand up,

turn your torso to theopposite side, liftingthe dumb-bell up andacross your body withstraight arms

Use your coremuscles to controlthe movement

Start positionStand up straight

and hold a dumb-bellin both hands overone shoulder

MovementStep forward into

the lunge and chopthe weight down andacross your body

Make sure yourfront foot faces forward,your front knee is overyour foot and your backis straight

Target:whole bodyThis move getsyour body movingacross threeplanes, which testsyour balance andcoordination, andmakes it a greatmove for sportsconditioning.


Men’s Fitness 87


Start positionStand with your

feet slightly apart, yourback straight and thedumb-bells just aboveshoulder heightwith your palmsfacing forward

MovementStep into a lunge with

your front knee over yourfront foot and your backknee close to the floor

As you lunge, press theweights directly overhead

Start positionSink into a squat

with your knees inline with your feet

MovementAs you stand, curl

the dumb-bells to yourshoulders, keeping yourelbows at your sides [B]

Press the weightsdirectly overhead [C] andreverse the movementback to the start

Lungeto press

63

Target:whole bodyCombine twocompound movesto challenge everymajor musclegroup and improveyour hip and lowerback stability.

Squat to curlto press

64

Target:whole bodyPut three exercisestogether to makeone fluid movethat improvescoordination andworks your entirebody withoutoverloading anyone joint.

A B C

88 Men’s Fitness



Gym balljackknife topress-up

65

Target: abs, hips,chest and tricepsThis combinationmove teachescoordination ofthe core, hipsand shoulders,while givingyou functionalpushing strength.

Start positionRest the instep of

your feet on the ball,your body in a straightline from head to feetand your hands beneathyour shoulders

MovementDraw your knees up to

your chest [B] and returnto the start

Bend your elbows andlower your face to the floorto perform a press-up [C]

A

B C

Make it hard on yourself

The press-up jackknife is a tough

move, but you can make it even

more challenging by doing it with

only one leg on the ball

Fit tip


Men’s Fitness 89

90 Men’s Fitness


Full-body workout

F ull-body workouts allowyou to work a largerange of muscle fibres

in a relatively short space oftime. This prompts your bodyto release a flood of growthhormones that will makeyour muscles get biggerand stronger. If you’re new totraining, they’re useful becausethey get your muscles used tolifting weights without puttingthem under too much stress.

The downside of a full-bodyworkout is that it’s hard toexhaust your muscle fibresfully, so you may want toalso do some more targetedsessions such as body-focusor post-exhaustion workouts,which we’ll explore later.

Designing your workoutsYour full-body workouts needto be balanced. So, for everypushing motion you shoulddo a pulling one, and youshould spend as much timeon your upper body as youdo on your lower.

Stick to compoundmoves (ones that workseveral muscle groups atonce) because these willgive you maximum muscledevelopment for the time youhave available.

Leave any abdominalmoves to the end of yourworkout because you don’twant them to be fatiguedwhen you perform big movessuch as squats and rows.

2 Split dumb-bell Romanian deadliftSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 76

1 Dumb-bell squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 71

3 Gym ball dumb-bell pressSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 68

4 Dumb-bell bent-over row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 65

5 Alternating dumb-bell shoulder pressSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 79

6 Dumb-bell woodchopSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 86


7 Side plankSets: 1 Time: hold for as long as possible Page: 34

1 2

3 4

5 6

7

Dumb-bells & gym ball | Workouts


Men’s Fitness 91

Body focus workout

W hile full-bodyworkouts let youwork a big range of

muscle groups, the advantageof body focus workouts is thatyou can completely fatigue thetarget muscles. You can thenlet them recover for a weekwhile you train different bodyparts. It’s a good way of beingspecific about how you put onmuscle but the downside isthat doing lots of single-jointexercises won’t produce asbig a growth hormone releaseas doing big compoundmoves. You also need toexercise frequently if you wantto work every major musclegroup once a week.

Designing your workoutThe structure of your sessionis particularly important ifyou’re doing a body focusroutine because you want totrain the target muscle hardbut without overtraining orrisking injury.

Start by doing lightexercises that will warm upyour joint before moving onto do the bigger muscle-building moves. You must thenmake sure you have fatiguedthe muscle fully by doing asingle-joint move. Vary theexercises and angles you useto work that body part so youget good and well balancedmuscle growth.

2 Internal dumb-bell rotationSets: 1 Reps: 15-20 Page: 84

1 External dumb-bell rotationSets: 1 Reps: 15-20 Page: 84

3 Alternating dumb-bell shoulder pressSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 79

4 Rotating squat press | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 80

5 Gym ball Cuban press | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 83

6 Front/lateral raise | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 82

Body focus sample workoutShoulders

1 2

3 4

5 6

Workouts | Dumb-bells & gym ball

92 Men’s Fitness



A s we identified in thebodyweight workoutssection, good core

stability is absolutely essentialif you want to lift heavyweights, be better at sportand stay injury free.

To recap, your coremuscles are the ones aroundyour midriff, including yourabdominals and lower back,and their function is to providea link between your upper andlower body. They’re particularlyimportant during whole-body moves, which need astrong core to transfer powerbetween the upper and lowerhalves of your body. They’realso called on to stabiliseyour spine during dynamicand sporty movements.

A weak core will inhibit yourability to lift heavy weights in

whole-body moves becauseyou won’t be able to transferforce from your lower to upperbody. You may also be morelikely to suffer from lower backand postural problems.

Developing your workoutTo get a strong and stablecore you need to attackthe muscles from differentangles and target the musclesat the sides and back ofyour midriff.

Start with moves that placethe greatest weight on yourcore, such as compound lifts,and end with bodyweightexercises that won’t riskinjuring your tired muscles.Because this workout focuseson stability, you shouldcomplete a relatively highnumber of reps per set.

2 Dumb-bell woodchopSets: 2 Reps: 10-12 each side Page: 86

1 Lunge to press | Sets: 2 Reps: 10-12 each side Page: 87

3 Gym ball crunch | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 Page: 61

4 Gym ball back extension | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 Page: 66

5 Gym ball oblique crunchSets: 2 Reps: 15 each side Page: 62



7 Gym ball dumb-bell Russian twistSets: 2 Reps: 15 each side Page: 65

8 Plank | Sets: 1 Time: Hold as long as possible Page: 33

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8



Men’s Fitness 93

Circuit training workout

T his is a great optionif you’re short of timeor your main goal is

fat loss. By doing differentexercises back to back withno rest in between you keepyour effort level high andforce your heart to pumpblood to different parts ofyour body, giving you both acardiovascular and a muscle-building benefit. Be warned,this can be very tiring, so keepthe weights light to avoid injuryand fatiguing early. Circuitsaren’t the best way to buildmuscle but they will help youto look lean and defined.

Designing your workoutFor circuits to be effective,you need to move from oneexercise to the next as swiftlyas possible, so they work

best when you can do all themoves in the workout withone item of kit.

Pick a group of exercisesthat target as many differentmuscle groups as possibleand alternate between upperand lower body movesto make your heart workharder without experiencingexcessive muscle fatigue.

Include a good mix ofpushing, pulling, lunging,bending and rotationalmoves to give your workoutbalance. You should also tryto complete the reps quicklybut without compromisinggood form.

Once you’ve completed thecircuit, rest for three minutesand do it all again. The fitteryou become, the more circuitsyou’ll be able to complete.

2 Rotating squat press | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 80

1 Dumb-bell side lungeSets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 73

3 Gym ball dumb-bell reverse flyeSets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 67

4 Lunge to press | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 87

5 Dumb-bell T press-up | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 70



7 Bicycles | Sets: 1 Reps: 12 Page: 33

1 2

3 4

5 6

7


94 Men’s Fitness




E xplosive powerworkouts, also knownas plyometric workouts,

give you more than oneof benefit. They help buildmuscle but also developyour power and coordination.During a plyometric move,you activate the muscleeccentrically as it’s stretchedout and pre-loaded, then youexplode into the lift to contractthe muscle concentrically,which shortens it.

This dynamic movementtargets your fast-twitch musclefibres, exhausting themquicker then a conventionalworkout but without having toadd extra weight. The intensitywill also push up your heartrate, burning extra caloriesand releasing muscle-buildinghormones into your body.

These types of workoutsare popular with sportsmenbecause they can be usedto develop fast, powerfulmovements and improveskills such as vertical leap.

Designing your workoutThe intensity and forcegenerated during explosivepower workouts means thatthey carry a slightly higherinjury risk. For that reason,you should perform fewerrepetitions of each plyometricexercise than you wouldfor a standard workout. Forthe plyometric moves, useeither your bodyweight or aweight that’s 30-40 per centof your ten rep maximum forthat exercise.

For each target body part,start by doing an activationmove to warm up and stabiliseyour muscles. Then do theplyometric exercise beforeperforming a single-joint moveto exhaust the muscles.

The emphasis of thesesessions is on speed andpower rather than developingendurance, so make sureyou rest for at least oneminute between plyometricsets and at least two minutesbetween plyometric exercises.

2 Jump press-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 8 Page: 40

1 Gym ball dumb-bell pulloverSets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 71

3 Gym ball dumb-bell flye | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 70

4 Two-arm dumb-bell kickback | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 60

5 Dumb-bell T press-upSets: 2 Reps: 8 each side Page: 70

6 Dumb-bell overhead triceps extensionSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 59

Explosive power sample workoutChest and triceps

1 2

3 4

5 6


Men’s Fitness 95


Superset workout

S upersets are a greattime-saving option.Because you do two

exercises back to back beforeresting, you dramaticallyreduce your workout time.

You can pair any twoexercises to form a supersetbut the most popular optionis to create antagonisticsupersets, in which the twomoves work opposing bodyparts. An example would beto perform a gym ball dumb-bell press, which works yourchest, then go straight intoa dumb-bell bent-over row,which works your back. Theadvantage of antagonisticsupersets is that they give onebody part a chance to restwhile the opposing musclegroup is working, whichleads to balanced muscle

development. Other optionsinclude non-competingsupersets, which targetunrelated muscle groups suchas pairing a lower-body movewith an upper-body one, andpost-exhaustion supersets,where you do a multi-jointmove followed by a single-joint move targeting thesame body part.

Designing your workoutFor each exercise in thisantagonistic superset workout,find one that works its polaropposite, so if you do oneexercise that targets yourquads do another that targetsyour hamstrings. Bicepsexercises should be pairedwith triceps moves and so on.After each superset, rest fortwo minutes and repeat.

1 Superset A 2 Superset B

3 Superset C 4 Superset D

2 Superset B | Dumb-bell sumo squat | Split dumb-bell Romanian deadlift | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Pages: 72/76

1 Superset A | Gym ball dumb-bell press | Dumb-bellbent-over row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Pages: 68/65

3 Superset C | Dumb-bell curl | Dumb-bell overheadtriceps extension | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Pages: 56/59

4 Superset D | Dumb-bell crunch | Gym ball backextension | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Pages: 61/66


96 Men’s Fitness



A s you become moreadvanced, you may findyou’re unable to fatigue

your muscles sufficiently in afull-body routine. If that’s thecase, you should considerdoing a split routine where youdo a different thing in eachsession of the week. The mostpopular form of split routineis a body part split in whichyou train two body parts in asingle session.

An example of this wouldbe to train your chest andtriceps in your first workout ofthe week, your shoulders andbiceps in the second, yourlegs and back in the third andyou abs and core in the fourth.This system lets you hit everybody part hard once a week

without having to go to thegym every day.

Designing your workoutOnce you’ve decided onwhich two body parts you’regoing to work, do a move thatworks one of these body partsthen alternate between thetwo body parts. For example,if you’re going to work yourshoulders and biceps youcould start with a dumb-bellArnold press, which worksyour shoulders, and followthat with biceps curls, whichwork your biceps. To developthe body part fully, makesure you include a range ofexercises that hit the targetmuscle groups from a varietyof angles.

Body part split workout

2 Dumb-bell curl | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 56

1 Gym ball dumb-bell Arnold pressSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 79

3 Front raise | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 81

4 Gym ball dumb-bell preacher curlSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 57

5 Gym ball passing jackknife | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 64

6 Hammer curl | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 58

Body part split sample workoutShoulders and biceps

1 2

3 4

5 6


Men’s Fitness 97


A nother popular way ofarranging a split routineis to do an upper/lower

split, where you alternatebetween sessions made upentirely of upper or lowerbody moves.

This type of workout issimple to create, so you don’thave to spend lots of timeplanning your sessions. Italso suits people who can’t fitin many sessions per weekbecause you only have to dotwo sessions a week to makesure you’ve worked everymajor muscle group. However,you’ll need to do more thantwo sessions a week if youwant to see the best benefits.

Designing your workoutIf you’re doing a lower-bodyday, all your exercises shouldtarget your lower body. Youstill need to make sure yourroutine is balanced, so includemoves that work your glutes,quads, hamstrings and calves,and make sure you hit themfrom different angles. Start withthe biggest muscles such asyour quads and hamstrings,then do calves moves.

If you’re doing an upper-body workout, the sameprinciples apply. So you’d dochest, back and shouldersmoves before targeting thesmaller muscles of yourbiceps, triceps and forearms.

Upper/lower body split workout


1 Dumb-bell squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 71

3 Dumb-bell side lunge | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 73

4 Gym ball hip raise leg curl | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 77

5 Supine gym ball calf raise | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 78

6 Wall squatSets: 1 Time: hold for as long as possible Page: 43

Upper/lower body split sampleworkout Lower body

1 2

3 4

5 6

98 Men’s Fitness



A push/pull split routineis similar to an upperlower/body one in that

you do two types of workout.In this case, you alternatebetween workouts involvingpushing moves and workoutsinvolving pulling moves.

This way of splittingworkouts can be attractivefor people who do sportsthat involve a lot of pushingmovements, such as rugby.However, you still need to doan equal amount of pullingmoves for balanced muscledevelopment.

Designing your workoutIf you’re doing a push day, allthe moves in your workout

should be pushing moves.These are ones that workyour chest, quads, shoulders,triceps and calves. Aim tomake your workout balanced,so include moves that workall those body parts anduse different exercisesand angles in differentpush sessions.

Start with moves thattarget your big muscles,such as your chest, quadsand shoulders, then go on tothe smaller muscles of yourtriceps and calves.

If you’re doing a pullingworkout, the same rules apply.So you’d include moves thattarget your back, hamstrings,biceps and abs.

Push/pull split workout

2 Dumb-bell sumo squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 72

1 Dumb-bell T press-up | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 70

3 Gym ball shoulder press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 78

4 Dumb-bell step-up | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 74

5 Gym ball chair dip | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 60


Push/pull split sample workoutPush session

1 2

3 4

5 6


Men’s Fitness 99


Post-exhaustion workout

W eight trainingexercises can bedivided into two

main categories – compoundmoves and isolation moves.Compound exercises useseveral muscle groups atonce, while isolation exercisestarget one muscle group on itsown. Post-exhaustion traininginvolves pairing a compoundmove with an isolation one.

The theory is that you doa big muscle move to getyourself pumped by movingheavy weights. When youmove on to the lighter weightisolation move you completelyfatigue the target muscle. Thisis good for muscle growthbecause you exhaust a highnumber of muscle fibres.Your body then repairs those

fibres to become biggerand stronger than theywere before.

Designing your workoutIf you’re training your chest,start by doing your sets ofa chest press, for example,which works your chest,triceps and shoulders. Youcould then move on to doingdumb-bell flyes, which focuson your chest.

You should avoid doingthe isolation move firstbecause this may fatigueyour target muscle, which willbe too tired to lift the heavyweight on the compoundmove. This increases the strainon your smaller supportingmuscles, which may getinjured as a result.

2 One-leg squat | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 42

1 Dumb-bell squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 71

3 Gym ball dumb-bell press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 68



6 Gym ball hamstring curl | Sets: 3 Reps: 12 Page: 76

Post-exhaustion sample workout

7 Dumb-bell bent-over row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 65

8 Bent-over flye | Sets: 3 Reps: 12 Page: 66

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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Drop set workout

D rop sets are a way ofincreasing the numberof reps you perform

of an exercise. Once youreach failure on your final setof an exercise, immediatelyreduce the weight and doas many reps as you canwith that weight. Once youreach failure again, dropthe weight once more andcontinue that process.

The intense nature of thissystem ramps up the muscle-building effect, so use themto iron out weak muscle links.To do them effectively try tominimise the time betweenreaching failure and startingthe new weight, so you don'tget a chance to recover.

Designing your workoutDrop sets are a demandingtechnique so use themsparingly. Make sure you

only do them on the finalset of the final exercise ofa body part because theycompletely exhaust themuscle involved. If you triedto do more exercises for thatbody part, you would struggleto maintain perfect form.

