Gain Muscle fast

10 hottest body

2010-07-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

Get Stronger Now

2010-07-23T18:20:00.001-07:00

Follow these 10 rules for immediate and long-lasting muscle and strength

Strength is the foundation of nearly all physique and performance goals. When you're strong, you more easily gain muscle size, lose fat, run faster, hit harder, play longer, and move more living room furniture for your wife. We've rounded up 10 no-questions-asked tips to help you make everything in your life feel just a little bit lighter.

1.) Own the "big four."
The squat, deadlift, bench press, and shoulder press are the best strength-building exercises, period. The chinup and row are great moves too, but don't make them the focus of your workout — they can be assistance lifts to complement the bench and shoulder press, keeping your pulling muscles in balance with the pressing ones.

2.) Use barbells first.
Forget all the fad equipment. The barbell is king, the dumbbell is queen, and everything else is a court jester — it may have its place, but it's not essential. Start your workouts with barbell exercises, such as the "big four," as described above. Barbells let you load a lot of weight, and lifting heavy is the first step toward getting stronger. Once your heaviest strength exercises are out of the way, you can move on to dumbbell and body-weight training.

3.) Keep it simple.
Some trainers make their clients lift with a certain rep speed, like three seconds up, one second down. But know this: There's no need to count anything but reps during a set. Simply focus on raising and lowering your weights in a controlled manner, pausing for a one-second count at the top of the lift. Using an arbitrary tempo can lessen tension on your muscles or force you to use varying amounts of weight, slowing your progress. The only way to be sure you're getting stronger is if your loads consistently increase.

4.) Maintain a log.
Write down your exercises, sets, reps, and the fate of each workout. Keep track of your best lifts and the most reps you've done with a certain weight on an exercise. Constantly strive to improve those numbers.

5.) Don't overdo it.
Try to stick to three or four lifts per workout. Keeping your workouts short helps you take advantage of hormonal surges. When you do too many exercises in a session, at least some of them get done half-assed. All you need is one main lift per workout (one of the big four), one or two assistance lifts (for keeping the body in balance and further strengthening the muscles that perform the main lift), and then core or specialty work at the end (ab exercises or some forearm or calf moves, depending on your goals). Doing any more lessens your results.

6.) Think five.
You should rotate many different rep ranges in your workouts, but sets of five seem to offer the best blend of muscle size and strength gains. If you're pushing through one of the big four moves, you'll find that your form often breaks down after five anyway.

7.) Add weights slowly.
The main reason people plateau and stop gaining strength is that they go too heavy for too long. Abandon your ego and do your main lifts using 10% less than the most weight you can lift for the given rep range. Increase the weight each session — but by no more than 10 pounds — and stick with the same lifts. You'll rarely plateau again.

8.) Take to the hills.
Cardio is a must if you want to be lean and healthy, but long-distance running or cycling increases levels of hormones that break down muscle tissue. To get stronger while getting leaner, do cardio in short, intense bursts. Go to a moderately steep hill and sprint to the top, then walk back down. When you're ready, sprint again. In your first workout, do only half as many sprints as you think you could. In your next workout, do two more sprints than you did the first time. Continue adding two sprints to your workouts until you can't improve anymore. Then do sets of sprints.

9.) Balance your training.
Whatever you do for one side of the body, you must do for the other side. Follow that rule in your workouts and you should be able to avoid injury and muscle imbalances. If you're doing squats (mainly a quad exercise), also do Romanian deadlifts (which hit the hamstrings hard). Your chest exercises should be balanced with back-training lifts. You don't necessarily have to do your balance work in the same session, but it should be done in the same week. In general, follow a ratio of two-to-one between your pulling-and-pushing movements. So if you bench-press on Monday (and most of the world seems to), you can do chinups on Tuesday and bent-over lateral raises on Thursday, for example. Every other pressing exercise you do should follow this formula.

10.) Do it right. Form is key.
You may think you know how to perform the big four, but you could probably get more out of them. Here are some quick pointers for each one.

Squat: Begin the squat by pushing your hips back as far as you can. Keep your lower back arched and you should feel a stretch in your hamstrings. When your hips are bent, begin bending your knees and squatting low. This is what you need to squat maximal weight.
Deadlift: Use the same stance you would to perform a jump — your legs should be narrowly placed. When you bend down to grab the bar, keep your hips down and your back straight, with your shoulders directly over your knees.
Bench Press: Start with your head off the bench. Keeping your feet steady, grab the bar and pull your body up off the bench and forward, so that when your butt comes down on the bench your lower back is very arched. Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Your range of motion should be significantly shorter for stronger pressing.
Shoulder press: Flare your lats when the bar is at shoulder level. It will allow you to use more weight.

Best No-Weight Workout Ever

2010-07-23T18:18:00.001-07:00

Use elastic bands at home, on the road, or simply to mix up your training routine

You've seen those oversize rubber bands in the gym. You scoffed and headed for the weights like some arrogant bastard. Well, guess what? Bands are great for buildingmuscle or shedding pounds. Unlike free weights, they offer variable resistance, adding more tension as they're stretched. They're also a great tool for using at home or for staying fit on the road.

A thicker band builds strength, while a lighter one allows for more reps. Use either a continuous loop band — the kind that looks like a big rubber band — or a surgical tubing style, shown above. Perform three sets of as many reps as possible.

1.) LUNGE WITH ANTI-ROTATION
Tie the band around a secure pole, grab the free end with both hands, and stand to the side of the attachment point (A). Step into a lunge, keeping your arms straight (B). Repeat with the opposite leg.

2.) SIDE LUNGE WITH ROTATIONAL PRESS
Set up as you did for (1) but hold the band in one hand (A). Step to the side and drop into a lunge, simultaneously pressing your arm forward and rotating your torso away (B). Repeat on the opposite side.

3.) BAND-RESISTED PUSHUP
Wrap the band around your back and grab an end in each hand. Get into pushup position, securing each loop under each palm. There should be tension on the band(A). Then perform a pushup (B).

