Australian_Mens_Fitness_2016_08_

MF MYTHBUSTING

03 FEA

OK, IT’S A CONCERN I , FOR THE NORMAL MAN, IT’S OVERRATED. FEAR UNDER-RECOVERY
MORE: DOWNLOAD THE SLEEPGENIUS APP TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE RESTED ENOUGH, AND AIM TO GET AT LEAST 150G OF PROTEIN A DAY.

04 Don’t

cheat

■Modern PTs scorn

themanwhouses

hisentirebodytodo

a barbell biceps curl

—andyetthey’ll

often sport arms

that put yours to

shame. What gives?

Thetruth:“cheating”

movescanbeavalid

waytobuildmuscle.

Forbestresults,

incorporate a cheat

intoatechnicaldrop

set.Doasetofcurls

to failure keeping

strict form, then

—whenyourarms

havegivenup—use

momentum to

crank out more reps

before you drop the

weights. You’ll push

your muscles past

failure, causing

more micro-tears

anduppinggains.

06 Failure is

notanoption

■Failure isalways

an option. “If

everything has to

be a success, then

there’snoroomfor,

well, anything,”

says strength

coach Chet

Morjaria. “It leaves

no room for failing,

reassessing and

doing something

better. It leaves no

room for learning

valuable mental

and physical

lessons when

something goes

wrong. It leaves

lots of room for

disaster from

trying to save a rep,

sessionorprogram

that is beyond

saving.” Embrace

failure and you’ll

be set for success.

05 Cardio is

best for health

■Science has your

back on this one. Not

only will building

muscle and

strength benefit

your bone density

—safeguarding

you against

osteoporosis and

arthritis — there’s

evidence that it

offers protective

effects against

everything from

Alzheimer’sto

cardiovascular

disease. For best

results, mix both:

twodaysaweek

of lifting and the

occasional long

walkorslow run

will do it.

“Shut up and squat!”

“If in doubt, squat!”

It’s the mantra

of the biggest men in

your gym, but it only

makes sense if

you’ve got the

mobility to do it

right. If squeezing

yourself into

a back squat

means folding

yourself in half

like an accordion,

then switch to the

goblet version

— a dumbbell held in

front of your chest

— instead.

SQUATS FIX EVERYTHING

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Dynamic stretching, mobility work,

foam rolling, muscle activation: in recent

years, warm-up creep has seen the

traditional“twominutesonatreadmill

and some arm swings” turn into a

laborious 20-minute ordeal. Your new

warm-up? Five pushups, ten kettlebell

swingsandtengobletsquats.Startwith

a 12kg kettlebell and keep moving up

the weights until it starts to feel hard.

68 MEN’S FITNESS AUGUST 2016