For the same reason, youshould only perform one ortwo drop sets per workout. Domore and you risk overtraining.You can use as many dropsas you like, provided youmaintain strict form. Makesure you drop the weightat increments that have apositive but not too dramatican effect on how many repsyou can perform. Droppingthe weight by 20 per centis a good place to start. Ifyou halve the weight, youwon’t take full advantageof the technique’s muscle-building potential.

2 Gym ball dumb-bell pulloverSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 71

1 Decline press-up | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 41

3 Gym ball dumb-bell pressSets: 3 (last set drop set) Reps: 10-12 Page: 68

4 Diamond press-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 39

5 Chair dip | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 30

6 Two-arm dumb-bell kickbackSets: 3 (last set drop set) Reps: 10-12 Page: 60

Drop set sample workoutChest and triceps

1 2

3 4

5 6


Men’s Fitness 101


2 Dumb-bell squat | Sets: 3 (+1 back-off set)Reps: 10 (+ as many as you can in back-off set) Page: 71

1 Dumb-bell side lunge | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 73

3 Gym ball Cuban press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 83

4 Gym ball dumb-bell Arnold press | Sets: 3 (+1 back-offset) Reps: 10 (+ as many as you can in back-off set) Page: 79

5 Plank | Sets: 3 Time: 30 seconds Page: 33

6 Dumb-bell woodchop | Sets: 3 (+1 back-off set)Reps: 10 (+ as many as you can in back-off set) Page: 86

Back-off set sample workoutLegs, shoulders and core

Back-off set workout

T hese workouts typicallyinvolve between twoand four sets of low reps

of an exercise with a heavyweight before dropping theweight significantly for a finalset when you do as manyreps as possible.

This is effective is becausethe nerves that stimulate yourmuscles are primed for actionby the heavy sets, allowingyou to perform better in thefinal set than you wouldhad you attempted that setfirst. This increased capacitysparks new muscle growth.

Designing your workoutsFor a back-off set to beeffective, it has to be a moveyou can do using heavyweights and one in whichyou can control how muchweight you’re lifting. That’s whybig compound moves suchas dumb-bell squats, ratherthan stability or bodyweightexercises, are most effective.

You’ll get best results byactivating the target musclegroup before working it againin a back-off exercise. You’llalso get a bigger muscle-building effect when you doyour initial sets with low reps.However, if your dumb-bellsdon’t go over 10kg you mightnot be able to fatigue yourmuscle that quickly, so youmay have to do more reps.

For the back-off set, dropthe weight by 40 per centand do as many reps asyou can with perfect form. If,for example, you ordinarilylift 10kg each side in a gymball dumb-bell Arnold press,reduce this to 6kg.

Aim to perform the reps ofa back-off set faster than youwould during a regular set todevelop your explosive powerand strength. This way ofworking out can be drainingso only use it sparingly. Do itfor one week of a six to eight-week programme.

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T o grow your musclesyou need to exhaustthem so they repair to

be stronger than they werebefore. The more fibres youexhaust, the greater yourmuscle growth. One way ofmaximising the number offibres you stimulate is to doa pyramid workout.

Essentially, pyramidworkouts involve increasingthe weight you lift with eachset of an exercise whilereducing the number of reps.This is good because there’sno such thing as a slightlyactivated muscle fibre – theyare either engaged or not. Bytaking a muscle through anincreasing range of weightwhile reducing the reps, youtarget each category of fibresin turn, completely exhaustingthe whole muscle.

Designing your workoutDoing a whole workout ofpyramid exercises would

take a long time and couldbe counter-productive,overtraining the muscleand sending the body intoa destructive metabolism.Instead, strategically insertpyramid sets into a workout.

There is more than oneway of performing a pyramidworkout. You could start witha conventional muscle growthrep count, such as 12, andreduce the number of repsyou do by two each set untilyou get to six reps. You canalso do a reverse pyramidby starting with low reps andending with a high rep count.

You can adjust your repcounts depending on whatyou want to achieve. If yourfocus is on strength, start withfewer reps and go down toas little as one rep for a set.You can also reduce your repsbefore gradually increasingthem to finish with the samenumber of reps you completedfor your first set.

Pyramid workout

2 Front raise | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 81

1 Gym ball dumb-bell shoulder pressSets: 4 Reps: Pyramid 12/10/8/6 Page: 78

3 Dumb-bell curlSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 56

4 Dumb-bell upright row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 67

5 Lateral raise | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 81

6 Rotating squat pressSets: 4 Reps: Reverse pyramid 6/8/10/12 Page: 80

Pyramid sample workoutShoulders and arms

1 2

3 4

5 6


Men’s Fitness 103


Wave-loading workout

T here are a number ofways that you can do awave-loading session

but, essentially, they all involvelifting a weight for a set thencutting the reps but uppingthe weight for the next set.From here you can either goback to the original weightand perform as many reps asyou can or reduce the repsand up the weight for anotherset before repeating thatsequence of three sets.

Whatever way you decideto arrange a wave-loadingworkout, it teaches yourmuscles to lift more weight ina single rep so it’s a good toolto use if you’re struggling toincrease your maximum lift ina particular exercise.

Designing your workoutWave-loading works well insplit routines because you canactivate the body part with a

stability move before wave-loading for the strength moveand fully exhausting the targetmuscle in an isolation move.

One option is to find yourfive repetition maximum foran exercise then do fourreps. Rest for three minutes,increase the weight by five percent then do three reps. Restfor three minutes, increase theweight by five per cent anddo two reps. Rest for threeminutes and repeatthat sequence.

An alternative – and the oneoutlined in the sample workoutbelow – is to do a normal setof eight reps then rest for twominutes before loading extraweight on to your dumb-bellsfor a shorter set of four reps.Another rest of two minutes isfollowed by a final set in whichyou go back to the originalweight and do as many repsas possible, past eight reps.

2 Dumb-bell curlSets: 3 Reps: (wave loader) 8, 4, 8+ Page: 56

1 Hammer curl | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 58

3 Gym ball dumb-bell preacher curlSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 57

4 Gym ball press-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 69

5 Gym ball dumb-bell flyeSets: 3 Reps: (wave loader) 8, 4, 8+ Page: 70

6 Dumb-bell pull-over | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 71

Wave loading sample workoutChest and biceps

1 2

3 4

5 6

104 Men’s Fitness



W hen you lift a weightwith both sidesof your body, your

stronger side will work harderin an effort to take the strainoff your weaker side. If youcontinue to do lifts that workboth sides of your bodysimultaneously, you may endup with unbalanced muscles.

The solution is to dounilateral workouts, whichinvolve working one side ofyour body at a time. Doingthat will force both sides ofyour body to work equallyhard, resulting in equal musclegrowth, which will make youlook better and reduce yourchances of getting injured.

Unilateral moves are alsogood at developing your

stabilising muscles becauseyou have to completely controlthe movement of the weight.

Designing your workoutUnilateral workouts can beused to address muscleimbalances, so do exercisesthat target muscle groups youthink aren’t balanced on bothsides of your body. So, if youthink one shoulder is strongerthan the other, do moves thattarget that body part, such asalternating shoulder presses.

You can combine unilateralworkouts with another workoutstyle, such as an explosiveworkout where you only doone-sided moves. The workoutbelow is an example of awhole-body unilateral workout.

Unilateral workout

2 Alternating dumb-bell shoulder press | Sets: 2Reps: 10 each side Page: 79

1 One-arm dumb-bell snatch | Sets: 2Reps: 10 each side Page: 85


4 One-leg gym ball hamstring curl | Sets: 2Reps: 10 each side Page: 77

5 T press-up | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 70

6 Gym ball dumb-bell triceps extension | Sets: 2Reps: 10 each side Page: 59

Unilateral sample workout

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 Side plank star | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 34

7


Men’s Fitness 105


I f you find that your traininghas hit a plateau, clusterworkouts will inject new

stimulus into your workouts.There are a number of waysof doing cluster workouts butessentially they all involvereducing the load so youcan complete high repswith little rest. The result isthat you lift a greater volumeof weight during your session,which has a positive effecton muscle growth andcalorie burn.

Designing your workoutOne of the simplest ways todo a cluster workout is to doa normal workout until youget to the final two exercises.If you have done ten reps foreach move, stick with a weightyou would use to do ten repsfor the final two moves if youwere continuing your standardworkout, but only do five reps

of the penultimate exercise.Without resting, move on tothe final exercise and do fivereps. Go straight back to thepenultimate exercise andalternate between the finaltwo moves for five minutes,doing five reps of each withoutresting. Make sure you choseopposing or non-competingmuscle groups, such as legsand shoulders, otherwise you’llfatigue early.

Other ways of doing clusterworkouts include doing singlereps with your three-repmaximum with minimal restbetween reps (ten seconds,say) or clusters of low-repsets of one exercise withyour ten-rep maximum withminimal rest between groupsof reps. However you chooseto arrange your workouts, thisis an intense method so useit when you feel your progresshas stalled.

Cluster workout

2 Gym ball lying Cuban press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 83

1 Dumb-bell sumo squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 72

3 Dumb-bell curl | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 56

4 Dumb-bell overhead triceps extensionSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 59

5a Gym ball dumb-bell Bulgarian split squatCluster: 1 Reps: 5 each side Page: 75

5b Alternating dumb-bell shoulder pressCluster: 1 Reps: 5 each side Page: 79

Cluster sample workout

1 2

3 4

5a 5b

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Extra kitintroductionExplore new workout options byintroducing three more bits of kit

A dding a pull-up bar,a medicine ball and aresistance band to your

home gym will open up newareas of workout possibilitieswithout taking over your spareroom or using all your sparecash. This chapter showsyou the key moves you cando with these new bits of kitand how you can use them tocreate new workouts.

A pull-up bar lets youperform pull-ups and chin-ups, two of the most effectivemoves for building muscle.

A medicine ball lets youexercise dynamically toimprove your coordination

and balance, and it can bethrown and caught withoutleaving dents in your floor ordislocations in your fingers.They can also be used toadd resistance to bodyweightmoves to make themsufficiently challengingto fatigue your muscles.

Resistance bands aredifferent to other weightsin your home gym becausethe resistance increasestowards the top of the move,which challenges yourmuscles in a new way. They’realso cheap and easy to store,which makes them a handyhome workout tool.


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108 Men’s Fitness


What it doesA pull-up bar will give you a great newmuscle-building challenge. Performingpull-ups (where your palms face awayfrom you) and chin-ups (where yourpalms face you) recruits a large numberof muscles, making them a great musclebuilder because they flood your bodywith growth hormones.

While you’re hanging from the baryou’re not in contact with the ground,which means you have a biggerpotential range of motion. You canalso work your hard-to -reach lowerabdominals, for an even developmentof your six-pack.

What to buyThe simplest bars can be adjustedto fit in a standard doorway. Thedownside is that you need to screwthem into the frame to secure themin place. Some are designed to be fixedthere permanently, while others are moretemporary and involve attaching tworubber circles to your door frame, overwhich you slot an adjustable bar.

If tampering with woodwork isn’t anoption you can get bars that mountthe doorframe without needing to bepermanently secured. This option tendsto be slightly more expensive, butobviously less intrusive.

Extra kit | Buyer’s guide

Add a pull-up bar, medicine ball and resistance band toyour home gym to expand your workout possibilities

What it doesIn the real world the body moves athigh speed and creates momentumto make it easier to move objects. Thefaster you want to move something, thegreater the speed and strength you need.This, essentially, is what we call power.Unfortunately, power is one of the mostneglected aspects of training and fewpeople possess the muscle synergy andtone to control their body’s segmentsproperly. That’s where medicine ballscome in. They allow you to add power toa workout in a natural way. And if you getbored of working out at home, you canuse them outdoors.

What to buyThe weight of medicine ball you chooseshould depend on what exercises you’regoing to do. If you’re relatively new toworking out and you’re only going tobuy one ball, opt for 3kg. If you’re moreexperienced, go for 4kg or 5kg. Buyingmore than one ball will allow you to usethe kit in exactly the way you want.

Leather balls look and feel nice butyou can’t use them outside. Balls withhandles are good for certain exercisessuch as woodchops but are less good forthrowing. Round rubber balls are nice togrip and easy to catch, and you won’t feelguilty about slamming them on the floor.

Extra kit gear guide

Resistance band Medicine ball

What it doesResistancebands are idealfor home trainingbecause of theirversatility. Thinkof them as amulti-gym without

the weights – all you have to do is attachone end to something stable, such as astanding foot or a door, and start pullingor pushing, altering the length of bandto vary the resistance.

They also work your muscles in adifferent way from training with freeweights. When using free weights,resistance is greatest at the start of themove. It then reduces as you gathermomentum towards the top of the move.With resistance bands, it’s the other wayround, so they challenge your muscles ina different way, which can result in newmuscle growth.

What to buyThere are two main types of resistanceband. The first comes without handstraps, is made of latex rubber and is alsoknown as a stretchband. The other type issometimes called a resistance tube andcomes with handles at both ends, whichmakes it easier to hold.

Resistance tubes come in differentlevels of resistance. You can eitherbuy more than one and use differentbands, or use the same band andadjust the length of the part of theband you’re stretching. The bestresistance bands are ones that allowyou to adjust the length so you cancreate tension as required.

Pull-up bar


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Chin-up

01

Target:biceps, latsThis challengingmulti-joint movegives your bicepsa real test andalso helps to builda strong back.

Start positionGrasp the bar

with an underhandgrip, hands shoulder-width apart

Cross your legsbehind you and lowerto your full extensionwithout swinging

Negativechin-up

02

Start positionGrasp the bar with

an underhand grip,hands shoulder-widthapart

Start with your chinover the bar

MovementLower slowly

until your arms arefully extended

Target:biceps, latsIf you find chin-ups too difficult,try doing just thelowering phase bystarting on a benchor getting a trainingpartner to lift youto the up phase ofthe move.

MovementPull up until your

chin is over the bar andsqueeze your biceps atthe top of the move

Lower slowly to thestart without swinging

Extra kit | Exercises


Men’s Fitness 111

Start positionGrip the bar just

wider than shoulder-width apart with anoverhand grip

Extend your armsfully and let yourbody hang downwithout swinging


chin is over the barand squeeze yourlats as you rise


Start positionGrip the bar just

wider than shoulder-width apart with anoverhand grip

Start with your chinover the bar

MovementLower slowly until

your arms are fullyextended

Pull-up

03

Target: lats, traps,rhomboidsUsing an overhandgrip for this classicstrength test putsthe emphasis onyour back muscles.

Negativepull-up

04

Target: lats, traps,rhomboidsIf you find pull-ups too difficult,try doing just thelowering phase bystarting on a benchor getting a trainingpartner to lift youto the up phase ofthe move.

Strengthen your grip

If your hands fail before your arms

during pull-ups, grip the bar by closing

your thumb around the bar, then

wrapping fingers over thumbs

Fit tip

Exercises | Extra kit

112 Men’s Fitness


Wide-grippull-up

05

Target: lats, traps,rhomboidsWidening yourgrip makes themove harder andputs more of anemphasis onyour lats. Start position

Grip the bar widerthan shoulder-widthapart with an overhandgrip

Extend your armsfully and let your bodyhang down withoutswinging

Hangingknee raise

06

Start positionUse an overhand

grip, cross your legsbehind you and hangdown without swinging

MovementUse your abs to

draw your knees upto your chest

Pause for a secondat the top of the move,then lower slowlywithout letting yourbody swing

Target: lowerabdominalsWork the often-neglected lowerabdominals to helpcarve a six-pack.


chin is over the bar andsqueeze your lats asyou do so




Men’s Fitness 113

Start positionGrip the bar wider

than shoulder-widthapart with an overhandgrip, with your legshanging down

MovementRaise your

legs until theyare parallel tothe floor.


grip and hang withoutswinging, gripping amedicine ball betweenyour knees

MovementUse your abs to

draw your knees upto your chest

Pause for a secondat the top of the move,then lower slowlywithout letting yourbody swing

Hangingleg raise

07

Target: lowerabdominalsKeeping your legsstraight as youraise them upis tougher thanthe knee raisebut is great forstrengthening yourlower abs.

Medicineball kneeraise

08

Target: lowerabdominalsUsing a medicineball makes kneeraises morechallenging,allowing you tofatigue at yourdesired rep rangeonce you’re goodat standard kneeraises.


114 Men’s Fitness


Twistingknee raise

09

Target: lower abs,obliquesBring your side absinto play for a morecomplete coreworkout by twistingas you raise yourknees.


grip, cross your legsbehind you and hangwithout swinging

Climberschin-ups

10

MovementUse your abs to draw

your knees up and outto the side

Pause for a secondat the top of the move,then lower slowlywithout letting yourbody swing, alternatingsides with each rep

Start positionTake an overhand

grip with hands slightlyfurther than shoulder-width apart

MovementPerform a wide-grip

pull-up, then pull yourbody towards one hand

Return the wayyou came and repeatthe move on theopposite side

Target: lats, traps,rhomboidsYou don’t have tobe a climber toget the benefits ofthis move, whichincreases upper-body strengthand shoulder jointstabilisation.



