Looking great at any age

By Mark Anders with interviews by Carol H. Pajaron and Mike Diez


Age 20 to 29: Grow, Show, and Go



"Nature doesn't give a damn whether you live beyond the age of 25," says Leonard Hayflick, PhDd, a professor emeritus at UCSF and author of How and Why We Age. "Nature's only concern is that we live long enough to raise offspring to independence." Tthat's why for most of human history, the average life expectancy has been about 20 years. Oof course, we've found ways to live longer, primarily by eradicating diseases. But the surest way to cheat death is to stack the game early. Think of your 20s as a decade of pregame practice. Iinvest a couple of hours of effort every week now, and it will save you a decades-long decline later.

THE CHANGES

HORMONAL CHAOS

Your body is pumping out tons of human growth hormone (HGH) and testosterone, which leads to a peak in muscle mass sometime between ages 18 and 25, says Walter Thompson, PhD, a professor of kinesiol¬ogy, health, and nutri¬tion at Georgia State University in Atlanta. The bad part: It's only temporary.

THE FIX
Feast on the flood. By the time you're 22 or 23, HGH production begins to decrease, dropping 2-5 percent each decade after that, silently stealing your strength. Build as much as you can now, and when you're 40 you can just maintain the brawn.

CREAKY KNEES

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University followed 1,321 former medical students and found that those who injured their knees as young adults were more than twice as likely to develop arthritis as they grew older.

THE FIX
Stretch your hamstrings. Lack of flexibility in the hamstrings causes many knee problems. Avoid them with this hamstring stretch: Sit on the floor with your legs straight and spread a few feet apart. Bend your right leg and bring the foot to your left knee. Then try to touch both hands to your left foot. Hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds, then switch legs. Repeat three times every day.

Ease up on the cardio. Pounding the pavement too hard, too often can wear down the cartilage in your joints. So limit your running to no more than four days a week. Instead, try a sport like basketball, in which you start and stop often. It's actually better for your carti¬lage than the repetitive pounding of jogging. Strength training can also strengthen carti¬lage, says Thompson.

THE FAT TIDE

During college, most guys eat like sumo wrestlers but burn off the extra calories playing sports, walking to class, chasing skirts, and just being generallyactive. After graduation, the feast continues—but without the physical activity. "From the day of graduation, most men start gaining weight," says Thompson. "Before long, you're sitting at your desk and you're 25 pounds overweight."

THE FIX
Travel east for healthy eats. Restaurants tend to serve large por¬tions, and the food can be high in fat. Plus, there's often a limited choice of vegetables. "Picking the type of restaurant wisely can help," says Hope Warshaw, RD, author of Eat Out, Eat Right. Warshaw says that Asian cuisine—Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese—generally includes more vegetables.

Play hide-and-seek. Put the beer and sodas in your refrigerator's vegetable drawer and leave the carrots out in plain sight so you'll remember to eat them, says Nancy Clark, MS, RD, senior sports nutritionist at Boston-based Healthworks Fitness Center.

THE BUFF FACTOR

Looking good can help you land a better job and a better mate. In a recent study, researchers at Yale University found that a significant bias against overweight people—stereotyping them as lazy, less valuable, and less intelligent—exists even among health professionals whose careers emphasize obesity research.

THE FIX
Build your show muscles. Pay particular attention to your chest, shoulders, and biceps—the muscles people are most apt to notice first. To build maximum muscle in these areas, Tom Seabourne, PhD, CSCS, an exercise physiologist at North¬eastern Texas Community College, designed an exclusive strength-training routine (below) for men in their 20s. It includes explosive power moves, like the bench-press throw, that take advantage of your increased hormonal activity to develop muscle faster.



Age 30 To 39: Prevention and Planning



Carefree days have been replaced by 24-7 responsibilities: a wife, a baby, a mortgage, and a boss who reminds you of all three. Burritos that disappeared in a puff of metabolic smoke now linger like an oil spill. "Your physiological capacity—the overall performance of most of your body's systems—decreases by around 1 percent per year from 30 onward," says hayflick. hence the burrito hangover. To counter this physiological decline, switch your strategy to preventive fitness. You need to continue lifting heavy weights to preserve the muscle you built in your 20s; stretching takes priority, because you're going to start losing flexibility; and regular interval training is on the list so you can combat the loss of stamina that will start in the middle of this decade. The good news: It's never too late to make a fresh start.

THE CHANGES

NO MORE MR. GUMBY

Flexibility decreases in your 30s, not only because you're likely to sit in an office chair for hours every day, but also because many of the activities you do—running, weight lifting, even basketball—don't call for a full range of motion. "There's actually a shortening of both muscle and connective tissue," says Brent Feland, PhD, an aging and flexibility researcher at Brigham Young University.

THE FIX
Say yes to yoga. "Yoga requires you to go through full ranges of motion and to hold those positions," says Feland. Take a class once a week and use the moves everywhere. "Get out of your chair and into a stretch while you're watching SportsCenter," advises Feland. "It's really easy to do. You just have to develop the habit."

YOUR BEATIN' HEART

Stamina peaks for most men around 31 or 32, but within the next five years your aerobic capacity declines. "The heart is a muscle just like any other, and as you age, you lose some strength," says Jordan Metzl, MD, author of The Young Athlete: A Sports Doctor's Complete Guide for Parents. Also starting in your 30s, your body's ability to extract oxygen from your blood diminishes, your cholesterol counts and blood pressure rise, and fatty deposits begin to build up on the walls of your arteries.

THE FIX
Schedule a checkup. Ask your doctor to work up your lipoprotein profile. Catch the trouble early enough and it's a good bet that exercise alone will prolong your life.

Speed up, Slow down. Maintain your aerobic capacity with regular interval training, says Dr. Metzl. Do this workout three times a week: Start with a 10-minute warmup of light jogging. Then sprint for 45 seconds at 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Recover with 90 seconds of walking or light jogging, and repeat your cycle of sprints 8-12 times. Cool down with a 10-minute jog.

PUTTING ON POUNDS

"If your body were a car, it'd require less gas to run as it grew older," says Dr. Metzl. In fact, your body consumes 12 fewer calories per day for each year after 30, and most men reach their maximum body weight between ages 34 and 54.

