Andrew Heffernan, C.S.C.S.

A throw is not a single muscle working, says Arizona-based trainer Josh Henkin, C.S.C.S. Its a series of muscles working together called a sling.

This sling subsystem is a set of muscles that runs from your feet to your hips to your core to your arms. Your body has several slings, and learning the exercises that train them can help you build real-world strength and athleticism. Working slings (instead of muscle groups) alleviates stress on individual muscles and challenges your body to move with greater efficiency and coordination. Thats why a growing number of trainers are building slings into workout programs. Were tying the kinetic chain together, says Henkin. Thats a step beyond functional fitness and way beyond muscle isolation.

Sling science reveals that muscles, once viewed as discrete motion-producing units, work together in long chains, linked by fascia, the weblike substance surrounding muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments. These slings control your body like a system of pulleys, passing through your torso and creating movement at key joints. Training while focusing on slings optimizes athletic performance and makes every exercise both a core burner and a full-body challenge.

The concept of slings has its roots in research from the 1980s, when Canadian physiologist Serge Gracovetsky, Ph.D., observed quadruple amputees walking on their hip sockets by rocking their torsos backward, then swinging their torsos forward. Gracovetsky posited that the basis of human movement lies in rotational actions in the spine, lower back, and hips. Arm and leg muscle movements, he wrote in his book The Spinal Engine, begin in the spine. That led movement experts Diane Lee and Thomas Myers to separately develop similar theories that the muscles that drive those movements are organized into slings. Their approach was adopted by innovative physical therapists working with elite athletes in the late 90s.

About five years ago, the rise of functional fitness caught the attention of Henkin and other trainersbut they wanted more. They looked to physical therapists for smarter movements. Back squats are great, and sure, theyre functional. But they dont replicate total-body athletic movements. Slings could.

Not all gyms embrace sling exercises, and theyve taken so long to catch on because theyre complicated. Just try the Hero Clean and Press (the move on the previous page). You have to rotate your hips to the leftlike a boxer throwing a crosswhile bending to grab a kettlebell, then rotate back to the right and pull the bell to your shoulder. And then you have to lunge and press the bell overhead.

But five reps on each side pushes shoulders, lats, abs, and glutes to their limits and it does more than that, says Henkin. It teaches dozens of muscles to work in concert, just like they should when you run, jump, and throw. Oh, and youre spiking your heart rate and burning calories, too. Ready to give sling training a shot? Well show you how.

<h1> The Sling Training Exercises You Should Do </h1>

According to influential massage therapist Thomas Myers, author of the book Anatomy Trains and an authority on slings, more than a dozen slings exist in the body. Physical therapists and trainers, though, emphasize four. Add these moves to your workout to start training your slingsor combine them into one workout, doing three sets of each, for a sling-powered total-body blast.

This runs diagonally across the front of your torso, helping you pull down and across your body. Think of a tennis serve or the act of giving a friend a high five. It includes your internal and external obliques and your hip adductors.

Train it: Half-Kneeling Band Press Attach a resistance band to something at hip level behind you; grasp it with your right hand. Kneel on your left knee, right foot flat on the ground in front of you, a dumbbell held at your left shoulder. Press your right arm forward, keeping your core tight. This is the start. Now press the weight overhead with your left hand. Return it to the start. Thats 1 rep; do 8 to 10 per side.

man in half kneeling stance doing a band press from sling subsystems

This runs vertically fromyour neck along your back down to your foot. It helps you stand up straight, extending your hips and spine. Whenever you do a deadlift, youre training the DLS. Your glutes, lats, and lower back muscles are part of this subsystem.

Train it: Snatch to Reverse Lunge Stand holding dumbbells at your sides. With a flat back, hinge at your hips, pushing your butt back and bending your knees slightly until the weights are at knee height (1). This is the start. Explode upward, punching the weights overhead (2), then step your left foot backward and lower into a lunge, left knee on the ground (3). Shift your right foot backward so youre kneeling (4). Reverse the moves back to the start. Thats 1 rep; do 5 per side.

step 1 of man doing a half kneeling reverse lunge from sling subsystems

step 2 of man doing a half kneeling reverse lunge from sling subsystems

step 3 of man doing a half kneeling reverse lunge from sling subsystems

man in tall kneeling stance, both arms overhead

This includes the small muscles of your pelvis and groin, your gluteus medius and minimus, and your thigh and knee muscles, which help you balance on one foot and perform single-leg movements like lunges and stepups. It includes your core muscles, glutes, and hip external rotators.

Train it: Lateral Lunge to Row Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides, feet wide. Hinge forward at your hips, bending your knees slightly and keeping your back flat, until your torso is parallel to the ground. Bend your right knee as you sink into your right hip; lower the dumbbells as you do this. This is the start. Now row the weights to your chest and straighten your right knee as you bend your left knee and shift your weight to the left. Thats 1 rep; do 8 alternating reps per side.

man in a straddle position, midway through rowing two dumbbells upwards

man in offset straddle position, both dumbbells lowered from a row position

Sling Training Can Build Total-Body Strength

Picture Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes launching a deep ball. Before the release, he steps forward with his left foot, arches his spine, and rotates his hips back to the left. The force then travels through his hips and core into his right shoulder. Amateurs laud Mahomess great arm strength. But movement experts know the truth: Mahomes most accurately has an efficient anterior oblique sling.