Men’s Fitness 115

Start positionGrab a pull-up bar

with a mixed grip – onepalm facing you, theother facing awayfrom you

Extend your armsfully and let your bodyhang without swinging


chin is over the barand squeeze your latsas you do so


MovementLunge forward,

leading with the legon the opposite sideto the ball at the start

As you lunge, chopthe ball down andacross your body so itends up outside yourfront knee

Start positionStand up straight

with the ball raised overone shoulder

Mixed-grippull-up

11

Target: lats,traps, rhomboids,biceps, coreTaking a mixedgrip makes yourbody control therotational force fora stronger core.

Medicineball lungechop

12

Target: wholebodyThis move isa great test ofbalance andcoordination.Holding the lungeposition makesyour core workovertime as it triesto stabilise yourhips and torso.


116 Men’s Fitness


Medicineballwoodchop

13

Target: wholebodyThis move recruitsthe whole bodyto lift the ball butdoes it all throughthe core so thatthe muscles inyour midriff put in amassive effort.

Start positionStart with your back

flat, your core engagedand your feet shoulder-width apart

Your knees shouldbe in line with your feetwith your thighs almostparallel to the floor

Hold a medicine ballin both hands on theoutside of your thigh

Medicineball reversecrunch

14

MovementLift the medicine

ball up and across yourbody with straight butnot locked arms

As you lift the ball,twist your torso tothe opposite side andrise on to the toesyou’re twisting awayfrom, using your coremuscles to controlthe movement

Start positionLie with your head and

back on the floor and yourarms out by your sidesfor support

Your knees should bebent so that your thighsare vertical

Grip a medicine ballbetween your legs

MovementContract your abs to lift

your hips off the floorPause at the top of the

move then lower slowlyback to the start

Target: lowerabdominalsAdding extraweight to a reversecrunch will allowyou to build extramuscle.



Men’s Fitness 117


position with one handon the medicine ballunderneath your shoulder

MovementPush up and pass

the ball across to yourother hand

Pass the ball back andforth with each press-up


position with both handson top of the ball

MovementLower down then

press up, using your coremuscles to prevent the ballfrom moving

Medicineball passingpress-up

15

Target: chest,triceps, coreUsing a medicineball increases thepush and forcesyou to stabiliseyour shoulder joint.

Medicineball closegrippress-up

16

Target: chest,triceps, corePositioning bothhands on top ofthe medicine ballramps up thedemand placedon your core andshoulders.


118 Men’s Fitness


Medicineball sidethrow-downs

17

Target: obliquesThe throwingaction worksyour side absplyometrically,developing yourfast-twitch musclesand increasingyour powerproduction.

Start positionHold the ball directly

above your head

Medicineball leg drop

18

MovementThrow the ball down

hard to the sideCatch the ball on

the bounce and repeatthe move on theopposite side

Start positionLie on your back

with your head andshoulders on the floorand your arms flat onthe floor for balance

Grip a medicine ballbetween your feet withyour legs up in the air

MovementLower the ball as slowly

as you can under controlStop before your heels

touch the floor and returnto the start

Target: lower abs,hips, adductorsIncrease theresistance ofa standard legdrop by placinga medicine ballbetween your feet.


Target your lower abs

The lower section of the abs is the part

that’s most difficult to hit. To get a

six-pack rather than just a four-pack,

do medicine ball leg drops

Fit tip


Men’s Fitness 119


shoulder-width apart,your knees bent slightly,and lean forwards fromthe hips, not the waist

Keeping yourback straight andyour shoulder bladesretracted, hold amedicine ball in bothhands with yourarms hangingstraight down

MovementPull the ball up to

your sternum then lowerit back to the start

Start positionBegin with your knees

bent at 90˚ and your feetflat on the floor

Hold the medicine ballon your chest with yourhead slightly off the floor


lift your shoulders off thefloor without straining atthe neck

Keep your lower back incontact with the floor andcurl your chest towardsyour knees

Pause at the top of themove to squeeze yourabs and lower slowly tothe start

Medicineball bent-over row

19

Target: lats, traps,rhomboidsWork your backwith the medicineball variation of theclassic big muscle-building move.

Medicineball crunch

20

Target:abdominalsUsing a medicineball to perform acrunch makes themove harder soyou can fatigueyour muscleswithout doingan excessivelyhigh numberof repetitions.


120 Men’s Fitness


Medicineball tornadochop

21

Target: obliquesThis dynamicmove targets yourside abs and willget your heart rateup for a fat-burningeffect.

Start positionHold the medicine

ball in front of you atchest height

Medicineball Russiantwist

22

MovementKeeping your

shoulders back, twistyour torso as far as youcan to one side withoutlosing balance

Come back the wayyou came and twistto the other side tocomplete one rep

Start positionLie with your back, head

and shoulders on the floorwith your arms out to thesides for balance

Hold a medicineball between your kneeswith your knees bent at90˚ and your thighs vertical

MovementLower your legs under

control to one side withoutyour shoulders leavingthe floor

Stop before your legstouch the floor and returnto the start the way youcame, then lower them tothe other side

Target: lower abs,obliquesThis movechallenges twoareas of your mid-section that areeasily neglected:the lower absand obliques.



Men’s Fitness 121

Start positionSquat with the

ball in both handsbetween your legs

MovementStraighten your legs

and move powerfullyto bring the ball aboveyour head

Keeping your backflat, bring the ball downpowerfully through yourlegs, bending yourknees as you go


shoulder-width apartand hold the ball inboth hands aboveyour head

MovementLower into a squat

while keeping the balldirectly above your head

Medicineball sledge-hammer

23

Target: wholebodyThis dynamic movewill get musclefiring all over yourbody and is greatfor stabilising yourlower back.

Medicineballoverheadsquat

24

Target: quads,hamstrings, glutesUse a medicineball to test yourshoulder stabilitybefore movingon to doing theexercise with abarbell.


122 Men’s Fitness


Medicineball walkinglunge

25

Target: wholebodyDevelop yourbalance andcoordination whileworking a rangeof muscle groupswith this functionalmove.

Start positionStand holding a

medicine ball in frontof your chest

Medicineball wallthrow

26

MovementStep forward into a

lunge and, as you doso, push the medicineball out in front of you

Bring your back legthrough to stand upstraight and pull the ballback into your chest

Lunge forward withthe other leg

Start positionStand holding

a medicine ball levelwith your chest

MovementIn an explosive

movement, extend yourarms to throw the ballaway from you

Target: chest,tricepsThrowing the ballat a wall or at apartner makes it aplyometric move,which will developyour fast-twitchmuscle fibres andincrease yourexplosive forceproduction.



Men’s Fitness 123

Start positionPosition your feet so

you’re standing on themiddle part of the bandwith an equal lengthof band either side ofyour feetHold the band so

that when your handsare by your sides thereis some tension inthe band

MovementMoving only at the

elbow, pull the band upto your chest

Pause at the topand lower slowly undercontrol

Start positionHold one end of the

band behind your backat hip level and theother behind your headwith your elbow bent

Make sure there issome tension in theband before you start

MovementKeeping your lower

arm still, pivot at theelbow to extend yourarm overhead until itis almost straight

Pause at the top ofthe move and returnslowly to the start

Hammer curl

27

Target: bicepsDoing a hammercurl as opposedto a straightbiceps curl takesthe emphasisaway from yourbiceps brachii andposes more of achallenge to yourforearms.

Resistanceband tricepsextension

28

Target: tricepsIsolate the backs ofyour arms with thissingle-joint move.


124 Men’s Fitness


One-armshoulderpress

29

Target: shouldersDoing this as aone-arm movebrings your coreinto play as itworks to keep yourtorso stable.

Start positionAnchor one end of

the band under onefoot and grasp thehandle with the handon the same side, palmfacing away from you atshoulder height

Lat pull-down

30

MovementPress the band

above your headuntil your arm isalmost straight

Pause at the topand return slowly tothe start

Start positionLoop the band over

the top of a door andkneel down, holdingboth handles withyour arms up andstraight, slightly infront of your head

MovementKeeping your

forearms parallelthroughout the move,bring your hands downto your chest, squeezingyour shoulder bladestogether at the bottomof the move

Target: lats,bicepsHook the bandover the top of adoor to build astronger back.



Men’s Fitness 125

Start positionSit with your legs

straight and make surethat there is tension inthe band when you loopit round the soles of yourfeet and your arms are outin front of you

MovementPull the band back until

your hands are level withyour chest

Squeeze your shoulderblades together at the topof the move and returnslowly to the start

Start positionLoop the band

behind your back atchest height and startwith some tension inthe band and your fistslevel with your chest

MovementPush your hands

away from your body,keeping your forearmsparallel to the ground

Seated row

31

Target: traps, lats,rhomboidsWork your backmuscles with thissimple but effectivemove.

Standingchest press

32

Target: chestAdapt this classicmove by loopingthe band aroundyour back todevelop your chest.


126 Men’s Fitness


Squat

33

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsUsing a resistanceband to do squatsincreases theresistance as youstand up, workingyour muscles in adifferent way to apair of dumb-bellsor a barbell.

Start positionStand on the band

and hold it so there’stension in the bandwhen you’re in the‘down’ position

Leg curl

34


straight, push upthrough your heels toa standing positionthen lower slowlyback to the start

Start positionSecure the handle

of one end of theband around one ofyour feet and standon the band with yourother foot so there’stension on the bandwhen the toes on theworking leg are levelwith the heel of thestanding leg

Keep the kneeof your working legtucked into the otherknee

MovementSlowly raise your

heel behind you for thefull range of movement,keeping your toespointing down

Control themovement back to thestart and swap legseach set

Target:hamstringsWork the backsof your legs tobalance the quad-dominant workyou do whenperforming squats.



Men’s Fitness 127

Start positionLoop the band around

a solid structure suchas a table leg

Lie on the floor withyour back to the tableand hold the band by thehandles so that there’stension in it before youstart the crunch

MovementCrunch upwards against

the resistance of the band,pause and lower yourselfunder control, avoidingtouching your shouldersto the floor between reps

Start positionHold the band in

each hand with onefoot over the middleof the band

Take a stepbackwards with yourother foot so that thethigh of the leg securingthe band is parallel tothe floor – making surethere’s tension in thebend in this position

MovementDrive up with your

back foot to return tothe start

Swap legs each set

Crunch

35

Target:abdominalsThe resistanceband increasesthe difficulty of themove so you canwork your abs evenharder.

Lunge

36

Target: glutes,quads, hamstringsWork your entirelower body withthis dynamic movethat tests yourcoordination.


128 Men’s Fitness


Lateral raise

37

Target: deltoidsThis move willstrengthen yourshoulders andmake them lookbroader.

Start positionStand with one foot

slightly in front of theother and the bandbeneath it

Hold one end of theband in each handwith your armsby your sides

Woodchop

38

MovementRaise your arms

straight out to yoursides but don’t gobeyond shoulder height

Pause at the top ofthe move and lowerslowly under control

MovementDraw the band up

and to one side ina chopping motion,rotating your torsoas you go

Pause at the top,then return to the startthe way you came

Target: wholebodyUse this dynamicmovement tobuild a strong coreand improve yourupper-to-lowerbody force transfer.


with your feet slightlywider than shoulder-width apart and yourknees slightly bent.

Hold the handles inboth hands


Men’s Fitness 129



with your feet shoulder-width apart

Start with your armsdown by your sides andyour palms facing frontwith some tension inthe band

MovementCurl your hands up

to your chest, pivoting atyour elbow, then lowerslowly to the start

MovementWith a slight bend

in your arm, pull theband in a horizontal arcuntil it’s in front of yourchest, then return slowlyto the start

Start positionLoop the band

through a door handleor other secure pointat chest height

Hold each handlewith your hands outto the sides at chestheight, making surethere’s some tensionin the band

Biceps curl

39

Target: bicepsUsing a resistanceband will workyour muscles ina different way tousing dumb-bells,giving you newmuscle growth forthis classic move.

Chest flye

40

Target: chestThis move takesthe focus awayfrom your armmuscles andconcentrates iton your chest.


130 Men’s Fitness


Extra kit | Workouts

I ncorporating your new bitsof kit into your full-bodyworkouts will increase

your workout options. That, inturn, will make you less likelyto plateau and more likely tocontinue to build muscle.

Even with a broader rangeof kit involved, full-bodyworkouts are still an efficientway of working out becausethey allow you to work a largerange of muscle fibres in arelatively short space of time.You may find it difficult to fullyexhaust your muscle fibresduring full-body workoutsbut you can combine themwith body focus workouts (anexample of which is opposite).

Designing your workoutsThe important thing toremember when designingfull-body workouts is that theyneed to be balanced. So, forevery pushing motion youshould do a pulling one, andyou should spend as muchtime on your upper body asyou do on your lower. Stick tocompound moves (ones thatwork several muscle groupsat once) because these willgive you maximum muscledevelopment.

Leave any abs moves to theend of your workout becauseyou don’t want them to befatigued when you perform bigmoves such as pull-ups.

Full-body workout

2 Gym ball jackknife | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 63

1 Pull-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 8 Page: 111

3 Gym ball hamstring curl | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 76

4 Gym ball dumb-bell reverse flyeSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 71

5 Gym ball dumb-bell Bulgarian split squatSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 75

6 Hammer curl with twistSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 58


7 Alternating wide shoulder pressSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 80

8 Medicine ball lunge chopSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 115

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8


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Workouts | Extra kit

B y focusing on onebody part you cancompletely fatigue the

target muscle. You shouldthen let that body partrecover for a week while youtrain different muscles. It’s agood way of being specificabout how you put onmuscle but the downside isthat doing lots of single-jointexercises won’t produceas big a release of growthhormone as doing bigcompound moves in a full-body workout. You also needto be prepared to exercisefrequently if you want towork every major musclegroup once a week.

Designing your workoutsIt’s important that you getyour session structure rightfor body focus workouts.If you get it wrong, youincrease your chances ofovertraining or risking injury.

Start by doing lightexercises that warm upyour joint before movingon to do the bigger muscle-building moves. You mustthen make sure you havefatigued the muscle fullyby doing a single-joint move.Vary the exercises andangles you use to workthat body part so you getgood and well balancedmuscle growth.

Body focus workout

2 Gym ball lying triceps extensionSets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 59

1 Two-arm dumb-bell kickbackSets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 60

3 Diamond press-up | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 39

4 Medicine ball wall throw | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 122

5 Resistance band triceps extensionSets: 2 Reps: 8 each side Page: 123

Body focus sample workout Triceps

1 2

3 4

5

132 Men’s Fitness



T he big appeal ofresistance bands is thatthey are portable and

versatile. They are thereforegood if you’re travelling butdon’t want to take a breakfrom exercising.

They also challenge yourmuscles in a different way toconventional weights becausethe resistance increasestowards the top of a move.This is the exact opposite toconventional weights, whichbecome easier to lift at the topof the move as momentumkicks in. The different type ofstress is useful because yourmuscles respond best tonew stimulus. If your muscleshave become used to liftingdumb-bells, doing the sameexercises with a resistanceband will force them to adaptto the new challenge tobecome stronger. When yougo back to using dumb-bells,you should be able to lift more.

Designing your workoutsYou can use a resistanceband to do virtually all theworkout options outlinedin this book. If you want todo a superset workout, forexample, simply arrange yourexercises and rest periodsin the same way you’dconstruct the workout if youwere using other items of kit.

Some workouts, suchas drop sets or back-offsets, aren’t ideally suited toresistance bands becauseit’s best to be precise abouthow much weight you’relifting. You can, however,make any exercise easieror harder depending on thelength and resistance of theband, so it is still possible touse those techniques.

The workout samplebelow is for a full-bodyworkout but you can designyour resistance band routineto meet your workout goals.

Resistance band workout

2 Leg curl | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 126

1 Squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 126

3 Lat pull-down | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 124

4 Standing chest press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 125

5 Hammer curl | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 123

6 Triceps extension | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 123

Resistance band sample workout

7 Shoulder press | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 124

8 Crunch | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 127

1 2

3

4

5

6

7

8


Men’s Fitness 133


M edicine balls arean underrated itemof home gym kit.

They’re surprisingly versatileand, unlike a set of dumb-bells, can be thrown around.

Because they’re easy tohold, medicine balls are greatfor doing dynamic movessuch as walking lunges,which develop your balanceand proprioception – theability of your body to senseand control its movement.They can also introduce anadded element of instabilityto standard moves suchas press-ups, which willstrengthen the stabilisingmuscles in your joints andprepare you for big barbell lifts.

If bodyweight exercisessuch as crunches become tooeasy, you can use a medicineball to increase the resistanceand fatigue your muscleswithin a hypertrophy rep range.