THE FIX
Limit your fuel. You need less fuel now, so don't feel obligated to clean your plate at every meal—leave that to the dishwasher. When you snack, don't eat from the box or carton. If you dole out a reasonable portion, you'll be less likely to absentmindedly eat the whole container.

MISSING MUSCLE

Electrical forces bind all of your body's molecules together, but these forces begin to weaken in your 30s, so some of those molecules begin to malfunction. Strength and coordina¬tion are usually the first to go, and muscle mass drops. If you don't take steps to prevent it, you'll lose about six pounds of muscle in the next 10 years.

THE FIX
Build muscle for daily activities. Switch focus from mirror muscles to functional strength, flexibility, and balance. Your tendons and joints aren't as sturdy as they used to be when you were a kid; pay attention to form to prevent injuries. Seabourne's slow-tempo exercises (see below) are safer for your joints, but you'll still maintain a high intensity.



Age 40 to 49: Never Back Down




During your 40S, you realize that your body's warranty has indeed expired. And you could probably use a little body work. "All my buddies are getting fat," says 48-year-old Seabourne, the author of Athletic Abs: Maximum Core Fitness Training. But your 40s are also when you've established your career a bit, so you can leave the late-night duty to junior staff. For the first time since college, you have a little discretionary time. you've earned three hours of workout time during the week and a longer session on the weekends. no excuses. your body needs the work right now; delay isn't an option.

THE CHANGES

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING YOU

For most men in their 40s, height begins to decrease. "Disks in the spine are fluid filled, like shock absorbers," says Seabourne. "But as you grow older, they act more like dried-out sponges." By the time you hit 60, you'll likely have shrunk by 1¼ inches.

THE FIX
Stand and sit up straight. Seabourne says posture is more important now than ever. Imagine you have a string pulling your body up from the top of your head: shoulders back, head up, spine neutral. "That'll keep those disks healthy. And you'll appear thinner and taller because your posture will be better," he says.

Lengthen and strengthen. Developing the muscular endurance of your core is essential to maintaining good posture, says Seabourne. The key is to lengthen your spine through stretching, and strengthen your abs and lower back. Try to do this exercise at least once every day:

The Yoga Pose. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and place your hands against the small of your back. Inhale as you slowly lift your chest. Exhale as you stretch, slowly tilting your head back and gently pulling your elbows toward each other. Remain in this position and let gravity stretch you into the natural arch of your back. Do this for 3-8 seconds. Try it between sets of your weight workout.

SORE SUBJECT

Whatever your sport, you have to prepare your body to perform. Lots of middle-aged weekend warriors come home with injuries like torn hamstrings, sprained ankles, or worse.

THE FIX
Feel the flow. Seabourne says a short warmup—8-10 minutes of light cardiovascular work—starts the flow of synovial fluid, a natural lubricating solution found in joints. It also elevates your core temperature so your muscles are more elastic and you have less chance of injury.

AGE-OLD PROBLEMS

As your personal odometer ticks upward, your risks of heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure also go up. You owe it to yourself and your family to stick to an exercise program—the best way to dodge heart and head bombs. But to keep in the game, you have to prepare your body to perform. The day after exercise, you want to feel a pleasant soreness, not debilitating injuries.

THE FIX
Find a trail. A study of nearly 11,000 Harvard alumni found that a brisk 30- to 60-minute walk 5 days a week cuts stroke risk by 24-50 percent.

Keep track. Take note of your speed, distance, and pace.

LESS MUSCLE = MORE FAT

"After age 30, you lose about half a pound of muscle per year—if you're sedentary—which turns into 2.6 pounds of fat per year, just because of metabolic slowdown," says Seabourne. In that trade-off, everybody loses.

THE FIX
Eat six small meals daily instead of three big ones. It'll keep your furnace stoked, making it burn fat more efficiently. It'll also boost HDL (good) cholesterol and cut LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Add a pound of muscle. Muscle tissue needs more calories for maintenance and rebuilding processes than fat tissue does. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn—even at rest. "Gain just one pound of muscle, and that's an additional 50 calories you'll burn each day," says Seabourne. For the 40s strength workout (below), Seabourne calls for a slower lifting tempo but keeps the weights fairly heavy, so you can build muscle mass. "It's still cool to lift heavy, but you need to pay strict attention to your form and protect your joints," he says. Glucosamine supplements can help with your day-after pains.



Age 50'S and up: Defending your turf




By now you have it figured out (i.e., you know that nobody has it figured out). you're a master at the office, a veteran in the weight room, the head of the clan. But you're fighting Mother nature and entropy at the same time, and that's one tough tag team. australian researchers found that men age 58 and older often struggle with body-image issues. Performing at least two exercise sessions per week boosts men's self-esteem by helping them feel better about their bodies' ability to perform routine tasks. and feeling good motivates you to make more gains. your fitness program should help you avoid pain and do what's important to you. okay, so you're not a kid anymore. neither is Clint eastwood. But he can still kick some butt.

THE CHANGES

THAT TRICK KNEE JUST GOT TRICKIER

Many men in their 50s begin to have joint trouble. The main culprits: overuse injuries and osteoarthritis.

THE FIX
Ride a bike. Researchers at Arcadia University studied 39 people suffering from osteoarthritis of the knees and found that cycling just 25 minutes a day, three times a week, significantly improved pain relief and performance in walking tests. So saddle up.

BONE LOSS LOOMS

Bone minerals are lost and replaced throughout life—it's a natural process —but after age 35, the loss begins to outpace the replacement. At 50, this imbalance can hurt you.

THE FIX
More stress. Stressing your bones strengthens them. Walking beats swimming, running beats walking, and strength training is the best bone builder of all, says Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, PhD, head of kinesiology at the University of Illinois.

Have a cow. The average 50-year-old needs about 1,200 milligrams (mg) of calcium per day for healthy bones. Get that from one eight-ounce glass of milk (300 mg), six ounces of yogurt (300 mg), a handful of almonds (150 mg), and two ounces of Swiss cheese (540 mg).

OH, MY ACHING BACK

Inactivity can tighten your spine and pelvic muscles, forcing your knees and lower back to compensate. That's why they ache, explains Mark Verstegen, author of Core Performance.

