Workout Magazine

When it comes to fat loss, we’re always in search of tips, tricks, secrets, or methods that will give us that edge, and help us get the results that we’re looking for. Some methods, like counting calories or performing regular bouts of resistance training , work great. Others, like diet pills or cleanses, not so much. RELATED : 9 Fat Loss Hacks That Actually Work If you’ve spent any time in the depths of the internet in your quest to lose fat, you’ve undoubtedly come across claims about things that can help boost your metabolism . And it's all too easy to blame biology: “Well, I can’t lose weight…must be my slow metabolism. This is a common yet not completely correct statement. Yes, there are some medical conditions and medications that may affect your metabolic rate, but on the whole people who have trouble losing weight do not have a slow metabolism. So, before we can even begin to answer the question about whether or not it’s possible to boost your metabolism, we...

A metabolic conditioning workout (MetCons) is one that combines strength and endurance training with low rest to create a powerful conditioning effect. It is more work in less time, which is just one of the reasons gym-goers have gravitated toward boot camp-style training and CrossFit workouts . Why do MetCons work? MetCons allow you to condition the body, master proper technique and work at maximum capacity without beating yourself up with max loads. They are also the preferred choice of athletes who want to do intense conditioning workouts without losing any of their hard-earned muscle. RELATED : The Best Compound Moves For Building BIgger Muscles In Less Time MetCons also adhere to the SAID principle (specific adaptation to imposed demands), which means that doing MetCons in training won’t just make you more fit, it will enhance performance for athletes of any level. But if you’re not a Crossfitter or don't have any desire to compete, what’s the point of pushing yourself...

This article was originally published by AskMen UK. From Rocky to Raging Bull , the great tradition of boxing films have shown us pain, pluckiness and triumph against the odds. They’ve also been responsible for putting some seriously ripped bodies on the big screen and for whipping actors like Will Smith ( Ali ), Jake Gyllenhaal ( Southpaw ) and Michael B. Jordan ( Creed ) into shape. Bleed For This , in cinemas now, is no different. Miles Teller plays boxer Vinny Pazienza (now known as Vinny Paz), the world title champion who broke his neck in a car accident. But, in what is regarded as boxing’s greatest comeback, Paz continued to work out, returned to the ring and went on to win three more world titles, taking his career total to five. For the role, Miles Teller went from 188 pounds and 19% body fat, to a 168 pound, 6% body fat mean machine . To do this, he trained with Darrell Foster , the fighting expert Hollywood has on speed-dial. If you want to get as fit, strong and rip...

You’re standing in front of the mirror searching for any signal that says you’re getting leaner. Instead, you’re likely grabbing at that those extra few pounds that have gathered around your lower abdomen thinking about running a distance you’re already dreading. Because, well, cardio workouts tend to suck. It’s OK if you hate running. Lots of people do. You’ve given yourself all sorts of reasons why running just isn’t for you. It’s cold. Your knees hurt. The concrete roads are too hard on your joints. The park with that beautiful running trail is too far. The treadmill is an unspeakable torture device designed by an unknown evil dictator. Guess what? You don’t need to run to get lean or lose weight. When people want to lose weight the firs thing they do is run, says Barry’s Bootcamp trainer Rebecca Kennedy, creator of A.C.C.E.S.S ., a 60-minute barefoot programme built on developing balance and flexibility. “But if you’re looking for gains, you want to build ...

If plyometrics and HIIT sound great in theory but are just too straining on your joints, this may be the workout for you. Not everyone's body (knees, ankles, back) is made for box jumps and jump squats. Enter: Speedflex. Started in the US in 2009 by baseball player Darren Holmes, orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist Dr Jim Silliman and athlete Joe Worley, it was initially a rehabilitation programme and came to the UK a couple of years ago. A favourite of former England football captain Alan Shearer, the workout combines resistance training via Speedflex machines (they respond to and create resistance levels based on an individual’s force) combined with circuit-based high intensity – but low impact – training. We spoke to Speedflex trainer Gysai Dowey to get a Speedflex-inspired workout that will keep your heart rate up, your body fat down, but save your joints in the process. RELATED : The 4-Day Routine Named The Best Workout In The World WHO’S MY NEW PT? Spe...

