6 pack abdominals

Scott Quill
Forget for a moment that the shape of your midsection largely determines how good you'll look on the beach this summer—and how well you'll play volleyball. We'll get back to that in a minute.

The pursuit of abs goes deeper. You strive for a six-pack as if your life depended on it, and now science proves that it does. At a meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, research was presented declaring that waist circumference is more conclusive than either weight or body-mass index (BMI) as a measure of disease risk.

Miami cardiologist Arthur Agatston, M.D., author of The South Beach Diet, puts it this way: "Abdominal fat is different and more dangerous than fat elsewhere. Unlike fat directly under the skin, belly fat, which adheres to organs, is associated with increases in C-reactive protein (CRP) and other markers of inflammation that can lead to heart disease."

Motivated yet? Good. We trust you'll lay off the fries and onion rings. Remember, if your body fat is too high, it doesn't matter how wisely you work your abs—they won't show. (For most men, anything over 10 percent body fat keeps your abs in hiding.)

For the next month, work your abs according to the following steps and try this eating tip from Nancy Clark, R.D., author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook: "I make two peanut-butter-and-honey sandwiches every day; I eat one for lunch at 11 and one for my second lunch at 3," Clark says. Notice that the 3 o'clock feeding is a "second lunch," not an "afternoon snack." Too many men equate snack time with, well, snacks—junk food. You'll eat smarter (whole grains and muscle-building protein) and not need as big a dinner if you allow for a second lunch. Plus, you'll have more energy for a better workout in the afternoon or evening.

This, in turn, will keep your insulin levels steady. When insulin is in excess (from too much sugar and not enough exercise), it can turn on you, depositing fat into your gut. Or worse. "When the pancreas burns out after years of producing excess insulin, that's when buildup begins in arteries; that can cause heart attacks and strokes," Dr. Agatston says.

But enough scary stuff. Time to hit the gym—and then the beach.

Train with 2 Types of Exercise
Some abs exercises are based on movement. Others focus more on balance, so your abs contract harder to keep your body stable. "Most men have difficulty with either stabilization or mobilization," says Carter Hays, C.S.C.S., a Houston-based personal trainer and a performance-enhancement specialist for the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Include both types of moves in a workout to challenge your abs.

For instance, try performing a Swiss-ball rollout (mobilization), followed by a Swiss-ball crunch (stabilization). To do the rollout, kneel in front of the ball with your forearms pressed against it. Keeping your knees and feet in place, roll the ball in front of you so your hips, torso, and arms slide forward. Advance as far as you can without arching your back, then pull back to the starting position.

Get More from Your Cardio
Strip away abdominal fat by switching around your cardio routine so you run hard early. In a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, eight men ran for 30 minutes on 2 separate days.

In the first session, the men ran at a relatively high intensity—80 percent of their maximum heart rate—for 15 minutes, then slowed to 60 percent for the final 15 minutes. In the other session, they ran the slower part first.

The men burned 5 to 10 percent more fat when they ran faster at the start of the workout. "And this is only a 30-minute workout," says Jie Kang, Ph.D., the study's lead author. "If you extrapolate that to a longer workout three to five times a week, things can add up."

Here's why it works: To burn fat, your body first breaks down fat tissue into fat molecules. "Our study found that this works better when your abs exercise is done at a relatively high intensity," says Kang. Next, molecules go to your cells to be burned, which Kang says can occur at relatively lower intensities.

The best part: You'll feel as if you're burning fat easier than ever. Kang measured the participants' perceived exertion—how hard they felt they were working. Turns out the body feels fatigued late in a workout, regardless of what you do.

Stay Hydrated
This one's almost too easy, but drinking plenty of water not only helps you burn fat, but also builds more muscle. "All creatine does is force fluid into the muscle," says Hays. "Your body will do that itself if there's enough water available."

Skip the Bonus Abs Routine
Edging closer to sharp abs can tempt you to work them every day. Don't. Training more can actually make your abs show less. "You don't need to overwork your abs—they're no different from any other muscle," says Hays. "If you're always in a state of overtraining, you're going to get more laxity in your muscles."

In other words, they'll appear soft. Instead, add resistance to make moves you already do more challenging. For instance, hold a light weight plate during a Russian twist or Swiss-ball crunch. Then give your muscles time to rest.

Do More Total-Body Exercise
Isolation moves like crunches are great for developing your muscles, but they don't burn much fat. You're better off training multiple muscle groups at once, says Hays. Total-body exercise burns more calories and also causes a greater release of muscle-building hormones.

Try combination moves, like the reverse lunge to cable chest fly. Stand between a cable station's weight stacks and grab a pulley handle with each hand. Hold your arms straight in front of you. Then step back with one leg, bend your knees, and let your arms move out to the sides. Pause when your back knee is just off the floor and your upper body looks like a T, then push yourself back up while you pull your arms together. Repeat the move with your other leg in the back position.

Get Off the Floor
Define the lower portion of the rectus abdominis (your six-pack muscle) with a Swiss-ball reverse crunch, but instead of doing the move on the floor, hop on a bench. "It allows for a greater range of motion," says Gregory Joujon-Roche, C.P.T., president of Holistic Fitness, in Los Angeles.