THE FIX
Roll your foam. Exercising with a foam roll can loosen the muscles around your pelvis and torso. Lie on top of the roll with your arms crossed over your chest. Keep your abs tight and your feet on the ground. Glide on the roll from your shoulders to the base of your spine several times until you feel the muscles release. Do more foam-roll moves to loosen hamstrings, quadriceps, groin, and glutes.

Take a Pilates class. Strengtheningyour stomach muscles can ease back pain. "Pilates includes a lot of balance activities on one hand and one knee that are aimed at stabilizing and strengthening the core," says Chodzko-Zajko.

WATER SHORTAGE

Between ages 57 and 86, your body literally dries up. It will likely consist of just 54 percent water, as opposed to the 61 percent found in younger men. You'll also sweat less because your sweat glands disappear. You may have less body odor, but overheating and heatstroke become an issue.

THE FIX
Be a camel. "Drinking fluids is more important as you grow older," says Chodzko-Zajko. "One of the problems with aging is that thirst decreases with age, so people tend to drink less."

MASS DEFECTIONS

Muscle tissue needs more calories for maintenance and rebuilding processes than fat tissue does. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn—even at rest. "Gain just one pound of muscle, and that's an additional 50 calories you'll burn each day," says Seabourne. For the 40s strength workout (below), Seabourne calls for a slower lifting tempo but keeps the weights fairly heavy, so you can build muscle mass. "It's still cool to lift heavy, but you need to pay strict attention to your form and protect your joints," he says. Glucosamine supplements can help with your day-after pains.

THE FIX
Play with heavy metal. Don't shy away from heavy weights because you think you're susceptible to injury. As long as you use proper form, which you should master now if you haven't already, heavy weights will keep your bones strong and your muscles large. Seabourne kept the weights up in your workout (below) but slowed the tempo and concentrated on lifts that develop balance.

Who Needs a Gym?

By Cameron McGarr, CSCS


Use all the angles to reach your goals.



FEW MEN BELIEVE IT, but you don't need barbells, dumbbells, or machines to build muscle; in fact, weight-training equipment often inhibits the process. That's because it requires you to be in a specific location, which might explain why more men consider themselves runners than lifters. After all, running is the most accessible form of exercise—anywhere you go, there's your gym. But learn a little bit about physics and the same can hold true for your muscle workout.

Consider the pullup: It's the standard by which all body-weight exercises are measured. And even the most hard-core lifters will agree that there's no better muscle builder for the upper body—with or without weights. The reason for its effectiveness: It takes full advantage of the scientific laws of motion and leverage, placing your body in a position that forces your back and arms to lift your entire body weight. Call it applied science at its finest.

Now imagine if all body-weight exercises were as challenging as the pullup. You'd be able to build muscle anywhere, anytime—at home, on the road, or even in a public park. Physical science makes it possible. So with that said... the Five Laws of Body-Weight Training.

Law #1: The longer your body, the weaker you become.

The science: By increasing the distance between the point of force (your target muscles) and the end of the object you're trying to lift (your body), you decrease your mechanical advantage. Think of it this way: An empty barbell is easy to lift off the floor if you grab it in the middle. But try moving a few inches in one direction and it instantly seems heavier—even though its weight hasn't changed. The same is true of your body: Lengthen it and every exercise you do becomes harder.

Apply it: Raise your hands above your head—so your arms are straight and in line with your body—during a lunge, squat, crunch, or situp. If that's too hard, split the distance by placing your hands behind your head.

Law #2: the farther you move, the more muscle you work.

The science: In physics, "mechanical work" is equal to force (or weight) times distance. And since your muscles and bones function together as simple machines—they form class 1, 2, and 3 levers—the same formula applies to your body. It's the most basic of principles: Do more work, build more muscle. Of course, in a weight-free workout, you can't increase force (unless you gain weight). But you can boost your work output by moving a greater distance during each repetition.

Apply it: Each of the following three methods increases the distance your body has to travel from start to finish, increasing not only the total amount of work you do, but also the amount of work you do in the most challenging portion of the exercise.

Hard: Move the floor farther away. For many body-weight exercises—lunges, pushups, situps—your range of motion ends at the floor. The solution: Try placing your front or back foot on a step when doing lunges; position your hands on books or your feet on a chair when doing pushups; and place a rolled-up towel under the arch in your lower back when doing situps.

Harder: Add on a quarter. From the starting position of a pushup, squat, or lunge, lower yourself into the down position. But instead of pushing your body all the way up, raise it only a quarter of the way. Then lower yourself again before pushing your body all the way up. That counts as one repetition.

Hardest: Try mini-repetitions. Instead of pushing your body all the way up from the down position, do five smaller reps in which you raise and lower your body about an inch each time. After the fifth mini-repetition, push yourself up till your arms are straight. That counts as one repetition.

Law #3: As elastic energy decreases, muscle involvement increases.

The science: When you lower your body during any exercise, you build up "elastic energy" in your muscles. Just like in a coiled spring, that elasticity allows you to "bounce" back to the starting position, reducing the work your muscles have to do. Eliminate the bounce and you'll force your body to recruit more muscle fibers to get you moving again. How? Pause for four seconds in the down position of an exercise. That's the amount of time it takes to discharge all the elastic energy of a muscle.

Apply it: Use the four-second pause in any exercise. And give yourself an extra challenge by adding an explosive component, forcefully pushing your body off the floor—into the air as high as you can—during a pushup, lunge, or squat. Because you're generating maximum force without any help from elastic energy, you'll activate the greatest number of muscle fibers possible.

Law #4: Moving in two directions is better than moving in one.

The science: Human movement occurs on three different geometric planes:

* the sagittal plane, for front-to-back and up-and-down movements
* the frontal plane, for side-to-side movements
* the transverse plane, for rotational movements


Most weight-lifting movements—the bench press, squat, curl, lunge, and chinup, to name a few—are performed on the sagittal plane; the balance of exercises—for instance, the lateral lunge and side bend—occur almost entirely on the frontal plane. This means that most men rarely train their bodies on the transverse plane, despite using rotation constantly in everyday life, as well as in every sport.