Earl Bamber knows what it takes to go the distance. The New Zealand-born race car driver was the surprise package of the endurance racing world in 2015 when he won on his debut at the Porsche LMP1 at the Le Mans 24 Hours together with Nico Hülkenberg and Nick Tandy. A year prior to that, he achieved double success in 2014, with both overall victory in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and the Carrera Cup Asia. Taking part in an endurance race requires an almost superhuman level of mental and physical toughness: unlike most sports that end in two to three hours, endurance racers subject themselves to high-stress environments for at least six hours, going up to 14 hours of driving in the 24-hour race. His insight into what goes into building, and maintaining, such a high level of physical and mental fitness was what prompted Malaysia-based CHI Fitness Centre to develop a training programme with Earl. “Bamber’s programme is the first of the takeover programmes we’re developing with hig...

Let’s be honest, you’re going to enjoy yourself over the next few weeks, aren't you? Quite right, too. Tis the season for indulgence, but that doesn’t mean that you have to have to completely give up on your gut-busting goals. The following tips will help you maintain your healthy and active lifestyle, as best as possible, so you avoid the dreaded Christmas stuffing. RELATED : G et Ripped Anywhere With This Six-Round Burner Earn Your Cheat Meals I’ll say this time and time again, because it must be stated: You’re only as good as the work that you put in. Don’t forget about the activities that got you in shape in the first place. If you’re a cyclist, keep biking. If you’re a runner, keep running. If you love weight lifting, make sure you’re hitting the gym. For every Christmas party you attend, make sure you spend 45 minutes to an hour in the gym, or doing your favourite fitness activity. Recruit A Gym Buddy Next year will be full of those “New Year, New Me kinds...

The difference between try and triumph is a little “umph.” But sometimes for us to triumph at the gym, we need a little motivation.   The good news is that a lot of successful people have offered sage advice to inspire us and now we’ve collected our favorite inspirational quotes in one spot. We’ve broken down the workout routine into four phases, so use the wise words below to get you through each stage and onto success. Getting Motivated  Before getting in shape, you have to get motivated. The gym is not the most comfortable place for us to be -- lifting heavy things, fighting through pain and getting sweaty -- but we know that can lead to becoming a better person. Motivation is what starts the engine to get you on the road to success.  “The hardest lift is lifting your ass off the couch.” -- Anonymous   “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” -- Thom...

While many of us think of the gym as a modern invention, it was, of course, born in Ancient Greece. But more than just a place devoted to physical training, their gymnasium included many disciplines, such as philosophy, literature and music. To the early Greeks, “exercise meant holistic self-improvement, and they believed that the mind could not thrive if the body was neglected. While modern civilisation may not have completely given up on this idea, it is certainly under threat. With fewer sports, PE and activities in schools, longer working hours and sedentary lifestyles, the link between “ mens sana in corpore sano (to jump civilisations for a moment), is at an all-time low. Today, it’s more important than ever to revisit the Greek and Latin schools of thought, which valued the conditioning of both body and mind as one. For modern man (that’s you) that means sucking it up, going to the gym, and training smart. So whether you’re into lifting weights, or prefer a few round...

Most of us are great at putting on a bit of winter weight, but what happens when muscle is the kind of weight you're after? Put down the Christmas cookies and take a rest day. There's a whole lot more to building muscle than simply pounding protein shakes. Check out these five things you should know about building muscle. 1. Train Smarter There are two types of muscle growth (hypertrophy) to be concerned with: sarcoplasmic, which increases the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell, and myofibrillar, which increases the size of the muscle by increasing the contractile proteins. "Some people would argue that sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is muscle that's all show and no go, while myofibrillar is more functional muscle, or 'all go'," says strength and nutrition coach Adam Rosante. For both, he advises adopting a training programme that mixes heavy weights and low rep schemes as well as lower weight, higher rep ones. "It'll give you size and stre...

