On...Warming Up

Don't be a cold-bodied bitch.

WARM UP!

I know, I know...I too can find warm-ups tedious and boring - I just wanna jump in and tear it up! However, warmer muscles produce bigger gains. When a muscle is excited, it can exert more force, thus allowing you to train with heavier weights.

It's important to live by the 6 P's: Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Basically, if your body isn't warm and prepped, your efforts will not reach their maximum limit. Personally, I like to emulate the work of my imminent session..and since I am partial to total-body workouts, I do a circuit of squats, push ups and rows. While this little routine is crucial to the success of my workout, it also jump starts my heart rate, releases my endorphines and sets me on my big sweaty mission with further drive and focus.

Besides, no body likes an ice princess...

Gym Mix 10

1. So What'chu Want - The Beastie Boys

2. Happy - Fischerspooner

3. Wolf Like Me - TV on the Radio

4. Bullet and a Target - Citizen Cope

5. Fell in Love with a Girl - White Stripes

6. Hypnotize - Notorious B.I.G.

7. Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner - Fall Out Boy

8. Hurt - Nine Inch Nails

9. Love Like Winter - AFI

10. Time to Dance - Panic! At the Disco

I Dunno: Tip for Shoulder Press

Increase the benefits of your shoulder presses by adding a shrug at the top of the movement - as if you were trying to touch your shoulders to your ears...just make sure not to lock your elbows. This trick will boost your sculpting results because you'll be moving through a fuller range of motion compared to just pressing the weights up and down.

One Simple Rule

Keep your workouts balanced and whole. I plead with you not to approach your training as most people do - (do you want to look like MOST people?) - and select one, maybe two, body parts on which to brutalize. Yes, this method has served you relatively well until now, but relatively well doesn't always get you laid. Instead, view your body as what is truly is: a wholistic engine that functions as a powerhouse unit.

When compared to a total-body workout, individual body part splits are inefficient. Therefore, your new regime should include four components EVERY TIME you hit the gym: push (pressing motions), pull (rowing motions/chin ups), legs and core.

Nothing burns through glycogen stores and causes post-exercise caloric expenditure like a full body workout...and nothing feels better than seeing the results you deserve that much quicker.

Get Your Triceps As Big As You Think They Are

If I did a sprint for every time I witnessed a person trying to build their triceps with push-downs, I would have a body of shredded proportions...boo-hoo me, the gym gods are not that kind. Tricep push- downs - like bicep curls, leg extensions and hamstring curls - are single joint motions, meaning the amount of weight one can push/pull is limited; and so, when you increase the weight, thinking that you'll be increasing your size, you actually call upon secondary muscles for re-enforcements, taking on the load that you should not have tackled.

A much more effective way to build your triceps is to do the close-grip bench press, using either a regular bar, an e-z bar (a kinder alternative for your wrists) or dumbbells (hold them using a neutral grip, ie palms facing each other), for variety is the spice of gym life. In doing this movement, your elbows should graze the sides of your rib cage, pause momentarily at the bottom of the range and extend back up at a controlled pace.

However, if you really want a balls-out 'n' brutal triceps mutilation technique, super set the above exercise with a parallel bar dip: it'll ouch you like a muthaf**ker!

Remember, there are very obviously, very clearly three heads to triceps muscle group - lateral, medial and long - so, every effort should be made to make it look like what the name implies.

Run More to Eat Less

Aside from amazing film and music, Great Britain produces other - (ummm) - great things...

Like a recent study that says boosting your aerobic activity to a more intense level helps to curb your appetite: GIV'ER LIVER! Apparently, running and other like exercises reduces the number of hunger hormones produced by your tummy for up to 3 hours...

So the next time you feel unbearable pangs and crave something naughty, go for a run instead and reap the double benefits of a good sweat.

Keep 'Em Tucked - Tip for Bench Press

Dear Trainer Mark,

When doing bench press: should my elbows be tucked closer to my body or flared out?

Captain Peacock

Dear CP,

Keep 'em tucked - while flaring your elbows out DOES isolate the chest better, it also limits the weight you can press AND puts you at risk for injury. When you broaden you elbows out, you lengthen the distance between your upper arm and your shoulder blade, resulting in shoulder problems that are suffered by gym bunnies all over the world...so unless you're actually trying to injure yourself, keep your elbows snug to your body...even more so, you will start lifting heavier and seeing the results you want: WERQ!

Rock on,

Trainer Mark

Save Yourself 600 Calories with a MARKARITA!

It's humid and unbearable sticky and in the middle of a New York August, I sometimes wish I was still stuck in the frozen ice barrens of America's hat.

Then I realize it's the heat talking and I set my sights on a refreshing evening beverage, instead...

Summer cocktail of choice, hands down, is a margarita - on a simmering night, a frozen one holds miraculous cures from a long day of debilitating temperatures; however, the 700 calories are the last things a waistline that has worked so hard to achieve beach-ready status should be consuming with three weekends of strutting still beckoning.

To that end, I enjoy the MARKARITA! A shot - (or two) - of Patron Silver tequila, topped off with some soda water and a few squeezes of fresh lime juice, provides a welcomed and healthy option to the calorie-ladened, sugar-brimmed margarita.

You will also notice a mysterious absence of a dreadful hangover the next morning should you consume more than you should - thanks to the lack of sugar...and now, on that note, a thanks to me, please.

GRRR: TESTOSTERONE!

BIGGER MUSCLES!

INCREASED MOTIVATION!

COPIOUS SEX-CAPADES!

Yes, the benefits of a boosted testosterone level reach far and wide, making for huge smiles all around. Unfortunately, testosterone produced by the body begins a natural, annual decline of 1-2% after the age of 30. 

One way to naturally increase the body's testosterone levels is to consume foods that are high in zinc. The king of such foods is oysters, which not only jacks testosterone, but also aids in semen production: hello, aphrodisiac, meet cream pie.

Another great source of zinc is animal protein, particularly red meat and poultry. Vegetarians needn't worry, either, as they can dine on beans, nuts, milk, yogurt and cottage cheese, all of which are brimming with an overzealous sex drive...err, I mean zinc.

Moreover, diets low in omega-3 fatty acids - (such as that found in salmon or my pill box) - and high in simple sugars are shown to negatively are proven to negatively affect testosterone production...but, of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Moral of the story already told a million other ways before: eat healthy and reap the benefits - this is merely another twist...another nugget of knowledge with which to move forward and create the reality you seek.

Now go forth and...

Get big! Go hard! Have (more) sex!