Case in point: walking. It's subtle, but your hips rotate with every step; in fact, watch a sprinter from behind and you'll see that his hips rotate almost 90 degrees.

By adding a rotational component to any exercise, you'll automatically work more muscle—since you'll fully engage your core, as well as the original target muscles—and simultaneously build a better-performing body.

Apply it: Simply twist your torso to the right or left in exercises such as the lunge, situp, and pushup. (For an example, see the "T Pushup" in "The Weight-Free Workout," on the previous page.) You can also rotate your hips during movements such as the reverse crunch.

Law #5: The less contact your body has with the floor, the more your muscles must compensate.

The science: The smaller the percentage of an object's surface area that's touching a solid base, the less stable that object is. That's why SUVs are prone to rolling, and tall transmission towers need guy wires. Fortunately, humans have a built-in stabilization system: muscles. And by forcing that internal support system to kick in—by making your body less stable—you'll make any exercise harder, while activating dozens more muscles.

Apply it: Hold one foot in the air during virtually any exercise, including pushups, squats, and deadlifts. You can also do pushups on your fingertips or your fists.

High Note

By By Myron D.R. Mariano


Celebrity Muscle: Christian Bautista



Musicians usually mention singing for an important person, say a president, as the highlight of their career; or their album selling millions on the first day of release. For Christian Bautista, it's the exhilaration he felt when he was in Indonesia. Imagine finding yourself being cheered on by 6,000 locals—many are seeing you for the first time—then you'll know why he is living the gig of a lifetime. The crooner, despite finishing as runnerup on ABS-CBN's singing contest Star in a Million, drew acclaim when he released his self-titled multiplatinum album in 2004.

Now he is a regular performer on the network's Sunday noontime show, ASAP. He also goes on live concerts to the US, Middle East, and parts of Asia—where he has a growing Indonesian and Malaysian fanbase. His debut album was a big hit in Indonesia, and has also garnered a multiplatinum award.

Even with his ambitious schedule, Bautista still manages to look after himself, squeezing in a workout or two each week—even when he is touring abroad. He acknowledges how looking fit registers well on the camera. Currently, he's bulking up his skinny, 5'11" frame—and has increased his food intake to help pack on the weight. (See a sample from his workout plan, below.) When either schedule or location prohibits, he turns his interest to sports—an activity his father encouraged him to do. "I play basketball, flag football, table tennis, badminton, and the occasional swimming, golf, and bowling," says Bautista, when asked which sports he favors. He also adds paint ball to the list as top preference: "I love the adrenaline rush of hiding, shooting and getting hit."

Christian's Checklist

Stick to it Christian always makes sure he's as disciplined with his fitness regimen as he is with learning the ropes of the music business. "I set a time every week for me to work out," he says.

Take it home If he were swamped with guestings and performances, he'd settle for exercises he can do at home—like pushups, dumbbell curls, and situps.

Put the hotel to use Major international hotels have revamped their fitness centers—sometimes collaborating with known establishments—to cater to the growing demand of jet-set guys who still want to get fit while they travel. Whenever available, Bautista would make use of the hotel's in-house gym to get his workout done.

Sample Workout Plan

Arms: Tricep and bicep curls, 15-20 pounds, 15 reps
Shoulders: Machine, 90 pounds, 15 reps
Abs: Inclined situps, 60 reps
Chest: Declined and inclined bench presses, 100 pounds, 15 reps

The Aristocracy of Cardio

New science has linked aerobic exercise not just to healthier hearts, but to improved brainpower, too. Is that why the world's most wildly successful men—from presidents to rappers—all engage in intense aerobic workouts? More important: Why don't you?

By Adam Campbell




On days you exercise, you can accomplish in eight hours what would normally take you nine hours and 25 minutes.

I CAN MAKE YOU SMARTER IN 30 MINUTES.




Not the kind of smart that's acquired through learning something new, like small-engine repair or quadratic equations. I'm talking about improving your brain from the inside out, the kind of smart that leads to faster and more accurate decision making, yields greater productivity, and inspires innovation. If you want to be calculating about it, it's the kind of smart that makes you money.

And all you'll need to invest is a half hour, three or four hundred calories, and couple of thousands for a decent pair of running shoes.

For years, aerobic exercise has been touted for its many health benefits; it's no leap to suggest that it can reduce your risk of nearly every known disease.

And this is especially true concerning heart health. But the effect of cardio reaches far beyond lipid profiles and blood-pressure readings. In fact, it may do as much for your brain as it does for your ticker; maybe more.

Richard Haig believes it. When he retired early from his position as president of one of the largest security firms on the East Coast, Haig was financially set for life. At 38, he focused on getting his handicap down to 10, but found that he was crushingly bored. So he took up a new challenge: cardio. What started as a daily two-mile walk became an ultraendurance lifestyle within a year—he once ran 63 miles nonstop in a charity race. Sure, his fitness level improved, but what he really noticed was that his brain was overflowing. That's when he went back to work.

Since Haig's return as CEO, his company, Haig Security Systems, has been as invigorated by his exercise as his body has. "It's no coincidence that I've done more to increase the company's value in the past two years than I had in the previous 10."

IT'S NOT HARD TO FIND successful men who will swear by the effect cardiovascular exercise has had on their careers and their whole lives. But what may surprise you is the number who credit it not just as a component of their success, but as the catalyst.

For a group of road-hardened examples, look to the competitors in the CEO Challenge, a program for CEOs competing in Ironman triathlons, which require participants to complete a 2.4-mile swim, a 26.2-mile run, and a 112-mile bike ride in less than 17 hours. At stake: the title "World's Fittest CEO." According to Ted Kennedy (not the US senator), president of CEO Challenge, the Colorado company that started the competition four years ago, you'll find that the majority of these executives believe their training improves all aspects of their lives, from the family dining room to the corporate boardroom.

"Most of the men who compete in this event say that without aerobic exercise, they wouldn't be CEOs," he says.

