Get More From Dumbbell Curls

Check out this article from Men's Health about how to make the most tried and tested arm exercise take your guns to new heights.

How to do it

Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging by your sides. Ensure your elbows are close to your torso and your palms facing forward. Keeping your upper arms stationary, exhale as you curl the weights up to shoulder level while contracting your biceps.

Use a thumb-less grip, advises sports scientist Ross Edgley (myprotein.co.uk). “Placing your thumb on the same side of the bar as your fingers increases peak contraction in the biceps at the top point of the movement,” he says. Hold the weight at shoulder height for a brief pause, then inhale as you slowly lower back to the start position.

When to do it

At the end of a workout to specifically target the biceps after you have worked them through several compound ‘pulling’ exercises (such as close-grip chin-ups). Or superset them with tricep dips to work your entire arm musculature

Sets, reps and rest

Beginner 2 sets of 12 reps. Suggested load: 70-75% of your one repetition max. 90 seconds rest between sets.

Intermediate 3 sets of 8-10 reps. Suggested load: 75-80% of your one repetition max. 90 seconds rest between sets.

Advanced 4 sets of 8-10 reps. Suggested load: 75-80% of your one repetitiom max. 60 seconds rest between sets.

Emphasise your... outer bicep

Muscles targeted Biceps brachii, brachioradialis

Form tweak Hammer curls. Hold the dumbbells with your palms facing your torso. “This targets both the outer biceps and the muscles in your forearms used to flex it at the elbow,” says Edgley.

Emphasise your... shoulders and biceps

Muscles targeted Anterior deltoid, biceps brachii

Form tweak Lying dumbbell curls. Simply perform your dumbbell curls lying down on a flat bench, face up. “This will work your biceps brachii in a position they are unfamiliar with, while also taxing your front deltoids,” says Edgley.

Emphasise your... forearms and biceps

Muscle targeted Pronator teres and brachialis

Form tweak Zottman curls. Perform a regular curl. Then, at the top of the movement, rotate the weights until your palms are facing forwards. Now slowly lower the dumbbells toward your thighs, stopping just short of fully extending your arms. Pause. Then turn your palms back to the starting position. And repeat. “The rotation in the Zottman curl will train both the muscles of the biceps and of the forearms,” says Edgley.

Secret Triathlon Training Shortcuts To Improve Your Race Speed

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, top triathletes Tim Don, Hollie Avil and Olly Freeman's coach, Glenn Cook, outlined the following three drills to make you faster in the swim, bike and run.

Stamina is essential for triathlon. So is strength. The third factor in the holy trinity of tri? Speed. Whatever distance you're racing over this spring and summer, you want to be able to do it fast. So swap plod for pace and zzzzz for zoom with these exclusive training sessions from Britain's very best.

Session name: "Medium, Moderate, Mad"

Selected by: Tim Don, 2006 world champion, two–time Olympian, Mazda representative and the most successful British triathlete of the last five years

Summarised in a sentence: "This bike favourite of mine will get you used to pedalling at pace."

1. Warm up with 20 minutes' gentle spinning. When your legs are loose, you're ready to begin.

2. Ride for two minutes at your race pace, followed by two minutes of gentle recovery. Repeat that sequence three to five times, depending on your fitness and the time you have to train. (If you're not sure what your race pace is, it's simple to work out – it's the speed you could maintain for the duration of your event. For Olympic distance triathletes, it's the pace you could ride for 40km; for sprint racers, it's the pace you could ride over 20km.)

3. Cycle at easy pace for five minutes. Then ride for one minute at 10%–15% above race pace, take a minute of gentle pedalling as recovery and repeat three to five times. (So if your race pace is 20kmph, go at 22 or 23kmph; if it's 30kmph, go at 33–35kmph).

4. Cycle at easy pace for five minutes. Then hit it as fast as you can for 30 seconds – flat out – cruise for 30 seconds, and repeat three to five times. Stand up in the pedals for the first 15 of those sprinting seconds; drop back into the saddle for the second 15.

5.Warm down with 15 minutes of gentle spinning.

Tim's tips: "Don't go too fast on the blocks of two minutes – it's important that you feel fresh for the fast stuff at the end. If you've got tri–bars, do the longer reps on those, keeping your upper body nice and relaxed and still."