4.) BAND SQUAT
Loop the band over one shoulder and stand on the other end with the opposite foot (A). Squat down while keeping your lower back arched (B). If you're using a surgical band, stand on the middle of the band and hold handles at shoulder height.

5.) SINGLE-ARM PUSH PRESS
Stand on one end with your left foot and hold the band's other end at shoulder level with your left hand (A). Dip your knees and use the momentum to explosively press your arm overhead (B). Finish reps and repeat on right side.

6.) SINGLE-ARM ROW
Attach the band as in (1) and stand facing it with feet staggered, holding the free end far enough away so that there's tension (A). With one hand, row the band to your side like you're starting a lawn mower. Repeat on the opposite side.

Sandbag Training

2010-07-23T18:17:00.001-07:00

If you can't stand your gym anymore or just can't afford it, grab a sandbag for a great alternative for helping you get in a full-body workout. Lifting one is an old-school way to build brute strength and intense endurance. See "How to Make Your Own" below for instructions on building one, then read on for the workout.

Perform the exercises in the order shown. Go for time, not reps. Begin by working for one minute, then resting one to two minutes. Do as many reps as you can. Don't be overly concerned about form-the sand will shift around, making it hard to control the bag. That's the point. Having to stabilize yourself constantly will work you from head to toe.

Heave the bag from the floor to your chest, then press it overhead. Drop it and repeat as many times as you can for one minute. Complete three sets.

Wrestle the bag up to your left shoulder and do one squat. Drop the bag, and then repeat on the right shoulder. Continue alternating for one minute. Do three sets.

Wrestle the bag to your chest and squeeze it in a bear hug. Run in place, for one minute. Drop it, rest, and then repeat for three sets.

Lie on the floor with the bag on your chest. Press it up and then, with your arms fully extended, do a situp. Repeat the entire exercise for one minute. Do three sets.

How to Make Your Own

1) You'll need a sturdy gym or duffel bag. Use a canvas sporting bag or sea bag style canvas duffel bag. A military style duffel bag may also work. Your bag needs to be able to withstand the abuse of being thrown, dropped, and heaved repeatedly, so don't get a cheap one that can't take it.

2) Buy a few bags of playground sand from the local hardware store-it's near the concrete and usually comes in 50-pound tubes. Sells for around $4.

3) Fill a heavy-duty trash bag with sand. Wrap the top tightly with duct tape, then bag it twice more and seal it. Make sure you leave some room in the bag for the sand to slosh around. If you can't find strong enough trash bags, try contractor clean-up bags, which are much thicker. You can find them at Home Depot for around $13.

4) Put it in your duffel bag (which keeps the sandbag from ripping) and zip it shut. Now, get to work!

Pilates For Meatheads

2010-07-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

Meatheads and Pilates don't exactly mix.

As a meathead, I’m fairly obsessed with training and I use each session in the gym as a way to get bigger, stronger, and faster, not as an excuse to loaf around while wearing a tanktop. I’m there to work, and I take that obligation very seriously. I try and eat as much clean food as I can, and I lift weights a few days a week – mostly compound movements like squats and deadlifts – and for the 45 minutes or so that I’m training, the gym is all that matters.

So when MF suggested I give Pilates a shot, just to see what it was all about, I almost choked on my protein shake. Pilates sounds so…well, girly. Would I have to talk about my feelings before class and meditate afterwards? I wouldn’t have to wear tights or anything, right? I mean, the name alone sounds like an Italian dessert, doesn’t it?

You’ve got to be kidding me.

But they weren’t kidding, so I set out for a session with Michael Feigin, a Pilates instructor nicknamed “The Fitness Guru,” at his studio in Brooklyn, NY, fully expecting to have no trouble with his brand of ballerina yoga. His studio was located at the top of a staircase, directly across from Gleason’s, the famous boxing gym. I followed the sound of gloves whacking heavy bags and poked my head in. Someone was rolling around a ring. Guys pounded away on treadmills. The place looked dirty, like a thin film of dust coated everything in the room. I thought it looked like heaven.

I silently hoped that this was the place to find “The Fitness Guru,” like he was some kind of super-athlete who boxed, skied, and cross-country ran in his free time. I asked to see “The Fitness Guru.” The girl at the desk snickered.

I should have known better. I cleared my throat and asked again if she could show me where I needed to go. She smiled, slightly condescendingly, and gestured towards the door. “Across the hall,” she said. That was that: boxers, wrestlers, and men over here, and I’ll take my tutu and tights over to the Pilates studio with the women.

Fantastic. We were off to a great start.

Tail tucked firmly between my legs, I made my way into Feigin’s modern space: Loaded with a combination of Pilates equipment, dumbbells, and treadmills, the studio was diverse, surprisingly spacious, and very sleek, with white walls trimming a shiny, gray floor. Skinny girls and lean guys worked one-on-one with instructors at various stations throughout the room. They looked happy enough, but I still had my reservations. After I switched out of my button-down and khakis and donned some sweatpants in the changing room, Feigin and I chatted about Pilates. When he mentioned Joe Pilates, the boxer who developed the discipline in the early 1900s to help those bedridden and stricken with influenza, my ears perked up a bit. A boxer, I thought? A boxer invented Pilates? Maybe there was something to this, after all. I looked around the modern studio and noticed that everyone around me seemed to be fairly lean, something I’ve struggled with all my life. Maybe they knew something I didn’t. At a stocky 5’6”, 195 lbs, I could feel my waist pour out from the tops of my sweatpants like muffin batter as I scanned the athletic bodies stretching out.

I looked back at myself.

Then I looked at them again.

I became concerned. Meathead or not, I was pretty sure I was in slightly over my head.

He introduced me to something called The Reformer, which may sound like a torture device, but it’s not. It’s a rectangular pad fixed on tracks which allow it to slide forward and backward. Nylon loops were attached from either end of the frame, so if you held them as you put your arms through a range of motion, you’d slide back and forth.

As I laid flat on the pad, I listened to Feigin explain how my body should be positioned. He was very specific - tailbone in contact with the floor, pelvis tipped up, flexed lats, shoulders down, tight abs. I forced my sore muscles to cooperate, and I fixed myself into proper position. This mental checklist was endless. My body hurt immediately.