You might consider men like Haig and the Ironman CEOs to be a self-selected group: executives who love to run, cycle, or swim, and therefore attribute their success to it. For every successful man who exercises, there are probably two successful men who amply fill, and overflow, the seat of power. And there's no amount of cardio that will lead a career hamburger-flipper to invent Google. But in man-to-man competition—fittest versus fattest—we propose that cardio does grant an earned, unfair advantage. Call it the aristocracy of cardio. And, according to a growing body of scientific research, it all starts between the ears.

THERE HAVE BEEN THOUSANDS of studies on how aerobic exercise affects cardiovascular health, but there are equally powerful ones that assess its impact on mental performance. Of course, intuitively, one could argue that cardio is just mentally arousing, like a Starbucks double latte.

Exercise, after all, raises your heart rate and increases the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout your body, including your brain. This is a partial explanation, but the whole picture is more complicated.

One of the first studies to find that exercise improves brain performance was a 1986 investigation of 30 women at Purdue University. During the study, the women boosted their fitness levels by 17 percent and simultaneously netted a 12-68 percent improvement in their ability to process information and make sound decisions. This suggested, for the first time in a laboratory setting, that exercise improves high-level cognitive function. The women in the study weren't simply more alert; they were, in effect, better thinkers.

In 1991, a Kent State researcher named Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko proposed that the more complex the mental task, the more beneficial the effect of aerobic exercise. Over the next few years, his theory gained currency, and a name was given to the thought process he described: Appropriately enough, it became known as executive control.

Twelve years later, scientists demonstrated the effect of a single session of exercise on these higher mental processes. In his lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Charles Hillman, PhD, tested the hypothesis that cardio improves a person's ability to process information immediately after exercise. He recruited 20 college-age men and women to work out at a moderate intensity on a treadmill for 30 minutes, on two separate occasions. He outfitted them with an electroencephalo-graph—which looks like a 1920s leather football helmet decorated with two dozen electrodes—allowing him to monitor which brain functions exercise affected most.

At one session, the participants were asked to take a mental test before they exercised; at the other, they took the test afterward. When they worked out before the test, they showed increased activity in areas of the brain that control attention and memory. According to Hillman, this should translate into being able to multitask at a greater speed while making more accurate decisions. Does that sound like a guy fit for the boss's chair, or what?

The results of the electroencephalograph may explain the difference in brain activity. The data showed that the single 30-minute bout of cardio had two major effects on an electrical system of the brain called P3. First, the exercise session "decreased P3 latency," which means subjects were able to process information faster. Second, Hillman found that the cardio session "increased P3 amplitude," a measurement of brain activity related to memory and focus. So their aerobic exercise helped them concentrate better and recall information faster.

A follow-up study in 2004 yielded similar results, although this time, Hillman used both younger and older adults. The study found that 60- to 70-year-olds have worse memory and attention spans than 20-year-olds and are slower at processing information. No surprise there. But, just as in the earlier research, older adults who regularly exercised showed faster reaction times and better accuracy than the sedentary seniors.

So, if you're keeping score, hard science shows that running for 30 minutes three times a week leads to an improvement in decision-making proficiency, better memory, a longer attention span, and greater mental longevity. Yet it's arguable that data collected in milliseconds with a sci-fi skullcap don't necessarily manifest themselves in the real-world mental tasks you perform at your job.

Of course, intuitively one could argue that cardio is just mentally arousing, like a Starbucks double latte.





But one guy isn't buying that: "I work out solutions to complex problems when I train, and put them into action as soon as I get back to the office," says Brian Carroll, president and chief operating officer of Carroll Enterprises, a Boston brokerage firm that provides management services to HMOs, insurance companies, and national banks.

He discovered cardio three years ago. "I was 39 and didn't like what I saw in the mirror," he says. He was inspired by the memory of his older brother, who died four years earlier of a cardiac condition at 38, and had once challenged Carroll to run the Boston Marathon before he turned 40. At the time, Carroll was 25 pounds overweight and living a high-stress life with three young children. But he persevered, and three weeks before turning 40, he finished the race.

"Cardio brought on a new lifestyle that I find contagious in my life and my business," Carroll says. He's now a veteran of 14 marathons, all while keeping a hectic work schedule of sales meetings, conference calls, and travel. He refuses to do business on the golf course, instead using that time for exercise. "I feel that the heightened mental focus I get from triathlon and marathon training helps me win more deals than I could playing golf."

HERE IS MORE LAB-BASED SUPPORT for the notion that more cardio in your life means more success in the office. In June of 2005, researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University, in the United Kingdom, released findings of a new study that looked at how exercise affects job performance. It worked like this: They asked 210 workers to provide feedback on their job-related duties and time management, on a day when they participated in an exercise program and again on a day when they did no exercise. They simply reported observations of their own behavior based on a seven-point scale. For example, they were asked to rate their ability to work without stopping for unscheduled breaks, and how effectively they were able to stick to their "to-do" lists. They also provided details about their workloads and exercise sessions. When the results were tallied, even the researchers were surprised.

Workers scored 15 percent higher in their ability to meet both time and output demands on the day they exercised. "What we found staggered us, and we were left wondering what companies might do otherwise to produce these 15 percent improvements," says Jim McKenna, PhD, the lead researcher.

Now consider for a moment what these numbers mean to you: On days when you exercise, you can—theoretically, at least—accomplish in an eight-hour day what normally would take you nine hours and 25 minutes. Or you'd still work nine hours, but get more done, leaving you feeling less stressed and happier with your job, another perk that McKenna says the workers reported. Obviously, the responses that led to these results were subjective. But it's hard to deny that perception is reality when it comes to job satisfaction. And a 15 percent boost in productivity might just give you a case for a similar boost in pay.

Besides showing how Hillman's laboratory findings are expressed in the real world, this study may also explain why busy men who regularly exercise are able to fit cardio into their schedules, while equally busy men who don't exercise claim they don't have the time. Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee can relate to both sides of the story. In June 2003, he was sedentary and weighed 280 pounds; he now runs marathons and weighs 170.

"I've never found time to exercise," he says. "I make time."

Consider him a poster boy for what cardio can do for a man who's already good at his job. Huckabee, ever the conscientious politician, wants to be clear: He didn't have a problem keeping his schedule or accomplishing tasks before he started running. And it's true; this guy became governor in 1996—seven years before he initiated his exercise program—and was reelected twice along the way. It's just that he's even better now.

