Unleash Your Muscles’ Potential

We all make mistakes. But when it comes to your workout, there are easy ways to fix muscle-building blunders. Tweak your workout with these small changes and start sculpting the body you want:

Run a lot? Chances are you’re hurting your ability to pack on muscle. Instead of jogging and activating your slow-twitch muscle fibers—which seem to shrink your upper body bulk—opt for fat-incinerating intervals.

Want that enviable crease from your hip to your groin? Define it by working your upper abs with 20 to 30 crunches first. This will limit their assistance when you start working your lower abs.

For more powerful trunks, ditch the leg extensions. They isolate your quads. Body-weight lunges, on the other hand, stabilize your abs, lower back, hips . . . you get the point.

And forget curls. Shore up surrounding muscles with a cutting-edge workout for sleeve-busting arms.

Add a Wobble to Your Workout

The most unlikely aid to your leg exercise? Bed pillows--they can make your legs stronger. When men attempted single-leg squats while standing on a cushy surface, their hips and leg muscles worked up to 13 percent harder, report Mayo Clinic researchers. It's a tricky maneuver, however, because you can easily lose your balance. If you can do three sets of 10 wobble-free single-leg squats while standing on a hard floor, bring on the pillow.

The Top 10 Muscles Women Love

1. 6-Pack Abs
You could have biceps the size of bowling balls, but if you've got the beginnings of a gut, any discriminating woman will think twice before considering you boyfriend material. Their fear: A little excess midriff meat now means one fat, sloppy bastard in 10 years.

2. Powerful Forearms
Women see strong forearms and think you can do everything: Fend off a mugger, build a house, and maintain a dexterous touch long enough to leave them extremely satisfied. So roll up those sleeves, and let 'em have a look.

3. A Nice Butt
Women check out your butt because it's a clue to your worthiness as a physical specimen. If you're in great shape, it carries high. Otherwise, your rear end droops like a sack of old potatoes. Old, hairy potatoes.

4. A Broad Back
A wide back is essential for a V-shaped torso, and women's attraction to it is ancestral. "When it was important that our mates protect us from woolly mammoths on the plains, we looked for a gene pool that could provide us with protection," says Pega Ren, Ed.D., a sexologist in British Columbia.

5. Sculpted Shoulders
"The shoulder muscles are really the muscles of love and war," says Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D., author ofSurvival of the Prettiest. They also make the whole look when combined with a broad back. Strong shoulders literally sweep women off their feet.

6. Rock-Hard Calves
"Women want an overall sense of strength and fitness," says Etcoff. "If a man looks as if he can lift something but can't run, it looks disproportionate."

7. The Money Line
We're not convinced that's its official name, but here's how our female friends describe it: "The muscle that runs diagonally from hip to crotch," "The muscle that sticks out near the hips—yummy!" and "Lower abs, near his package."

8. A Big Chest
"Women treasure your chest as much as you do theirs," says Emily Dubberley, a sex expert based in the UK. "Touching, kissing, and licking a man's chest is undoubtedly a turn-on for most women."

9. Large Biceps
In a poll ofCosmopolitanreaders, 1 out of 5 women confessed that nice biceps on a man makes them "absolutely melt."

10. Strong Hamstrings
Many women prefer being on top because it lets them lean forward to rub against your pubic bone. Having well-conditioned hamstrings and glutes makes it easier to meet her halfway for more pleasure.

Gain a Pound of Muscle Every Week

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Maybe you've had sand kicked in your face. Maybe you've lost one too many attainable women to beefier guys. Or maybe you've read so much about weight loss that actually admitting you want to gain weight is a societal taboo. Whatever the reason, you want to bulk up. Now.

But forget about your alleged high-revving metabolism, says Doug Kalman, R.D., director of nutrition at Miami Research Associates. "Most lean men who can't gain muscle weight are simply eating and exercising the wrong way," he says.

Here's your fix: Follow these 10 principles to pack on as much as a pound of muscle each week.

Maximize Muscle Building

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

Eat Meat

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

Eat More

In addition to adequate protein, you need more calories. Use the following formula to calculate the number you need to take in daily to gain 1 pound a week. (Give yourself 2 weeks for results to show up on the bathroom scale. If you haven't gained by then, increase your calories by 500 a day.)

A. Your weight in pounds.

B. Multiply A by 12 to get your basic calorie needs.

C. Multiply B by 1.6 to estimate your resting metabolic rate (calorie burn without factoring in exercise).

D. Strength training: Multiply the number of minutes you lift weights per week by 5.

E. Aerobic training: Multiply the number of minutes per week that you run, cycle, and play sports by 8.

F. Add D and E, and divide by 7.

G. Add C and F to get your daily calorie needs.

H. Add 500 to G. This is your estimated daily calorie needs to gain 1 pound a week.

Work Your Biggest Muscles

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

Have a Stiff Drink

A 2001 study at the University of Texas found that lifters who drank a shake containing amino acids and carbohydrates before working out increased their protein synthesis more than lifters who drank the same shake after exercising. The shake contained 6 grams of essential amino acids—the muscle-building blocks of protein—and 35 grams of carbohydrates.

"Since exercise increases bloodflow to your working tissues, drinking a carbohydrate-protein mixture before your workout may lead to greater uptake of the amino acids in your muscles," says Kevin Tipton, Ph.D., an exercise and nutrition researcher at the University of Texas in Galveston.