Designing your workoutsYou can use a medicine ballto do several of the workoutoptions throughout thisbook. It is, however, probablybest suited to either full-bodyworkouts (because you cantarget every major group),core stability workouts(because medicine ballsare great at introducinginstability and developingbalance) and for circuitworkouts (because you canuse them for every exerciseand they won’t fatigue yourmuscles too quickly).

The sample workout onthis page is a full-bodysession but if you want touse a medicine ball to doa different kind of workout,simply arrange your exercisesand rest periods in the sameway you’d construct theworkout if you were usingother items of kit.

Medicine ball workout

2 SledgehammerSets: 3 Reps: 12 Page: 121

1 Passing press-upSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 117

3 Overhead squatSets: 3 Reps: 12 Page: 121

4 Walking lungeSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 122

5 Wall throw | Sets: 1 Time: 1 minute Page: 122

6 WoodchopSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 116

Medicine ball sample workout

1 2

3

4

7 Tornado chop | Sets: 3 Reps: 12 Page: 120

5 6

7

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Y ou can create acircuit workout usingeither bodyweight or

minimal kit but introducinga new item of kit, such asa resistance band, will testyour muscles in a differentway. This will give you anew training effect, althoughcircuits are still most suitablefor people who want tolose fat rather than increasemuscle size.

The key theory remains thesame whatever kit you use.Doing different exercises backto back with no rest keepsyour effort level high andforces your heart to pumpblood to different parts of yourbody, giving you both acardiovascular and a muscle-building benefit.

Designing your workoutsFor circuits to be at their mosteffective, you need to move

from one exercise to the nextas swiftly as possible, whichis why it’s best to do all themoves in the workout withone item of kit.

Pick a group of exercisesthat target as manydifferent muscle groupsas possible and alternatebetween upper and lowerbody moves to make yourheart work harder withoutexperiencing excessivemuscle fatigue. Includea good mix of pushing,pulling, lunging, bendingand rotational moves to giveyour workout balance. Youshould also try to completethe reps quickly but withoutcompromising good form.

Once you havecompleted the circuit, restfor three minutes, then doit all again. The fitter youbecome, the more circuitsyou’ll be able to complete.


2 Lateral raise | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 128


3 Squat | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 126

4 Standin chest press | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 125

5 Seated row | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 125

6 Hammer curl | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 123

Resistance band circuit trainingsample workout

7 Lat pull-down | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 124

8 Woodchop | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 each side Page: 128

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8


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G ood core stabilityis essential if youwant to lift heavy

weights, be better at sportand stay injury free. Yourcore muscles are the onesaround your midriff, includingyour abdominals and lowerback, and their function isto provide a link betweenyour upper and lower body.They’re particularly importantduring whole-body moves,which need a strong core totransfer power from upperto lower body. They’re alsocalled upon to stabilise yourspine during dynamic andsporty movements.

A weak core will inhibityour ability to lift heavyweights in whole-bodymoves because you won’tbe able to transfer force fromyour lower to upper body.You may also suffer fromlower-back and posturalproblems.

Designing your workoutsTo get a strong and stablemidsection you need toattack your core fromdifferent angles and targetthe muscles at the sides andback of your midriff.

Start with moves that placethe greatest weight on yourcore, such as compound lifts,and end with bodyweightexercises that won’t riskinjuring your tired muscles.Because this workoutfocuses on stability, youshould complete a relativelyhigh number of reps per set.

Using extra items of kitsuch as a resistance bandwill have a positive effect onyour core strength becausethey allow you to challengeyour muscles in a new way.A knee raise on a pull-upbar, for example, works yourlower abdominals, which areharder to target than yourupper abs.


2 Resistance band woodchopSets: 2 Reps: 10-12 each arm Page: 128

1 Dumb-bell snatch | Sets: 2 Reps: 10-12 Page: 85



5 Medicine ball knee raise | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 Page: 113

6 Medicine ball Russian twistSets: 2 Reps: 15 each side Page: 120


7 Plank | Sets: 1 Time: hold as long as possible Page: 33

1 2

3 4

5 6

7

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Men’s Fitness 137

Barbell & benchintroductionLift heavy weights and pack onmuscle with a barbell and bench

I f you’re really serious aboutgetting bigger and stronger,a good barbell and bench

will give you maximum musclegrowth. This chapter will giveyou an arsenal of big musclemoves and show you how touse your bench and bar – aswell as how to combine themwith the other pieces of kitin the book – to achieve thebody you want.

Once you get used toexercising with dumb-bells,

you may find that you need tograduate to lifting somethingheavier for big compoundmoves such as squats anddeadlifts. A barbell will let youload up the weights, whichin turn will have a positiveeffect on the size and strengthof your muscles. Some bigbarbell lifts, such as a benchpress, require a benchbecause you need a solidbase upon which to performthe move.


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Barbell & bench | Buyer’s guide

Get ready to start lifting heavy by using a barbell and bench

Barbell andbench gear guide

What it doesThere are two main typesof barbell: standard andOlympic. Standard ones usea spinlock system to securethe weight plates. Olympicbars use collars to securethe weight plates, have a2in diameter grip, which isbroader than a standard bar,and come in lengths of 5ft, 6ftand 7ft (1.5m-2.1m). Full-lengthOlympic bars typically weigh20kg, with shorter ones slightlyless. Olympic bars can handlemore weight and are sturdierthan the standard option butare more expensive.

increase your maximum liftbecause it’s such a big jump.A set that includes 2.5kg and1.25kg options will give youmuch more flexibility.

without a spotter, go for abench press option.

What to look forThe bench needs to be stablewhen you’re lying on it and,more importantly, when liftinga heavy weight. If it creaks andstrains, you’ll be more worriedabout ending up in a heapof metal than you are aboutusing perfect form.

A bench with a goodincline and decline rangewill increase the number ofexercises you can perform, aswill one with a high number

of adjustment levels. Makesure the bench is comfortableto lie on when you’re lifting aheavy weight and that you canset it at a height that allowsyou to lie with your back andshoulders on the bench andboth feet flat on the floor.

A bench-press bench withadjustable arms that hold thebar will be useful for doingheavy standing exercisessuch as squats and shoulderpresses unless you have afriend with you at all timesbecause they allow you toraise the bar safely.

Bench

Barbell

amount you can lift. If you havea weight set that only goesup in 5kg increments, you’regoing to struggle to get to thenext level when you want to

What to look forThe most important thingsto think about are the totalweight of your plate set andthe increments in which theyascend. If you want to dobig compound lifts, such assquats, you will need a totalweight that’s at least equal toyour bodyweight. But if youwant to test yourself in thedeadlift, that may need to riseto a set that’s one and a halftimes your bodyweight.

Generally, the more preciseyou can be about the weightyou’re lifting, the more chanceyou have of increasing the

What it doesThere’s a reason why youdon’t see people doing heavybarbell chest presses ona gym ball. A bench offersyou a stable platform for biglifts so you can use heavyweights without worryingabout losing control.

There are two main typesof bench: a utility bench, whichis just a basic platform, anda bench press bench, whichhas a barbell cradle to holda barbell above where yourhead rests on a bench. If youwant to lift heavy weights


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Barbell & bench | Exercises

Barbell curl

01

Target: bicepsBarbells allow youto up the load youlift for a bicepscurl, shocking yourmuscles into newgrowth.

Start positionStand tall with your

shoulders retracted, yourelbows tucked into yoursides and your corebraced

Hold the barbell justoutside your hips

Barbellrollout

02

Start positionStart on your knees,

holding the bar just widerthan shoulder-width apartand directly beneath yourshoulders

MovementKeeping your back and

arms straight and yourcore braced, roll the barout in front of you

Stop before you feelyou’ll lose form and returnthe way you came

Target: coreEngage your absand your lowerback to stabiliseyour core. Thefurther you roll thebar, the harder themove becomes.

MovementLift the weight

without rocking backto use momentum,stopping just beforeyour forearms reachvertical

Lower the weightunder control and keepyour elbows tucked inthroughout the move

Push yourself further

Once you get good at this move using

a barbell, you can make it harder

by doing it with dumb-bells and

alternately rowing them in to your

chest after rolling them out

Fit tip


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Exercises | Barbell & bench


core braced, yourback straight andyour shoulderblades retracted

Lean forward fromthe hips, rather than thewaist, with your kneesslightly bent

Grip the bar justwider than shoulder-width apart, lettingthe bar hang downaround knee level

MovementPull the barbell up

into your sternum,squeezing your shoulderblades together at thetop of the move, thenlower the bar slowly tothe start


core braced, yourback straight andyour shoulder bladesretracted

Lean forward fromthe hips, rather than thewaist, and bend yourknees slightly

Take an overhandgrip just wider thanshoulder-width apart,letting the bar hang ataround knee level

MovementPull the barbell up

into your sternum,squeezing your shoulderblades together at thetop of the move, thenlower the bar slowly tothe start

Bent-over row

03

Target: traps,lats, rhomboidsUse this big-muscle moveto develop yourback and givebalance to thework you do onthe bench press.

Reversegrip bent-over row

04

Target: traps, lats,rhomboidsSwitch to a reversegrip to place moreof an emphasis onyour lats and lowertraps.

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Shrug

05

Target: uppertrapsDoing this movewill increase yourshoulder girdlestability, reducingyour chances ofinjuring yourselfduring shoulderworkouts.


your shoulders backand grip the bar justoutside your thighs

Upright row

06

MovementRaise your shoulders

without bending yourelbows, hold at the topfor one or two secondsand return to the start


your shoulders backand grip the bar in frontof your thighs

MovementRaise your elbows

high to the sides asyou lift the weight

Target: uppertraps, shouldersHit both yourtraps and yourshoulders with thissimple move thatdevelops verticalpulling strength.It’s also a usefulmove to practiseexplosively beforeyou move on to themore challenginghang clean.


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shoulder-width apart,your core braced andyour shoulders back.Rest the bar across theback of your shoulders,not on your neck

Keep your shouldersback, bend your kneesslightly and keep anatural arch in yourlower back

MovementLean forward until

you feel a stretch in yourhamstrings, but don’t gobeyond horizontal

Start positionRest your head and shoulders

on the bench, brace your core,contract your shoulder blades andkeep a natural arch in your spine

Bend your knees at 90˚ andkeep your feet flat on the floor

Grip the bar with your hands justwider than shoulder-width apart, liftit from the rack and hold it directlyabove your chest

MovementLower the bar slowly to

your chest and press backup powerfully

Press down with yourfeet to aid the movementbut avoid arching yourback during the pressingmotion

Goodmorning

07

Target: lowerback, hamstrings,glutesThis move willstrengthen yourmiddle back aswell as your glutesand hamstrings,but you’ll need tomaintain perfectform to avoid injury.

Bench press

08

Target: chestThis classic testof strength willhelp you build amuscular chest.

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Inclinebench press

09

Target: upperchest, frontshoulder, tricepsTilt the backsupport of thebench to hit yourchest from anew angle andwork your frontshoulders andtriceps.

Start positionSet the bench at 30-45˚, brace your core

and keep your feet flat on the floorGrip the bar with hands slightly wider than

shoulder-width apartRemove the bar from the rack and hold it

directly above your chest

Declinebench press

10

MovementLower the bar slowly

to your chest and pressup powerfully

Keep your elbows tothe sides and don’t archyour back

Start positionSet the bench at a

declineGrip the bar with

hands slightly wider thanshoulder-width apart, lift itfrom the rack and hold itdirectly above your chest


your chest and press backup powerfully

Keep your elbows tothe sides and don’t archyour back

Target: lowerchestChange the angleof the bench againto make sure yougive your chest abalanced workout.


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shoulders on the benchand plant your feet flaton the floor

Brace your core andavoid arching your back

Keep your hands closetogether on the bar andsqueeze your shoulderblades together

MovementLower the bar slowly

towards your sternum,keeping your elbowstucked in, then press backup powerfully

Start positionRest your head and shoulders on

the bench, brace your core, contractyour shoulder blades and keep anatural arch in your spine

Bend your knees at 90˚and keep your feet flat on the floor

Grip the bar with your hands justwider than shoulder-width apart, liftit from the rack and hold it directlyabove your chest


your chest and press backup as quickly as you canwhile maintaining control

Press down with yourfeet to aid the movement,but avoid arching yourback during the pressingmotion

Close gripbench press

11

Target: triceps,chestBy bringing yourhands closertogether on thebench press,you transfer theemphasis of theexercise to yourtriceps.

Ballisticbench press

12

Target: chestPush the bar upexplosively, as ifyou were going tothrow it, to activateyour fast-twitchmuscle fibres. Justremember to holdon to the bar.

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Squat

13

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsThis must-dolower-body movewill flood yourbody with musclegrowth hormonesand improve yourbody’s ability tostabilise itself.


shoulder-width apartand your toes turnedout slightly

Rest the bar on theback of your shoulders,rather than your neck,and grip the bar closeto your shoulders

Keep your elbowsback and your corebraced

Jump squat

14

MovementLower until your

thighs are parallel tothe floor, keeping yourknees in line with yourtoes and a natural archin your back

Push back upthrough your heels

Start positionSink down into a

squat, holding on to thebar securely

MovementPush up explosively

so your feet leave theground. Land with acontrolled movementand sink into anothersquat before explodingup again

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsAdd a jump to yoursquat to add aplyometric elementto your workout.


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Start positionHold a light bar

above your head andkeep your arms straight

MovementLower into a squat,

keeping the bar directlyabove your head, butonly go as low as youcan without causingyour back to archforward


shoulder-width apart,your back upright andyour core braced

Rest the bar on thefront of your shoulderswith your elbowspointing forwards

MovementLower until your

thighs are parallel tothe floor, keeping yourknees in line with yourtoes and your elbowsas high as you can

Push back uppowerfully throughyour heels

Overheadsquat

15

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsPerforming themove with theweight above yourhead tests yourposture becausepoor shouldermobility will forcethe weight forwardas you squat.

Front squat

16

Target: quadsPlacing the bar onthe front of yourshoulders forcesyour back to bemore upright andshifts the emphasison to your quadsand away fromyour lower back.

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Lunge

17

Target: glutes,hamstrings,quadsBoost your powerand coordinationwith this classicfunctional lower-body move.


slightly apart, your backupright and your corebraced

Split squat

18

MovementTake a big step

forward, making sureyour torso is upright,the front foot is overyour front knee and yourback knee is almosttouching the floor

Push off your frontfoot to return to the start

Start positionStart in a split stance

with both feet facingforwards

Rest the bar on theback of your shouldersand keep your elbowsback to retract yourshoulder blades

MovementSink down into the

down part of a lungethen return to the start

Target: quads,glutes, hamstringsThis move islike a lunge butyou start withone foot forward,which is less of acoordination testbut allows youto lift heavierweights than astandard lunge.


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Start positionRest your back foot

on the bench and plantyour front foot facingforwards half a metrefrom the bench

Keep your hipssquare to your body,your core bracedand your torsoupright

Rest the bar onthe back of yourshoulders andlook straightahead

MovementKeeping your torso

upright, lower until your frontthigh is almost horizontal

Keep your front knee inline with your foot


shoulder-width apart,your torso upright, yourcore braced and yourshoulders back

Grip the bar justoutside your hips

Keeping your corebraced, lower thebar until your feel astrong stretch in yourhamstrings

MovementInitiate the move by

leaning forward fromthe hips rather thanthe waist

Make sure youunlock your knees, pushyour hips back and letthe bar travel down thefront of your shins

Keep your back flatthroughout the moveand your neck in linewith your spine

Bulgariansplit squat

19

Target: quads,glutesPlacing your backfoot on the benchconcentrates all theeffort on to the frontfoot, giving you aunilateral workoutand balancedmuscle gain.

Romaniandeadlift

20

Target:hamstringsUse this move tomake sure you getbalanced musclegrowth if yourworkouts includequad-dominantsquats. It’s alsogreat for teachingyour back, hipsand legs to worktogether.

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Stiff-leggedRomaniandeadlift

21

Target:hamstringsKeeping your legsstraight increasesthe challenge toyour hamstringsbut can put stresson your lower back,so start light anduse perfect form.


slightly apart, yourtorso upright, yourcore braced and yourshoulders back

Grip the bar justoutside your hips

Shoulderpress

22

MovementKeeping your core

braced and your backflat, lower the bar untilyou feel a strong stretchin your hamstrings

Initiate the move byleaning forward fromthe hips rather than thewaist and keep yourlegs almost straightthroughout the move


shoulder-width apart,your core braced andyour body upright

Looking straightahead, grip the bar justwider than shoulderwidth apart and hold iton your upper chest

MovementKeep looking forward

and press the baroverhead without tiltingyour hips forward

Target: deltoidsThis must-do movewill add strengthand size to yourshoulders.


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Start positionBend your knees

slightly with feetshoulder-width apart,your core braced andbody upright


MovementPush up with your

knees and arms at thesame time


shoulder-width apart,your core braced andyour body upright


MovementAs you press the

bar up, rotate your bodyto the side

Use your coremuscle to control themotion, alternating sideswith each rep

Push press

23

Target: deltoidsUse your legs toinitiate the move,which will allowyou to press moreweight and willimprove yourdynamic pushingpower.

