Combined Power

Combined Power

When time is of the essence, try these four essential hybrid exercises

#1 WORK YOUR ABS AND CHEST

Swiss-Ball Pushup/Jackknife

• Get into pushup position--your hands set slightly wider than and in line with your shoulders--but instead of placing your feet on the floor, rest your shins on a Swiss ball. Start with your arms straight and your back flat.
  
  
• Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor.
  
  
• Pause, then push yourself back up to the starting position.
  
  
• Now, lift your hips up as high as you can and pull your feet toward you by rolling the ball as close to your torso as possible.
  
  
• Pause, then roll the ball back to the starting position. That's one repetition.
  
  
• Do two sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.
  
  

To build more muscle: Try the bench press/reverse crunch. Lie on a bench with your feet in the air, a medicine ball or dumbbell between your knees, and a barbell or dumbbells held up at arm's length. Lower the weights to your chest, then do a reverse crunch--curl your hips up and in toward your torso. Lower your hips to the bench, then raise the bar to arm's length and repeat.

#2 WORK YOUR LOWER BACK, GLUTEALS, HAMSTRINGS, AND SHOULDERS

Good Morning/Behind-the-Neck Press

• Hold a barbell across the back of your shoulders, as if you were about to do a squat.
  
  
• Slowly bend forward at the hips and lower your chest as far as you can while keeping your lower back flat.
  
  
• Lift your upper body back to the starting position.
• Press the bar above your head until your arms are almost completely straight.
  
  
• Lower the bar back to the starting position. That's one repetition.
• Do two or three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.
  
  

To make it easier on your shoulders and lower back: Try the Romanian deadlift/bent-over row. Hold a barbell at arm's length against the front of your thighs. Bend at the hips as you lower the bar until it's just below your knees. Pull the bar up to your abdomen. Slowly lower it to arm's length, then straighten your hips as you return to the starting position.

#3 WORK YOUR BACK, BICEPS, AND ENTIRE LOWER BODY

Dumbbell Power Clean/Box Jump/Squat

• Grab a pair of light dumbbells and stand about 6 inches behind a sturdy box or step that's 12 to 18 inches high. Hold the dumbbells at your sides and bend your knees slightly.
  
  
• Jump up on the box by dipping your knees and swinging your arms forward. Allow your momentum to carry your arms up and bend your elbows so that when you land on the box, your upper arms are parallel to the floor and the dumbbells rest above your shoulders.
  
  
• Keep the dumbbells in the same position and perform squats by lowering your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Step down off the box.
  
  
• Do four or five sets of four to six repetitions, completing up to four squats after each jump. So a set of four cleans and jumps could include up to 16 squats.
  
  

To build more muscle: Try the power clean and squat, without the jump. That way you can use heavier weights for the clean.

#4 WORK YOUR LOWER BODY, UPPER BACK, AND BICEPS

Jump Squat/Sternum Chinup

• Stand under a chinup bar with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands at your sides.
  
  
• Lower your body by bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor, then jump up to the chinup bar so that your palms are facing you and shoulder-width apart when you grab it.
  
  
• Using the momentum from your jump, pull yourself up until your chest touches the bar. You'll have to arch backward to pull this off.
  
  
• Lower yourself to the starting position, then repeat.
  
  
• Do one or two sets of 12 to 15 repetitions. This one is tough on your palms, so consider gloves.
  
  

To build more muscle: Lower yourself slowly on the chinup--take up to 10 seconds. Or do three or four chinups after each jump.

Pushup-and-Sprint Drill for More Muscle

Pushup-and-Sprint Drill for More Muscle

Built for Speed

This pushup-and-sprint drill burns calories and boosts muscle

Perform a series of 30-second sprints 3 days a week and you could gain the same cardiovascular benefits as someone who does 40 to 60 minutes of endurance training at a moderate intensity 5 days a week, research from McMaster University shows. This workout adds pushups to keep your upper body active. "It's an efficient workout for burning optimum calories in a short amount of time," says New York City trainer Jason Gerhart, C.S.C.S. Place a set of 15-pound dumbbells at the far baseline of a basketball court. Sprint between the home baseline and each mark, stopping to perform the pushups described below. Find an empty ball court and try it twice a week, with a day or more of rest in between.