Lie faceup on the edge of a bench with a Swiss ball pinched between your heels and hamstrings. Keeping your abs drawn in, roll your pelvis off the bench and, maintaining the same knee angle, bring your knees toward your chest. Slowly lower the ball. As soon as your back begins to arch on the way down, that's the end of your range of motion. Pause at this point for a few seconds before finishing your set. Try five sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.

Go Deep
Abdominal muscles are multilayered, but most men focus only on the outermost layer with exercises like the crunch. So look for moves that work the abdominal muscles closest to the spine, such as the plank. Strengthening these tiny stabilizers will provide a solid foundation to allow your six-pack muscles to grow stronger and bigger. For more exercises, check out The Abs Diet Online. It also provides you with a nutrition plan designed by our experts to target that pesky midsection. Join today.

Wikio

The 100 Best Fitness Tips Ever

A great tip is an awesome thing. Whether it's an undiscovered restaurant, a sleeper stock, or a Sure Thing in the late double at Pimlico, savvy inside info imbues a man with confidence. Control. Strength.

Knowledge is power, baby.

It's also the secret to a powerful body, as you're about to find out. In our never-ending mission to get you in the greatest shape of your life, we've grilled the world's top experts, combed our own archives, even eavesdropped on some cell-phone conversations to find 100 perfect fitness training tips—small gems that will make a huge difference in any man's life.

Get ready: You're about to feel the power—and have the body to show for it.

And for even more ways to shape your body, check out The Men's Health Big Book of Exercises. With complete instructions of more than 600 exercises, along with hundreds of workouts and useful tips, it's the most comprehensive guide to fitness ever created.


Build Better Abs
Don't work your abdominal muscles every day. "Physiologically, your abs are like any other muscle in your body," says David Pearson, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., an exercise scientist at Ball State University. Train them only 2 or 3 days a week.

Protect Your Neck
Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth when you do crunches. "It will help align your head properly, which helps reduce neck strain," says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S., Men's Health exercise advisor.

Keep Muscles Limber
If you're under 40, hold your stretches for 30 seconds. If you're over 40, hold them for 60 seconds. As you reach your 40s, your muscles become less pliable, so they need to be stretched longer.

Don't Drop the Ball
To catch a pop fly in the sun, use your glove to shade your eyes. It's bigger than your free hand and puts the leather in perfect position to snag the ball.

Grow Muscle, Save Time
Keep your weight workouts under an hour. After 60 minutes, your body starts producing more of the stress hormone cortisol, which can have a testosterone-blocking, muscle-wasting effect.

Exercise in Order
Use dumbbells, barbells, and machines—in that order. "The smaller, stabilizer muscles you use with dumbbells fatigue before your larger muscle groups," says Charles Staley, a strength coach in Las Vegas.  So progress to machines, which require less help from your smaller muscles, as you grow tired.

Strengthen Your Core
Don't be afraid of situps. We've changed our tune on these, and here's why: Situps increase your range of motion, which makes your abdominals work harder and longer. (Doing crunches on a Swiss ball or with a rolled-up towel under your lower back has a similar effect.) Just avoid situps with anchored feet, which can hurt your lower back.

Test the Bench
Press your thumb into the bench before lifting. "If you can feel the wood, find another bench," says Ken Kinakin, a chiropractor in Canada and founder of the Society of Weight-Training Injury Specialists. Hard benches can cause T4 syndrome—a misalignment of your thoracic spine that affects the nerve function of your arm, weakening it.

Swim Faster
To build speed in swimming, develop your ankle flexibility. Flexible feet will act like flippers and propel you faster through the water. To increase your flipper flex, do this: Sit on the floor with your shoes off. Extend your legs in front of you, heels on the floor. Point your toes straight out as far as possible, then flex them toward your shins as far as you can. Repeat for 1 minute.

Buy Shoes That Fit
Shop for workout shoes late in the day. That's when your feet are the largest. Make sure there's a half inch of space in front of your longest toe, and that you can easily wiggle your toes. Then slip off the shoes and compare them with your bare feet. If each shoe isn't obviously wider and longer than your foot, go half a size bigger.
Kill Your Excuse
If you think you're too busy to exercise, try this experiment: For one day, schedule a time to work out, and then stick to it—even if you can exercise for only 10 minutes. "At the end of the day, ask yourself if you were any less productive than usual," says John Jakicic, Ph.D., an exercise psychologist at the Brown University school of medicine. The answer will probably be no—and your favorite excuse will be gone.

Help Your Forehand
To build forearm strength for tennis and racquetball, crumple newspaper: Lay a newspaper sheet on a flat surface. Start at one corner and crumple it into a ball with your dominant hand for 30 seconds. Repeat with your other hand.

Muscle Up Your Back
When doing lat pulldowns, don't wrap your thumb around the bar. Instead, place it on top, alongside your index finger. This decreases the involvement of your arm muscles, so you'll work your back harder. Works for pullups, too.

Drink A Pint, Get Ripped
If you're a beginner, train to failure—the point at which you absolutely can't do another repetition—then throw back a pint. In a new study, beginners who trained to failure with three sets of six exercises per day then drank a supplement immediately afterward gained over 5 pounds of muscle in just 8 weeks. A pint of 1 percent chocolate milk will provide all the nutrients you need to achieve the same result.

Lose Your Weak Spot
If you don't like an exercise, start doing it. "You're probably avoiding it because you're weak at it," says Mejia.

