Strive for strength, not size | Weight Upon the Lord

This information is from an email I received from Men’s Health recently:

Like most men, you want a mighty chest, big biceps, and washboard abs. (Blogger’s note - I’m over 40, so I’m a bit more realistic. At least I won’t have to buy bigger shirts - thanks, Peyton…)

But instead of training like a bodybuilder and relying on single-joint exercises designed to isolate specific muscles, start training like an athlete. You’ll finally build the body you want as you also improve your performance, minimize injury, burn fat, and feel more motivated.

Robert dos Remedios, author of Men’s Health Power Training, insists that if you’re doing any of the single-joint exercises listed below, you’re not maximizing your gains. Try replacing them with the corresponding compound exercises.

For example, if you’re doing 25-pound biceps curls, you’ll probably be able to handle 50s for bent-over rows. You’ll build strength and burn more calories, and the extra weight will create added muscle stress and trigger more testosterone production. The result: Your biceps will grow faster than they would with simple curls.

       Single-joint                Compound
        Biceps curl             Bent-over row
          Calf raise                 Clean pull
      Leg extension        Lunge or stepup
           Crunch            Cable woodchopper

Instead of focusing just on getting big, Dos Remedios says to concentrate on getting strong. That way, you sculpt the body you want along with a valuable bonus: functional fitness.

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