Shoulderpress withrotation

24

Target: deltoids,coreWork yourshoulders and coresimultaneouslyby calling on yourmidsection tocontrol the rotation.

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26Clean & jerk

Target:whole bodyThis Olympiclift hits virtuallyevery musclein your body foran explosive,challengingworkout.

Start positionStart in a

deadlift position

MovementPull the bar explosively to

your chest, keeping your elbowshigh and rising up onto yourtoes to gain power [B]

Bend your knees to duckunder the bar at its highestpoint, flipping the bar on to yourfingers and catching it on topof your chest [C]

Stand up straight to steadyyourself [D] then drop into alunge, simultaneously pressingthe bar overhead [E]

Stand up straight to completethe move [F]

A B C

D E F

Deadlift

25

Target:quads, glutes,hamstrings, back,coreThis is one of themost effectivemuscle-buildingmoves you can do.


shoulder-width apartand hold the bar closeto your shins with anoverhand or alternategrip just outside yourknees

Look forward, braceyour core and positionyour shoulders over thebar, keeping your backflat and your shouldersretracted

MovementStart the lift by

pushing with your glutesand pushing downthrough your heels

Keeping yourshoulders back, thebar should rise upyour shins

As the bar passesyour knees, push yourhips forward


Men’s Fitness 153



shoulder-width apart, yourcore braced and your backstraight

Grip the bar justoutside your knees andlean forward slightly fromthe hips

MovementBend your knees to

initiate the move and pullthe bar up powerfully to yourchest, keeping your elbowshigh and rising up onto yourtoes to gain power [B]

Bend your knees to duckunder the bar at its highestpoint, flipping the bar ontoyour fingers and catching iton top of your chest [C]

Stand up straight andreset the bar [D] so you canrepeat the move

Start positionStart in a deadlift position

MovementPull the bar explosively

to your chest, keeping yourelbows high and risingup onto your toes to gainpower [B]

Duck beneath the bar tocatch it with straight arms,keeping your back in itsnatural arch [C]

Stand up straight [D]before resetting the barand repeating the move

Hang clean

27

Target:hamstrings,glutes, calves,back, shouldersThis dynamicwhole-body movewill develop powerand trains yourbody to generateforce efficiently.

Snatch

28

Target: wholebodyThe other Olympiclift develops total-body strength andpower production.It requires highlevels of techniqueand concentrationso pay attention toyour form.

A B C D

A B C D

Stand tall

Before doing any big lift, imagine

reaching towards the ceiling with

the top of your head to correct your

posture and lift your shoulders

Fit tip

154 Men’s Fitness



Romaniandeadliftto row

29


core braced, youback straight andgrip the bar in frontof your thighs

MovementLean forward from the

hips, rather than the waist,and lower the bar down thefront of your shins

Target: glutes,hamstring, backWork the bigmuscles at theback of your bodywith this classiccombinationexercise.

A B

C Pull the bar up to yourabdomen, squeezing yourshoulder blades together atthe top of the move


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F ull-body workouts allowyou to work a largenumber of muscle fibres

in one session. They shouldinvolve multi-joint moves thathit several muscle groups atonce and flood the body withgrowth hormones. They’re alsoa good option if you’re newto training because they getyour muscles used to weighttraining without putting themunder too much stress.

The downside of a full-body workout is that it’s hardto fully exhaust your musclefibres when using this method,so you may want to also dosome more muscle-specificsessions (which are explainedin this section).

Designing your workoutThe most important thingin a full-body routine isbalance. You need an equalnumber of pushing andpulling movements, and youshould spend roughly thesame amount of time on yourupper and lower body. Usingcompound exercises (multi-joint moves that work severalmuscle groups at once) willgive you the best training effect.

Leave abs exercises to theend of your workout becauseyou don’t want to exhaust yourcore muscles before they’recalled on to stabilise yourspine in more demandingmoves such as the squat orthe pull-up.

Full-body workout

2 Romanian deadlift | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 149

1 Barbell squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 146

3 Pull-up | Sets: 3 Reps: to failure Page: 111

4 Bench press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 143

5 Bent-over row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 141

6 Alternating dumb-bell shoulder pressSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 79


Workouts | Barbell & bench


8 Crunch | Sets: 3 Reps: 15 Page: 31

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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Barbell & bench | Workouts

2 Chin-up | Sets: 2 Reps: to failure Page: 110

1 Lat pull-down | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 124

3 Hang clean | Sets: 2 Reps:10 Page: 153

4 Barbell bent-over row | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 141

5 Gym ball dumb-bell reverse flyeSets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 67

6 Hanging knee raise | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 112

Body focus sample workoutUpper back and lats

W hile full-bodyworkouts let youwork a big range of

muscle fibres, the advantageof body focus workouts isthat you can fatigue the targetmuscles completely. You canthen let them recover for aweek while you train differentbody parts. It’s a good wayof being specific about howyou put on muscle, but thedownside is that doing lotsof single-joint exercises won’tproduce as big a release ofgrowth hormone as doing bigcompound moves. You alsoneed to exercise frequentlyto work every major musclegroup once a week.

Designing your workoutThe structure of your sessionis particularly important ifyou’re doing a body focusroutine because you want totrain the target muscle hardbut without overtraining orrisking injury.

Start by doing lightexercises that will warm upyour joint before moving on todo the bigger muscle-buildingmoves. You must then makesure you have fully fatiguedthe muscle by doing a single-joint move. Vary the exercisesand angles you use to workyour target body part sothat you get good balancedmuscle growth.

Body focus workout1 2

3 4

5 6


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G ood core stability isabsolutely essential ifyou want to lift heavy

weights, be better at sportand stay injury free. Your coremuscles are the ones aroundyour midriff, including yourabdominals and lower back,and their function is to providea link between your upper andlower body. They’re particularlyimportant during whole-body moves, which need astrong core to transfer powerbetween the upper and lowerhalves of your body. They’realso called on to stabilise yourspine during dynamic andsporty movements.

A weak core will inhibit yourability to lift heavy weights inwhole-body moves becauseyou won’t be able to transfer

force from your lower to upperbody. You may also get lowerback or postural problems.

Developing your workoutTo get a strong and stablemidsection you need to attackyour core from different anglesand target the muscles at thesides and back of your midriff.Using a range of items ofkit will help you achieve thatbecause they challenge yourmuscle in different ways.

Start with moves that placemost weight on your core,such as compound lifts, andend with bodyweight exercisesthat won’t risk injuring yourtired muscles. Because thisworkout focuses on stability,complete a relatively highnumber of reps per set.


2 Medicine ball lunge chop | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 Page: 115

1 Deadlift | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 152


4 Gym ball back extension Sets: 2 Reps: 15 Page: 66

5 Twisting knee raise | Sets: 2 Reps: 12 each side Page: 114



7 Tornado chop | Sets: 2 Reps: 15 each side Page: 120

8 Plank | Sets: 1 Time: hold as long as possible Page: 33

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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C ircuit workouts canbe very tiring becauseyou don’t rest between

exercises. For that reason,people often choose to usecomparatively light weightssuch as dumb-bells ormedicine balls. That doesn’t,however, mean you can’tuse a barbell – it just meansyou shouldn’t use a weightthat will cause you to fatiguetoo early.

Approach your circuit in thesame way you would whenusing other bits of kit. Performthe exercises back to backto keep your effort level highand force your heart to pumpblood to different parts of yourbody for both a cardiovascularand a muscle-building benefit.

Designing your workoutFor circuits to be effective,you need to move from one

exercise to the next as swiftlyas possible. Using a barbellfor every exercise will helpyou do this.

Pick a group of exercisesthat target as many differentmuscle groups as possibleand alternate between upperand lower body movesto make your heart workharder without experiencingexcessive muscle fatigue.Include a good mix ofpushing, pulling, lunging,bending and rotationalmoves to give your workoutbalance. You should also tryto complete the reps quicklybut without compromisinggood form.

Once you have completedthe circuit, rest for threeminutes, then do it all again.The fitter you become themore circuits you’ll be ableto complete.


2 Shoulder press | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 150


3 Reverse-grip bent-over row | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 141

4 Front squat | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 147

5 Bench press | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 143

6 Hang clean | Sets: 1 Reps: 6 Page: 153


7 Barbell rollout | Sets: 1 Reps: 10 Page: 140

1 2

3 4

5 6

7


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E xplosive powerworkouts, also knownas plyometric workouts,

give you more than onetypeof benefit. They help buildmuscle but also developyour power and coordination.During a plyometric move,you activate the muscleeccentrically as it’s stretchedand pre-loaded, then youexplode into the lift to contractthe muscle concentrically,which shortens it.

This dynamic movementtargets your fast-twitch musclefibres, exhausting themquicker then a conventionalworkout but without having toadd extra weight. The intensitywill also push up your heartrate, burning extra caloriesand releasing muscle-buildinghormones into your body.

This method of workoutare popular with sportsmenbecause they develop fast,movements and improve skillssuch as jump distance..

Designing your workoutThe intensity and forcegenerated during explosivepower workouts meansthey carry a slightly higherinjury risk. For that reason,you should perform fewerrepetitions of each plyometricexercise than you wouldfor a standard workout. Forthe plyometric moves, use aweight that’s 30-40 per centof your ten-rep maximum forthat exercise.

For each target body part,start by doing an activationmove to warm up and stabiliseyour muscles. Then do theplyometric exercise beforeperforming a single-joint moveto exhaust the muscles.

The emphasis of thesesessions is on speed andpower, rather than developingendurance, rest for atleast one minute betweenplyometric sets and atleast two minutes betweenplyometric exercises.


2 Internal dumb-bell rotation | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 84

1 External dumb-bell rotation | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 84

3 Push press | Sets: 3 Reps: 8 Page: 151

4 Lateral raise | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 81

5 Gym ball dumb-bell Bulgarian split squatSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 75

6 Jump squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 6 Page: 146

Plyometric sample workoutShoulders and legs

7 Resistance band leg curl | Sets: 2Reps: 10 each side Page: 126

1 2

3 4

5 6

7

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A superset workout willlet you work a hugenumber of muscles in

relatively short period of timebecause you do two exercisesback to back before resting.

Any two exercises can bepaired together to form asuperset but the mostpopular option, and theone we’ve selected for theworkout on this page, is tocreate antagonistic supersets,in which the two moves workopposing body parts. Anexample would be to performan incline bench press, whichworks your upper chest, thengo straight into a bent-overrow, which works your back.The advantage of antagonisticsupersets is that they giveone body part a chanceto rest while the opposingmuscle group is working to

ensure balanced muscledevelopment.

Other forms include non-competing supersets, whichtarget unrelated musclegroups, such as pairing alower-body move with anupper-body one, and post-exhaustion supersets, inwhich you do a multi-jointmove followed by a single-joint move targeting the samebody part.

Designing your workoutFor each exercise, find onethat works its polar opposite,so if you do one exercisethat targets your quads doanother that targets yourhamstrings. Biceps exercisesshould be paired with tricepsmoves and so on. After eachsuperset, rest for two minutesand repeat.

Superset workout1

2

3

4

Incline bench press | Bent-over rowSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Pages: 144, 141

Front squat | Stiff-legged deadliftSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Pages: 147, 150

Barbell curl | Gym ball lying triceps extensionSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Pages: 140, 59


Dumb-bell crunch | Gym ball back extensionSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Pages: 61, 66

Superset C

Superset D

Superset A

Superset B

1 Superset A

2 Superset B

3 Superset C

4 Superset D


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A s you become moreadvanced, you may findyou’re unable to fatigue

your muscles sufficiently in afull-body routine. If that’s thecase, you should considerdoing a split routine where youdo a different thing in eachsession of the week.

The most popular form ofsplit routine is a body partsplit where you train two bodyparts in a single session. Anexample of this would be totrain your legs and back inyour first workout of the week,your chest and triceps in thesecond, your shoulders andbiceps in the third and youabs and core in the fourth.This system lets you hit everybody part hard once a week

without having to go to thegym every day.

Designing your workoutOnce you have decided onwhich two body parts you’regoing to work, do a movethat works one of thesebody parts then alternatebetween the two body parts.For example, if you’re goingto work your legs andback you could start with aRomanian deadlift, whichworks your hamstrings, thendo a good morning, whichtargets your back. To developthe body part fully, makesure you include a range ofexercises that hit the targetmuscle groups from a varietyof angles.

Body part split workout

2 Good morning | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 143


3 Gym ball dumb-bell chest pressSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 68

4 Bent-over row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 141

5 Sumo squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 72

6 Dumb-bell bent-over flye | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 Page: 66

Body part split sample workoutLegs and back

1 2

3 4

5 6

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S plitting your routinesinto either upper orlower body sessions is

an easy way to arrange yourworkouts. It may be temptingto do more upper-bodysessions but try to keep thesplit even, otherwise you’llend up with a muscular torsoand scrawny legs.

This type of workout isattractive because it’s simpleto create, so you don’t haveto spend lots of time planningyour sessions. It also suitspeople who can’t fit in manysessions per week becauseyou only have to do twosessions a week to makesure you’ve worked everymajor muscle group. Youwill, however, need to domore than two sessions

a week if you want to seethe best benefits.

Designing your workoutIf you’re doing a lower-bodyday, all your exercises shouldtarget your lower body. Tomake sure your routine isbalanced, you should includemoves that work your glutes,quads, hamstrings and calves.You should also try to hit themfrom different angles. Start withthe biggest muscles, such asyour quads and hamstrings,then do calves moves.

If you’re doing an upper-body workout, the sameprinciples apply. So work yourchest, back and shouldersbefore targeting the smallermuscles of your biceps,triceps and forearms.

Upper/lower body split workout

2 Stiff-legged Romanian deadliftSets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 150

1 Front squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 147




6 Wall squat | Sets: 1 Time: hold as long as possible Page: 43

Upper/lower body split sampleworkout Lower body

1 2

3 4

5 6


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A push/pull split routineis similar to an upper/lower body one in that

you do two types of workout.In this case, you alternatebetween workouts involvingpushing moves and workoutsinvolving pulling moves.

This way of splittingworkouts can be attractivefor people who do sportsthat involve a lot of pushingmovements, such as rugby,because it focuses yoursessions around those kindsof movements. You still,however, need to do an equalamount of pulling moves tomake sure you get balancedmuscle development.

Designing your workoutIf you’re doing a pull day, allthe moves in your workoutshould be pulling moves.Pulling moves are ones thatwork your back, hamstrings,biceps and abs.

Aim to make your workoutbalanced, so include movesthat work all those bodyparts and use differentexercises and angles indifferent push sessions.Do moves that target bigmuscles such as your backand hamstrings, then go onto the smaller muscles ofyour biceps and abs. If you’redoing a pushing workout, thesame rules apply.

Push/pull split workout


1 Bent-over row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 141


4 One-leg gym ball hamstring curlSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side page Page: 77

5 Barbell curl | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 140

6 Barbell rollout | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 140

Push/pull split sample workoutPull session

1 2

3 4

5 6

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1 Barbell squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 146

3 Bench press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 143


5 Romanian deadlift | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 149


Post-exhaustion sample workout

7 Bent-over row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 141

8 Bent-over flye | Sets: 3 Reps: 12 Page: 66

A s we saw in the dumb-bell and gym ballsection, weight training

exercises can be dividedinto two main categories:compound moves andisolation moves. Compoundexercises use several musclegroups at once while isolationexercises target one musclegroup on its own. Post-exhaustion training involvespairing a compound movewith an isolation one.

Designing your workoutIn post-exhaustion workouts,the compound move alwayscomes first. The theory isthat you do a big musclemove to get yourself pumpedby moving heavy weights, then

you move on to the lighterweight isolation move tocompletely fatigue thetarget muscle.

For example, if you’retraining your back, youcould do a bent-over row, forexample, which recruits yourlats, traps and rhomboids. Youcould then do a bent-overreverse dumb-bell flye, whichworks your upper back.

You must avoid doing theisolation move first becausethis may fatigue your targetmuscle. Then when you cometo lift the heavy weight of acompound move your smallerstabilising muscles will beunder increased strain, whichcan increase your chancesof injury.

Post-exhaustion workout1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8


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E ssentially, pyramidworkouts involveincreasing the weight

you lift with each set of anexercise while reducing thenumber of reps. This is goodbecause there’s no such thingas a slightly activated musclefibre – it’s either engagedcompletely or not at all. Bytaking a muscle through anincreasing range of weightwhile reducing the reps, youtarget each category of fibresin turn, completely exhaustingthe whole muscle.

Designing your workoutDoing a whole workout ofpyramid exercises wouldtake a long time and couldbe counter-productive,overtraining the muscleand sending the body intoa destructive metabolism.Strategically inserting pyramidsets into a workout, on the

other hand, will give you all thebenefits of this method.