1. At Half Court: Leg-raise pushup
Assume a standard pushup position. Lower your body, and then, at the bottom of the pushup, raise your right leg up behind you -- keeping it straight -- so it's slightly higher than your body. Push back up, then lower your leg to the start. Repeat with the opposite leg, doing 5 reps for each leg.

Targets: Chest, shoulders, triceps, core, glutes, lower back   

2. At the opposite free-throw line: Triceps pushup
Assume a pushup position but place your hands closer than shoulder-width apart. As you lower yourself, keep your elbows close to your body. You should feel tension in your triceps. Repeat 10 times.

Targets: Triceps, shoulders, chest

3. At the opposite baseline: Pushup + curl and press
In a regular pushup position, rest your hands on two dumbbells. Perform one pushup. At the top of the pushup, jump your feet in toward your hands, and keep your abs braced as you stand up. Curl the weights, and then push them above your head in a shoulder press. Immediately drop back down into a pushup position. Repeat 10 times.

Targets: Chest, shoulders, triceps, hamstrings, lower back, abs, biceps 

4. At your final baseline: Pushup with hip rotation
Perform one standard pushup. Then move into a down-plank position, dropping your weight onto your elbows and forearms. Rotate your hips to the left until the front of your right hipbone is just about to touch the ground, and stop. Come back to center and repeat with your left hip to complete the rep. Alternate between pushups and rotations for 10 reps.

Targets: Chest, shoulders, triceps, obliques, abs, lower back  

Exercise Machines You Should Do Without

Exercise Machines You Should Do Without
The Seated Leg Extension
The myth: It’s the safest way to work your quadriceps, or thigh muscles.

The truth: Physiologists at the Mayo Clinic determined that leg extensions place significantly more stress on your knees than squats. Why? Because the resistance is placed near your ankles, which leads to high amounts of torque being applied to your knee joint every time you lower the weight. What’s more, Auburn University scientists found that people who squat long-term have tighter, stronger knee ligaments than those who don’t squat at all.

The alternatives: Free weight squats, split squats, and lunges—performed with perfect form—are all better choices for working your quads and protecting your knees.


The Pec Deck
The myth: It’s a super safe and very effective way to work your chest muscles.

The truth: This apparatus, also called the chest fly machine, can overstretch the front of your shoulder and cause the muscles around the rear of your shoulder to stiffen. The result: Doing this movement frequently can lead to shoulder impingement syndrome.

The alternatives: Forget the machine, and stick with exercises such as the pushup, dumbbell bench press and dumbbell incline press; they’re easier on your shoulders and the best way to build your chest overall. In fact, Truman State University researchers found that pectoral muscles are activated for 23 percent less time during the chest fly, compared with the bench press.


The Smith Machine
The myth: This machine—which looks like a squat rack with a built-in bar that runs on guides—gives you all the benefits of squats, but none of the risk that comes from holding a heavy barbell across your back. That’s because the bar can easily be secured at any point during the movement.

The truth: Because the bar runs on guides, you can only move straight up and down as you squat—instead of down and back, as you would in a free-weight squat. The result: An unnatural movement that puts extra stress on your knees and lower back. Need another reason to skip the Smith? Canadian researchers found that traditional squats produced almost 50 percent more muscle activity in the quadriceps than squats done on a Smith machine.

The alternative: If you’re not comfortable with barbell squats, simply do the exercise while holding dumbbells at arm’s length next to your sides. You won’t need a spotter, and your body will be free to move through the natural motion of the squat.