I felt my tee shirt stick to the small of my back and noticed droplets of sweat beginning to appear on my upper lip. I envisioned the Tae Kwon Do class I quit on when I was eight years old. I was going to fail at Pilates, too, I thought.

But then, Feigin got a little spiritual with me. He explained that the goal was out of reach of the student, and one could never (or, almost never) get to the point where they held their body in perfect position throughout the course of one session. By striving to keep correct alignment, you’re constantly readjusting your body and tensing your muscles. So if I was hurting from just the start position, how would I handle the actual workout?

Ballerina yoga this was not. I took a deep breath, prepared myself for the hour ahead, and we got started.

I began by lying on the pad, heels together, with my toes pressing on the device’s frame. As I pushed away from the bottom of the contraption, I squeezed my legstogether. I couldn’t count reps, partly because Feigin was keeping track for me, but also because I couldn’t stand to lose one ounce of concentration or else I’d like my pelvis sag, my abs expand, or my lats relax, any of which, I was told, would be a very bad thing. One 45-second movement and I couldn’t tell if I was going to make it. This wasn’t exactly how I envisioned my first Pilates session.

My quads, he told me, were massive. Nice, I thought to myself. The squats have been working. But my inner thighs, I was also told, were weak, and therefore we were going to work them extra hard. Wonderful, I thought. Just wonderful. We stuck a foam brick in between my knees and I pushed inward as I went through the motions of torture technique #2 – as I laid flat on the pad with my heels on the frame, I grasped the handles from behind my head and kept my arms straight while I moved them down, then out to the side, then back up to the top position. At least, that’s what I think I did. I was too busy spitting out breaths to pay much attention. My core was absolutely on fire. Just stabilizing used up so much of my energy.

As tough as the first few exercises were, they paled in comparison to the 100s. Flat on the pad (in proper position), legs straight out ahead, hands in handles at my side, while crunching up, I had to bounce my arms up and down in a tiny movement 100 times. I was feeling it at 25. My form was sloppy by 60. When I had come to, we moved on to The Cadillac, which reminded me of the wooden device Jean Claude Van Damme used to stretch out in Kickboxer. Imagine a hospital bed without the mattress. Now picture a frame parallel to the bed directly on top of it. The second level had various attachments draped from the support: I noticed chains, springs, wooden handles and padded nylon grips.

I did some upper body work by pushing a spring-loaded wooden bar away from my chest while laying flat on The Cadillac, and some lower body work by pulling each leg down with the help of a strap while keeping the other still. I now had a rubber ring in between my thighs which made sure I was continually pushing inward with my quads as I pressed or pulled. I slipped my arms through padded cuffs attached to the top of the frame and hung with my toes balancing the rest of my weight. This was thePilates version of a pec-deck, only with my own weight as the resistance. Michael barked commands: “abs tight, shoulders out of your ears, tailbone on the mat!” He was a great guy, animated and obviously passionate, and he was comforting, which was very important, because I’d been reduced to a sniveling mass of nerve endings by this point, but by the end, I wanted to kill him.

But it wasn’t all bad. Nothing was too hard. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything outrageous or impossible, it’s just that Pilates worked my muscles in a way that they aren’t used to being worked. There’s something to be said for body weightmovements: you should be able to haul your own carcass around, and after doing it for an hour, I felt more energized than I ever did in the gym. I couldn’t even sleep on the train home. Surprisingly, I thought, I might have actually enjoyed myself. Anyone who thinks Pilates is for girls, I realized, is working out for the wrong reasons. You’ve got to try stuff you’ve never done before, or you’ll never progress. Before you know it, you’ve got a beer belly, you’re 65, and you’re still doing curls with 10 lb dumbbells. I’m hoping to never get to that point. So as I packed my clothes in my bag, I reaffirmed my vow to always be open to new things, reminded myself that I’ve got to drop 10 lbs, and realized that sometimes, the best workout is the one you’re not doing yet.

Custom Fat-Loss Workout

2010-07-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Design your own gut-melting routine

Some guys like to do everything by the book. They follow recipes with exacting detail. Then there are those who throw gourmet meals together with whatever is in the kitchen. For the latter, we've created a fat-loss program that allows you to customize your workout to your own taste. We've provided an outline, including the sets and reps for each exercise, so you have the freedom to choose the exercises yourself and create your own unique program.

HOW IT WORKS

Each day you'll be doing a total-body workout, consisting of either upper-body pushing exercises and lower-body pulls or upper-body pulls and lower-body pushes. You'll do one of those pairings in one workout, and then the other in your next workout. See the lists of exercise options for each movement pattern below.

Each session should end with two "finisher" exercises. The first will use high reps to flush blood into the muscle groups that work in opposition to the ones that were your main focus that day. For example, if the workout began with upper-body pushing and you did bench presses, you might do face pulls in this first finisher. This will improve flexibility and recovery, help to prevent injury, and bring up weak areas. The second finisher is jumping rope—perhaps the single most effective training tool for burningfat.

DIRECTIONS

Frequency
Perform three workouts per week, resting at least a day between sessions

Time Needed
30 minutes

How To Do It
Perform the paired exercises (marked "a" and "b") back to back, resting as little as possible in between. Use a weight that's about 25% of your max. Do as many sets as you can in 12 minutes, then rest three to five minutes. The following workout is an example of how you could structure your program.