There is more than oneway to perform a pyramidworkout. One way, outlinedbelow, is to start with aconventional muscle growthrep count, such as ten, andreduce the number of repsyou do by two each setuntil you get to four reps.You can also include areverse pyramid by startingwith low reps and endingwith a high rep count.

You can adjust your repcounts depending on whatyou want to achieve. If yourfocus is on strength, start withfewer reps and go down toas little as one rep for a set.You can also gradually reduceyour reps before graduallyincreasing them, so you finishwith the same number ofreps you completed for yourfirst set.

Pyramid workout

2 Good morning | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 143

1 Romanian deadliftSets: 4 Reps: Pyramid 10/8/6/4 Page: 149

3 Split squat | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 148

4 Medicine ball throw-downsSets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 118

5 Dumb-bell squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 71

6 Gym ball jackknifeSets: 4 Reverse pyramid 4/6/8/10 Page: 63

Pyramid sample workoutLegs and core

1 2

3 4

65

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D rop sets are a way ofincreasing the numberof reps you perform

of an exercise. Once youreach failure on your final set,immediately reduce the weightand do as many reps as youcan with that weight. Onceyou reach failure again, dropthe weight once more andcontinue the process.

The intense nature of thissystem ramps up the muscle-building effect, so use it toiron out weak muscle links.To do them effectively and tominimise the time betweenreaching failure and startingthe new weight, you may wantto use a training partner tohelp you adjust the weights.

Designing your workoutDrop sets are a demandingtechnique so use themsparingly. Make sure you

only do them on the finalset of the final exercise ofa body part because theycompletely exhaust themuscle involved. If you triedto do more exercises for thatbody part, you would struggleto use perfect form.

For the same reason, youshould only perform one ortwo drop sets per workout.Do more and you riskovertraining. You can useas many drops as you like,provided you maintain strictform. Make sure you dropthe weight at incrementsthat have a positive but nottoo dramatic effect on howmany reps you can perform.Reducing the weight by 20per cent is a good place tostart. If you halve the weightyou won’t take full advantageof the technique’s muscle-building potential.

Drop set workout


1 Med ball overhead squat | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 121

3 Squat | Sets: 3 (final set drop set) Reps: 10-12 Page: 146

4 Cuban press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 82

5 One-arm resistance band shoulder pressSets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 124

6 Barbell shoulder pressSets: 3 (final set drop set) Reps: 10-12 Page: 150

Drop set sample workoutLegs and shoulders

1 2

3 4

5 6


Men’s Fitness 167


B ack-off sets involvedoing between twoand four sets of low

reps with a heavy weight of anexercise before dropping theweight significantly for a finalset where you do as manyreps as possible.

The reason this is effectiveis because the nerves thatstimulate your muscles areprimed for action by the heavysets, allowing you to performbetter in the final set than youwould had you attempted thatset before the heavy sets. Thisincreased capacity sparksnew muscle growth.

Designing your workoutsFor a back-off set to work, ithas to be a move that youcan do using heavy weightsand one that you can controlhow much weight you’re lifting.That’s why big compoundmoves such as a benchpress, rather than stability or

bodyweight exercises, workbest for back-off sets.

You’ll get best results byactivating the target musclegroup before working it againin a back-off exercise. Whenyou come to do your back offexercise, choose a weight thatyou could lift six times. Whenyou do the back-off set, dropthe weight by 40 per cent anddo as many reps as you canwhile maintaining perfect form.If, for example, you ordinarilylift 50kg on the bench press,reduce this to 30kg for theback-off set.

Aim to perform the reps ofa back-off set faster than youwould during a regular set tosimultaneously develop yourexplosive power and yourstrength. This way of workingout can be very draining,so only use it sparingly tochallenge your muscles. Do itfor one week as part of a six-to eight-week programme.

Back-off set workout

2 Bench press | Sets: 3 (+1 back-off set)Reps: 6 (+ as many as you can in back off set) Page: 143

1 Gym ball press-up | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 69

3 Upright row | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 142

4 Good morning | Sets: 3 (+1 back-off set)Reps: 6 (+ as many as you can in back-off set) Page: 143


6 Incline bench press | Sets: 3 (+1 back-off set)Reps: 6 (+ as many as you can in back-off set) Page: 144

Back-off set sample workoutChest and back

1 2

3 4

5 6

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T here are a number ofways that you can do awave-loading session

but, essentially, they all involvelifting a weight for a set thencutting the reps but uppingthe weight for the next set.From here you can either goback to the original weightand perform as many reps asyou can or reduce the repsand up the weight for anotherset before repeating thatsequence of three sets.

Whatever way you decideto arrange your wave-loadingworkout, the method teachesyour muscles to lift moreweight in a single rep so it’sa good tool to use if you’restruggling to increase yourmaximum lift for an exercise.

Designing your workoutWave-loading workoutswork well in split routinesbecause you can activatethe body part with a stability

move before wave loading forthe strength move and fullyexhausting the target musclein an isolation move.

One option for wave-loadingmoves is to find your five-repmaximum for an exercise, thendo four reps. Rest for threeminutes, increase the weightby five per cent then do threereps. Rest for three minutes,increase the weight by fiveper cent and do two reps.Rest for three minutes andrepeat the process.

An alternative, and theone outlined in the sampleworkout on this page, is to doa normal set of eight reps thenrest for two minutes beforeloading extra weight onto yourdumb-bells for a shorter set offour reps. Another rest of twominutes is followed by a finalset in which you go back tothe original weight and crankout as many reps as possible,taking you past eight reps.

Wave-loading workout

2 Romanian deadlift | Sets: 3Reps: (wave loader) 8, 4, 8+ Page: 149


3 Cuban press | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 82

4 One-arm dumb-bell snatch | Sets: 2Reps: 10 each side Page: 85

5 Barbell push press | Sets: 3Reps: (wave loader) 8, 4, 8+ Page: 151

6 Front/lateral raise | Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Page: 82

Wave-loading sample workout

1 2

3 4

5 6


Men’s Fitness 169


C luster workouts are agood way of injectingnew stimulus into your

workouts. There are a numberof ways of doing clusterworkouts but essentially theyall involve reducing the loadso you can cut your rest times.The result is that you lift agreater volume of weight in asession, which has a positiveeffect on muscle growth andcalorie burn.

Designing your workoutOne of the simplest ways todo a cluster workout is to doa normal workout until youget to the final two exercises.If you have done ten reps foreach move, stick with a weightthat you’d use to do ten repsfor the final two moves if youwere continuing your standardworkout but only do five repsof the penultimate exercise.

Without resting, move on tothe final exercise and do fivereps. Go straight back to thepenultimate exercise andalternate between the finaltwo moves for five minutes,doing five reps of each withoutresting. Make sure you choseopposing or non-competingmuscle groups such as legsand back, otherwise you’llfatigue early.

Other ways of doing clusterworkouts include doing singlereps with your three-repmaximum with minimal restbetween reps (ten seconds,say) or clusters of low-repsets of one exercise withyour ten-rep maximum usingminimal rest between groupsof reps. However you chooseto arrange your workouts, thisis an intense method so useit when you feel your progresshas stalled.

Cluster workout

2 Medicine ball reverse crunchSets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 116

1 Side lunge | Sets: 2 Reps: 10 each side Page: 73

3 Deadlift | Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Page: 152


5a Gym ball Russian twist | Clusters 1 Reps: 5 Page: 65

5b Good morning | Clusters 1 Reps: 5 Page: 143

Cluster sample workout

1 2

3 4

5a 5b

Men’s Fitness


Kettlebellintroduction

Use the traditional Russian strongmantool to build muscle and boost strength

T he last few years hasseen a resurgence in theuse of kettlebells, those

cannonball-shaped weightswith handles that were popularwith Russian strongmen. They’rean excellent addition to yourhome gym but many peopleare intimidated by their unusualshape. It’s easy to imaginegetting a move wrong andsmashing the weight into eitheryour head or a family heirloom.

If you follow the guides inthis chapter, however, you’ll besurprised how easy it is tomaster basic moves such asthe swing. Once you build yourconfidence you can attemptsatisfying whole-body moves suchas the snatch and Turkish get-up.

Mysterious movementOne thing you will notice is thatkettlebells move in a very differentway to dumb-bells. In short, theyhave a tendency to do their ownthing. Dumb-bells have linearmovements and the weight sitsin the centre of your hand. With

a kettlebell, the ball is in front ofyour forearm, so it’s an extra linkin the chain. That makes themmore difficult to control, but it alsomeans your muscles work harderto complete the exercises.

Another benefit is that theybuild intramuscular teamworkbecause you’re forced to usehigher levels of coordinationthan you would when slingingdumb-bells or a barbell around.With a barbell snatch, you haveto coordinate your lower andupper body, but in a very verticalway. With a kettlebell you’removing around it to try to changethe angle of pull. It’s as if you’rewrestling with the kettlebell toget it where you want it.

The speed at which youperform exercises is alsodifferent. A lot of barbell anddumb-bell exercises are doneat a very sedate pace. But if youmove the weight quickly, whichyou do with a kettlebell, you fireup lots of fast-twitch musclefibres and that will help you toget bigger and stronger.

171

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Kettlebell | Buyer’s guide

T he main thing youneed to look at whenchoosing a kettlebell is

where it sits on your arm. Thatis dictated by the length ofthe handle. Cheap kettlebellstend to have smaller handles,which means the ball sitson the bones at the back ofthe wrist, where there’s nocushioning. That encouragesyou to drop the wrist back,so the ball lands lower down,which exposes your tendonsand ligaments to injuryand reduces the amount ofpressure you can put throughthe kettlebell.

There are lots of different kettlebell options.Which one is right for you?

Kettlebell gear guide

16kg kettlebell

If you’re a man with someweight training experience,start with a 16kg kettlebell,which is heavy enough to testyou but light enough for high-rep cardio work. This is onepood – the standard Russianunit of kettlebell measurement.

If you’re flush with cashbut pushed for space, anadjustable kettlebell will allowyou to lift different weightswithout cluttering your home.It’s also handy because youmay be able to lift moreweight for easier exercisessuch as a two-arm swingthan you are for trickiermoves such as a windmill.

Competition-grade kettlebellsare designed with the samedimensions, so there’s nodifference in size betweena 32kg and 16kg model,meaning you don’t have toget used to lifting a slightlydifferently shaped object. Thisis handy if you’re planning towork up in weight.

Adjustable kettlebell

Competition kettlebell

Men’s Fitness 173

174 Men’s Fitness

Kettlebell | Exercises


Two-armswing

01

This is the mostbasic move andshould be thefoundation of allkettlebell workouts.

Start with yourfeet shoulder-widthapart, holding thekettlebell in bothhands with your armsstraight and just forwardof your shoulders

Lift the kettlebelloff the floor

Start with your feetshoulder-width apart,holding the kettlebell inone hand with your armstraight and just forwardof your shoulders

Lift the kettlebell offthe floor

One-armswing

02

Once you’vemastered thetwo-arm swingtry this move,which requiresmore strengthand core control tomove the kettlebell.

Swing the kettlebellback between your legs

Extend your legs andpush your hips forwardsas you rise up



Use themomentum ofthe leg drive,rather thanan arm pull,to move thekettlebell upin an arc untilit’s just aboveyour head

Move backthe way youcame andrepeat the move,without lettingthe kettlebelltouch the floor

Use themomentum ofthe leg drive,rather thanan arm pull,to move thekettlebell upin an arc untilit’s just aboveyour head

Move backthe way youcame andrepeat themove, withoutletting thekettlebelltouch the floor

CBA

CBA

Exercises | Kettlebell


Men’s Fitness 175

Americanswing

03

When swinging theweight above yourhead, the controlof the deceleration– and the effect onyour back muscles– becomes moreimportant if youwant to avoidsending the weightbeyond vertical.

Swingswap

04

Switching handson each rep willforce you to bein perfect controlof the kettlebell.Make sure you doit somewhere thatwon’t matter if youdrop the kettlebell.

Start with yourfeet shoulder-widthapart, holding thekettlebell in both handswith your arms straightand just forward ofyour shoulders

Lift the kettlebelloff the floor



When thekettlebell isat its highestpoint, switch itfrom one handto the other

Use themomentum of theleg drive, rather thanan arm pull, to swingthe kettlebell untilit is directly overyour head. Controlthe decelerationand make sure thekettlebell doesn’tmove beyond thevertical or flip onto your forearms

Move back the wayyou came and repeatthe move, withoutletting the kettlebelltouch the floor

CBA

CBA

Start performinga one-arm swing

Go straight into thenext swing, alternatinghands on each rep

176 Men’s Fitness



Halo

05

Rotating thekettlebell aroundyour head will giveyou strong andstable shoulders.

Hold the kettlebellwith both hands bythe horns

Windmill

06

This classickettlebell movetests the strengthof your stabilisermuscles, inparticular yourlower back, coreand shoulders.

Rotate the kettlebellaround your head,reversing the movementwith each rep

Keep your corebraced and your torsoupright throughoutthe move

Keeping your armstraight in the air,unlock your kneesand lean your torsoforwards and to theside so your other handtravels down your leg

Make sure you keeplooking at the kettlebellthroughout the move

BA

BA

Clean and press thekettlebell into the startposition (see p179)



Men’s Fitness 177

Stand with your feetshoulder-width apart,gripping the horns of thekettlebell in both hands

Take your left handoff the kettlebell andswing it to your rightin as wide an arc aspossible, until it’sbehind your back

Pass the kettlebellinto your left hand

Swing the kettlebellaround to your left,bringing it as high aspossible as it comesback to the front

Change hands andrepeat the movement

Change the directionof the kettlebell bysquatting and passingthe kettlebell throughyour legs from the frontto your other hand,then standing up andcontinuing the move

Switch handsand continue toswing the kettlebellaround your body

As you swing itaround to the front,bend your knees andguide the kettlebellbetween your legs andinto your other hand

Swing the kettlebellaround your body

As it comes aroundto the front, bend yourknees and guide thekettlebell betweenyour legs

Aroundbody pass

07

Controlling theweight outsidethe line of yourbody requiresa high level ofcore control.It also worksyour shoulders.

Figureof eight

08

This move requireshigh levels ofcoordination andcontrol if you wantto avoid smashingthe kettlebell intoyour legs.

A

A

B

B

178 Men’s Fitness



Clean

09

This is the simplestand most efficientway of getting thekettlebell from thefloor to the rackposition where youfinish the move.

Start with thekettlebell on thefloor, then swing itbackwards slightly togenerate momentum

As the kettlebellswings forwards andpast waist height,pull it towards youwhile bending yourelbow and rotatingyour wrist slightly

Drop your elbow and controlthe kettlebell so it nestles ratherthan flips on to your forearm

B

A C



Men’s Fitness 179

Press the weightdirectly overhead

Cleanand press

10

This is a classickettlebell move.If you’re strugglingto press itoverhead, youcan use a pushpress, whichinvolves bendingyour knees slightlybefore explosivelystraighteningthem to aidthe movement.

A

D

Start with thekettlebell on thefloor, then swing itbackwards slightly togenerate momentum

BAs the kettlebell

swings forwards andpast waist height,pull it towards youwhile bending yourelbow and rotatingyour wrist slightly

CDrop your elbow

and control thekettlebell so it nestlesrather than flips onto your forearm

180 Men’s Fitness



One-armswing snatch

11

This is a technicallift, so make sureyou have masteredmore basic movessuch as the swingand the cleanbefore includingit in your workouts.

Start with your feetshoulder-width apart,holding the kettlebell inone hand with your armstraight and just forwardof your shoulders

Lift the kettlebell offthe floor, then swing itback between your legs

Extend your legsand push your hipsforwards as you rise,using momentumto lift the kettlebell

As the kettlebellreaches shoulder height,pull it back towardsthe body slightly sothe handle is justbelow the weight

Press the weightoverhead, still using themomentum gained fromthe leg and hip drive

The kettlebell shouldbe directly above theshoulder at the endof the move, so makesure your arm isn’tcompletely vertical

C D

A B

Punch forwards tocradle the kettlebellgently on your forearm



Men’s Fitness 181

Lie on the floor withone arm out to yourside for balance andthe other vertical andholding the kettlebell

Bend your knee onthe kettlebell side andplant your foot nearyour backside

As you plantyour foot, rise on tothe elbow of yoursupporting arm

Take your handoff the floor andmove your torso toan upright position

Extend yoursupporting arm fully

Turkishget-up

12

Moving from lyingto standing withthe weight aboveyour head requireshigh levels ofcoordination.

C

E

D

A B

F GMove on to the knee

of the leg that was flaton the floor

Stand up, keepingthe kettlebell aboveyour head

182 Men’s Fitness



Frontsquat

13

Performing a squatwhile holding thekettlebell in therack position willwork your core aswell as your legs.