Sling Training Is the Smart Way to Build Total-Body Strength

But now and then, you might get a little desperate. Maybe youre getting married. Or maybe you're sick of how things are and need a big change to jumpstart you into that slow-and-steady process.

Instead of diving down the faddish rabbit holes that crop up daily on the worldwide web, start with basic strategies most of us already know--and then do them more aggressively. Youll shed pounds while maintaining muscle and performance. Heres how to pull off warp-speed weight loss without losing your muscleor your mind:

<h1> Extreme Approach 1: Tons of Cardio </h1>

Friends Supporting Overweight Male When He Is About To Give Up Training

You think cardio's the answer with all weight loss, so you could spend hours upon hours running and jogging and biking. But the smarter approach is this: Increase your low-intensity physical activity throughout the day. And on alternate days, perform strength training and low-to-medium intensity aerobic work.

Too many guys still think of exercise as anti-food, hitting the treadmill in the morning in hopes of burning off last nights pasta and cheesecake.

Surprise: exercise isnt the biggest caloric burner in the average guys day. That honor goes to walking, housework, hiking with your dog, and other low-intensity movement. Scientists call it NEAT-- non-exercise activity thermogenesisbut its really just a fancy term for moving around more throughout the day, says exercise physiologist Dr. Mike T. Nelson, founder of The Flex Diet, a modular system for maximizing performance and body composition. So step one when youre looking to lose is to increase those activities.

While exercise certainly burns calories, its primary benefits play out in the longer-term. Strength work helps you build muscle mass, which helps you look better, perform better, and live longer. When youre dietingexpending more energy than youre consumingstrength work helps you maintain muscle. Aerobic work tunes up your, heart, lungs, and metabolism, helping you become a more efficient burner of fat.

Both approaches are essential when youre trying to lose fat and gain muscle, so strive to hit the weights on nonconsecutive days three times a week, and low-to-moderate intensity cardio on three other days. But if you miss a workout, never fear: for all but the most gung-ho athletes, NEAT burns more calories day to day than your gym sessions. It also spares your joints, and might even earn you a few points from the people you live with, Spot included. Score.

<h1> Extreme Approach 2: Cut All Starchy Carbs </h1>

You've seen this one before: You cut out pasta, rice, cracks, potatoes, bread, and corn, and basically never eat anything that you might actually want. Carbs are the enemy to swift weight loss, the theory goes, so you have to get them near zero.

The better approach however, is to match your macros. Every few decades, it seems, a different macronutrient gets blamed for all that ails us. In the 80s it was fat. By the 2010s, carbohydrates were firmly in every dieters crosshairs, and remain there to this day--though you can start to see the tables turning on protein of late as well.

Dont fall for any of it. We need all three of these macronutrients for optimal health, performance, and body composition. While there are no essential carbohydrates (as there are essential fats and amino acids, for example), carbs are critical when preserving muscle and strength are among your goals.

If you're going hard, you need carbs!

For high intensity activities, carbs are your friend, says Nelson. Not only are carbs your bodys preferred fuel source during strength training, sprinting, and other high intensity activitiestheyre essential for basic health as well. When they fall too low, youre actually stressing your body and reducing immunity.

As noted above, regular strength work should most definitely be on the docket when youre trying to lose fat. While youre unlikely to gain muscle if youre dieting hard, youll hold onto the sinew you have, thus keeping your metabolism and athletic performance up to par as you drop the pounds.

A smarter choice than cutting all starches, says Nelson, is to match your macros: go easy on the starches on your rest days and your cardio days, but include them before and after your strength training and high-intensity sessions. Youll perform better, feel better, and ultimately lose more fat.

In theory, if you reach a level of ketosis, your body shifts to burning fat as its primary source of fuel, exactly what you want. Thing is, it's not always easy to get to that level of ketosis. And again, you're cutting out the carbs, which hurts your muscle fuel.

For people uninterested in strength and power, a keto diet (high fat, moderate protein, super-low carbs) can work fine. But if youre trying to hang onto muscle and maintain your strength while you burn off the fat, its not your best bet: carbs and protein are necessary to perform your best and recover from activities that build and maintain muscle.

Focus on Animal Proteins, and Everything Falls Into Place

A better choice: base each meal around muscle-building animal proteins like fish, chicken, whey protein, and lower-fat cuts of red meat: Research has shown that its almost impossible to overeat protein and get fat, says Nelson. Compliment that with a wide variety of veggies, some fruit, and whole-food starches around your strength and sprint workouts.

One thing keto devotees get right: healthy fats are a good ideaso eat some nuts, avocados, and fish oil regularly. Dont run from fat, says Nelson. Still interested in going keto? Consult a doctor, he advises: its a tough one to get right.

<h1> Extreme Approach 4: Pound coffee, stay up late. </h1>

Recommending sleep to someone trying to burn off a gut seems counterintuitive: shouldnt you move as much as possible? And doesnt caffeine help in those efforts? That's why it's easy and convenient to some people to stay up as long as possible, shot up on caffeine, in their efforts to lose weight.