Overcome Injuries, Build Big Arms
If you hurt your right arm, don't stop exercising your left arm. Researchers at the University of Oklahoma found that people who trained only one arm for 2 weeks managed to increase arm strength in their nonexercising arm up to 10 percent. The reason: Exercising one arm stimulates the muscle nerve fibers in the opposite arm.

Cut Pain, Increase Gain
Count your repetitions backward. When you near the end of the set, you'll think about how many you have left instead of how many you've done.

Turn Heads with Your Legs
Do standing and seated calf raises. You'll get better results. "Your calves are made up of two different muscles, so you have to do the straight-leg and the bent-leg versions of the exercise to hit them both," says Mejia.

Keep Your Stats, See Amazing Results
Test yourself often. Every 4 weeks, measure a variable—waist size, body fat, bench press—that equates to your end goal. "It'll show you the tangible results of your training," says Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S., a trainer in Canada. And that translates into motivation.

Kill the Pill
Don't pop a pill after you work out. Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences found that ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) were no more effective than a placebo in relieving postexercise muscle soreness. More important, they say the drugs may actually suppress muscle growth when taken after a workout.Putt Like a Pro
Roll a golf ball across the carpet to improve your putting. The distance doesn't matter. Just toss it by hand and try to make it stop at a specific target. You'll hone your ability to judge speed and line without even picking up a club.

Blow Off Your Belly
Exhale forcefully at the top of the movement when you do abdominal crunches. It forces your abs to work harder.

Build Big Biceps
Bend your wrists to work your biceps harder. That is, extend them backward slightly—and hold them that way—while you do arm curls.

Heal Faster
Don't exercise when you're sick—unless your symptoms are above the neck. And even then you might do better taking a day off. "Your body will use its resources to heal itself, not build muscle and endurance," says Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., a trainer in Santa Clarita, California.

Pick Up Your Pace
Increase the speed of your running strides—not their length—to get faster. Your foot should always land under your body, rather than out in front of it, and you should push off with the toes of your rear leg for propulsion.

Ditch the Weight Belt
Don't train with a weight belt. Over time, regular training in a weight belt actually weakens your abdominal and lower-back muscles. Wear it only when attempting maximal lifts in such exercises as squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses.

Ride More Efficiently
Practice cycling one-legged to ride more efficiently. This forces you to concentrate on pulling up at the bottom of the stroke, which better distributes the work among the major leg muscles. Lock both feet on your pedals, but let your left leg go limp while you do all the work with your right leg. Do this for 30 seconds, then switch legs. Ride normally for 5 minutes, then repeat the drill. Continue this way for a 20- to 30-minute workout.

Pay Now, Build Later
Pay your trainer in advance. "You'll be more likely to follow through on exercise sessions," says Mejia.

Flatten Your Gut
Work your invisible abdominal muscles. Your transversus abdominis lies beneath your rectus abdominis—the six-pack muscle—and flattens your waistline when you suck in your gut. Work it with the vacuum: Pull your belly button toward your spine and hold for 10 seconds while breathing normally. Repeat five times.

Stretch for Strength
Between sets, take 20 to 30 seconds to stretch the muscle you just worked. Boston researchers found that men who did this increased their strength by 20 percent
Save Your Shoulders
Decrease the weight by 10 percent when you change your grip. So if you've been benchpressing 135 pounds for 10 repetitions with a medium grip, drop to 120 pounds when you switch to a wide grip. "You'll be stressing your joints and muscles in a different way than they're used to, which can cause injury," says Kinakin.

Improve Quickness
For faster foot speed in sports, try this move: Start with your feet hip-width apart and your hands at your sides. Lift your left foot in front of you, touch it with your right hand, and lower it to the floor. Lift your right foot, touch it with your left hand, and lower it. Then touch your left foot behind you with your right hand, then your right foot behind you with your left hand. Go for 20 seconds at a time, moving as fast as you can, and repeat for a total of three to five sets.

Repair Muscle Faster
Recover faster from a hard workout by lightly exercising the same muscles the following day. Use a light weight—about 20 percent of the weight you can lift one time—and do two sets of 25 repetitions. This will deliver more blood and nutrients into your muscles so they repair faster.

Dress Better
Buy only workout clothes that are black, white, or gray. They'll go with everything, and you'll never again waste time looking for a T-shirt that matches your gold-and-purple Lakers shorts.

Eat Meat and Grow
Eat meat—4 to 8 ounces every day—to grow more muscle. A study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared two groups of older male weight lifters: One group ate meat, the other didn't. Both groups grew stronger, but only the carnivores gained significant muscle. Chicken, turkey, and fish count, too.

Save Time in the Gym
Don't worry about specific rest periods between sets. Instead, rest as you need it—less in your early sets when your muscles are fresh, and more as they become fatigued. "You'll cut your workout time between 15 and 20 percent," says Staley.

Get Home-Run Power
To hit more home runs, swing with a slight uppercut at high pitches. The high swing utilizes your powerful hip and midsection muscles instead of just your hands and arms.

Shake a Defender
To come open for a pass in football, run near enough to your defender that you can shake his hand. The closer you get, the easier it'll be to blow past him. As you close in on him, shorten your strides without slowing down—it'll help you cut faster.