Start with:
1a Upper-body push, 10 reps
1b Lower-body pull, 10 reps

Choose two new exercises
2a Upper-body push, 12 reps
2b Lower-body pull, 12 reps

Finisher 1
Upper-body pull, two sets of 15

Finisher 2
Jump rope for one to five minutes depending on your ability

EXERCISE OPTIONS

Following the guidelines above, select moves from this "menu" to build your custom routine

Upper-Body Push Alternating dumbbell bench press Bench press Shoulder press Floor press Incline dumbbell press Pushup Push press	Upper-Body Pull Face pull Chinup Lat pulldown Inverted row Cheat curl One-arm dumbbell row Reverse curl
Lower-Body Push Bulgarian split squat Lunge squat Front squat Box squat Step up	Lower-Body Pull Power clean Single-leg Romanian deadlift Deadlift Good morning Kettlebell or dumbbell swing Romanian deadlift

For instructions, check our Workout glossary

TWO-WEEK SAMPLE SCHEDULE

Workout I (Days 1, 5, 10)
Upper-body push / Lower-body pull

Workout II (Days 3, 8, 12)
Upper-body pull / Lower-body push

	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
WEEK 1	WORKOUT I	REST	WORKOUT II	REST	WORKOUT I	REST	REST
WEEK 2	WORKOUT II	REST	WORKOUT I	REST	WORKOUT II	REST	REST

THE WORKOUTS

Workout 1 - Size (upper-body push/lower-body pull)
1a Upper-body push, 5 sets of 5. Rest 30 seconds, then go to 1b
1b Upper-body push, 5 sets of 8. Rest 90 seconds, then repeat 1a

2a Lower-body pull, 5 sets of 5. Rest 60 seconds, then go to 2b
2b Lower-body pull, 5 sets of 8. Rest 120 seconds, then repeat 2a

3a Upper-body push, 3 sets of 6. Rest 60 seconds, then go to 3b.
3b Lower-body pull, 3 sets of 6. Rest 120 seconds, then repeat 3a

Finisher 1
Upper-body pull, 2 sets of 15

Finisher 2
Russian twist, 3 sets of 12

Workout II - Strength (upper-body pull/lower-body push)
1 Upper-body pull, 8 sets of 2

2 Upper-body pull, 2 sets of 10

3 Lower-body push, 8 sets of 2

4 Lower-body push, 2 sets of 10

Finisher 1
Upper-body push, 2 sets of 15

Finisher 2
Farmer's walk, 2 sets of 100-yard walks

Here is a Sample Strength Workout (Workout II)

1 Cheat curl, 8 sets of 2
2 Lat pulldown, 2 sets of 10
3 Box Squat, 8 sets of 2
4 Bulgarian split squat, 2 sets of 10

Finisher 1
Pushup, 2 sets of 15

Finisher 2
Farmer's walk, 2 sets of 100-yard walks

For instructions, check our Workout glossary

Bikram Yoga

2010-07-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Lose weight, reduce stress, and more with one of the hottest new ways to train

George Clooney does it. Daniel Craig, too. Yet Bikram yoga (named after founder Bikram Choudhury) is not just another celebrity fad. Pro athletes like New York Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards and others have been doing it for years.

"It's the most male-friendly style of yoga," says Jen Lobo, co-founder of Bikram Yoga NYC in Manhattan. "Guys embrace the challenge. They're not just sitting around ohming and chanting. It's a hard workout."

Ready to heat up your routine? Here's a quick primer.

What it Is
Bikram focuses more on the physical aspect of yoga rather than the meditative, according to Lobo. It's done in a heated room for safe stretching and for detoxifying your body. Classes run through the same 26 poses and stretches, no matter where you take them. "You could be traveling to London on business, walk into a studio, and know exactly what you're going to get," Lobo says.

The Temperature
Expect to sweat—a lot. You're doing 90 minutes of training in a studio that's 105 degrees, with around 40% humidity. "It sounds super hot, but it's actually not that much warmer than our body heat," Lobo says. "A sauna can get up to 140 degrees."

The Benefits
You mean, aside from being in a room full of hot, sweaty, and flexible half-naked women? Okay, Bikram works every muscle, tendon, ligament, and joint, so it can help you avoid injury. Plus, there's major weight loss.

"I've seen guys who've come in twice a week, and two months later, they've lost 30 pounds," Lobo says. "You're working your thyroid gland in a lot of the postures, which can help speed up your metabolism and balance blood-sugar levels."

Other pluses to practicing Toe Stands and Tree Poses? Stress reduction, mental clarity, greater productivity, and more energy. It's also a great way to combat jet lag—even road rage.

"By learning how to breathe and how to stay calm in strenuous situations, you can apply these techniques to everyday life," she says.

What to Wear
As little as possible. Shorts and tank tops should suffice. Try not to eat two hours before class, but do drink lots of water before and throughout each session. Lobo recommends coconut water, since it contains natural electrolytes.

Cost
Plan to spend around 13 per session in most parts of the country.

GOLD MEDAL ABS

2010-07-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Nine serious ab moves from top Olympic trainers that will score you a rock-solid middle

Train your core with these eight moves (and one bonus move) three nonconsecutive days a week. Either do them all together as a stand-alone workout or add three or four of them to the end of your usual strength-training routine.

For each move, start with one set. Once you can complete all the reps with perfect form, add another.

Hanging Straight-Leg Raise

Targets lower abs

Hang from a pullup bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and your hips centered under your body so there's a straight line from your hands to the bottom of your hips (A). Keeping your legs and back straight and using a slow, controlled motion, raise your legs until they're parallel to the floor (B). Slowly lower your legs. That's one rep. Do four to six. Feeling extra Barnumesque? Try to raise your feet above 90 degrees (C).

Perfect Form As you raise your legs, don't swing them or let momentum do the work. Concentrate on keeping your butt down, as if you're sitting on a chair.

Toe Touch

Targets upper abs

Lie on your back holding an 8- to 10-pound dumbbell in both hands. Lift your legs until they're perpendicular to the floor and extend your arms, keeping the dumbbell directly over your chest (A). Without moving your legs, lift your chest and shoulders off the floor and try to touch your feet with the dumbbell (B). Do 15 to 20 reps.

Perfect Form Avoid bending your knees and try to lift your chest and shoulders higher with every rep.

The Sprinter

Targets upper and lower abs and obliques

Lie on your back with your hands at your sides, legs straight, and heels hovering about six inches off the floor (A). Start sitting up while elevating your left arm with the elbow bent so it resembles a sprinter's pumping motion. At the peak of the situp, bring your right knee to your chest (B). Return to start, keeping your legs raised, and repeat with the opposite arm and leg. That's one rep. Do up to 20.

Perfect Form Control your movement through the entire exercise, bracing your core to keep pressure off your back.