But that only works up to a point. Sleep and metabolism are joined at the hip. After just a few nights of poor sleep, your metabolism starts to resemble that of a diabetic, he says. Blood sugar goes up. Insulin sensitivitya measure of your ability to metabolize carbohydratesplummets. Appetite regulation spirals, too, so its harder to tell when youre hungry and when youre full.

So along with your efforts in the gym and the kitchen, be sure youre giving your body a break when the sun goes down. Read in bed instead of watching Netflix. Take an early morning stroll (the natural light helps reset your body clock so youre sleepier at bedtime). Youll beef up your fat-burning abilityand youll be more productive and alert during your waking hours too.

What You Need to Know About Extreme Weight Loss

A slow-and-steady approach to fitness and weight loss is generally your best course of action. No death-march cardio. No extreme, ultra-rigid diets. Enjoy some fro-yo once in awhileit wont kill ya. A four-pack and a little fun beats the hell of out of an eight-pack and a life of deprivation.

The solution: Learn to snack on your fitness. Instead of devouring a full workout, squeeze in five minutes here and there for short segments of exercisesay, a few sets of 20 pushups or a circuit of five squats, five lunges, and a 30-second plank. These five-minute workoutslets trademark them as fitness snackshelp your overall health more than youd expect, burning fat and building muscle over your entire body.

Heck, they may even recalibrate how you view the term workout. CrossFit, group classes, and eight Rocky films worth of montages may have left you feeling every workout has to be epic. Not everyone can find time for an hour-long workout, says trainer Gunnar Peterson, C.S.C.S., whos worked with the likes of <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19619005/sylvester-stallone-workout-routine-creed-2/" id="ef1cfdd8-6616-39d3-a164-db1d58a838e7"> Sylvester Stallone </a> and the Los Angeles Lakers. But everyone can find a few quick minutes a few times a day.

Spend five minutes between meetings doing the fitness equivalent of chomping on a handful of almonds (okay, fine: M&amp;Ms) and you excite muscle fibers and nudge your heart rate upward without wiping out your body. And since youre never pushing yourself to max levels during a five-minute workout, you dont even need a warmup. The only problem with this approach is that no one believes its going to work, says Dan John, a Utah-based fitness historian and strength coach.

<h1> The science of the five-minute workout </h1>

Science says fitness snacks can be effective. A 2018 study from the National Cancer Institute revealed that short bouts of vigorous movement throughout the daytaking the stairs, walking, and cleaningprolonged life span as effectively as longer workouts. A separate Australian study showed that a few 30-second bursts of high-intensity training can power up your mitochondria (the energy dynamos of your cells), reducing your risk of chronic disease.

This approach has an older pedigree forged in the gym. In the 90s, trainer Pavel Tsatsouline, known for bringing Soviet workout principles to the Navy SEALs, championed something he called greasing the groove. That training technique involved doing, for example, a few sets of five reps of a difficult exercise every hour up to ten times a day. Its still one of the <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a27559651/pullups-guide/" id="b0d02bf1-a76c-3490-adcc-cce4aba4fec7"> best ways to master pullups </a> .

Now more and more trainers are embracing five-minute workouts. Sure, theyd love for you to be in the gym for hours, but they also know your routines greatest benefits occur early on. Ten to 15 minutes earns you 80 percent of the value of a longer workout, says Angelo Poli, whos worked with NFL star Aaron Rodgers.

All of this is practical in part because its closer to traditional training than you might think. Classic bodybuilding sequesters you in the gym for more than an hour, but that includes warming up, changing weights, and resting between sets. Calculate the time actually spent working hard and its often 20 minutes or less.

Or, you know, four daily intervals from our menu of muscle-building, fat--melting, and metabolism-fueling snacks.

<h1> The benefits of a five-minute workout </h1>

Get Fit in Just 5 Minutes With the &quot;Fitness Snack&quot;

Sharper Brain Function: A quick bout of mild exercise, like slow stationarybike pedaling, can improve memory.

Rosier Mood: A 15-minute daily session of higher-intensity exercise, like running, can reduce depression risk by 26 percent.

Faster Fat Burning: Shorter-interval workouts lead to greater fat loss than long, low-intensity sweat sessions.

Zippier Metabolism: Three 20-second all-out intervals can boost insulin sensitivity for a whopping 72 hours.

<h1> Five-minute workouts for every fitness level </h1>

There's a five-minute fitness snack for every situation, whether you're aiming to lose weight, build muscle, or simply learn a new bodyweight exercise. Can't make it to the gym today? Try these fitness snacks out a few times a day.

Fitness snacks are great for gym vetsand even better for those who dont exercise at all. If youre going from a sedentary lifestyle to fitness snacking, expect to see major changes. Rip through this 3-move workout with no rest 3 times a day.

Bird Dog: Get on your hands and knees, hands below shoulders, back flat, abs tight. Lift your right leg and left arm off the floor; keep your hips and shoulders square as you do. Return them to the floor. Repeat the process on the other side. Thats 1 rep; do 20.