Stay in the Saddle
When you cycle, keep your pace between 80 and 110 rpm. You'll ride farther and faster with less fatigue and knee strain. To gauge your pace, count how many times your right leg comes to the top of the pedal stroke in 10 seconds, then multiply that number by 6. The result is your pedal rpms.

Build Arms Faster
Work opposing muscle groups—your biceps and triceps, for instance—back-to-back for a faster workout. "While one muscle is working, the other is forced to rest," says Staley. You won't need as much time between sets.

Get a Better Handle
To improve your ball-handling skills in basketball, practice dribbling while wearing leather or canvas work gloves. The thickness of the gloves helps improve the sensitivity of your fingertips, so you'll have better ball control when you take them off. Jason Williams, a Memphis Grizzlies guard, credits his ball-handling mastery to this training method.

Make More Contact
Play foosball to become a better softball hitter. It improves hand-eye coordination.

Improve Balance
Use a sofa cushion to improve your balance. Stand one-legged on the cushion and move a medicine ball (or a 1-gallon milk jug or heavy phone book) from hand to hand, side to side, and behind your head. Once you've mastered the move, try it with your eyes closed. "You'll improve your balance, coordination, and body control, all important athletic attributes," says Greg Brittenham, assistant coach of player development for the New York Knicks.

Get Stronger Fast
Do the same amount of exercise in 10 percent less time. It forces your muscles to work harder and improves your endurance at the same time. If it takes you 30 minutes to do a full-body workout on Monday, try to do it in 27 minutes on Wednesday.

See Ball, Hit Ball
Play better tennis by training your eyes to focus faster. You'll hit more winners by learning to change your visual focus from distance, when your opponent is hitting the ball, to close up, when you're hitting it. Try this drill while riding in a car: Focus on an object about a tennis-court length away. Then quickly shift focus to a closer object.

Double Dip Benefits
Do dips with your elbows in and your body straight to work your triceps. But lean forward and flare them out to focus on your chest.

Bench More Now
Look at your dominant hand—without turning your head—while you're bench-pressing. "You'll be able to lift more weight," says Staley.

Do More Chinups
Don't think about pulling yourself up when you do chinups. Instead, imagine pulling your elbows down. The exercise will seem easier.

Climb Like Spiderman
For rock or wall climbing, buy shoes that fit your bare feet so tightly you can stand but not walk comfortably. They'll give you optimal control, and you'll be better able to use your legs—the key to successful climbing.

Run Injury-Free
One week out of every six, cut your weekly training mileage and frequency in half. You'll give your body a better chance to recover, and you'll avoid permanent, nagging injuries.
Drink Up, Get Lean
Drink low-fat milk. Scientists in Canada found that people who consumed more than 600 milligrams of calcium a day—roughly the amount in 2 cups of milk, a cup of broccoli, and a half cup of cottage cheese—had lower body fat than those who consumed less than 600 milligrams a day.

Slash Your Score
When you're putting, aim high on breaks. "Whatever you think the break is, double it and you'll come much closer to being correct," says Dave Pelz, author of Dave Pelz' Putting Bible and a consultant to dozens of PGA pros.

Multiply Your Muscles
Follow this simple formula to build more muscle: Multiply the amount of weight you lift for a particular exercise by the total number of times you lift it. Try to increase that number every workout by lifting heavier weights, increasing your repetitions, or doing more sets.

Be More Flexible
Spend twice as much time stretching your tight muscles as your flexible muscles. "Focus on problem areas instead of muscles that are already flexible," says Bill Bandy, Ph.D., a professor of physical therapy at the University of Central Arkansas. Typical problem areas for men: hamstrings, shoulders, and lower back.

Recover Faster
When you're recovering from a muscle injury, begin exercising again as soon as you can. Try a few minutes at low intensity to test yourself. Go slowly—no explosive movements. If you experience pain, stop immediately. Afterward, ice the area for 20 minutes and exercise again the next day. You should be able to go a little harder and longer each workout.

Reach Your Goals
Set your goals in reverse. That is, pick a date of completion and work backward, writing down short-term goals as you go. "The goals then seem more like deadlines," says Ballantyne.

Run Hills Faster
When running uphill, keep your head up and your eyes focused on the top of the hill. This opens your airways, making it easier to breathe than if your upper body were hunched forward.

Manage Your Middle
Do your ab exercises at the beginning of your workout if you can't pass this test: Sit with your feet flat on the floor and your legs bent—as if you had just performed a situp. Then place your fingers behind your ears with your elbows pulled back. Lower yourself to the floor as slowly as possible. "If it doesn't take at least 5 seconds, you need to prioritize your abdominal training," says the Australian strength coach Ian King.

Win a Marathon
To build speed and endurance, train like a Kenyan: Go slowly for the first third of your run, at a normal pace in the middle third, and at a faster-than-normal pace at the end. Gradually increase your starting pace each week, and you'll increase your normal and fast paces, too.

Outdrive Your Pals
To hit a golf ball farther, take some practice swings from the opposite side. It strengthens and balances your muscles, which may help you clear that water hazard. Do a few opposite swings on the first three or four holes, or for a minute at the driving range.

Sit Back, Squat More
Use a bench to squat with perfect form. That is, stand in front of the bench when you squat. Lower yourself as if you were sitting down. When your butt touches the bench, push yourself back up. Try it with a light bar or a broomstick first.