Session name: "The Super–Speed Swim Set"

Selected by: Hollie Avil – 2007 world junior champion, 2008 British champion, Mazda representative and Beijing Olympian

Summarised in a sentence: "It's a real sharpener – it'll get your fast–twitch muscles turned on."

1. Begin with a 400m warm–up, consisting of 100m swim, 100m legs only, 100m drill of choice (like catch–up, where your front arm stays out in front until the other arm comes through to touch it) and 100m swim.

2. Swim 50m with the first quarter of the distance flat out and the remainder cruising. Take 10 seconds rest and repeat three more times. Swim 100m at easy pace and then repeat the entire sequence.

3. Swim four lots of 100m, going as hard as you can for the first 25m and cruising for the remaining 75m. Take 15 seconds rest between each 100m and swim an easy–paced 100m at the end.

4. Swim three lots of 200m with the first 50m flat–out and the remaining 150m cruising. Take 30 seconds rest between each one.

5. Swim four lots of 50m using legs only, holding a float out in front of you. Do the first 25m of each one flat out and the second 25m easy. Take 10 seconds rest between each 50m.

6. Warm down with a gentle 200m swim.

Hollie's help: "Do this once a fortnight for the two months before your race. It's perfect for giving you the speed to get out ahead of the pack on the swim, avoiding those flying fists and flailing legs behind. Quality not quantity."

Session name: "Pace Not Haste"

Selected by: Glenn Cook – coach to Olly Freeman, former England coach and twice European champion

Summarised in a sentence: "This running session will give you both speed awareness and the ability to up the pace."

1. Begin with 10 minutes' jogging warm–up and continue with three or four minutes of drills – running with high knees, then heels flicking backside, then quick feet.

2. Run 50m, building up your speed from jog to run to fast. Walk back to the start and repeat.

3. Run 200m at your 10–mile pace, straight into 200m at your 3km/5km pace. Repeat without rest twice more, so you have run a total of 1,200m straight through. (If you're not sure of what those speeds mean, you should be able to maintain your 10–mile pace for at least an hour, while the second 200m should take you 10–15 seconds less to run than the first.)

4. Jog at easy pace for another 400m, and then repeat the entire sequence two to three times.

5. Warm down with five minutes of easy jogging.

6. As you feel faster and fitter, increase the number of sets, increase the pace of the steady–pace 200m and/or run each of the steady 200m in the set a little faster than the last.

Glenn's guidance: "Don't worry if you don't have access to a running track – instead treat 200m as about 40 seconds running. If you're in a park or open space, practice a rapid u–turn in the set too – in races you often have to make a dead turn at three or four points on a course."

The New Science Of Steak

With help from Men's Health, you'll be able to cook an extra special steak every time!

The UK has the highest rate of food inflation in Europe, which means a good meal costs us more than ever. But master these scientific principles and you can enjoy a Michelin-grade dinner for a fraction of the price. Plus, using high-tech ingenuity, you can engineer your slab of beef for maximum protein and vitamins. You won’t need the grill – you’ll barely need a frying pan. What you will need is an appetite for experimentation. On these pages, you’ll find cutting-edge gastronomy from Dr Nathan Myhrvold, formerly chief technology officer at Microsoft who left to start his own food lab. He reveals the high-tech secrets that will transform your steaks from so-so to stunning.

How to select the juiciest steak

Dissect the perfect cut Ask your butcher for two 1-inch-thick rib-eye steaks from between the fifth and 10th bones. Cuts from hard-working muscles (like those from the thigh) are rich but require more chewing. Rib-eye matches them for flavour and is also the juiciest, says Chris Young, one of the chefs in Myhrvold’s food lab. It has more marbling than tenderloin, but hasn’t been toughened up by over-exertion. Simple biology.

Time travel Most high-end chophouses age their beef for 30 days, but Young has a low-tech shortcut anyone can use. Just leave your steaks in their packaging in the fridge for five days before cooking, says Young. “As beef ages, the longer protein chains within the muscles break down,” Young says. “The meat becomes more tender and flavourful.” In the fridge, you can tell this is happening when the meat changes colour to a greyish brown. Don’t worry, they’re not going bad. In fact, the breakdown of protein chains makes the meat easier to digest – so your muscles absorb more fuel from the meal.

Go slow for the tenderest moments

The secret to a tender steak is to cook it at a low temperature, says Myhrvold. Doing this activates enzymes that soften the meat for that melt-in-your-mouth texture. It also preserves nutrients that are lost when you cook at greater heat, which is handy because beef is packed with B vitamins. These halve the rate of cognitive decline as we age, according to Oxford University research. Making it good enough to serve to a Nobel Laureate.