Plank Pushup: Get in a plank, elbows below shoulders. Put your right palm on the floor below your right shoulder; straighten that arm. Do the same with your left arm; you should be in pushup position. Return to plank position. Thats 1 rep; do 20.

Walking Squat: Stand with your feet just wider than shoulder width. Step your right foot 6 inches forward. Bend at the knees and hips until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Press back up. Step your left foot forward, in front of your right by 6 inches, and repeat. Thats 1 rep; do 10.

Yes, you can build muscle with your bodyweight. Just use a tempo, says bodybuilding coach Menno Henselmans. Do this circuit that way.

Handcuff: Lie on your stomach, arms lifted. Keeping your thumbs up, draw your arms outward in a wide arc. As they near your hips, bend your elbows and point your thumbs toward each other. Thats 1 rep; do 8.

Tempo Pushup: Get in pushup position. Lower your torso to within an inch of the floor; take 3 seconds to do this. Pause. Push back up. Thats 1 rep; do 10.

Skater Squat: Stand with arms extended. Lift your left foot, a pad or pillow on the floor under your left hip. Bend your right knee and lean forward slightly, lowering until your left shin touches the pad. Stand up. Thats 1 rep; do 5 per side.

The Strength Snack (3 minutes)

The every hour on the hour workout can help you improve. Pick a challenge move from the list below and, at the start of the hour, do 2 or 3 reps of it. Youll do 18 to 40 reps daily.

Supported One-Arm Pushup: Get in pushup position, grasping a support with one hand (the leg of your desk will work), palm turned forward, arm fully extended. With your other arm, slowly lower your chest to the floor; press back up. Thats 1 rep; do 2 per side.

L-Sit: Sit on a desk or chair, hands near your butt. Lift your legs, driving your knees straight. Straighten your arms, lifting your butt in the air. Hold for 3 seconds. Thats 1 rep; do 3.

Pistol Squat: Stand, then lift one leg off the floor. Bend at the knee and sit back, lowering your butt near the floor; hold a chair if needed. Stand back up. Thats 1 rep; do 3 per side.

The Weight Loss Snack (5 minutes)

Your heart rate stays elevated after just a few minutes of ultra-intense activity, so the right move at the right intensity can send you to your next meeting still burning extra calories. Do these 2 moves back-to-back and youll believe it.

Seal Jack: Start standing, arms in front of you, hands together. Jump lightly, opening your feet as you do, and spread your arms wide. Jump back to starting position. Thats 1 rep; do 15.

Mountain-Climber Burpee: Start standing, then squat, place your hands on the floor, and kick your feet back into pushup position. Tighten your abs, then lift your right foot and drive your right knee to your chest. Return to pushup position and repeat with your left leg. Do 4 total mountain climbers, then stand quickly. Thats 1 rep; do 15.

Get Fit in Just 5 Minutes With the "Fitness Snack"

This is supposed to be your moment. January, start of the new year and the new, fitter you. The only problem: Its harder to find 30 minutes to get your sweat on than you thought.

How a Five-Minute Workout Can Get You Strong and Fit

Sounds simple enoughwhich is part of the appealbut questions inevitably arise about what technically constitutes a fast: Can I have water? (Absolutely.) Protein? (No.) Twinkies? (Its a fast, okay?).

But what aboutgasp, twitch, shuddercan I have coffee while doing intermittent fasting? Surely you can have a cup of Joe without breaking your fastc-cant you?

Relax: Theres no caloric load in black coffee, says Angelo Poli, ISSN, creator of the MetPro training and nutrition app. So it doesnt break your fast.

If youre fasting to purify the body, or as part of a religious practice, then coffee might not be allowed, says Poli. But it wont stop you from losing weight.

It should go without sayingthough for fasters who are looking for a loophole, it often doesntthat sweeteners like sugar and honey, dairy products like milk and cream, and other delicious treats that coffee-drinkers often add to their daily cups do have calories, and are therefore officially verboten when youre fasting.

The effect isnt hugeat most youre talking about a hundred calories or sobut if youre trying to burn as much fat as possible, that little bit will set you back a little. More importantly, part of the challengeand thus, the rewardof fasting is to practice discipline and overcome habits, at least for a limited time. So if youre serious about getting your fast onand theres no reason to do it if you arentits OK to keep that morning coffee black.

Can You Drink Coffee While Intermittent Fasting?

Plenty of people don't seem to have a hard time with the idea of not eating when they're doing intermittent fastingthe trendy diet in which you eat only during certain time-restricted windows. Popular <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a29192545/intermittent-fasting-beginners-guide/" id="c002f514-f9bb-3b9e-a02c-09138f6b37c5"> variations of intermittent fasting </a> include the 16:8 fast (eat all your meals in an 8-hour time period daily) and the 5:2 fast (fast for two days each we...

Can You Drink Coffee While Doing Intermittent Fasting?

A 55-year-old grandfather of eight is hanging from a pair of bungee cords 15 feet in the air, preparing to launch himself toward a pipe suspended 6 feet away.