Shake Your Muscles
Eat immediately after your workout. A 12-week study conducted by Danish researchers found that older men who drank a shake with 10 grams of protein, 7 grams of carbohydrate, and 3 grams of fat (about the same as in a cup of milk) within 5 minutes after their weight workout gained muscle, but men who consumed the drink 2 hours later did not. For a serious postworkout muscle-building shake, try this formula from Thomas Incledon, M.S., R.D.: Blend a half cup of fat-free frozen chocolate yogurt, a quarter cup of egg substitute, a cup of fat-free milk, a large banana, and a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, and drink. You'll down 23 grams of protein, 52 grams of carbs, and only 4 grams of fat.

Get Stronger Legs
Do lunges in reverse. This forces your front leg to work throughout the entire exercise. Use the same movement pattern as in a traditional lunge, but step backward instead of forward.

Tape Your Jams
If you have a finger that is frequently jammed, tape it to a neighboring finger when you play sports. Together the two fingers will be stronger and less likely to bend at an odd angle.

Use Iron, Get The Lead Out
Lift weights to run faster. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that 8 weeks of resistance training improved experienced runners' 5-K times by 30 seconds.

Save Your Back
Squeeze your butt muscles when you lift weights over your head. "You'll force your body into a position that automatically stabilizes your spine, which lowers your risk of back injuries," says Staley.

For a Better Warmup, Train Your Brain
Don't forget to warm up your brain. "Preparing your central nervous system for activity is just as important as preparing your muscles," says Vern Gambetta, former director of conditioning for the Chicago White Sox. That's because your central nervous system tells your muscles when to contract. Try standing on one leg while you squat down, and touch the floor in front of it with your opposite hand. Do two sets of 10 to 12 repetitions with each leg.

Loosen Your Hips
Keep your heels on the floor when you squat. If you can't, your hip flexors are too tight. Try this stretch: Hold onto the sides of the squat rack and lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Hold for 30 seconds. Return to a standing position, then repeat five times.

Squeeze Out Gains
Squeeze the bar inward when you bench-press. This works more muscles in your chest. But squeeze it outward when you do the close-grip version of the exercise—this hits your triceps harder.

Make More Birdies
For straight-on putts, aim exactly 17 inches past the hole. That's because the 17 inches of green surrounding the cup will be free of footprints, meaning blades of grass there are thicker and more upright and will slow down your putts dramatically.
Finish Faster
To save time, use the same weight for your entire workout. Pick the weight based on your weakest exercise—choose an amount you can lift only six to eight times—and do the moves in a circuit.

Save Your Calves
If you're a runner and your calves feel tight when you wake up in the morning, try sleeping on your stomach with your feet hanging off the bed. Gravity will take over, lightly stretching the calf muscles all night.

Go Short, Get Fast
Go faster for shorter distances to improve your running form. You'll not only perform better, but you'll also be less susceptible to injuries.

Go Light, Get Strong
Lift light weights fast to build strength. Your muscles will generate as much force as if you were lifting a heavier weight more slowly. Try it with the bench press: Use a weight that's 40 to 60 percent of what you can lift one time, and do eight sets of three repetitions, pushing the weight up as fast as possible. Rest 30 seconds between sets.

Isolate Your Abs
When you do reverse crunches and hanging knee raises, round your back by rolling your hips and pelvis toward your chest, instead of simply raising your legs. Otherwise, you're mainly working your hip flexors—the muscles at the top of your thighs.

Stay Healthy
If you're not exercising at all, just try to fit in two 20-minute aerobic or weight-training sessions a week. Researchers at Oklahoma State University examined absentee records of 79,000 workers at 250 sites and found that those who did this minimal amount of exercise had fewer sick days than those who didn't exercise at all.

Swipe the Rock
To make a steal in basketball, swipe up, not down. Refs and whiny opponents are just waiting for you to hack down on the ball. Flicking up is more subtle and surprising—and if you do poke the ball away, it'll be higher and easier to grab.

Build Sprint Muscles
To sprint faster, work your hamstrings. They help you push off and develop speed. Try this variation of the leg curl: Pull the weight toward you with your ankles flexed (as you normally would) so that your toes are pointing toward your shins. But when you lower the weight, extend your ankles so that your toes are pointing away from your shins. Your hamstrings will work harder than with the traditional version of the exercise.

Get Up Faster
To mountain-bike uphill faster, edge forward in the saddle to distribute your weight more evenly between the front and rear wheels. If you slip back too far, you'll cause the front wheel to skitter off the ground. If you lean too far forward, you'll lose traction on the back tire.

Save Your Neck
When doing squats, rest the bar so that as much of it as possible is touching your shoulders. Holding it only on your lower neck causes the entire weight to compress your spine, which can lead to spinal and muscle injuries.

Isolate and Grow
Exercise one arm at time. Do a set of shoulder presses with your left arm, then do a set with your right. "You'll get higher-quality sets than if you work both arms at the same time," says Ballantyne.

Come Clean
Throw all your dirty workout clothes into one mesh laundry bag. At the end of the week, tie a knot in the bag and throw it in the washer. You'll always know where your favorite workout shirts are, and you won't have to touch your sweat socks when they're fully ripe.

Squat for a Six-Pack
Do squats and deadlifts...to build your abs. Research shows that these two exercises force your abdominal muscles to do a significant amount of work to maintain your posture.