Prepare to experiment Heat a large pan three quarters full of water on a low-to-medium heat. Using a thermometer (£3, houseoffraser.co.uk), bring the water temperature to 118-122°F (48-50°C). This will cook the meat gently, retaining flavour and maintaining its juiciness.

Bags of flavour Place each steak in a large food bag. Squeeze out the air as, then seal. Place the steaks in the water and cook for 30mins. Then raise the water temperature to medium-to-high on the hob (136-140°F) and cook for another 15mins. The bag seals in flavour that is lost in all other cooking methods.

Don't fear the sear Remove the steaks from the bags and blot off any excess moisture. The meat will look pink, so crank up a blowtorch (£16, houseoffraser.co.uk) and brown it. This gets rid of the meat’s greyish-pink hue, giving it an appetising chargrilled look.

Let the flavour build Let the steaks rest for 15mins – Myhrvold and Young’s research shows that this dramatically improves its juiciness. “Resting lets the protein-rich juices cool and thicken,” Young explains. Now you’re ready to serve a steak engineered to astound the tastebuds of lucky dinner guests.

Side-dish chemistry

Baked potatoes Heat the oven to 200°C. Then, to cut your cooking time by as much as half, push a clean aluminium nail lengthways through the centre of each potato. Make sure at least an inch of nail is sticking out of the spud. It will conduct heat, boosting its internal temperature, says Young. So you won’t be sat there drumming your fingers.

For a velvety texture, select a floury spud. Russet potatoes contain cells that separate easily when cooked, making for the fluffiest centre. Plus, recent research from the US Department of Agriculture found they’re high in heart-protecting antioxidants.

Lightly coat two potatoes with olive oil, which slows the escape of moisture. Place them on a baking sheet and bake until the skins are crisped and you can pierce them easily with a fork. This should take about 40 minutes.

Then, wearing an oven glove, carefully remove the nails. Make a shallow cut lengthways and fluff the inside with a fork, gradually adding about a tablespoon of cold butter. Season and serve. It’s spud science 101.

Green beans Boil them for five minutes. After which Myhrvold recommends that you drop them immediately into ice cold water for around 10 seconds. This preserves the beans’ pectin, which gives them their bite, and also lowers your cholestorol, according to research published in the Journal of Nutrition. Young beans taste best, so look for specimens that are as thin, or thinner, than a #2 pencil. Once they’re cooked, drain and serve them with a knob of butter. You’re on your way to a PhD in gastronomy.

Get Fit For The Beach

This great article from Men's Fitness shows you some easy steps to follow in order to forge a beach ready body!

You may recognize Marc Megna. He’s a fitness model, former NFL linebacker, and also a strength coach at Bommarito Performance Systems, a facility that caters to pro athletes in Aventura, FL. We asked Megna how he preps for photo shoots on short notice. Use his secrets the next time you want to look ripped for the beach, a vacation, or anywhere you want to take your shirt off. All you need is three weeks.

RAISE YOUR REPS
“The first thing I do is increase my rep ranges,” says Megna. So if you’ve been performing three sets of 10 for most of your exercises, increase to six sets of 15 to 20. Use the heaviest weights you can and you’ll increase your caloric expenditure enormously. Megna also slightly changes the exercises he performs. If he works his chest with a barbell bench press the first week, he’ll switch to dumbbells the second week and then go to a floor press in Week 3.

USE INTERVALS
“If I do a boatload of cardio for a long time, it will start to eat up my muscle mass,” says Megna, so it’s best to keep sessions short and intense. “I’ll do a minute of sprinting and then a minute of slow walking. Then 45 seconds on and 45 seconds off; then 30 seconds on and off; then 15 seconds. As the time decreases, the intensity picks up.”

CYCLE YOUR CARBS
Set up a routine of high-, moderate-, and low-carb days for the first two weeks and cycle through them. Make sure your hardest training days (such as leg workouts) land on days you eat the most carbs. This rotation will minimize body-fat storage and keep your muscles full. “In the last week, cut the carbs,” says Megna. Eat mainly plain chicken or white fish, such as tilapia plus green vegetables for five days. Then, right before you want to look your best, carb up by eating lots of sweet potatoes, oats, and brown rice.