Walking Lunge Plate Twist

Targets entire core

Grab a 10- to 25-pound weight plate and stand with your feet hip-width apart. Position the plate in front of your chest with your elbows bent (A). With your right leg, lunge forward about three feet until your right thigh is parallel to the floor and your left knee is nearly touching the floor. At the same time, twist your upper body 90 degrees to the right (B). Twist and step back to start, then repeat, stepping with the left leg and twisting to the left. That's one rep. Do eight to 10.

Perfect Form Sink low into the lunge but don't let your front knee extend past your toes. Keep your chest up and your back straight as you twist.

Twisting Windmill

Targets obliques

Lie on your back with your arms extended out to the sides at shoulder height. Raise your legs until they're perpendicular to the floor (A).Lower your legs to the left side of your body so you meet the floor a few inches away from your left hand (B), then bring them back to center. Repeat, lowering your legs to the opposite side. That's one rep. Do 12.

Perfect Form Sink low into the lunge but don't let your front knee extend past your toes. Keep your chest up and your back straight as you twist.

Superman Variations

Targets lower back

Lie on your stomach with your legs hip-width apart and your arms extended in front of you, palms down, shoulder-width apart. Lift your head off the floor and look straight ahead. Lift your legs and hold for 15 to 30 seconds (A). Lower, and then do the following variations: Lift just your arms and hold for 15 to 30 seconds (B); lift your right arm and left leg (C), then slowly switch sides, lifting your left arm and right leg. Alternate until you've completed 15 on each side.

Perfect Form Try to lift your hips off the floor, not just your legs.

Bar Crunch

Targets lower back

Grab a 10-pound Body Bar with your arms shoulder-width apart and lie on a bench with your knees bent and your feet together. Extend your arms so the bar is directly above your chest (A). Without bending your elbows, crunch up by lifting your upper back and shoulders off the bench and extend the bar toward the ceiling (B). Slowly return to start. That's one rep. Do 10 to 15.

Perfect Form At the top of the crunch, push the bar up as if you're trying to reach the ceiling.

Hammer Toss

Targets entire core

Grab a 5-pound medicine ball and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold the ball with both hands in front of your chest (A). Lower your hips and touch the ball outside your right foot(B). Stand up quickly, bringing the ball across the front of your body, and toss it to a partner, releasing to the left at about shoulder height(C). Have the partner toss it back. That's one rep. Do 10, then repeat to the other side.

Perfect Form Use a full range of motion as you move the ball across your body. Extend your arms at the low position and as you throw.

The Wicked Wiper

Is it the world's craziest abs move? We dare you to find out

OK, so you get the point: Olympians need to challenge their cores in crazy ways to stay in fighting shape. To find out just how insane these pros are, we sought out the single most difficult ab move on the planet. And (eureka!) we found it: the Hanging Windshield Wiper, courtesy of Sandoval.

How it's done Hang from a pullup bar with your arms shoulder-width apart, palms facing away from you. Keeping your arms straight, raise your body so your hips, back, and shoulders are as parallel to the floor as possible. Raise your legs straight up so you're in pike position (A). If that's not difficult enough, rotate your legs down to the right (B), bring them back to center, and then lower them to the left (C).Yow.

"We have a couple of female wrestlers and women's volleyball players who can do it," Sandoval says.

Full disclosure As for the ripped gal in our photo? Not even she could handle it! We used Photo shop magic to erase the dude holding her up.

The Best Yoga for Women

2010-07-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Practice these 10 yoga exercises at least three times a week for optimal overall health

Child's Pose

Stretches hips, quads, back

1. Kneel on the floor with big toes touching and knees about hip-width apart. Sit on your heels.

2. Lay your torso between the thighs and bring your forehead to the mat. Extend arms straight in front of you, palms on the floor. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Stay here for at least one minute.

Why it is good for you
This go-to rest pose opens hips and relieves low back tightness.

Downward Facing Dog

Stretches spine, hamstrings, glutes, calves; strengthens deltoids, triceps

1. Start on all fours with your feet and knees hip-width apart. Position hands about shoulder-width apart and spread your fingers wide.

2. Pressing firmly through your hands, lift knees off the floor and straighten your legs. (If you have tight hamstrings, a gentle bend in the knees is fine).

3. Walk your hands forward a few inches and walk your feet back a few inches to lengthen the pose. Squeeze thighs as you press them toward the back wall. Press your heels back and down toward the floor (though they might not reach the mat).

4. Relax the head and neck and let your shoulder blades slide down your back toward your feet. Breathe deeply. Hold for at least one minute.

Why it is good for you
Down-Dog is a top-notch upper body-strengthener. And as an inversion (meaning your hips are higher than your heart), it increases circulation.

Warrior II

Stretches hips, inner thighs, chest; strengthens quadriceps, abdomen, shoulders

1. From standing, step your feet about 4 feet apart. Turn your right foot so the toes point toward the front of your mat. Turn your left foot in 30 degrees.

2. Raise your arms to shoulder height, parallel with the floor, palms face down. Bend your right knee so your right shin and thigh form a 90-degree angle.

3. Gently tuck your tailbone down as you draw your abdomen in. Hold for 5 deep breaths in and out through the nose. Straighten the right leg and repeat on the opposite side.

Why it is good for you
This powerful pose will grant you long, lean, toned arms and legs as well as firmer core.

Plank Pose

Strengthens arms, back, shoulders, core, quadriceps

1. From Downward-Facing Dog, press into the palms and bring the chest forward so that your shoulders are directly over your wrists and you are in the top of a push-up position.

2. Press your heels toward the wall behind you and extend the crown of your head forward to form a straight line from the top of your head to your heels. Hold for at least 1 minute.

Why it is good for you
Plank is a simple but challenging way to build upper body strength - it works all of the major muscles in your arms, back, and core and requires only your bodyweight.

Fierce Pose

Stretches spine; strengthens quadriceps, ankles, back

1. Stepping your feet hip-width apart, spread through your toes to create a stable base. As you raise arms to the sky, palms facing each another, bend your knees and sit your buttocks back as though you were sitting into a chair.