Flex for Muscle
When doing standing arm curls, completely straighten your arms by flexing your triceps at the end of each repetition. This ensures that you work the muscle through its entire range of motion.

Run Longer, Easier
When you run, breathe so that your belly rises as you inhale. This ensures that your lungs are inflating fully with oxygen, so you'll be able to go longer. Practice by lying on your back and placing a book on your stomach. The book should rise when you breathe in.

Jump Higher
Do this simple jumping exercise to improve your vertical leap: Stand on the edge of a step that's about 8 inches high. Step off backward with both feet. When your toes hit the ground, immediately jump back onto the step. Concentrate on pushing off the ground as quickly as possible, rather than on the height of your jump. "The speed of the jump is more important than the height," says Brittenham. Do three to five sets of 10 to 20 repetitions twice a week.

Make the Catch
To catch a football, focus on the tip of the ball. You'll watch the ball into your hands, instead of just tracking the blur. Plus, by concentrating on that specific spot, you'll block out oncoming defenders.

Replace Your Shoes (Not Your Knees)
To avoid injuries, write an "expiration date" on your shoes as soon as you buy them. Shoes last about 500 miles, so simply divide 500 by your average weekly mileage to determine how many weeks your shoes are likely to last.

Get Up and at 'Em
If you want to exercise before work but aren't a morning person, try this trick: For a set period—say, 4 weeks—force yourself to get up 15 minutes earlier than normal and do any type of physical activity (walking, for instance). "Make it so easy that you don't even have to change into your workout clothes," says John Raglin, Ph.D., an exercise researcher. As you near the end of the 4 weeks, you'll have a new habit and will then be able to progress to greater amounts of exercise.

Build Quality Quads
Push from your toes when you do leg presses. Your quadriceps will work harder.

Warm Up the Right Way
Skip the treadmill warmup before lifting weights. Instead, do a warmup that targets the muscles you'll be using. For a full-body warmup, grab a bar and do two sets of 10 repetitions each of the squat, deadlift, bench press, and bent-over row.

Get a Better Grip
To strengthen your grip, wrap a towel around the bar when you do arm curls. It makes the bar thicker, which forces your forearm muscles to work harder.

Improve Your Max
Before you try a maximal lift, load the bar with a weight that's 20 to 30 percent heavier than what you think you can handle. Then simply lift it off the rack, hold for 1 to 2 seconds, and put it back. Wait 3 to 4 minutes, then try your true max—the weight will feel noticeably lighter. Never attempt this without a spotter.

Avoid Burnout
To see if you're overtraining, check your pulse first thing in the morning the day after a workout. If it's 10 beats per minute or more above normal, your body is still recovering.

Skip Tendinitis
Use a shoulder-width grip when doing upright rows. Unlike the traditional narrow grip, it'll help you avoid shoulder-impingement syndrome—an injury that causes tendinitis and bursitis.

Build Real Strength
Don't use machine weights exclusively. A study at Georgia State University found that older adults using exercise machines improved their strength on the machines an average of 34 percent in 2 years. But their strength measures for everyday activities actually declined 3.5 percent.

Get a Big Back
Break cable rows into two parts. Hold the bar with your arms outstretched and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Then pull the bar to your body.

Feed Your Muscles
Satisfy your sugar cravings immediately after your workout. Eat at least 20 grams along with some protein. The sugar will help carry protein to the muscles you've just worked. So have a soda with your tuna sandwich, but limit your sugar intake the rest of the day.

End Back Pain
For every set of abdominal exercises you perform, do a set of lower-back exercises. Focusing only on your abs can lead to poor posture and lower-back pain.

Stop Screwing Up
Don't try to lose your gut by working your abs. Researchers at the University of Virginia found that it takes 250,000 crunches to burn 1 pound of fat—that's 100 crunches a day for 7 years.

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Milk drinkers lose more weight, research shows

A two-year weight loss study held in Israel reveals that dieters who consume milk lose more weight on average than those who don't.


Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.
Dieters with the highest dairy calcium intake were found to lose more weight.
A new weight loss study conducted in Israel has revealed that dieters who consume milk or milk products lose more weight on average than those who consume little to no milk products.

The two-year dietary intervention study, of 300 overweight men and women in middle age, was carried out by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). The researchers found that regardless of diet, dieters with the highest dairy calcium intake - equal to 12 oz. of milk or other dairy products, lost about 12 pounds (6kg) at the end of two years.

Dieters with the lowest dairy calcium intake - about half a glass of milk, only lost seven pounds on average.

The researchers, led by Dr. Danit Shahar, of BGU's Center for Health and Nutrition, and the Faculty of Health sciences, also discovered that levels of vitamin D found in the blood, also affected the success of weight loss treatments. The results confirmed existing research showing that overweight participants have lower blood levels of the vitamin.

Higher vitamin D levels in successful dieters

"It was known that over-weight people had lower levels of serum vitamin D but this is the first study that actually shows that serum Vitamin D increased among people who lost weight," says Shahar. "This result lasted throughout the two years that the study was conducted, regardless of whether [participants] were on a low-carb, low fat or Mediterranean diet."

Vitamin D increases calcium absorption in the bloodstream and in addition to sun exposure can be obtained from fortified milk, fatty fish and eggs. Americans generally consume less than the recommended daily requirement of Vitamin D which is found in four glasses of milk (400 international units).