This is the scene at the recent Oklahoma City finals of American Ninja Warrior, and Jon Rockman Stewart is tackling Bungee Road, an obstacle that has humbled several competitors half his age. The wiry 145-pounder hurls himself into empty air, floats, locks onto the beam, swings a few times, and dismounts.

The eye-popping move secures the Utah-based construction manager a trip to the shows national finals.

Many of us have lost sight of that most essential property of physical recreationfun.

Stewart comes by his fitness naturally. I got my core strength from working our family farm as a kid in Idaho, he says. His ripped upper body and never-quit legs were forged from 20 years of scrambling up rock faces and frequent, rigorous mountain bike outings.

In other words, Stewart sculpted his incredible physique and athleticism by following his bliss. Hes not alone. People are coming at fitness from all these different angles now, says Daniel Kunitz, the author of Lift, a book on fitness history. Online videos have led to an exciting cross-pollination among fitness tribes. CrossFitters are doing parkour and MMA; distance runners and triathletes are trying Olympic lifting.

This newly omnivorous approach to staying in shape highlights an element thats often missing from exercise programs. In the pursuit of ripped abs and flagstone pecs, many of us have lost sight of that most essential property of physical recreationfun.

Maybe its time for you to find a plan that can give you the body you want without it feeling like forced labor. A plan thats both engaging and effective, a challenge for your brain and biceps alike. Submitted for your approval: the new pillars of lifelong fitness.

<h1> 1. Quit Obsessing Over How You Look </h1>

Forty years ago, during the Pumping Iron era, fitness was defined by how you looked in a Speedo. If you didnt have softball biceps and single-digit body fat, you had no business calling yourself fit.

Today, says Kunitz, most guys realize that getting super jacked and lean is difficult to do and takes years.A recent NCAA analysis found that single-digit body fat is rare, even among elite athletes in their prime. For example: The average body fat percentage for running backs at the NFL Combine from 2006 to 2013 was nearly 12 percent. Indeed, extreme leanness and muscularitythe kind you see in supplement adsis not only an unrealistic goal for most busy guys but also unnecessary for athleticism.

Stop staring in the mirror and focus on performance instead. Work on nailing your first pullup, then your first five. Try cracking 21 minutes in a 5K, then 19. Conquer a 5.2 rock face, then a 5.3.

Consider the fitness journey of Scott Ferrara, 42, a teacher in Los Angeles. In my 20s, my goal was to be as big as possible. I was in pain. I was eating 10 chicken breasts a day. It wasnt enjoyable. Ferrara eventually switched gears. He completed an Olympic-distance triathlon and then participated in numerous obstacle course races on the West Coast. Now that hes more concerned about his finishing times than his arm circumference, hes respecting his limits. I check in to see what my body needs on a given day, he says.

Ironically, Ferrara says he looks better now than he did when he was pumping irona common result of switching to performance training. Aesthetics are best obtained from training for performance,says Mark Rippetoe, the author of Starting Strength. Form follows function.

Some fitness hucksters believe that certain approaches work because they resemble the activities of our forefathers. Nonsense, says Daniel Lieberman, Ph.D., a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard. Prescribing fitness and diet regimens based solely on what our ancestors did is rife with logical problems... We also evolved to sometimes fight, lie, get anxious, age, and die.

The simplest rule: do something every day.

In fact, science suggests that you can get healthier, stronger, and fitter by following any plan regularly. The CDC recommends 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, along with twice-weekly muscle strengthening sessions.

Its not a high bar, but 76 percent of men dont reach it, the CDC reports. Thats despite the fact that moderate exercise covers abroad array of activities, from jogging and yoga to martial arts and rock climbing. It even includes some activities many jocks might consider too easy. Brisk walking on its own is great for health, says David Katz, M.D., Ph.D., director of Yales Prevention Research Center. The best exercise, he says, is the exercise people actually do.

The simplest rule: do something every day. Thats not easy. For documentary filmmaker George Kunhardt, 29, that lesson came a bit later in life. I was an athlete in high school, but when I got to college I partied a lot. By the time he started his career, his weight was normal but his body was soft.

Thats when Kunhardt discovered a CrossFit gym near his office. The key variables to its appeal were proximity and simplicity: He could walk there and do the workout that was posted on the blackboard. Now Kunhardt trains six days a week; his body is harder and he can bang out sets of 40 unbroken pullups. Hes rediscovered both his competitive fire and his love of fitness. Its my number one stress reliever. When Im at the gym, I go to my happy place, he says.

So if you simply do anything active for 30 to 45 minutes a day, says Dr. Katz, your health will benefit. You will also likely enhance your quality of life and longevity. Of course, strategically varying the intensity of your activity will impact your results. Thats why we have Pillar 3.

Off the Blocks, Athlete Practicing Start on 100m Sprint

To a strength coach, exercise and training are as different as chalk and cheese. Exercise is something you do today because of how it makes you feel today,says Rippetoe. Training is a planned process to achieve a result somewhere down the road.

Most gymgoers are exercisers, says Rippetoe. They might hit chest and tris on Monday, run a few miles on Tuesday, and shoot hoops on Thursday. Each workout bears little relation to the one before or after it, so their progress is minimal. Yes, its infinitely better than nothing at all.