EMBRACE SUPPLEMENTS
“I take Nitro-Tech and a banana an hour before I work out,” says Megna. “I also take naNO Vapor Hardcore Pro Series 15 minutes before I train to really drive up my energy and intensity.”

DRY OUT
For the first two weeks, “flood yourself with water—about four liters a day,” says Megna. When you cut carbs, start reducing your fluids. If your event is on Saturday, start the Monday before and drink only three liters. On Tuesday, drink two; Wednesday and Thursday, just one, and then half a liter on Friday. The day of the event, just sip water until your unveiling.

TAKE FISH OIL
Shoot for three or four servings per day. “That’s the only fat I’m taking in during this whole time,” says Megna. “As your body is drying out, it keeps your joints lubricated.”

FILL OUT
Megna likes to eat rice cakes with Nutella and honey a few minutes before a photo shoot. “The rush of carbs makes the muscles look bigger,” he says. “After dieting so hard, you’ll feel great and you’ll have the energy to enjoy yourself.”

Better Habits, Better Results

Check out this article from Mens Fitness that proves small changes can have impressive results!

You probably first learned how to build muscle and lose fat by watching other guys in your gym. Some of them got it right, others definitely did not. Still, you made some gains, and now you're looking to be one of the guys others come to for counsel.

Well, embrace these six simple nutrition and diet fixes—in most cases, minor tweaks to already good ideas that make a big difference—and you'll build muscle and burn fat even more effectively. You'll be one step closer to being the gold standard in the gym.

1) WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW:
Drinking a cup of coffee before you work out.

DO IT BETTER:
Switch to green tea. A recent review of 15 studies found that the combo of green tea extract and caffeine resulted in greater weight loss compared to caffeine alone. In addition to helping you get leaner, green tea may also wind up making you healthier since it is also filled with a wealth of disease-busting, anti-aging antioxidants. Shoot for three to five cups daily.

THE BOOST:
Burning an additional 3,500 to 10,000 calories in a month.

2) WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW:
Training for higher testosterone.

DO IT BETTER:
Use a supplement. Lifting heavy on compound exercises like the bench press increases your body's production of testosterone, but research from the University of Connecticut has shown that taking two grams per day of L-carnitine (a common amino acid found naturally in the body) prior to working out may also help to increase the number of testosterone receptors in your muscles. More receptors mean more places for testosterone in your system to "bind," assisting with recovery and muscle growth.

THE BOOST:
An increase of up to 13% in testosterone receptors.

3) WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW:
Cutting back on high-carb foods.

DO IT BETTER:
Eat more fruits and vegetables. Don't be afraid to pile fresh fruits and veggies on your plate, even though they have carbs. A Penn State study found that a 12-month diet rich in fruits and veggies led to greater overall weight loss than many low-fat diets.

THE BOOST:
An additional 5 to 10 pounds of fat loss each year.

4) WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW:
Pounding a post-workout shake.

DO IT BETTER:
Drink the shake before you train. Post-workout shakes get nutrients to hungry muscles, fueling growth. However, you may be able to jumpstart your muscle growth and recovery (and have more energy for training) by chugging your drink on your way to the gym. Research from the University of Texas shows that getting an extra shot of nutrients before you work out channels more amino acids to your muscles, setting you up for even bigger muscle gains.

THE BOOST:
A 79% increase in the uptake of the amino acids used to build muscle immediately after each workout.

5) WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW:
Taking creatine for muscle growth and strength.

DO IT BETTER:
Pair it with beta-alanine. Creatine can give your muscles energy to crank out an extra rep or two, but combining it with the amino acid beta-alanine may make your supplement regimen even more effective. Recent studies show that beta-alanine may help quell the lactic acid burn your muscles experience when lifting, allowing you to do more reps. Shoot for six grams daily on workout days.

THE BOOST:
You'll delay fatigue during a hard set, so you'll get more reps overall, increasing the exercise's stimulus.

6) WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW:
Avoiding the scale when trying to lose weight.

DO IT BETTER:
Weigh yourself regularly. Some experts say how your clothes fit is a better indicator of progress. But a 2008 review of 11 studies found that men and women who weighed themselves at least once per week lost more weight (between three and six pounds in three months) and kept it off longer than people who rarely weighed in. Whether the scale kept them accountable, or simply moreaware of what they were eating, wasn't clear, but the results were.

THE BOOST:
Better tracking of your goals and more consistent weight loss.