The study, which was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was part of the Dietary Intervention Randomized Control Trial (DIRECT) held at the Nuclear Research Center in Israel in collaboration with Harvard University, the University of Leipzig, Germany and the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Some 322 moderately obese people, aged 40 to 65, took part in the study evaluating low fat, Mediterranean or low-carb diets for two years.

In earlier findings, scientists discovered that low-fat diets aren't the best way to lose weight, but that dieters are likely to lose more weight on a Mediterranean diet, or a low-carb diet.

The study was supported by the Israel Ministry of Health and the Israel Dairy Council, the Israel Chief Scientist Office, German Research Foundation and the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Research Foundation

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Video: Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's linked

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Most Americans will be fat by 2020

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Georges St. Pierre's UFC Workout

By: Adam Bornstein and Abby Lerner

What does it take to be a UFC Champion? "A desire to turn your name into a legacy," says Georges St. Pierre, UFC welterweight king. St. Pierre allowed us to follow him through his workout at Renzo Gracie Academy in New York to see how he's preparing for his next title fight.

Tackle Your Warmup

Think about what you do before you lift weights. Hop on the treadmill for 5 minutes? A few light sets on the bench press? In the world of a UFC Champion, that’s a walk in the park.

St. Pierre begins his training with about 10 minutes of grappling. Today’s (un)lucky participant: Kenny Florian, fellow UFC fighter and finalist of the original The Ultimate Fighter.

The Lifter is Lifted

Grappling offers the perfect dynamic warmup for St. Pierre, as it improves blood flow, speeds up his heart rate, and loosens up his joints ... even if it means being tossed around a bit.

Brace Your Core

A fighter is only as strong as his midsection. Here St. Pierre fine-tunes his core strength with Swiss-ball rollouts. If you don't have a Swiss ball, load a barbell with a 10-pound plate on each side, affix collars, and grab the bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip.

Jump to the Top

Immediately after finishing a set of abs exercises, St. Pierre continues his "warmup" circuit with medicine-ball skater hops. Hold a 10- to 15-pound ball and jump from side-to-side on one leg. When you land, lower your body into a partial squat.

This is a Stick Up

Shoulder health and mobility is important for more than just lifting heavy weights. It's a vital component of wrestling, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu—three of St. Pierre's fighting strengths. Here, St. Pierre uses "scapular wall slides" to activate and strengthen his lower trapezius, a muscle that helps control your shoulder blade and is often weak—whether you're an average guy or a world-class athlete.

Lift Like an Olympian

Rumors that St. Pierre hopes to make the 2012 Canadian wrestling team are true—but that only means it's one of his goals, not a certainty. Here, he kicks off his weight workout with an Olympic-lifting staple: barbell snatches.

The Setup

Pull the bar up to your waist, and prepare to take it above your head.

Pull Explosively!

Use your hips and glutes to generate force while you pull the bar upward with your upper-body muscles.

Total-Body Workout

Notice how the snatch incorporates almost every muscle in your body. The legs generate power to help you move the weight from your lower body to your upper body, while your shoulders, back, and arms help you finish the movement.

Squeeze It Out

At only 170 pounds, a 135-pound snatch provides the challenge needed for an intense workout. But the fun is just beginning for St. Pierre.

Move at a Breakneck Pace

St. Pierre builds neck strength between exercises by vigorously pressing his head into a pad on the wall. His face indicates the level of intensity exerted on this seemingly simple exercise.

Champion Abs

Meet a secret player to building rock-solid abs: core getups. This movement engages your six-pack muscles to raise your torso while the rest of your body lies motionless.

Add it to your workout: Lie face up with your legs straight. Extend both arms straight above your chest, and tighten your glutes to help stabilize your core. Without using momentum, raise your upper body, stop, and then slowly lower back to the starting position.

Old-School Training

Chinups are a staple in almost all of st. Pierre's workouts. Only in this case, he holds a 60-pound weight between his legs to add resistance and significantly increase difficulty. 

Don't Cheat

Every rep is performed with maximum effort and as "clean" as possible. A perfect chinup is when you touch your collar bone to the bar by pulling your elbows down to your rib cage.

Dead Weight

See ... we weren't lying about the weight.

Take a Swing

Fifteen seconds of consecutive alternating ball slams is all it takes to rip your upper body and blast your abs.

Knock Out

The final impact you'd miss if you blink. Thank you, shutter speed.

A Bulletproof Chest

See those 225 pounds on the bar? They're proof of St. Pierre's overall fitness level. Just don't insist that he's all show and no go. Or else he might embarrass you in the gym ... and then in the octagon.

Go Back to Basics

GSP shows that body-weight exercises are still popular, especially when performed immediately after a set of bench presses. But there's a slight twist with this championship version.

... But Add a Twist

These are plyometric pushups. After you lower your body, explode up and off the ground with both your hands and your feet.

Ground Force

St. Pierre builds strength and power from the ground up.

Jump Around

Strength, speed, and endurance. That's what it takes to fire through a series of alternating split jumps, which will leave your quads burning.

Let Me at 'Em

st. Pierre trains his explosiveness with these band-resisted runs. On each rep, he'll sprint toward his opponent and fling his body as he learns to generate more power. Just imagine what happens once the resistance is removed.