For your shake, you'll need about 10 to 20 grams of protein—usually about one scoop of a whey-protein powder. Can't stomach protein drinks? You can get the same nutrients from a sandwich made with 4 ounces of deli turkey and a slice of American cheese on whole wheat bread.

But a drink is better. "Liquid meals are absorbed faster," says Kalman. So tough it out. Drink one 30 to 60 minutes before your workout.

Lift Every Other Day

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

Down Carbs After Your Workout

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

Eat Every 3 Hours

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

Make One Snack Ice Cream

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

Have Some Milk Before Bed

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

Know More, Grow More

Over the course of my career as a strength coach, I've trained thousands of athletes, including all-stars from the NBA, NFL, and NHL. So every month for the past 25 years, I've logged more hours in the gym than most guys do in their lifetimes. And I've probably heard the question "Whaddya bench?" at least once a day.

Enough already. And not just for the sake of my sanity. I can tell you that when it comes to your workout, there are far more important questions. Questions that, combined with the right answers, will help you bust through longtime lifting plateaus and slash your risk of injury. Ready to pack on new muscle, build superstrength, and engineer a high-performance body? Your education starts now.

Can You Row Your Body Weight 10 Times?

There's a saying, If you're not rowing, you're not building muscle. And there's no better way to start doing both than with an exercise called the inverted row, or body-weight row.

Besides being great for muscle building, the inverted row is valuable because it strengthens your rear shoulders and upper back. These oft-neglected muscles directly oppose the muscles used in the bench press--a benefit that can help prevent a slumped posture. Think of it this way: If you bench-press far more than you row, the stronger muscles on the front of your upper body will overpower the weaker ones on the back, pulling your shoulders forward.

If you can't do 10 perfect repetitions of the inverted row, chances are you have a serious imbalance. The fix? Do two sets of the inverted row for every one set of bench presses (or other chest exercise) that you perform. Use this approach until you eliminate your weak spot.

How to do it: At a Smith machine, grab the bar with an overhand grip and place your heels on the floor, with your legs straight. Pull your chest to the bar, pause, and lower yourself until your arms are straight. To count as a rep, your chest must touch the bar.

Bust through a plateau with new exercises

You feel a burst of satisfaction when you put your weights down. But for some reason, your scale isn’t budging. One reader asks: What do I do when I hit a wall?

Our answer: Switch it up.

You have abs—we promise. But when you do the same plan over and over, your body can adapt, making your stubborn flab refuse to budge. Instead of getting discouraged, surprise your muscles with some new tricks.

You know that in order to you reveal a cover-model stomach, you need to burn fat with lifting and occasional cardio. But you should condition your midsection at the same time. Swap out some of your abs exercises for intermediate and advanced moves that work several areas of your middle at the same time.

Or switch to heavier weights—just follow these dumbbell smarts. Then you'll have hundreds of new abs-sculpting options.

Keep Your Metabolism Revved

Lose Your Lard 4 ways to fire up your calorie-burning engines
	Missing a meal doesn’t seem so bad. You don’t need those extra calories anyway, right? Wrong. When you skip a meal, your body slows down your metabolism to hold on to your existing fuel supply. Here are three better ways to burn blubber faster: When you work out, speed up and slow down. You can interval train with any form of cardio, from the elliptical machine to cycling. Perform a bodyweight routine 12 hours before or after your intense weight-training sessions. A handful of pushups and squats will send your fat burners into overdrive. Nosh on more protein, one of the hottest-burning food sources out there. Your body uses twice as much energy to break down protein than it does to break down carbs. Translation: Eggs in the morning, string cheese for a snack, salmon for dinner. You’re good to go.

Kettlebell Bodyweight Circuit Workout

Advanced Kettlebell-Bodyweight 555 Workout

1) Kettlebell Swings - 200

I doubt anyone reading this will be able to pull off 200 straight kettlebell swings. Even I can’t…

…but I broke it down like this: 100, 50, 30, 20. The grip really starts to go in the last two sets. Once you’ve hit 200, move on to:

2A) 100 Prisoner Squats (hands locked behind head)

supersetted with:

2B) 50 Stability Ball Rollouts

I did 25 prisoner squats followed by 12 stability ball rollouts (but I did 14 rollouts in the last set to hit 50). Then, onto…

3A) 100 Bodyweight Squats (hands down at sides)

supersetted with:

3B) 105 Pushups

Take as MUCH REST as you need to as you try to do all the reps and between exercises. Train hard but safe with these;

1) 25 Jumping Jacks
3) 25 Bodyweight Squats
3) 25 Kneeling Pushups
4) 25 Prisoner Squats
5) 25 second Plank
6) 25 Stability Ball Leg Curls
7) 25 Kneeling Pushups
8] 25 Bodyweight Squats
9) 25 Jumping Jacks

To See Abs, Add Pounds

Here are four ways to build the bulk you want:

Eat: To get beefy, you need, well, beef—and other meats. Aim for about 1 gram of muscle-building protein per pound of your target weight. So if you want to weigh in at 180, nosh on 180 grams of protein daily.

Exercise: Opt for a total-body workout that targets your largest muscle groups and incorporates compound exercises. These allow you to handle more weight, which forces your muscles to expand. Your best move: the deadlift.

Cheat: Have a bowl of ice cream 2 hours after you sweat. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this snack triggers a surge of insulin better than most foods do. And that'll put a damper on post-workout protein breakdown.

Forget your scale: Instead of tracking pounds, track your reps and sets. You'll see gains—on paper and when you look in the mirror.