2. Draw your abdomen in to eliminate any curving in the lower back. Put all your weight into your heels and be sure your knees do not extend past your toes. Hold for 5 deep breaths in and out through the nose. Rest for one minute. Repeat.

Why it is good for you
This pose is injury insurance, strengthening quadriceps, which provides stronger support around your knees, making them less prone to injury. Fierce pose also improves posture.

Tree Pose

Stretches hips, inner thighs; strengthens legs, spine, core

1. Stand with your legs and feet together, hands on hips. Transfer weight to your left foot as you bend the right knee and place the sole of the right foot on the inside of your left leg (beginners start at the ankle; more advanced yogis, raise the right foot to the inside of the left thigh). Gently press the right foot against the left leg.

2. Bring the palms of your hands together in front of the heart in prayer pose. Hold for 1 minute on each side. More advanced yogis: Raise your arms straight directly overhead, palms facing in.

Why it is good for you
On days when your mind feels scattered, practice this pose to get centered.

Garland Pose

Stretches low back, groin, hips, ankles

1. Stand with feet slightly wider that hip-width. Bring the palms of your hands together in front of your heart in prayer pose. Turn toes out slightly.

2. Deeply bend the knees, squatting down between your legs. Keeping palms together, gently press your elbows to the insides of your knees, opening up the hips. Keep the spine long, chest open. Feel tension in the lower back begin to melt away. Hold for at least 1 minute.

Why it is good for you
Drop into this squat to relieve tummy troubles like constipation and cramps.

Boat Pose

Strengthens core, psoas, quadriceps

1. Sit with knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Lean back slightly so you're balancing on your sit bones. Raise your legs so shins are parallel to the floor, knees bent.

2. Extend arms forward, parallel with the floor, palms facing each other. Keeping your chest high and your core engaged, begin to straighten your legs. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths. Repeat 5 times.

Why it is good for you
Boat a bulletproof core without straining your neck like crunches do.

Bridge Pose

Stretches front of body; strengthens hamstrings, glutes

1. Lying on your back, bend your knees and place the soles of your feet flat on the floor about hip-width apart. Toes point straight to the wall in front of you. Place arms straight along your sides, palms down.

2. Gently press into your feet as you raise hips to the sky. Allow the front of your body to slowly expand with each breath. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths. Repeat 3 times.

Why it is good for you
Bridge opens the chest and ribcage, deepening the breath and with more oxygen you can reenergize the body.

Half Lord of the Fishes

Stretches hips, shoulders, back, neck; strengthens spine

1. Sit on the floor with legs outstretched in front of you. Bring the sole of the right foot on the floor outside of the left hip (right knee points to the ceiling).

2. Bend the left knee and bring the left foot to the outside of the right hip. Place right hand on the floor just behind your right hip. Lift your left arm to the ceiling. As you exhale, bend the left arm and place the left elbow to the outside of your right knee.

3. Lengthen your spine with each inhale and twist deeper with each exhale. Press the left elbow into your right leg to help revolve the upper body more and more. Look to the wall behind you. Hold for 5 to 10 deep breaths. Repeat on the opposite side.

Why it is good for you
This pose massages improves digestion and increase blood flow in the low belly.

Wake up with Yoga

2010-07-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

Got out of bed: Use these yogic tips to make mornings easier

PAIGE GREENFIELD

Scientists have yet to come up with a magic pill that will turn night owls into early birds, but that doesn't mean the A.M. blahs are inevitable. Simple changes to your morning routine can serve potent doses of all-day energy. Try these adjustments to send your inner zombie packing.

Ban the bleeping beeps
Your day is going to be full of noises, why start it off with the jarring beep of a digital alarm clock? Try something a little less cacophonous, like the Zen Alarm Clock (for $110 at www.now-zen.com). Tibetan meditation bells will sweetly sound at your appointed time, then again three-and-a-half minutes later, chiming more and more frequently over the next 10 minutes. Even if you're deep in dreamland, the chimes will wake you gradually (the way it's supposed to happen) rather than jolting and jerking you to consciousness with a blaring buzz.

Next, find the energy to do everything you need to do for others during the day by first doing something for yourself. "Even if it's as little as 5 minutes, ease yourself into the day," says Lynn Burgess, director of Yoga from the Heart in Sarasota, Florida. She recommends the following three ways to do that.

Day break 1: Reclining mountain pose (supta tadasana)
Still lying on your back, sweep your arms overhead and stretch your hands and feet in opposite directions. Stay there for three to 10 slow, deep breaths. "Your body is stiff from inactivity overnight," Burgess says. "This is a gentle way to get blood flowing to your limbs, to center yourself, and to let the day come to you instead of jumping all over it from the minute your toes touch the floor."

Day break 2: Yoga nidra
When your alarm sounds, sit on the side of your bed. "Become extremely aware of your body, the room, and what's going on around you," says Kellye Davis, author of The Bliss Principle: 5 Easy Ways to Reduce Stress. Next, unroll your yoga mat (which you if you planned ahead is strategically placed next to your bed), and lie on your back in corpse pose (savasana),keeping your eyes open. Inhale and tense the muscles in your feet, then exhale as you release them. Work your way up the body: each leg, your butt, abs, shoulders, and face, tensing and releasing with your breath. This gets you out of bed and right onto your mat. "Your yoga mat is a whole other territory," Davis says. "It reminds you of the benefits of posture, relaxation, and mindfulness, which require you to be awake and alert."

Wake up with Yoga

Got out of bed: Use these yogic tips to make mornings easier

PAIGE GREENFIELD

Day break 3: Wake up and smell the roses
Grass, orchids, or just plain-old fresh air will do. The point is: "Get out of bed, walk outside, and look at something in nature," Burgess says. If you don't have a secluded backyard, keep a plant or fish tank in your bedroom and look at it first thing in the morning. "It makes such a difference in grounding you before entering the world of e-mails, phone calls, news…and that entire list," Burgess says. She likens stepping outside to greet the day "to that ‘ahhh' feeling when you reconnect with old friends or family."

