Every job has its perks. Even the guy riding the garbage truck scores an occasional talking bass. Here are some of the best tips.
1. Set a record every workout The Guinness folks aren’t going to call when you curl 65 pounds five times. But if you’ve never done it before, it’s personal record. Never leave the gym without trying to set a record.
2. Know your body You can find in the internet a workout program that was brilliant in every respect, except if you couldn’t do it. It required squats three times a week, and your knees aren’t up to that. Don’t do what the other guys do; do what works for your body.
3. Don’t confuse pain with productivity A good new workout will often create soreness, but that soreness should be in the belly of the muscle, not in the elbow, knee, hip, shoulder, or lower-back joints. If you feel equal soreness on both sides of your body, you’ve done something right. If it’s on one side but not the other, and the pain restricts movement, you probably have an injury.
4. Never do a garbage set Every set should have a purpose. It’s either a warmup (preparing your muscles for harder work to follow), a work set (increasing strength or muscle mass), or a back-off set (a higher-repetition set fibers). Some extremely advanced workouts are based on pure volume (five sets of fie, 10 sets of 10), and in those cases the volume is intended to create a specific effect. But if you don’t know what a set is supposed to accomplish, don’t bother with it.-L.S. You can visit www.menshealth.com.