If the rise of things such as Spartan Races , Tough Mudders , ultra marathons and even CrossFit have taught us anything, it’s that there is a masochistic segment of society that seeks to determine how badass they can be. On a related note, where I live had a cold snap last week and I ran 10K every day in temps averaging about -20F. It felt pretty badass. But if you want to go back to an earlier time, when men engaged in more functional tests of strength, look no further than strongman lifts. This isn’t powerlifting, finding out your max in bench press, deadlift and squat. “With strongman, a lot of the implements we move are things that you would have on a farm or on an industrial site, said Brandon Morrison, a strongman competitor and trainer in Seattle who has qualified for nationals twice. “That’s how the sport started. Morrison explained, “When people think of ‘functional exercises,’ they imagine things like the snatch or clean and jerk, because they’re told it use...

Most guys do single-leg work as often as they do laundry: for some, never and for most, twice a month (if we’re lucky). For the guys who do acknowledge leg day – yes, there are muscles beyond your chest and bi’s – it’s likely a combination of leg press, squats, hack squats and deadlifts. These are all bilateral movements, however. What people forget is single-leg work (think split squats and lunges) is highly beneficial and should not be left in the cold. Occasionally your average Gym Bro hears that he should be doing single-leg Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs), and he does do them once, and only once, because they are incredibly difficult. It can be hard to make the leap between traditional bilateral work (squat, deadlift leg press, and the single leg RDL). Going from two legs to one leg is difficult because of the increased amount of proprioceptive awareness (your body “feeling where it is in space) and balance (largely neurological) required to do so. This leads to many people...

When you're finished opening Christmas presents, sipping coffee with a bit of Bailey's and deciding whether it's time to take off your Christmas onsie, consider seeing what it's like to take one of the hardest races in the world. The CBS Network is airing "The World's Toughest Mudder" on December 25 at 2 pm, an event that features 20 obstacles spread across a 5-mile loop in the desert in Las Vegas. The man, woman and team that completed the most amount of miles in 24 hours was declared winner of the race that took place in November. The show follows ultra-athletes taking on one of the most extreme endurance races known to man. The man, woman and team winner claimed prized more than $170,000. The race was an open, which meant anyone could enter and 1,500 people did. So, you know, we had to try it. The folks at Tough Mudder hosted us and a number of other media to the course at Lake Las Vegas where we sampled a few of the more notable obstacles. We didn'...

The Dad Bod Project is AskMen editor Ian Taylor’s attempt to take a pre-emptive strike on his misshapen, doughy torso before he becomes a father. He’ll be charting his efforts in weekly articles that cover the workouts, nutrition and black-belt time management required to get into shape, stay fit and beat the dad bod. About halfway through my wife’s pregnancy, I noticed something big and scary: my stomach. It was, to my horror, roughly the same size and shape as my better half’s. The only difference was that while hers was blooming and beautiful – a cradle for a precious, tiny little life – mine was (and is) filled with pale ale and refined carbohydrates. Fortunately, in the months since then, her growth has outpaced my own, but the situation remains sub-awesome. Over the past seven months, I have put on a stone and a half. A stone-and-a-sodding-half . That’s 9.5kg, the weight our son will be when he’s nine months old. The weight of an unloaded barbell or a morbidly ob...

“Train the chest; forget the rest. The mantra of many a Gym Bro. But when is comes to building the chest , your typical chest day probably consists of a barbell bench press and then some other “stuff. Most likely biceps curls and some abs. (How did he know that!?) This works for many of you. That’s if you just want to build some mass on your chest. However, if you want to turn your chest into Mount Everpecs, you need to understand the structure and function of the muscles that make up the chest and how to use movements that fully target the chest musculature. Anatomy Let’s start with the big fish first. The biggest and most well-known muscle of the chest is the pectoralis major, or in some circles, “the chesticles. The pectoralis major has two different heads, the clavicular (collarbone) and the sternal (chestbone) heads. The pec major acts on the shoulder joint to bring the shoulder into flexion, horizontal adduction and internal rotation (i.e. moving the upper arm upwar...