Muscle & Fitness Australia - Issue 352 - June 2017

JUNE 2017 MUSCLE & FITNESS 79

SPEED
RUN A KAY FASTER

1. Head for the hills
   Hill sprints are a
   great way to develop
   explosive leg strength
   and the endurance you
   need to redline it for
   the finish line. Find a
   steep, 100-metre-long
   hill, sprint up it and jog
   back down. Repeat
   six to 10 times.


2. Intervals
   The best way to cut
   seconds off of your
   time is with intervals.
   Head to a local track
   for sprints – 12x200m,
   10x400m, 8x600m
   are good options –
   and break them up
   with 200 to 400m
   of slow jogging.

3) Leg lifts

Strengthen your quads,

calves, hips and butt

to get faster and make

your body more resilient

against the pounding

of fast running.

POWER

TOUCH THE RIM

1) Body-weight squats

They make you stronger

and because they mimic

the crouch position of

the jump, they’re great

practice. Graduate

to jump squats.

2) Calf raises

Shaq did them every

night before bed when

he was in college,

and his vertical leap

increased by 20cm.

Aim for a big number

• say, 400 – and
  break it up into sets.

3. Jump rope
   Jumping rope hits the
   same muscles recruited
   for your vertical leap.
   Incorporate it into your
   training two to three
   days a week, continually
   increasing the length
   of the session.
   ENDURANCE
   DO 20 PULL-UPS


4. Elastic bands
   Loop an elastic band
   around the top of a
   pull-up bar and place
   your foot in it. That’ll
   help you to knock out
   more reps than you
   otherwise could.

2) Negative pull-ups

Focus on the lowering

portion rather than the

lift. Find a low bar and

jump up so your chest

is near bar level, then

slowly lower yourself.

3) Forced reps

When your muscles are

on fire, have a training

partner help you crank

out two to three more

reps. You’ll overload

your muscles, forcing

greater growth.

STRENGTH

BENCH-PRESS 1.5

TIMES YOUR WEIGHT

1) Pull the bar apart

As you lower the bar,

squeeze your shoulder

blades together and try

to “pull the bar apart”,

then maintain this

tension while you

push for more force.

2) Vary grip width

Alternating among

wide, narrow and normal

grips allows you to

focus on both prime

mover and supporting

muscles, which can

help you break through

sticking points.

3) Superset with

bentover rows

Beef up your lats, which

are key to moving the

bar, as they act as a

spring and provide a

bigger base for you

to press off of, with

bentover rows between

bench-press sets.

Boost your performance, too!

GOAL NO.9 GET BOLDER

SHOULDERS

●SCULPTING THE PERFECTV-taper physique
startsattheshoulders,whichmeanstrainingyour
deltoidsandtraps.“Shouldersthatareroundand
powerful looking give the impression that your body
isbuiltforperformance,”saysEven-Esh.Butgetting
therecanbedifficult,hecontends,especiallyifyou’re
doingthesameoldliftsdayinanddayout.“Thebody
adaptsanddoesn’tfeelchallenged,limitingnewmuscle

Lunges are

one way

to attack

the vastus

medialis

muscle.

growth.”Forafreshsetofshoulderexercises,trythese

threeexercisesthatattackthedeltsfromallanglesand

buildstrengthandendurancebothconcentricallyand

isometrically.(Note:onceaweekisplenty.)

First,there’srunningtheracksideraises,asimple

waytooverloadthedeltoids.Startwithalightpairof

dumbbellsandperformthreerepsofsideraises.Goto

thenextpairofdumbbellsforthreerepsandcontinue

“runningtherack”,climbingupinweightuntilyoucan

no longer perform three reps with perfect form. From

there,reverseorderandworkyourwaybackdownthe

rack to where you started. If you can do more than two

sets,Even-Eshsays,thenyoudidn’tpushhardenough.

Then he suggests the dumbbell overhead carry,

whichchallengesyourshoulders,absandupperback

isometrically. Lock the dumbbells (or kettlebells)

overhead with arms completely straight, engage your

abs and walk slowly for 15 metres. Start off with three or

four sets at this length, and slowly increase the distance

to20and30metresperset.It’sgreatforaddingsizeand

strength to your shoulders and traps.

Lastly, you should do the dumbbell press 21s,

whichhittheshouldersthroughvariousangleswhile

maintaining constant muscle tension. To do it, perform

sevenrepsatatimefromeachoftheserangesofmotion

–bottomhalf,tophalfandfullrange.Startwithvery

lightweightsandpresssevenrepsfromyourshoulders

tothemidwayoffullextension.Thenpresssevenreps

from midway to full lockout. Then do seven reps of full-

range overhead presses. Two or three sets should

be enough to blast your shoulders.

We’ve compiled the most coveted fitness performance feats for the modern man,

from a blazing race time to bench-pressing 1.5 times your weight. Here’s how to get there.

BUILD THE PERFECT BODY