Leaf the Bean
Sorry, java lovers, but the boost that sends you buzzing through your morning inevitably backfires later in the day. Duke University researchers found that people who drink 4 or 5 cups of coffee throughout the morning experience a 32 percent increase in stress hormone levels and a 3-point spike in blood pressure on average throughout the day. Over time, this elevated arousal can cause heart problems and weaken your immune system. If you think coffee is leaving you drowsy in the afternoon, drink white tea instead. Steep two or three teaspoons of loose leaves in a cotton teabag for a few minutes before drinking. "The scent and flavor energizes the body, and its high levels of antioxidants and vitamin C protect your immune system," Davis says. White tea does contain some caffeine—but only about 15 mg per serving, compared with about 80 mg in one cup of joe.

Burn Fat Faster with Yoga

2010-07-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

Learn which type of yoga fits into your weight-loss plan

AMANDA JUNKER

Most traditional forms of yoga burn just a modest 200 calories or so per hour. Before you drop-kick your mat in disgust, consider intensifying your workout to lose those last few pounds. Mix in some cardio sessions or try a more intense yoga class. Below, see how various yoga styles measure up in terms of caloric burn. All numbers are estimates, based on a 140-pound woman.

Hatha yoga
The routine: "Hatha yoga" traditionally refers to any physical practice of yoga. That is to say that Bikram, Iyengar, and kundalini are all various styles of hatha yoga. However, classes in the U.S. described simply as "hatha yoga" usually refer to a gentle form of yoga that focuses on basic postures and breathing techniques.
The burn: 175 calories per hour
Same as: A slow walk

Power yoga
The routine: It's an Americanized version of ashtanga yoga, similar to vinyasa.
The burn: 300 calories per hour
Same as: A brisk walk

Vinyasa yoga
The routine: More intense than hatha, the poses are linked together in a fast, flowing sequence.
The burn: 445 calories per hour
Same as: An hour of moderate bike riding

Bikram and hot yoga
The routine: Bikram classes are comprised of 26 postures, each performed twice, in a studio heated to over 100 degrees.
The burn: 636 calories per hour
Same as: An hour of jogging

Abs Exercises: Yoga And Pilates

2010-07-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

This two-pronged hard-and-fast fitness workout help you build six pack abs

Carnitas or fish tacos? Choices are hard—especially if hard is how you want your abs. And while there's no doubt that yoga has some serious abs strengtheners in its arsenal, we have to concede that Pilates picks up the point for variety and depth in the core category.
Fret no longer, ab-envying yoginis.You can now have your six pack abs and eat up your sweet savasana, too. "One time I went to a yoga session after Pilates—and everything was so much easier," says Jonathan Urla, instructor at The Sports Club/LA in New York City. "That's when a lightbulb went off in my head. I needed to put the two together."

Yogilates is not your average watered-down combo class. Urla's signature workout uses more than just the key ingredients of each practice and actually fuses the two. Devotees develop hard-core abs, thanks to Pilates, in addition to the supreme posture and balance benefits of yoga. Learn the basics and explore the benefits with this three-move ab routine for newbies.

Abs Exercises: Yoga And Pilates

This two-pronged hard-and-fast fitness workout help you build six pack abs

Three Great Yogilates Moves for Your Abs

1. Hammock
Targets abdominals as well as glutes, arms, chest, and shoulders
a) Sit tall with your legs bent and feet flat on the floor; place your hands on the floor behind you at about a 45-degree angle; lean back.
b) Keeping your arms straight, inhale as you lift your hips until the front of your body—knees to shoulders—is in one straight line.

c) Lower your hips to the floor, straightening your legs out in front of you as you come down to a seated position.
d) Place your hands next to your thighs and lean forward, pulling your abs in toward your spine.
e) Then push down through your hands to lift your hips off the floor. Hold here.

Once you're strong and comfortable enough with the parts of this move, connect them so they flow one into the other with your breath. It should go something like this: Lift into your bent-legged table top plank (as shown above) or into a straight-legged reverse plank, lower your hips toward the floor without touching it. Then immediately push your hips through and past your straight arms as though you were sitting on a swing and someone were pulling you back. Bring your hips back, lower them to the floor, and relax.
Repeat 5 to 10 times.

Abs Exercises: Yoga And Pilates

This two-pronged hard-and-fast fitness workout help you build six pack abs

2. Double leg stretch
Strengthens and tones the abs
a) Lie on the floor, bend and hold onto your knees, and curl your shoulders up off the floor.

b) Keeping your hips down and your lower back pressed into your mat, extend your legs up and out at a 45 degree angle to the floor as you reach your arms straight up (biceps near ears) forming a wide "U" shape with your body.
c) Hold this position, pressing your ribs down toward the floor.

d) Use your abs to bring your legs and arms back to starting position with your knees bent.
Repeat 5 to 10 times.

Abs Exercises: Yoga And Pilates

This two-pronged hard-and-fast fitness workout help you build six pack abs

3. Side twists
Works all ab muscles, in particular the obliques
a) Lie on your back with arms extended out at your sides, knees bent, and feet flat on the floor. Lift your bent legs to form a right angle with your torso.
b) Keeping both legs together and both your shoulders pressing into the floor, twist and drop your legs to the left until they're halfway or nearly touching the floor.

c) Bring your knees back to center and twist and drop them to the right side without bringing them to the floor. Return to center.
Repeat 3 to 5 times per side.

11 Reasons Men Love Women

2010-07-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Ture Lillegraven

You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hide the moisturizer.

Your sweaty post-gym rawness

You think you're most desirable when you're all dolled up and looking as elegant as a champagne flute. No.

It's at six o'clock on a weekday, when you're just back from the gym in an old gray tank top and a sports bra, devoid of makeup and perfume--when you are nothing but raw, glistening, briny womanness. "Ewww," you say, "I'm so gross!" We so beg to differ.

When you cross-dress

Why does the sight of you gliding by in one of our shirts or our boxers bring us such crazy-wild happiness? Maybe it's some primal, chimplike possessiveness, as in: She's mine.

Well, so what? We monkeys can't help it--we're thrilled that you're ours.