Get Low

Let's just say this sequence didn't end well for Florian. But he just kept on popping back up like a true fighter.

Knowledge is Power

Throughout the day, GSP discussed strategy with one of his coaches, John Donaher, and Florian. Despite his renowned success, GSP remains determined to continue learning. "I'll only reach my goals if I keep on finding ways to become better than everyone else," St. Pierre says.

Practice is a Pain . . . Literally

Even though the grappling was considered a "light" day, grimaces and tapouts were common.

A True Champion

Even after an hour of lifting and another hour of practice, St. Pierre was still kind enough to talk with fans and take a few pictures. "I want to represent my sport in the best way possible and show people the true meaning of being a fighter while still entertaining my fans," St. Pierre says. In our case that meant waiting an extra 15 minutes to interview St. Pierre as he talked with every fan that watched him train. That might have been the best moment of the day.

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Migraine cause 'identified' as genetic defect

Scientists have identified a genetic defect linked to migraine which could provide a target for new treatments.

A flawed gene found in a family of migraine sufferers could help trigger the severe headaches, a study in Nature Medicine suggests.

Dr Zameel Cader of the University of Oxford said the discovery was a step forward in understanding why one in five people suffers from migraines.

The World Health Organization rates it as a leading cause of disability.

A migraine is a severe, long-lasting headache usually felt as a throbbing pain at the front or on one side of the head.

Some can have a warning visual disturbance, called an aura, before the start of the headache, and many people also have symptoms such as nausea and sensitivity to light during the headache itself.

Until now, the genes directly responsible for migraine have been unknown.

In this study, scientists including some from the Medical Research Council's Functional Genomics Unit at the University of Oxford found a gene known as TRESK was directly attributable as a cause of migraine in some patients.

'Activate' gene

The study found that if the gene does not work properly, environmental factors can more easily trigger pain centres in the brain and cause a severe headache.

The international team used DNA samples from families with common migraine to identify the defective gene.

Dr Aarno Palotie, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said the breakthrough could eventually lead to new drugs which could switch off the pain of migraines.

"It opens new avenues for planning new research which possibly could then lead to new treatments... but of course it's a long road."

Dr Cader, one of the MRC researchers involved in the study, said: "Previous studies have identified parts of our DNA that increase the risk in the general population, but have not found genes which can be directly responsible for common migraine.

"What we've found is that migraines seem to depend on how excitable our nerves are in specific parts of the brain.

"Finding the key player which controls this excitability will give us a real opportunity to find a new way to fight migraines and improve the quality of life for those suffering."

He told the BBC's Today programme the research showed the defective gene in migraine patients was under-active, therefore causing the headaches.

"So what we want to do is find a drug that will activate the gene," he added.

Professor Peter Goadsby, trustee of The Migraine Trust, said: "The identification of a mutation in a gene for the potassium channel in a family with migraine with aura provides both a further important part of the puzzle in understanding the biology of migraine, and a novel direction to consider new therapies in this very disabling condition."

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Breastfeeding 'prevents baby infections,' research suggests

Exclusive breastfeeding for six months wards off baby infections, further evidence suggests.

Breast milk contains disease-fighting antibodies

Regardless of other factors, such as good healthcare and vaccination programmes, breastfeeding still gives babies a boost, say Greek researchers.

They say it is the composition of breast milk that helps babies fight infections.

The findings, from a study of 1,000 vaccinated infants, are published in Archives of Diseases in Childhood.

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Researchers say the benefit only comes with exclusive breastfeeding - mixing breast and bottle will not achieve the same.

World experts already recommend that infants are exclusively breastfed for at least the first six months of life.

Natural boost

For the study, the researchers tracked the health of 926 infants for a period of 12 months, recording any common infections these babies had during their first year of life.

All the newborns were routinely vaccinated and had access to a high standard of healthcare.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

The UK needs to see breastfeeding as a normal process, and to move away from some of the outdated and negative stigma that is depressingly still attached to it, specifically breastfeeding in public”

Janet FyleRoyal College of Midwives

Almost two-thirds of mothers were breastfeeding at one month, but this figure dropped to just under a fifth at six months.

Overall, 91 of the infants were exclusively breastfed for a full six months.

Subsequently, these infants had significantly fewer common infections during their first year of life than their peers who were either partially breastfed or not breastfed at all.

These included respiratory and ear infections, as well as thrush.

And the infections they did pick up were less severe, even after adjusting for other factors that might influence infection risk, such as number of siblings and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

Professor Emmanouil Galanakis and his team say it is the composition of breast milk that explains their findings.

Breast milk contains antibodies passed from the mother, as well as other immunological and nutritional factors that help the baby fight off infections.

"Mothers should be advised by health professionals that, in addition to all the other benefits, exclusive breastfeeding helps prevent infections in babies and lessens the frequency and severity of infectious episodes," the researchers say.

Janet Fyle of the Royal College of Midwives said: "This research is very welcome and adds to the growing weight of evidence about the many benefits of breastfeeding.

"We know that breastfeeding is the default method of infant feeding for babies; good for mothers and good for the health of the nation. That is why we need to continue our efforts to ensure that we maintain a high rate of breastfeeding in the UK.

"The UK needs to see breastfeeding as a normal process, and to move away from some of the outdated and negative stigma that is depressingly still attached to it, specifically breastfeeding in public."

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