workout

When life gets on top of you, one of the most common excuses for skipping a workout is “I don’t have time.” We’ve all been there, even me, a certified personal trainer and a freak for exercise. But what if you only need 15 minutes to build strength, burn calories, and feel sweaty and happy...

Crush Any Workout The best warm-up will get you physically ready to crush your workout. Get that feeling in under 10 minutes with this pre-workout strategy. A warm-up is a transition stage from normal activity to athletic activity. The purpose? To optimize performance. Good warm-ups do more than...

When building a strong, chiseled upper body, you don’t need a lot of equipment—what you really need is a great chest and shoulder workout routine and just one piece of equipment. That’s where the beauty of a one-piece workout comes in, and we’re focusing on one of the most versatile tools in the...

Time is the number one excuse for not getting a workout, outside of laziness. But here’s the thing: your gains don’t care about excuses—they care about action. And that’s where this 15-minute density training workout comes in. It is designed for those who lack time but want serious results...

The Very Best Workout Split For YOUR Goals Build muscle faster and get stupid strong by choosing the right workout split for your personal goals and schedule. Pick one of these. How do you organize your training? Pick the wrong workout split and you won’t get optimal results, regardless of the...

Almost Everyone Does It Wrong People who want to get lean almost always do exactly the opposite of what they should be doing. Here's the counterintuitive truth. Acquiring the physique you crave will likely, at some point, require a fat loss phase. Sadly, a lot of people actually end up...

This variation of the push-pull workout split works for just about any training goal. Check it out. I first learned of this split when I was 18 and did Fred Hatfield’s 80-day powerlifting cycle. In that program – specifically designed to peak for a powerlifting competition – you’d train squat...

It's the best training split for a lot of people, but not everyone. Here are the pros and cons. This upper/lower split allows you to hit everything hard twice per week. There’s a minimal negative carryover from each workout. “Negative carryover” is when one workout will negatively affect the...

7 Ways to Screw Up Your Gains Adding more weight to the bar always works for strength and muscle gains, but many people manage to mess it up. Here's how. Resistance training consists of performing movements against a load. Your muscles produce tension and force to complete the loaded movement...

4 Simple, Proven Guidelines Why does training have to be so complicated? Well, it doesn't. Here are four workout tips that are easy to apply and always work. Figuring out this training thing can be confusing. It shouldn’t be. It’s the “experts” who make it confusing. They’re not trying to...

The fastest fat loss possible. The most muscle retention possible. Let's do it. To strip fat and retain muscle, scientist and bodybuilder Dr. Lonnie Lowry does “non-panting” fasted cardio when fat is most vulnerable. Hang on to muscle by drinking Mag-10 during fasted cardio. This will ensure...

If you love to lift hard, then train every other day to make the most gains. Here's why and how to plan it. To maximize strength or muscle growth, get more awesome workouts than below-average workouts. Seems logical, right? Yet most lifters believe a bad workout is better than no workout. Their...

The tried and true workout program that builds muscle, burns fat, and busts plateaus. Training wise, I’ve tried it all: powerlifting style, Olympic style, and of course, bodybuilding style. All of them worked, for awhile, but the one that I keep coming back to, the one that never fails me, is...

If you don't manage inflammation properly, you'll never make any gains. Here's how to make this bogeyman bend to your will. Inflammation is fast becoming the bogeyman of the muscle-building world. In fact, it may even overtake cortisol as the frontrunner of known muscle killers. Is this...

Does Icing Slow Down Recovery and Growth? Icing achy muscles after exercise actually prevents healing and growth and does nothing to ease pain. Here's what to do instead. Whenever a sports movie comes out, there’s invariably a locker room scene where some athlete is shown sitting in an ice bath...

The Workout Stress Test Burnout is real and it's holding you back. Here's how to identify it, prevent it, and cure it. A must-read for hardcore lifters and athletes. We’ve all been there at least once. Training is going well. You’re making gains and can’t wait to get more. You’re on a roll. Then...

A Complete 4-Week Plan The best kettlebell workout. The most powerful kettlebell exercise plus hardcore strength work. Get ready to be better... at everything! Without challenges, the human body will soften. We thrive when we push our boundaries, reach goals, and blast personal records. We...

Follow the Rules, Build Size and Strength Stick to these rules to build size and strength. There's no way you won't grow! Follow these rules and you’ll build muscle and strength. Period. This is the best way to optimize workout quality. Each day off allows you to maximize recovery and growth...

ACTIVE LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE FOR RECOVERY This may be the most simple method to speed workout recovery, but it's very effective. As you train a muscle group, increased blood flow is siphoned to the area in order to continue to fuel the activity. This increased local blood flow also triggers a...

When you hear the term "ego lifting" you probably think of one-fourth squats, curls that use everything but biceps, and bench presses that double as the spotter's deadlift workout. As a T Nation reader, you know better. However, you can easily fall prey to a more subtle version of ego lifting...