"I'm more creative, because I have mental energy. When I finish running several miles, it's like my mind is running on overdrive," he says. And, he adds, "It's made a dramatic difference in my ability to focus."

FOCUS It's a word that comes up frequently when you speak with cardio fanatics. It makes sense, given what scientists have already established about the effects of aerobic workouts on mental performance. But focus is really more descriptive of mental state. And in that capacity, cardio appears therapeutic. "Aerobic exercise seems to have a focusing effect similar to that of attention-deficit-disorder medications," says Alex Giorgio, a psychotherapist and founder of a personal consulting group.

Over a span of 15 years, Giorgio worked with more than 10,000 successful people, and by his estimate, 60 percent of them were looking for help with attention difficulties. But there were two subsets in the group: Some had smooth career trajectories; others went through wrenching peaks and valleys. After thousands of interviews with clients, Giorgio identified certain factors that typified smoother career paths. Among the most important: adherence to an aerobic exercise program. The cause could be simple: Like Ritalin, exercise increases blood-dopamine levels, upping the rate of communication between different areas of your brain. And when your brain is working better, so are you.

Edward Hallowell, MD, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and coauthor of Delivered from Distraction, concurs with Giorgio's observations. "Cardio is one of the best treatments for ADD and poor mental focus, as well as for anxiety," he says. "It's like a wonder drug for the brain."

And shall we add "happiness" to the list, too? Duke University researchers found that performing moderate-intensity cardio three times a week was as effective as the antidepressant Zoloft at reducing major depression.

CLEARLY, THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF MEN: Those who do cardio and those who don't; the beneficiaries, and the men who are leaving this advantage unclaimed. But if you understand the science and look at the living, dominant examples of men who embody it you have to conclude that cardio gives you an edge in life. In the first 30 minutes, it can make you a better man. And if you stick with it, the effects not only last a lifetime, but may even extend it, as well.

Think of it as building sweat equity in yourself. It's truly a no-brainer.

Get Your 'Game' On

By Mark Homer Tiangco, MD and Carlo Canta, CSCS
Photographs by Jun Pinzon




Game 1. Physical benefits include improving hand and eye coordination, a short cardio workout, and a sense of short-term happiness that we call amusement.

Game 2. Physical benefits include improving lower extremity coordination, and measurement of quadriceps' strength.



Game 3. Utilization of your upper body would require, torso movment, elbow extension and scapular stabilization

Game 4. Physical benefits include eye and hand coordination, upper extremity conditioning, and possibly a light warmup regimen lasting 10-15 minutes.
Use a glove and knock the bogey down. Like Star Kicker, you have three attempts and the highest of the three is your score. There are also totals for the three attempts in the end, with each attempt's execution approximately within 10 seconds. The scale also indicates how much oomph you had behind your punches. The grades would be between 100-600 lbs. An average guy can probably unload 400-450-pound haymakers, putting you in a welterweight class; and average gals could whip up 350-400-pound wallops, which places them in a lightweight class. Try this with your friends or with your significant other for fun. (You might also start to realize how strong your partner's punch can be. Think twice now about making her angry.)



Game 5. Improves coordination and concentration. It also gives you a cardio equivalent to an upper extremity restorator.

Game 6. Playing five games straight would be a good warmup prior to upper body strengthening.




Game 7. Aside from hand and eye coordination, count in a possible butt sore if you continue playing it for hours.





We think it started With Tron, a 1983 Disney movie where people were digitized to compete in a virtual world. Then there was the classic The Lawnmower Man. A mentally challenged man was able to amass knowledge with the help of the computer and harness the digital world to become a demigod. Lately, the film The Island envisioned the possibility in video games as a form of exercise.

The argument against video games is they make you passive, as shown in yet another popular flick, The Matrix. Your mind gets stimulated but your body deteriorates because of inactivity. But is a gamer’s lifestyle completely unhealthy? Not entirely.

A game is still a game

Studies have shown that video games have certain benefits, like making your reflexes quick. Machine manufacturers have even come up with some exercise equipment that combine video gaming to make fitness routines more entertaining. Since these machines are likely unavailable at your local gym, we offer alternatives that any guy can find at, admit it, your preferred pastime: the video arcade.

GAME 1
Inuno Osampo

Translated as "Enjoy Happy Walking," it simulates the action in walking your pet canine. Your child will find it cute, and so will you: the dog, your favored breed, appears on a 30-inch screen while you stand on a grade 2 (10-degree inclined) treadmill. But surprisingly, it also presents a challenging objective. You must 'walk' (with a mock leash to boot) your dog through a series of obstacles: like finding food on the street, chasing a cat, evading the traffic of cars on a street. The whole game lasts around two minutes.

Fitness Value. Physical benefits include improving hand and eye coordination. You can also get a short cardio workout, plus a sense of short-term happiness from plain amusement. More importantly, you'll start sweating on your third or fourth try.

GAME 2
Star Kicker

This is a pretty straightforward game. Just kick the ball to the farthest possible distance (which is 100 meters). If you actually play soccer, that is comparable to kicking the ball from your goal to the opposite goal of a narrow sideline (70 yards). You get three attempts at making your longest kick. Each attempt has an estimated completion of 10 seconds. There is a contraption that resembles a weighing scale to track your distances. You get best-of-three tries, and have the total distance of your three attempts in the end.

Fitness Value. Physical benefits include improving lower extremity coordination and measurement of quadriceps' strength. But we believe that a lot of technique is involved in improving your distance in this game. The average guy would probably hit this ball to around 70-80 meters per attempt and 60-70 meters for average gals. We recommend Star Kicker if you're planning to play pickup field soccer or futsal. Or for "kicks," you would want to see how far you could launch that ball.

GAME 3
Strong Puncher




Fitness Value. Physical benefits include improving your eye and hand coordination. Utilization of your upper body would also require torso movement, elbow extension and scapular stabilization (there are a lot of muscle groups required to coordinate for such an action). The Dragon Punch is much of the same. These games are a rough measurement of your punching technique and power more than anything else.