But to improve your performance at a particular activity, you need to program a performance increase for that activity consistently. I dont want my muscles to be confused, he says. I want them to know exactly how I want them to adapt.

An effective exercise routine is shaped by specific goalsshort-term as well as long-termtoward which every workout is a distinct stepping-stone. That often requires taking the long view.

Lets say you want to run a 10K. You might have five obstacles you need to overcome before you can complete that goal, says Alex Viada, C.S.C.S., of Complete Human Performance in Durham, North Carolina. You may need to address your mobility or body composition before you can start thinking about your running pace. But even if you have a long way to go, Viada says, just ask yourself what you can do now to bring each goal a little closer and make the big goal easier. Then get to work on thatconsistentlyone workout at a time.

Here's the curveball: To make that progress, you need to take strategic recovery breaks. A lot of activities that we think are helpful are not, says Andreo Spina, D.O., a chiropractor and mobility expert. Among these are some of our favorite pastimes. When major league baseball coaches and trainers ask him how to prevent elbow injuries in their pitchers, Spina tells them, only half jokingly, Have them play another position.

From baseball and basketball to swimming and track-and-field events, sports are man-made activities, Spina argues. Many of them place asymmetrical demands on the body. Tennis and squash, for example, tax one arm and shoulder while leaving the other mostly out of the action. Swimming works your upper body more than your lower, while running and cycling do the opposite. The potential damage isnt limited to knees and ankles. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology revealed that the heart valves of lifelong runners showed elevated risk of failure.

Sure, sports belong in your training program, but focusing on a single sport or activityyear-round, with no time to heal and rebalancemight hurt you. For most of us, the ideal strategy is a three-weeks-on, one-week-off plan.

For three weeks, gradually increase your workload at your activity of choice. Do more sets, reps, and weight if youre into strength training; more distance or speed if youre a cyclist or runner; more height, speed, or difficulty if youre a climber. Then ease off for a week and come back to focus on a slightly different microgoal.

If youre a runner, you might plan a block where you do hills, another where you do speed or track work, and another where you work on endurance, says Matt Dixon, a former pro triathlete and the founder of <a href="https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/" id="7c0f77dc-80d4-3dcd-a1e9-bf121e45d109"> purplepatchfitness.com </a> .Even that simple change of stimulus will yield bigger results than just working randomly, he says.

Reams of research have shown that one approach worth most guys time is high-intensity interval training, or HIIT. This involves multiple short bursts of super intense exercise (like eight rounds of 30-second bike sprints) separated by periods of low-intensity movement or rest (like 90 seconds of easy spinning).

HIIT has many proven advantages over steady-state cardio. The workouts are short and adaptable, challenging both your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems and burning fat more effectively. Plus, most guys think theyre more fun. In a 2011 study, just three 20-minute HIIT workouts a week measurably improved participants body composition, metabolism, and cardio fitness.

The one downside? You might work too hard, too fastespecially if you choose a high-impact exercise like sprinting. Avoid exhaustion and injury by doing bodyweight exercises only once a week. Squats, pushups, and step ups work well30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for each, followed by a 2-minute rest, for 5 to 10 rounds. Try 50-meter swim sprints on another day (10 reps, resting for as long as it takes to complete 1 rep). Another day you could do hill sprints on a grassy surface (do 10 and then walk down the hill to recover). Bored or excessively sore? Just abbreviate your work periods, or do mobility exercises during your rest time.

Tired Caucasian man wiping sweat off forehead in gym

Two years ago, John Short, a 60-year-old professor at Cal State Fullerton, was a chronic overexerter. Hed play 90 holes of golf over a weekend, jump into pickup basketball games, and power through sets of burpeeswith a 40-pound vestjust to see if he could do it.

Hard work leads to progress, regardless of the load lifted.

Sometime between his umpteenth acupuncture treatment and anti-inflammatory injection, Short got wise. When youre in your late 50s, you have to walk a fine line between pushing enough and pushing too far, he says. He dropped the weighted burpees, hooked up with a trainer, and replaced running with ruckingwalking with a weighted pack. Hes currently gunning for an injury-free, top 10 finish in a Spartan race. Hes training smarter.

So many guys my age get hurt and pack it in, Short says. The answer isnt to give up altogether; its to adjust your routine. Exercise is dose-dependent medicineyour body thrives on just enough of it. Beyond a certain point, there is actually net harm from extreme exertion, says Dr. Katz.

How do you find the sweet spot? Make sure your workout feels like work. Lifting to volitional fatigue, the point at which you cant do any more reps while maintaining good form, is a more significant factor in determining muscle growth than weight lifted or reps performed, a new study reveals. As long as you work to fatigue, it doesnt matter whether youre lifting 125 pounds 25 times or 250 pounds eight times, says study author Stuart Phillips, Ph.D., a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. Hard work leads to progress, regardless of the load lifted.

To determine when youve reached your limit on a workout or activity, try the toe-touch test: Before your workout and between sets (or sprints or rounds of golf or sets of tennis), bend forward and reach for your toes. If the movement youre performing agrees with you, youll find that your range of motion will increase, says David Dellanave, C.S.C.S., a Philadelphia strength coach. Feeling looser and being able to reach farther means your body is green-lighting that exercise. If, on the other hand, you get tighter (you cant bend forward as far), then adjust, move on to a new exercise, or towel off and head home.