Start in therack position

Gobletsquat

14

This squatencouragesgood techniqueby forcing youto keep yourweight on yourheels so you don’ttopple forwards.

Bend your kneesuntil your thighs areat least parallel to thefloor, keeping your backupright and your kneesin line with your toes

Stand with yourfeet shoulder-widthapart, using bothhands to hold thekettlebell upsidedown by the horns

Bend your kneesuntil your thighs areat least parallel to thefloor, keeping your backupright and your kneesin line with your toes

A B

A B



Men’s Fitness 183

Hold the kettlebellin both hands by thehorns and raise oneleg in front of you

Keeping your raisedleg straight, bend yourstanding knee untilyour thigh is at leastparallel to the floor,keeping your backupright and your kneein line with your toes

Start performinga two-arm swing(see p174)

As the kettlebellreaches shoulderheight, controlthe decelerationand flip it so it isupside down

Bend your kneesand sink into a squat

As you rise up,push the kettlebellforwards and gostraight into thenext swing

Pistolsquat

15

This is a real testof leg strength,balance andflexibility. Makesure your legs arewarmed up beforeyou attempt it.

Swingto squat

16

Combining twomoves gets yourheart pumpingand helps totorch calories.

A B

A B

184 Men’s Fitness



One-legRomaniandeadlift

17

This a very simpleway to tax yourhamstrings andglutes. You coulddo it after a sessionof swings to fatiguethose muscles fullybut safely.

Hold the kettlebellin one hand with youropposite foot off thefloor behind you

One-armhigh pull

18

This is a fairly easymove to master,so you can do itexplosively withlittle risk of injury.

Keeping your backstraight, bend at thehips rather than thewaist to send thekettlebell down thefront of your leg

Stand with yourfeet shoulder-widthapart, holding thekettlebell in onehand with yourarm straight

Sink into a squatso the kettlebell isbetween your feet,just in front of theankles and slightlytowards the sideyou’ll be working

Drive throughyour heels tostraighten your legsand initiate movementof the kettlebell

Push your hipsforwards, allowingmomentum fromthe leg drive to bringthe kettlebell up toyour shoulder

A B

A B



Men’s Fitness 185

Start performinga one-arm swing(see p174)

As the kettlebellrises above your waist,pull your elbow back

Control thedeceleration of theweight, then pushit forwards into thenext swing

Sit on the floor withyour knees bent at 90˚and your back at a 45˚angle to the floor,holding the kettlebellin front of you

Twist the kettlebellfrom side to side whilelooking straight aheadto make sure you keepyour back straight

Swingto row

19

This is similar to aclean but doesn’tinvolve catchingit on your forearm,which means it isa less intimidatingmove to attempt.

Russiantwist

20

Most kettlebellmoves tax yourcore and abs, butthis one specificallyworks that area,particularly yourside abs.

A B

A B

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Kettlebell | Workouts

U sing a kettlebell isa great way to get acardio training effect

while weight training. Themain reasons for this are thebig range of movement andthe multiple muscle groupsinvolved in key moves.

This workout is builtaround the swing move.There are three differenttypes of swing because it’sthe easiest move with a bigrange of motion to master.That means you can do itsafely, even when you beginto get tired. Between the

swings are two great all-body moves, the snatch andthe clean and press. Bothof these involve moving thekettlebell from the floor toabove your head, which callson every major muscle groupin your body to work together.

How to do this workoutComplete all the exercisesin order for the designatedperiod of time. After the lastmove, rest for between 90seconds and two minutesbefore starting again. Aim tocomplete up to six rounds.

Cardio workout

2 Snatch | Time: 30 seconds each side Page: 180

1 Two-arm swing | Time: 1 minute Page: 174

3 One-arm swing | Time: 30 seconds each side Page: 174

4 Clean and press | Time: 30 seconds each arm Page: 179

5 Swing swap | Time: 1 minute Page: 175

Cardio sample workout

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Kettlebell | Workouts

T o build muscle andstrength you need toperform compound

exercises – ones that targetmultiple muscle groupssimultaneously. This workouthits every part of your body,starting with the Turkish get-up, one of the most effectivekettlebell moves. It involveshigh levels of coordinationand stability, as you gofrom lying to standing whileholding the weight aboveyour head.

The rest of the workoutalternates between upperand lower body moves, toallow you to maintain a highwork rate without fatiguingone part of your body.

How to do this workoutComplete the moves inorder for the designatednumber of reps. After the lastmove, rest for between 90seconds and two minutesbefore starting again. Aim tocomplete up to six rounds.

Strength workout

2 Pistol squat | Reps: 5 each side Page: 183

1 Turkish get-up | Reps: 5 each side Page: 181

3 Halo | Reps: 8 each side Page: 176

4 One-leg Romanian deadlift | Reps: 8 each side Page: 184

6 One-arm high pull | Reps: 6 each side Page: 184

5 Clean | Reps: 8 each side Page: 178

Strength sample workout

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If you have the space and funds, home gymmachines can help to improve your fitness

Home gymmachines guide

Cardio machinesDoing cardio workouts willimprove an important aspectof your fitness. It is possibleto get a cardio effect fromweight training, as we’ve seenin the sample circuit workoutsin each kit chapter. But if youreally want to improve yourcardio ability, and enter races,you could benefit from buyinga cardio machine.

The main types of cardiomachine are treadmills,stationary bikes and rowingmachines. You can of courserun and cycle outside, andboth of those activities arefantastic at improving yourcardio fitness, but a machineis a convenient weather-immune option. And unlessyou live near a lake and haveaccess to boats, an indoorrower is also probably goingto be more convenient.

If you decide to buy a pieceof cardio equipment you’ll beconfronted by a bewilderingarray of options, ranging frombargain products to ones thatcost the same as a smallcar. What you go for dependson your budget and yourexercise goals but, whateveryour funds and aspirations,this section will give you theknowledge needed to makethe right choice. We’ve alsogiven you three different typesof cardio session to try foreach type of kit.

If you do get a cardiomachine, avoid doing thesame session over and overagain. You’ll soon get boredand stop improving. In thesame way that you needto keep challenging yourmuscles if you want to getbigger and stronger, you needto make sure you vary your

cardio training if you want tobecome aerobically fitter.

MultigymsThe quality of home multigymshas improved enormously inrecent years. The best onesnow mimic the movementsyou make when usingfreeweights, which allowsyou to push yourself withoutgetting trapped under aheavy barbell. They’re alsoincreasingly space efficient.

The cheaper options willlock you into fixed planes ofmotion, so it’s the machine,rather than your muscles, thatcontrols a large part of themovement. More sophisticated(and, therefore, expensive)machines may either havecables, where movementpatterns aren’t fixed, or theoption to switch between fixedpath and freeweights.

Home gym | Machines

What is cardio?Cardio fitness essentially refers to your body’s ability to generate energy through thecirculation of blood and oxygen. You can improve your cardio fitness by doing aerobicexercise, which is any activity that you can sustain for more than a few minutes that

requires your heart and lungs to work harder in order to meet your body’s demand foroxygen. Running, cycling and rowing will all increase your cardio fitness, helping you

to exercise for longer and burn more calories, aswell as improving your heartand lung function.


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Home gym | Machines

WHY GET ONE?

Stroke intervalsRow at an easy pace for a few minutes to warmup, reset the counter then find a stroke ratethat puts you at a slightly harder pace for fiveminutes. Then explode into action, increasingyour stroke rate by five to ten strokes per minuteand hold this rate for 60 seconds. Drop backdown to the previous stroke rate for five minutesand increase it by five to ten again for another60 seconds. Repeat once more to completeyour workout.

500sDo 500m to warm up, then reset the counter.Accelerate into the next 500m and note thetime that you achieve. Then recover for 500m.Accelerate for another 500m and try to beatyour previous time. Continue this pattern for 20minutes, trying to make each interval faster thanthe last.

Rowing pyramidsWarm up for five minutes then row for twominutes at a pace of 26 strokes per minute.Increase the stroke rate every two minutes untilyou get to 32 strokes per minute before workingback down to 26 per minute. Then do five hardrows followed by five easy rows. Repeat butincrease the rows by five each time until youget to 25 before working back down to five.Warm down by rowing at an easy pace forfive minutes.

How to buy… a rowing machine

Rowing workoutsDo these sessions to get fit and stay motivated

Rowing with properform will work allyour major musclegroups as well asbeing excellent low-impact cardiovascularexercise (comparedto running on apavement, which ishigh impact becauseit hammers yourjoints). Top-qualityrowers are generallycheaper than otherbits of cardio kittoo, so you can geta serious workoutwithout having tospend excessivesums of money.


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Machines | Home gymMachines | Home gymMachines | Home gym

ConsoleAs a minimum, this should give you

readings for time and distance – thoughsome rowers calculate distance indifferent ways. More advanced rowersallow you to tailor your programme, butas long as you can do timed intervalsyou should be fine.

Footplate adjustabilityCheck that your feet can be securely

and comfortably accommodated in thefootplates. A quick-release option ishelpful, especially if you’re going to berowing as part of a circuit, but it’s by nomeans essential.

ConstructionLook for an all-metal rower – steel is

expensive and heavy, while aluminiumis cheaper and lighter but not as sturdy.When you put your weight on the seat,there should be no flexing in any partof the frame.

Seat runnerMove the seat to one end of the rail

and tilt the rower up slightly. A goodrunner and rail will allow the seat to rollfreely to the other end.

SeatObviously the seat needs to feel

comfortable while you’re rowing – itdoesn’t need a back support, but youshouldn’t slip off it, either. Try a fewvigorous strokes on the machine to seehow it feels.

OarCheck if the oar feels comfortable in

your hands. Some rowers, such as theConcept 2, have a grip in the middlethat allow you to row one-handed.It’s also worth checking whether youcan turn to the sides while rowingwithout messing with the transmissiontoo much.

TransmissionLook for chains or straps, which

give a positive feel to the oar actionwithout any stretching or give as youaccelerate. Rope transmission tends togive a jerkier feel.

Braking systemElectronic rowers use magnetic

braking and are quiet, but tend to lackthe feel of top-quality air and waterrowers. Air rowers can offer a very highstandard of movement and accuracy offeedback, but can be a little noisy. Waterrowers create the closest feel to actuallyrowing on water and make a satisfyingswishing noise.

First Degree S500 Fluid Rower£1,399

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Home gym | Machines

WHY GET ONE?

Pack of cardsTake a pack of cards with you to the treadmill.Jog and then do a progressive, five-minutewarm-up. Stop and turn over a card, then runfor one minute at the effort level of the card –one is walking pace and nine is the top speedyou can sustain for 60 seconds.If you get a ten or a picture card, sprint for aslong as possible up to 30 seconds. Do thisfor 20 minutes.

Negative splitDo a five-minute progressive warm-up. Thenreset the timer and do seven minutes at level6-7 (using the ‘Pack of cards’ effort scale). Afterseven minutes raise the speed so that you’rerunning at level 7-8. Try to hold that pace foranother eight minutes. Running faster in thesecond half of a race is a tactic known as anegative split, and this session will maximise thetraining effect and teach you good race strategy.

Hill runningJog for five minutes, then run up a ‘hill’ at level6-7 (again, using the ‘Pack of cards’ effort scale)for one minute by setting the treadmill incline toeight per cent, then reset the incline and jog fora minute. Go back to an eight per cent inclineand sprint at level 8-9, so you cover the samedistance in 30-40 seconds before removing theincline. Keep alternating this pattern for a totalof 12 hill reps. Jog for a couple of minutes towarm down.

How to buy… a treadmill

Treadmill trainingPlodding is boring so try these challenging 20-minute workouts

A treadmill hastraditionally beenone of the pricierbits of home gymkit, but recently thequality models havedropped in priceenough to becomean attractive option.They’re an excellentform of cardio, andmake running a morepleasant option inrainy weather. Andthey’ll give yourknees a bit of a breakfrom pounding thepavements.


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Machines | Home gym

BeltThis key component should be wide

enough and comfortable to run on. If youcan barely stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, look for something wider. Ifyou’re going to be doing a lot of running,think about investing in an orthopaedicbelt to reduce stress on your joints.

FrameThere are generally two types: aluminium

and steel. Steel is preferable because it addsweight to the treadmill, making it sturdier. Thegood thing about aluminium is that it won’t rust,although you can get a steel frame coated toprevent corrosion. A frame can be either boltedor welded connected to the treadmill base, thewelded version being more sturdy. Avoid plasticframes at all costs.

Control panelLCD screens tend to be less

expensive but LEDs are easier toread. Pricier treadmills will offer moreprogrammes, but you should be OK witha basic incline programme.

SpeedThe maximum speed a treadmill can reach

is around 25km/h, although for anything over20km/h you’ll be looking at a fairly expensivetreadmill and you’re unlikely to be runningat that speed for long. It’s also important toconsider the starting speed – if this is anythingover 0.5km/h then you might feel a sudden jerkwhen the treadmill starts.

DeckThis is usually made of wood.

Lower-budget treadmills typically useparticle board decks, while high-endtreadmills typically use medium-densityfibreboard (MDF) board decks. MDF isbetter because it can sustain muchgreater forces before cracking. Listen fora deck that doesn’t make much noiseagainst the belt.

MotorThe treadmill motor is the most

important bit of any treadmill. Look forat least 1.5 continuous horsepower (HP)for general use and don’t be misled byjargon terms such as ‘treadmill duty’ or‘peak horsepower’. If you’re planning ondoing a lot of distance running, thinkabout a 3.0HP motor or higher – youdon’t want a motor that’s working at itsmaximum capacity on a regular basis.

RollersTypically the most

overlooked factor of atreadmill. In general, thebigger the diameter ofthe roller the longer itwill last because it takeslonger to complete afull revolution. Look forrollers of more than5cm. Solid rollers arebetter than hollowrollers, and steel’s betterthan aluminium, whichcan oxidise and grindagainst the belt.

InclineThere are two types: manual

and motor incline. Most treadmillsoffer between 10 and 20 per cent,although some go as high as 40per cent.

Life Fitness CST£3,910

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Home gym | Machines

WHY GET ONE?

Speedy spinningDo a five-minute warm-up. Cycle at level 6-7(where 1 is walking pace and 9 in the topspeed you could sustain for one minute) for twominutes and then explode into motion, pedallingas fast as you possibly can. Lean forward onthe handlebars and let your legs fly for 20-30seconds. Make a note of the top RPM that youreach. Rest for 30 seconds and then go backto pedalling at level 6-7 for one minute beforerepeating the effort. Do this ten times in total.

Test lactic acid resistanceWarm up for five minutes at level 4-5 (using the‘Speedy spinning’ effort scale). Now accelerateuntil you’re working at level 8 so that you canfeel your legs start to burn with lactic acid butyou’re not forced to slow down. Hold this pacefor five minutes and then drop back to level 4-5for two minutes. Accelerate back up to level 8 forfive minutes, then select a low resistance andspin your pedals for three minutes to flush thelactic acid out of your muscles.

More resistance,same cadenceCycle at an easy pace for five minutes, thenincrease the resistance of your pedals withoutreducing your cadence. Continue cycling withthat level of resistance before going back tothe easier resistance level for two minutes.Repeat that four times and warm down withfive minutes easy cycling.

How to buy… an exercise bike

Bike workoutsTry these stationary bike sessions to inject life into your riding

The engineeringrequired to build aquality exercise bikeis less expensive thanthe equivalent in adecent treadmill, soyou can get a goodcardio workout forrelatively little cash.Working out on abike is easier on theknees than running– and if you’ve gotany history of lower-back problems, arecumbent will bemuch better foryou than a rowingmachine.


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Machines | Home gym

Men’

FrameThis should be

built mainly frommetal. Check thatthe welds are tidy,the overall finish isgood without sharp orrough edges and thatthe moving parts areadequately shielded.A solidly constructedexercise bike shouldbe stable and not flexor wobble, even whenyou’re standing up onthe pedals.

Braking systemMost exercise bikes use electronic braking, which –

although not cheap – is generally smooth in use and allowsmanufacturers to offer programmes such as hill and heartrate control. Mechanical braking is simple, cheap and offerspotentially very high resistance levels, but it needs a heavyflywheel to give a good pedalling feel and requires regularmaintenance. Air braking gives you more resistance as youpedal faster, a nice cooling breeze and is a robust system ofgenerating resistance. However, it doesn’t allow you to alterresistance without changing your pedalling speed.

FlywheelGenerally speaking,

the heavier theflywheel, the smootherthe pedalling actionwill be.

PedalsIdeally, the pedalling action

should be smooth with the samelevel of resistance throughout the360˚ of pedal revolution, even athigh resistance levels and out ofthe saddle. Avoid models with anuneven or jerky pedalling feel.

Maximum workloadThis represents how much

resistance the bike will give whenpedalled flat out. Most bikes willprovide in excess of 250 watts.Experienced cyclists or the very fitwill need in excess of 400 watts.