GAME 4
Wadaiko

Here you constantly hit two big barrel-shaped drums. You can go head-to-head with another player or by yourself. There are timing bars or beat bars you have to time with every hit on the barrel. There are also two options for hitting - whack directly on the center of the skin or tap it on the edge. The timing bars would indicate how you should hit the barrels. The game is very simple and very entertaining; it just so happens that the console is in Japanese so appreciation of the game is a little limited. The concept of sound and mad rhythm, though, are universal themes anyone would enjoy. The game also goes a long way; when playing it you have to do at least three full songs lasting around 3-4 minutes each. So you'll be banging those drums for quite a bit longer relative to other arcade games that usually last just a little under two minutes per swipe.

Fitness Value. Physical benefits include eye and hand coordination, upper extremity conditioning, and possibly a light warmup regimen lasting 10-15 minutes. Wadaiko does increase your heart rate by a notch prior to any cardiovascular fitness programs such as aerobics, treadmill or cycling. Other similar titles include the Dance Revolution, percussion, drums, and guitar simulation games.

GAME 5
Basketball




We think free throw shots should be shot with a percentage, but this game measures how many shots you've made within two minutes. The basic strategy is to shoot as much balls within the time frame. It works out as a good warmup regimen prior to upper extremity circuit training for as long as you play it for 10-15 minutes. The bad side is playing too much of it (for more than 20 minutes or so) will predispose you to a rotator cuff tendonitis or impingement syndrome. Rapid and repetitive movement in free throw shooting (no matter how small-scale it is compared to the real one), will just make your supraspinatus tendon hit the base of your acromion. So if you are genetically predisposed to an impingement syndrome, you just might be lucky enough to trade off a few arcade points for a sore shoulder.

Fitness Value. Improves coordination and concentration. It also gives you a cardio equivalent to an upper extremity restorator.

GAME 6
Hocker Stadium Three-puck Play

This setup calls for competitive one-onone or two-on-two mini-hockey games. Up to three pucks are available in certain portions of the game. Instead of a stick, you are equipped with hand paddles. Start swiping at that puck towards the opponent's goal. The pucks are "weightless", and glide through the surface frictionless. The games could be aggressive depending on the skill of your opponents. Handling the pucks can be tricky since you could end up scoring the puck against your own team, since their lightness lets them slide very fast. The pucks evidently lack the usual physics of objects having to slow down with time. A game usually lasts around 2-3 minutes.

Fitness Value. Physical benefits include eye and hand coordination, upper body movement of the shoulders, elbows and wrists, including some of the upper body torso movement. Playing five games straight would be a good warmup prior to upper body strengthening.

GAME 7
Daytona

You start to sit down, grab the handle and drive against 50 or so virtual opponents. And run a circular Daytona 500 track. This game usually lasts 1-2 minutes per swipe.

Fitness Value. Aside from hand and eye coordination, count in a possible butt sore if you continue playing it for hours.

Taking Another Look at Your Bench Press

By Richie Rosales; Photographs by Jason Tablante



Tips to a Bigger Bench

Avoid injury. Incorporate prehab exercises into your workout, stretch and warm up well.

Go really heavy on your deltoids, and triceps. Make them real strong.

Eat right. Consume 6-8 small balanced meals a day. Drink a high-protein shake 45 minutes after workout to help your body recuperate faster and get you ready for your next workout.

Do minimal cardio and keep your body fat low.

Do not forget to work out your legs, back and core as the bench press is a whole-body exercise.

Get adequate amounts of sleep and rest.

Do not be afraid to experiment. Be smart in your training and listen to your body. Stay focused.

Finish your workouts in 75-90 minutes. You're slacking off if you take longer.

Place a 4-5 inch PVC pipe underneath your lower back while benching to help you loosen it, and give you a bigger arch.

Keep your elbows close to your sides.

How many times have you been asked, "How much do you bench?" It's a very common question for guys who frequently hit the gym. In general, a big bench is everybody's goal, much like having the biggest biceps.

The bench press exercise, contrary to what you may think, is not as simple as just lying down on the bench and pressing the weight up. There is more to the bench press than that. This article will not only discuss improving your bench press, it will also help you boost your one-rep max (1RM). A better 1RM is useful: It helped me become the very first and only Filipino to place at the Men's World Open PowerLifting Championships.

PROGRAM

You need to bench twice a week in this program. The first day will focus on developing speed and explosiveness, will include some volume training, and will have heavy delts action. Speed day "teaches the lifter to display explosive strength and to improve the rate of force development," says Louie Simmons, world-renowned strength and powerlifting coach. As you recall in high school, your science teacher taught you that power is equal to the force multiplied by distance, divided by time. The quicker the amount of work in a given time, the more power is given. In your case, the faster you are able to press the weights to lockout, the higher your 1RM will be. Choose exercises that will make your weak points on the bench stronger, and do a lot of heavy triceps work on the second day. This day will also prepare you physically and mentally. You'll really go heavy on the exercises. Aside from these two days, do two days mainly for strengthening your legs, the back, and the core.

I believe that what you bench, you should squat easily. Do a lot of chins, pulldowns, and rows for the back. Build up your core as well. A better core will greatly aid your program, as it is the center of your strength.

SETTING UP

A major factor that will help you bench bigger is the setup. Setting up is a very important part of benching—as seen by the Japanese lifters, currently the top benchers in the world. Setting up correctly will give you poundages to your max. Lie on the bench, use a wide grip (pointer finger where the line on the bar is), tuck your chin and shoulders in, as if shrugging, bring your shoulder blades together, arch your back, and keep your buttocks on the bench. Place your feet flat on the floor and bring them as far back as you can from your head. These will decrease the distance of the bar to the highest point of your chest, and will give you a solid platform for you to press the weight.


My Three Chosen Exercises

After you unrack the bar, adjust yourself to keep your body tight, inhale deeply, and press the bar onto the highest part of your chest in a straight line. Pause on the chest and explode the bar up to lockout.

Two-Board Press

You will need a three-inch long 2x6 board screwed on top of a 15-inch 2x6 for this exercise. Place the board on your chest, bring the bar down on the board and rest it momentarily and press it back up. You will be able to train with really heavy weights for this, and in turn it will help you with the middle portion of your bench and also the lockout.