Stay Fit and Get More Done in Less Time

Stay Fit and Get More Done in Less Time

Burn Fat in a Hurry
Researchers at Australia's University of New South Wales found that intervals burn three times as much fat as running twice as long at a moderately hard, steady pace. Use this interval program from the University of Oklahoma Department of Health & Exercise Science this winter to turbocharge your body's fat-burning system.

Instead of the usual 30-seconds-on, 30-seconds-off approach, run or peddle intensively for 2 minutes, rest completely for 1 minute, and then repeat that sequence four more times. That's only 10 minutes of training! Even with a warmup and rest periods, this is only a 20-minute time investment. In one experiment, participants doubled the amount of work accomplished in each session in just 6 weeks.

Boost Your Bench Press in No Time
Before you bench press, put a rolled-up towel down the middle of your upper body so that one end is at the center of your chest. Aim for the end of the towel on each repetition. Concentrating on accuracy ensures that you'll have control of the weight, says Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S., author of Turbulence Training.

Try this touch-and-go "towel press." Use 50 percent of the weight that you usually use for six to eight repetitions. Do eight sets of three repetitions with 30 seconds' rest after each set. Place the towel on your chest and lower the bar as quickly as you can; as soon as the bar touches the towel, push it up as fast as possible. Imagine that if the bar touches the towel for too long, it'll burn your chest.

The benefit: You'll learn to lift fast under control, which will translate into greater strength when you do a normal bench-press workout, Ballantyne says.

New Exercises

New Exercises

Pushup Plus
The benefit: Besides working your chest as effectively as any exercise, the "plus" part of this movement hits your serratus anterior—a small but important muscle that helps move your shoulder blades. Strengthen your serratus, and you'll improve your posture and reduce your risk of shoulder injuries—as you build your chest.

How to do it: Assume a pushup position with your arms straight and your hands placed slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Your body should form a straight line from your ankles to your head. Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor. Pause, and then push back up. As you straighten your arms, push your upper back toward the ceiling. This extra movement is very slight; you'll rise up only another couple of inches. Pause for a one count, then repeat.

Incline Offset-Thumb Dumbbell Curl
The benefit: Lying on an incline causes your arms to hang behind your body, which emphasizes the long head of your biceps brachii to a greater degree than a standard curl. What's more, using an "offset-thumb" grip also hits your biceps brachii harder. That's because the muscle has to work overtime to keep your palms facing up as you curl the weight.

How to do it: Grab a pair of dumbbells so that your thumbs are touching the outside head of each dumbbell. Then lie on your back on a bench set to a 45-degree angle, and let the dumbbells hang straight down from your shoulders. Turn your arms so that your palms face forward. Without moving your upper arms, bend your elbows and curl the dumbbells as close to your shoulders as you can. Pause, then lower the weights.


Bar Hold
The benefit: Improves your grip strength for exercises like chinups and deadlifts. This helps make sure your forearms don't give out too early, so you won't shortchange the rest of your working muscles.

How to do it: Set a barbell on a rack at the level of your waist, and load the bar with a heavy weight. Grab the bar with an overhand grip that's beyond shoulder-width apart. Dip your knees, lift the bar off the rack, and hold it for the appropriate amount of time for your goal. For maximum grip strength, choose the heaviest weight you can hold for about 20 seconds. To build more muscle, choose the heaviest that you can hold for about 60 seconds.

Cable Face Pull with External Rotation
The benefit: Works your upper back's scapular muscles and the rotator cuff muscles of your shoulders. Collectively, these muscles, which tend to be weak in most guys, are the key to stable, healthy shoulders and a strong upper body.

How to do it: Attach a rope to the high pulley of a cable station (or a lat pulldown station) and grab an end with each hand. Back a few steps away from the weight stack until your arms are straight in front of you. In one movement, pull the middle of the rope toward your eyes as you flare your elbows out, bend your arms, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. (Your hands should end up in line with your ears.) Pause, then reverse the movement back to the start.