ConsoleLook for a bike

that can offer varietyand motivation bysimulating varioushill courses, allowingyou to create yourown or by controllingyour heart rate.

Power supplyIs the bike self-powered or does

it need mains electricity? Generallyspeaking, bikes with their owngenerators are more pricy, but youwon’t need to keep them near awall socket or drape extensioncords across the floor.

SaddleHave a sit – and ideally an

extended pedal – on the bike to seehow comfy the saddle is. Racerswill let you swap in your normalbike’s saddle.

AdjustabilityThe more adjustable the bike,

the more comfortable it’ll be duringlonger sessions. All bikes have saddleheight adjustment; check whether thesaddle or handlebars can be movedbackwards and forwards too.

SeatingRecumbent exercise bikes put

you in a more horizontal position, areeasier to mount and dismount andhave a more supportive seat. Thedownside is that they take up moreroom and are generally more costlyfor the same standard of bike.

Life FitnessC9i Upright, £1,495

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Home gym | Machines

WHY GET ONE?

How to buy… a multigymMultigym productionhas come on in leapsand bounds overthe last few years,with options on themarket that mimicthe benefits of freeweights (such asinstability) while lettingyou lift heavy withouta spotter standingby. They’re also morespace-efficient thesedays, making it moreplausible to keepone in the housewithout annoyingother residents suchas wives.


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Men’s Fitnes

StationsThink about what exercises you’re going

to be doing and make sure the gym you’relooking at can accommodate them. There’sno point in getting a beautiful machine ifyou’re trying to improve your squats andit’s got no option to do them.

WeightsYou need weights light enough to let

you start out on any exercise, with enoughresistance to challenge you as you getstronger. Anything less than 90kg is unlikelyto be enough if you’re going to be doingheavy squats. Also look out for clearly-marked weight stacks – some multigymsstill make you guess what you’re lifting.

TubingLook for heavy-gauge steel tubing

that won’t flex too much. Physicallyshake any multigym you’re thinkingabout buying – if it wobbles too easily,it’s no good for you.

FrameLook for natural lines – curves are

better than angles. If you’re especiallyshort, tall or wide, have a go at a fewexercises to make sure the gym’sdimensions fit you.

CablesObviously these should be strong

enough that they won’t break whenyou lift heavy weights, but they shouldalso have a quiet and smooth motionrather than a dragging, noisy one. Buymodels with covered cables as it’llprolong the life of your multigym.

Vectra On-Line 1650£4,735

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Men’s Fitness 201

Fuel your trainingMake the most of your workouts by fuelling them with the right foods

T he food you eat has a hugeimpact on the results you seefrom your workouts. Your body

needs fuel for you to exercise effectivelyand the nutritional materials to repairyour muscles so they get bigger.That’s why your workouts will bewasted unless they’re backed upby proper nutrition.

This section will explain thefundamentals of eating for moremuscle. It also contains a sample

meal plan that you can use to makesure you’re taking on board the rightkind of foods. We’ve also includeda comprehensive guide to sportssupplements, giving you the knowledgeyou need to decide whether or notyou want to use them tocomplement your training.

The good news is that eating welldoesn’t involve going on fad dietsor cutting out large food groups.In fact, you’ll need to consume

plenty of calories to power yourworkouts and build new muscle.

But, not surprisingly, eating lotsof calories doesn’t mean living onice-creams, kebabs and puddings.You’ve got to take your calories fromthe right sources and in the right way.Fortunately, following a few simplerules will help you adopt a healthymuscle-building diet. Turn the pageto find out how to eat your way to astronger, more muscular physique.

Introduction | Nutrition

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Nutrition | Rules

Building muscle is as much about what you do in thekitchen as in the gym. Here’s how to get it right

The rules ofeating for muscle

Go naturalIf people weren’t eating it 1,000years ago, avoid it now. Thatmeans basing meals on freshmeat, fish and vegetables,and cooking your mealsfrom scratch rather relyingon packets and takeaways.

Processed foods such ascakes, pies and ready mealstend to be high in calories, fullof salt and additives and lowin essential nutrients, so whilethey’re poor at providingsustained energy, they arevery good at making you gainweight. Many also containtrans fats, which your bodycan’t digest properly, leadingto high cholesterol andclogged arteries.

Base meals on proteinThis is really importantwhether you want to addmuscle or burn fat. Basingeach meal on a high-qualitysource of protein – think

person loses around onelitre of fluid for every hour ofexercise, and that can havea detrimental effect on yourhealth and performance. Aimto drink at least eight glassesof water every day, but more ifyou’re exercising or if it’s hot.

A good indicator of howmuch water you need is toweigh yourself before andafter exercise: for every 1kglost, drink 1.5 litres of water toreplenish fluids. You shouldalso get in the habit of sippingwater throughout the day.If you feel thirsty, you areprobably already dehydrated.

Cut out the boozeIf you are trying to addmuscle, lose fat or simply getfitter then alcohol is not yourfriend. Yes, there is evidencethat consuming a little alcohol,such as red wine, on a regularbasis does offer some healthbenefits, but necking pint afterpint will compromise yourfitness goals.

Not only are alcoholicdrinks high in calories – whichwill get stored as fat – onceyou’ve had a few you’ll alsobe more tempted by thattakeaway on the way homeand less likely to stick to yourgym session the followingmorning. If you want to get inshape, give the booze a miss.

Department of Healthrecommends eating fiveportions of fruit and veg a day,but some research suggestswe should be eating up tonine and of as many differentcolours as possible. Thisensures you get plenty ofcancer-fighting antioxidants,

gut-satisfying fibre andthe vitamins and mineralsyou need to stay fit

and healthy.

Don’t cut out fatMany people try to cutout fat when trying tolose weight, but thisisn’t the best courseof action. We need fatsto help better absorbcertain vitamins, forexample, and some fatscan also help us feelfuller for longer.

The best sources of fatsare olive oil, avocados andnuts, but remember fats arestill very high in calories, sodon’t go overboard.

Drink a lot of waterWe can survive several weekswithout food but only a fewdays without water. Your bodycan’t store water like it doesfood, so you need a constantsupply to replenish the fluidyou lose through sweatingand toilet stops. The average

meat, fish and eggs – willmake you feel fuller for longerso you’re less tempted byhigh-sugar snacks, providethe nutrients needed to repairdamaged muscles andprovide a host of essentialvitamins and minerals.

Each meal should alsocontain vegetables in avariety of colours. Forcarbs, stick to brown riceand sweet potatoes.

Get plentyof varietyYour body requiresmany vitamins andminerals to stay healthy,and if you eat a limiteddiet you risk poor health,let alone lacking theenergy to train or fightoff illness

That’s why you needto eat as wide a range offoods as possible, especiallyfruit and vegetables. The

How many meals?Aim for six small meals a day. Small, regular meals are the bestway to keep your body energised and provide a regular intakeof protein to help you build muscles and burn fat. Eating littleand often keeps your metabolism – the speed at which youburn energy – revved up, so you’ll burn more of the energyyou consume plus some that has been stored as body fat,compared with eating a big breakfast, lunch and dinner.


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Rules | Nutrition

Basing each meal on a high-quality source of proteinwill provide the nutrients needed to repair muscle

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Muscle mealsThis plan contains the kind of foods you should be eatingevery day to fuel your muscle-building workouts

Monday

Breakfast40g muesli with 200mlskimmed milk and 50gfresh berries.Two slices of wholegraintoast with honey.Glass of orange juice.

SnackLow-fat yoghurt.Cereal bar.

Lunch80g salmon baked with3tbsp cooked basmatirice and steamed veg.

SnackCereal bar.100g mixed berries.

Evening meal125g pasta, 100g grilledchicken, steamed veg, tomatosauce and chickpeas.Low-fat yoghurt.

DAILY TOTAL2,948 calories150g protein542g carbs

Tuesday

BreakfastTwo poached eggs.Three slices wholegraintoast with low-fat spread.Glass of orange juice.

SnackFour oatcakes withlow-fat cream cheese.100g fruit berries.

LunchTuna salad with beans, threeslices of wholegrain breadand a bowl of mixed salad.

SnackCereal bar.

Evening mealLarge bowl of seafoodchowder with two slicesof rye bread.Fresh fruit salad.


Wednesday

Breakfast50g porridge oats with200ml skimmed milk.Glass of orange juice.

SnackMuesli bar.Low-fat fruit yoghurt.Glass of orange juice.

LunchTwo wholegrain sandwicheswith lean meat (four slicesof bread) and sproutingbean salad.

SnackBanana.Skinny latte.Low-fat oat muffin.

Evening meal125g pasta with 100g leanturkey Bolognese, steamedveg and a bowl of salad.Fresh fruit salad.


Nutrition | Meal plan

Make sure there’s a significantamount of protein in the snacks

you take before and afterweight-training sessions to help

build and repair muscle.

Muscle tip


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Meal plan | Nutrition

Thursday

Breakfast60g muesli with 200mlskimmed milk and100g fruit berries.One slice of wholegraintoast with honey.Glass of orange juice.

SnackSkinny latte.Cereal bar.

LunchBean fajita roll.Low-fat fruit yoghurt andhandful dried apricots.

SnackTwo cereal bars.

Evening meal125g lean meat grilled with3tbsp cooked basmati riceand steamed veg.Fruit salad, low-fat ice cream.


Friday

Breakfast50g porridge oats with200ml skimmed milk.Glass of orange juice.

SnackLow-fat oat muffin.Glass of orange juice.

LunchThree slices of wholegraintoast with low-fat spread.Banana.

SnackMixed berries.Cereal bar.

Evening mealSalmon with pak choiand steamed veg.Fruit crumble withlow-fat ice cream.


Saturday

BreakfastTwo poached eggs.Three slices of wholegraintoast with low-fat spread.Glass of orange juice.

SnackSkinny latte.Cereal bar.

LunchLean meat sandwich.Fruit salad with low-fat yoghurt.

SnackThree oatcakes with low-fatcream cheese.

Evening meal100g mushroom risottowith mixed salad.Fresh fruit salad withlow-fat ice cream.


Sunday

BreakfastKedgeree.Two slices wholegrain toastwith low-fat spread.Glass of orange juice.

SnackFruit smoothie.Cereal bar.

Lunch150g grilled chickenwith steamed vegand new potatoes.

SnackTwo crumpets withpeanut butter.

Evening mealThai stir-fried squid with80g rice noodles.Fresh fruit salad.


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Get yourfive a day

Your body needs to be wellstocked with vitamins andminerals to keep energy levelsup and boost your immunesystem. Fruits and vegetablesare also extremely fillingthanks to their high volumeof water. This allows you to fillup with fewer calories and getenough fat-absorbing fibre.

Use these nuggets of nutritional advice to make the most of your training

Eating for muscle

Nutrition | Tips

Spice upyour diet

Spices such asturmeric, ginger andgarlic have powerfulanti-inflammatoryproperties that can helpto soothe your musclesafter a hard session inthe gym. Eating spicyfoods can also fire yourmetabolism for up tothree hours, increasingthe rate at which yourbody burns caloriesto help you shed fat.

Have aprotein

snack at bedtimeHave some cottagecheese or a low-fatyogurt before you hitthe hay. They are full ofslow-acting protein,which will helpregenerate your muscleswhile you sleep.

Treat yourselfOnce you’ve got the hang of eating nutritionally

balanced meals and exercising regularly, you can introducesome treats occasionally. Just make sure your regular mealsare healthy and then plan your ‘cheat meals’ so you caneat whatever you like and enjoy it. By allowing yourself theoccasional pizza or bowl of ice cream, you’ll satisfy yourcravings and have something to look forward to.

Eat afterexercise

Weight training seriouslydepletes your body’s energysupplies, so you’ll need to getsome fast-acting carbs insideyou, along with quality proteinto fuel and repair muscles.Your body is also mostresponsive to food straightafter training so eat a snacksuch as a banana and peanutbutter sandwich or a bagelwith cream cheese and slicedtomato within 30 minutes offinishing your session.

Always havebreakfast

Skipping breakfast mayseem like a good wayof losing the fat that’shiding your muscles butit isn’t – studies havefound that people who atebreakfast were less likelyto be overweight thanthose who skipped it. Abreakfast based aroundcomplex carbs and proteinhelps cut cravings forsweet or starchy foods,as well as boosting themetabolism. Good breakfastfoods include wholegraincereals, porridge, eggs onwholemeal toast and fruit.

Plan healthysnacks

Avoid the temptation toindulge in convenient,calorie-packed snackssuch as crisps andchocolate by bringinghealthy alternativeswith you to yourworkplace. Nuts,seeds, berries and rawvegetables with alow-fat hummus orguacamole dip will allhelp to keep you feelingfull, without having tomake any trips to theoffice vending machine.

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Supplements explainedDo you or don’t you need nutritional supplements? We help you decide

T he subject of sportssupplements can beconfusing. For a start,

there’s a bewildering arrayof powders, pills and drinksthat all claim to do differentthings. Some products helpyou gain weight, some helpyou lose weight, while othershelp you to perform betterat sport. And to make thingsmore difficult, they all seemto contain ingredients you’venever heard of. So how do youknow what’s right for you? Andshould you even be takingthem at all?

Before you decide whetheryou want to use sportssupplements, it’s important torealise that supplements aren’tmagic potions. You can’t justglug protein shakes, sit onyour sofa and expect to packon muscle. In order for anysupplement to be effective,you need to choose one thatsuits your workout goal anduse it in appropriate quantitiesalongside a structured andprogressive training regime.

What’s the pointof supplements?Sports supplements shouldsimply be seen as safety netsto ensure that the body isreceiving the nutrients it needsto perform at its best andachieve the look you want.If you are trying to increasemuscle mass you know youneed to pack away a lot ofcalories and get the rightcombination of carbs and

amino acids at the best timefor muscle replenishment. Itis possible to get all this fromfood – a chicken and ricesalad, for example – but intoday’s society where timeis short, it is sometimeseasier and moreconvenient to necka protein shake.

Are they safe?Yes, when usedproperly. Before youtake any supplementit is a good ideato research theproduct and stick to areputable manufacturer– they are usually full ofknowledge and willingto give you lots of advice.You should also makesure you follow the dosageon the label. Too muchcreatine, for example, canbe toxic to the kidneys andliver, while too much proteinwill simply turn to lard.

What kind of supplementsshould I take?Although there are a lotof supplements to choosefrom, most fall into one of thefollowing categories: musclebuilders, fat burners andenergy providers. Then youhave the various vitamin,mineral and antioxidantsupplements that canbe valuable to people inserious training. The maincategories of supplement areoutlined on the next page.

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Nutrition | Supplements


Men’s Fitness208

Whey proteinThis is the quickest and most effective protein for musclerecovery and repair after exercise. Weight training increasesyour need for protein. If you don’t get enough you can losemuscle tissue, take longer to recover and your body maybreak down its own muscle to use as energy.

CreatineThere’s strong scientific evidence to suggest that creatinecan improve muscle strength, power and size. Creatineis produced naturally in the body from three amino acids(proteins). It’s found in meat and fish, for example, but notin sufficient quantities to boost muscle building on it’s own,which is why you need a supplement.

Fat burnersKnown as thermogenics, these are blends of herbs andstimulants that slightly increase body temperature, whichcan help you burn more calories during exercise. They canbe helpful for maintaining energy levels on a low-calorie diet.However, regular training and a healthy diet can also boost yourmetabolosm, so their use is questionable.

Energy providersUsually in the form of drinks, bars and gels, these are good ifyou want to get that little extra edge when training or if you arelooking to train a bit longer than usual. These are pure carbs,which can delay fatigue and improve endurance.

Amino acidsThese will help the body release human growth hormone,which helps prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue duringexercise and improve recovery.

AntioxidantsAntioxidants help your body’s natural defence against illnessby eliminating free radicals, which destroy cells and createoxidative damage. Free radicals are created by intense exercisesuch as weight training.

CaseinThis protein takes seven to eight hours to digest, so it’s besttaken half an hour before you go to bed. Like whey protein,it helps to repair and build muscle, but it is absorbed morethoroughly so is highly effective.

RehydratorsThese are usually isotonic sports drinks that will give your bodythe right blend of sugars and salts during exercise. The blendof water, fast-acting carbohydrates and electrolytes will helpreplenish fluids more efficiently than water alone.

Problem solversIf you’re experiencing diet-related workoutproblems, these supplements could help

MultivitaminsThese are a good option if you’re struggling to get the vitamins andminerals you need from your normal diet. Ideally though, you shouldtry to have a nutritious and varied enough diet so you don’t need thehelp of a multivitamin.

ZincInadequate levels of zinc can hamper muscle growth and weakenyour immune system. Regular exercisers need more zinc than inactivepeople because they need to replenish their red blood cell count andhelp metabolise fatty acid caused by exercise.

MagnesiumThis mineral is essential for burning glucose for fuel and is importantfor muscle contraction. It’s lost in sweat, which is why you may needa supplement if you exercise regularly.

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