Reverse Jump Stretchband Press

Set up the bar so that it is suspended from the rack with jump stretchbands. Bring the bar down to your chest, and press it up just like a regular bench. The bands will help you at the bottom and middle portion of the movement and decrease its help at the lockout, forcing you to do most of the work. This will help you overcome your sticking point. (The sticking point is where you decelerate or most often fail in the concentric or elongation movement of an exercise.)

Floor Press

Lie on the floor, use a narrow grip, press the bar down, and as your arms hit the floor, before the bar touches your chest, pause for a moment then press the bar up. This will give your starting, ending, and triceps the strength they need.

More Power to the Push Up

By Scott Quill



Guys tend to abandon the pushup for the bench press sometime around puberty. Which is why you usually have to wait in line at the gym for a bench, but there’s always plenty of floor space for the taking. Call it a natural rite of passage. After all, doesn’t everybody agree that pressing a plate-loaded bar off your chest is far more manly—and effective—than pushing your body away from the floor?

“Think again,” says Alwyn Cosgrove, CSCS, owner of Results Fitness, in Santa Clarita, California. “The pushup and the bench press both work your chest, shoulders, and triceps, but the pushup also trains your abdominals, lower back, upper back, and glutes.” Read: Work more muscle, build more muscle. “You might say it’s the ultimate multitasking exercise,” says Cosgrove.

Besides the classic pushup, we’ve found six variations that will help you reach almost any goal—whether you want a stronger core, a leaner midsection, or, yes, a bigger chest. And the best part? No gym–or spotter–is required.

Rock-Solid Core
Medicine-ball archbishop

The secret to perfect pushup technique is keeping your body rigid. “Your abs and lower back usually fatigue first,” says Mike Robertson, MS, CSCS, a strength coach in Indianapolis. That’s when your hips sag, which increases strain on your back instead of building your chest and abs.

When you place your hands on a medicine ball or Swiss ball, the instability causes your core muscles to work 20 percent harder than when you do pushups on the floor, report New Zealand researchers. So you’ll train the muscles of your midsection and hips to remain stable longer. As a result, you’ll be able to do more pushups and work more muscle.

How to do it

A Place three to five medicine balls in a semicircle and assume the pushup position with both hands on the ball to the far left. Your chest should be over the ball and your feet should remain in place throughout the exercise.

B Move your right hand to the ball at right and do a pushup. Bring your left hand to that ball.

C Continue moving right and doing pushups until you reach the farthest ball. Then work your way back. That’s one repetition.

A Bigger Chest
Triple-stop pushup

Depending on where your weakness lies, pushups may challenge you most at the top, middle, or bottom position. “Pausing briefly at each point increases strength at your joint angle and 10 degrees in either direction,” says Mejia. Bonus: Holding each position increases the time your muscles are under tension, stimulating growth.

How to do it

A Assume the starting position of a regular pushup.

B Bend your arms to lower yourself halfway, then pause for two seconds.

C Continue until your chest is just off the floor and hold again for two seconds. As you push yourself up, pause again for two seconds at the halfway point. Finally, when you straighten your arms, hold them that way–with your elbows unlocked–for two seconds. That’s one repetition.

Bolder Shoulders
Swiss-ball pushup plus

On the side of your shoulder blade and upper ribs lies a small, neglected muscle called the serratus anterior. When it’s weak, you can’t move as much weight in the bench press and military press. And since your rotator-cuff muscles must then pick up the slack to stabilize your shoulder joint, shoulder pain and injury often result.

Avoid pain and boost your bench press with the “Swiss-ball pushup plus.” The “plus” portion is when your shoulder blades glide away from each other at the top of the movement. When performed on the floor, the pushup plus activates your serratus anterior 38 percent harder than a standard pushup does, report researchers at the University of Minnesota. The Swiss-ball version works even better.

How to do it

A Assume a pushup position with your hands placed directly under your shoulders and on the sides of a Swiss ball. Spread your fingers, with your thumbs pointing forward.

B Keeping your core tight, lower yourself until your chest grazes the ball, then push back up. At the top of the move, push yourself as far away from the ball as you can so your shoulder blades move away from each other.



Beach Muscles
Dumbbell underhand pushup



In the classic pushup, your chest and shoulders move approximately 75 percent of your body weight; your biceps just keep your arms stable. But when you turn your palms forward, a large portion of your body weight falls directly on your biceps, says Carter Hays, CSCS. So you’ll build all your mirror muscles–your abs, chest, and biceps–with just one movement.

How to do it

A Grab a dumbbell in each hand and get in pushup position with your palms facing forward. The dumbbells should align with the middle of your sternum, and your arms should be spaced about shoulder-width apart.

B Without allowing your elbows to flare to the sides, lower your chest to the floor. (Your hands should touch the sides of your chest at the bottom of the movement.) Then push yourself back up.

A Leaner Body
Explosive crossover pushup

Explosive pushups, such as this one, allow you to generate maximum force by pushing your body off the floor. “The harder you push, the more muscle fibers you activate,” says Cosgrove. And that means you’ll burn more calories, both during and after your workout. What’s more, the crossover portion of this movement forces your upper arms toward the center of your body, which is the main function of the pectoralis major, your largest chest muscle. The result: You work as many chest muscle fibers as possible.

How to do it

A Place your right hand on the floor and your left hand on the smooth side of a weight plate.

B Lower your body.

C Explosively push up and to the left so your hands leave the floor. Land with your right hand on the plate and your left hand on the floor. Reverse the move.

Total-Body Muscle
Dumbbell pushup row

“When most men perform rowing movements, they pull more with their arms than with their middle and upper back, which defeats the purpose,” says Mejia. But in this pushup, your arms, abs, and shoulders are forced to work together to keep you steady while your back muscles draw the weight to your rib cage—so you can’t cheat. The benefit? You’ll simultaneously build your back and chest, which not only saves you time, but also helps prevent muscle imbalances of your upper body.

How to do it

A Get into pushup position with your arms straight and your hands resting on light dumbbells.

B Squeeze your abs and glutes as you perform a pushup.

C At the top, pull one dumbbell off the floor and toward you until your elbow is above your back. Slowly return the weight to the floor and repeat with the other arm.