Skipping a set or two in a planned work-out sounds heretical to some hard-core gymgoers. Dellanave disagrees: Unless youre a competitive athlete, theres no need to do any particular exercise in a training session, he says.

Your mission , then, is to put these rules together to figure out your perfect training plan. It starts with doing things consistently (Pillar 2). Fine-tune with Pillar 4. Choose a range of activities in a variety of intensities: two or three days of higher-in-tensity activities (sprints, heavy lifting, climbing, or body-weight strength circuits) coupled with another two or three days of easier stuff, like hiking, jogging, or cycling.

If you dont have a smile on your face when youre working out, youre doing something wrong.

Track a few metrics, such as distance covered, weight lifted, and reps completed so you know when youre get-ting better (as per Pillars 1 and 3), and use those stats to determine if you should go hard or go home (Pillar 5).

Finally, whenever and however you can, whether its part of a formal workout or not, just play. Shoot hoops with friends, toss a ball with your kid, make like a ninja on the monkey bars. Pick something you like and go for it, says Stewart. If you dont have a smile on your face when youre working out, youre doing something wrong.

This story was originally published in the December 2016 issue of Men's Health.

5 Fitness Pillars to Stay in Shape for Your Entire Life

My first and second reps: Clean. Third rep: I noticed a tiny, unnerving shift in the right side of my lower back.

Then the hurt began. It spread across my lower back like a toxic puddle of pain. Kicked-by-a-mule, knife-sharp, what-the-hell-just-happened pain.

Thats it, I vowed as I curled into a fetal position on the gym floor. I dont care who says this is the king of all exercises. Im a certified trainer and movement specialist, and I just cant pull off this friggin exercise without hurting myself. Im done with it.

That was the fourth time in 10 years the deadlift had me flat on my back for a day or longer. It wasnt serious; a doctor found no herniations or major trauma. But given my history, he said, perhaps I should consider easing up on deadlifting. It was the same suggestion Id gotten from other doctors after my past injuries.

Finally I was ready to heed the advice of the experts. It felt like breaking off a tumultuous relationship.

<h1> Our Long Love Affair With the Deadlift </h1>

Our long love affair with this borderline-abusive move is a storied one: On the Greek island of Santorini, a 1,056-pound stone bears the inscription Eumastas, son of Critobulus, lifted me from the ground. The words are said to be 2,500 years old.

Today, inspired perhaps by heavy-lifting-based training methods like powerlifting and CrossFit, some 2 million aspiring Eumastases have paid tribute to the art of the #deadlift on Instagram.

Make no mistake: If you can perform it safely, the deadlift is a terrific move. Trainers classify it as a hip hinge exercise. It targets your glutes, lower back, and hamstrings, but in truth it hammers nearly every muscle in your body, including your upper back, quads, and traps. It also strengthens your grip.

Pulling all that muscle mass at once has systemic benefits as well. Any time you use that much muscle in one movement, youre working your cardiovascular system and burning a ton of fat too, says Ben Bruno, an L.A.-based trainer and MH fitness advisor.

As the morbid name suggests, however, theres a dark side to deadlifting. According to exercise physiologist Dean Somerset, C.S.C.S., some people just dont have the anatomy to do deadlifts without risking injury.

\"10 to 20 percent of the population may not do well with the deadlift no matter how you coach it.\"

One limiting factor, says Stuart McGill, Ph.D., the author of Back Mechanic, is the thickness of your spine. Thats a trait you inherit. The thicker your spine, the heavier the load the bones in your back can handle, while a thinner spine is more flexible but cant handle heavier loads consistently.

Another critical factor is hip structure. Some people have thigh bones that sit farther back in their hip sockets, Somerset says, so when they try to hinge forward, the sockets essentially act as doorstops. That makes it harder for them to get into the correct setup position for the deadlift, he says. It also greatly increases the lifters odds of straining, pulling, or herniating something when he performs the exercise.

Its hard to definitively verify spine thickness or hip structure without an MRI. But either trait can help explain an unusual and stubborn deadlifting handicap.

Based on factors like these, Somerset concludes, 10 to 20 percent of the population may not do well with the deadlift no matter how you coach it. Thats a pretty hefty slice of the weight-training population who cantor shouldnttangle with this so-called essential exercise.

<h1> How to Handle the Deadlift Question </h1>

My years of courting deadlift-related disaster have led me to conclude that Im probably in that 10 to 20 percent. Heres how you can figure out if you are too.

If your back gets cranky when you do deadlifts, the first step is to check your form and mobility: Its entirely possible that a few minutes of self-coaching or a few weeks of stretching could pay off in big numbers for you (check out the directions below to do just this).

But suppose your form and mobility checkout and you still cant deadlift from the floor or from a rack without pain. In that case, your problem may be anatomical. Thats significantly tougher to solve.

If you do decide to throw in the towel, there are lots of great alternatives, says Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S., a competitive powerlifter. Theres no reason to be heart broken just because you cant do one exercise.

Somerset agrees. When youre chasing one exercise, theres a point of diminishing returns. You could spend six months trying to figure out whats going on with your deadlift, or you could spend six months training hard using other exercises that dont cause you pain and suffering.

Im going for the second option. Sure, I could get an MRI and a full physiological workup. I could go for counseling with a sports performance psychologist in case the problem is in my head, another possibility Somerset mentions. But why go to all the trouble? Im as interested in exceptional fitness as anyone, but Im not a powerlifter.

For me, the deadlift is just a tool and not an end in itself. Now that I know this particular tool doesnt work for me and actually hinders my progress toward better health and more strength, its easy enough for me to throw it away and use different tools that work better. If an exercise doesnt work for you, move on. Sometimes discretion in the weight room is the better part of valor.

Try these tests to see if you should pull heavy iron.

Standing Toe Touch

<ul><li> Stand with your legs straight and feet parallel and shoulder-width apart. Bend forward as you reach for your toes. Its okay to round your back as you descend and reach. Pass: You can touch your toes without bending your knees. </li></ul>

Active Straight-Leg Raise

<ul><li> Lie on your back with your legs straight and toes pointed toward the ceiling. Raise one leg as high as you can, noting how far your leg travels upward. Lower it; test the other leg. Pass: You can raise your leg so its perfectly straight and forms a 90-degree angle with your body. </li></ul>

<ul><li> Pass both tests? Then youre cleared for takeoffthat is, flexible enough to do deadlifts. If you failed either one, check out <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a29268271/deadlift-alternative-exercises/">these four alternative moves from Bruno</a> . Their strength and muscle-building benefits are similar to those of the deadlift, but with a lot less risk. Youll end up with the body you want while keeping yourself off the injured list. </li></ul>

Dial in your deadlift form with tips from powerlifter Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S.

1. Nail the Setup

The bar should be directly above the bow on your shoelaces, and your shoulder blades should be above the bar, Rasmussen says. Your torso, arm, and hip should form a triangle when viewed from the side.

2. Shin Up to the Bar

As you lift and lower the bar, try to keep it as close to your body as possible. The farther out the bar goes, the greater the stress you place on your back, says Rasmussen. Wear long socks so the bar wont scrape your shins.

3. Hold a Natural Arch

Throughout the movement, keep your lower back in a natural arch, which transfers most of the stress of the exercise onto the proper muscles. Not sure youre doing it right? Take a video of yourself deadlifting and share the clip with an expert.

I remember the exact moment I dumped the deadlift. It was a Tuesday in March 2016. I was three months into a six-month program to hit my goal of deadlifting 350 pounds. Fourth set, 185 loaded on the bar.

Are Deadlifts for Everyone?

Plate pinching sounds simple: Set a pair of 2-inch-thick plates on their edges (smooth sides out), pinch them between your thumb and fingers, lift them to waist height, and hold. But in practice? The plates surfaces challenge even the fittest guys.

Its a challenge you should try (but start with modern 5s): A large study suggests a link between weaker grip and higher risk of cardiovascular disease and early death. Plus, a weak grip is an invitation for injury.

A strong grasp can also help you lift more and rack up gym PRs. Often its your hands that limit you when you lift, says Jedd Johnson, a five-time North American Grip Sport champ.

Want to hone a viselike grip? Here are four ways to do it.

Whenever you pick up a weight, squeeze the bar as tightly as you can. Actually, crush the bar to a pulp, says Pavel Tsatsouline, CEO of StrongFirst. Amp it up by squeezing your nonworking hand on single-arm moves like dumbbell rows.

Find extra-thick barbells, dumbbells, or handles for all your deadlifts and pulling exercises. Dont have a fat bar? Find a towel and wrap it around a standard bar to make it more difficult to grasp. The larger barswhich are roughly twice the thickness of a standard barforce you to squeeze harder to get a secure grip, so relatively light weights feel heavier, Johnson says.

For manlier mitts, strength coach Dan John recommends adding this simple challenge into your workout once a week: Do a pullup and then hang on the bar for 30 seconds. Without letting goof the bar, repeat until your grip fails or you cant complete a pull-up. Ten reps translates into five-plus minutes on the barand proof that you have a badass grip.

Your brains motor cortex puts to work more than 30 muscles just to control your hand. To strengthen all that sinew, think outside the barbell. Towels hanging from the bar, thick ropes, and PVC pipes all place a different demand on your grip,says MH fitness advisor DavidJack. Each week, do at least three sets of towel pullups or chinups, PVC drags or carries, or pulling exercise variations with ropes.

<h1> The Muscles You Need for a Super-Strong Grip </h1>

The muscles on the back of your forearm work together in order to open your fingers and extend your wrist backward.

<ul><li> Train Them: Spread and open your hands as wide as you can while bending your wrists back. Hold for 30seconds. Rest; then repeat. </li></ul>

The muscles on the pinky side of your lower arm help grab and grip: key actions in nearly all sports.

In the niche sport of competitive gripping (yes, you read that right), few feats are as impressive as the double-plate pinch hold with two old-school York Barbell 45-pound plates.

Andrew Heffernan, C.S.C.S.

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