Your awkward high school photos

"Oh my God!" you say, snatching the snapshot from our hand. "Don't look at that!"

But here's what you don't know: No matter how frizzy the hair, no matter how gangly the limbs or how beglittered with braces the smile, we're fairly certain you wouldn't have talked to us back in high school anyway.

Your taste in movies

Just kidding. Sorry--it sucks.

Your way with kids

Here's the thing: We don't know where this young relationship is going, right? And nothing freaks us out more than when you start naming our future children.

But when we see your warmth and ease around kids, when we notice your unspoken uplift in their presence, it's hard not to smile and think, "Maybe."

Your spaghetti and meatballs

We dig those candlelit dinners and all your impressive kitchen acrobatics. But you know what's just as good? When you dig out your mama's spaghetti recipe and uncork some eight-dollar Chianti and we eat together on the patio or the couch, idly riffing about our day.

There's infinite bliss in simple moments.

Your beauty stash

Sure, we scoff mightily at all your high-tech moisturizers, your microdermabrasion cleansers and inscrutable creams. In public.

But alone in your bathroom, we Barbasol-and-Ivory men make full sneaky use of your mystical chemistry set.

Your patience with our family

Uncle Schnozzie is making comments about your "rump," and Aunt Franny is pushing another ham-salad-covered Triscuit toward your lips while niece Harmony is hissing "Meat is murder!" in your ear; you're also pretty sure weird little cousin Sluggo has been spying on you while you pee.

All this and you still want to have sex with us. It boggles the mind.

When you clean your plate

The only thing sexier than a beautiful woman tearing into a medium-rare ribeye is her saying halfway through, "I can't stop eating this--it's way too good."

A passion for great food suggests a freewheeling and insatiable appetite for all of life's sensual pleasures.

That look

You know the one. That look that clues us in as to where the night's headed.

It's subtle and sly enough to be offered across a crowded dinner table but lascivious and powerful enough to buckle our poor knees. Don't underestimate it.

Your badass self-reliance

When on a camping trip you've gathered the wood and lit the campfire while we're still wrestling with the tent. Or when you fix your own crashed computer, or take a wrench to a leaky tub faucet.

When you show you don't need us, it's that much more gratifying that you want us.

6 Tips For Amazing Sex

2010-07-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

The body parts that receive the most attention in bed are the genitals—and for good reason. But one of your most potent sex organs covers you from head to toe: your skin. With a surface area of about 15 feet (give or take a few inches), your flesh is packed with sensitive nerve receptors, making it a major pleasure-inducing player. It flushes when you meet a hot guy, tingles when he touches you, and after just a few strokes, gets things stirring below deck.

Aside from the obvious benefits of sensual touch, there's an emotional component as well. "Skin-to-skin contact stimulates the production of the bonding hormone oxytocin and releases endorphins, which can enhance your feelings for someone," says Yvonne K. Fulbright, Ph.D., author of The Better Sex Guide to Extraordinary Lovemaking.

What's more, total-body exploration can actually boost your lust for each other. According to Debby Herbenick, Ph.D., sex educator at the Kinsey Institute, stimulating each other's skin increases sweat production, releasing natural scents that subconsciously draw you together. Here's how to make the most of skin-to-skin contact.

Enjoy Some Face Time

If you've ever had a luxurious spa facial, you know that gentle face stimulation can be almost as satisfying as a full-body treatment. The nose, eyelids, and lips are among the most sensitive spots on the body because they are thin-skinned and boast a higher concentration of nerves.

So treat each other to some soothing face strokes. Sit cross-legged while he lies on his back with his head on your lap. With your index and middle fingers, trace a firm line from his forehead, down his temples, and along his jaw, bringing your fingers together at his chin. Next, make small concentric circles over the apples of his cheeks and around his eyes, gently grazing his lids. Finally, take the pad of your index finger and run it over his lips. You'll stimulate his delicate flesh, boosting blood flow and sensitivity.

Strip Each Other Down

Disrobing is a requisite part of foreplay, but it's also an opportunity to engage in tactile touch. Take turns sliding off each other's clothes slowly and deliberately. "As the garments fall from your body, you'll feel a grazing, tickling sensation, exciting the nerve endings in a new way," says Patti Britton, Ph.D., author of The Art of Sex Coaching. "The feel of air on your bare skin and the material sliding off your body will give you a sensory rush, and of course you'll feel more intimate from being naked together."

Lighten Up

A deep, relaxing precoital massage is nice and all, but for something novel, explore barely there touch. A study published in the journalNature Neuroscience says that when hairy sections of skin are slowly stroked, the movement stimulates the C-tactile nerves, a set of specific pleasure fibers.

Run your fingers up and down each other's arms and along the napes of your necks. (Avoid the genitals for now. As you become more aroused, that area needs firmer stimulation, so a light, ticklish touch can feel uncomfortable.) These soft caresses have a mutually beneficial side effect, says Barbara Keesling, Ph.D., author of The Good Girl's Guide to Bad Girl Sex. For both the giver and the receiver, light touching activates the parasympathetic nervous system, inducing a relaxed state.

Shock Your Senses

Pump up the pleasure factor by closing your eyes while he caresses you from head to toe. "When you shut off one sense, such as sight, your sense of touch goes crazy trying to compensate," says Sandor Gardos, Ph.D., founder of MyPleasure.com. Plus, when you can't see what will happen next, the anticipation will awaken your nerves, making your skin respond more intensely to physical contact." So kill the lights during foreplay or tie on blindfolds for an erotic experience.

Explore the Almost-Zones

How does your brain get the memo that sex is on the menu? "Particular areas of skin have specific receptors that transmit messages to the brain's sexual centers," says Sandra L. Blanton, Ph.D., a board-certified sex therapist in Florida. "Because touch is registered in the sexual center of the brain, it relays a message to the genitals to prepare for intercourse."

While the genitals, nipples, and butt are go-to erogenous zones, areas such as the inner thighs, the small of the back, and under the belly button are super-responsive because of their proximity to the private parts. "The skin here is thin and sensitive, and when you are teasing that close to the genitals without actually touching them, you build anticipation, which amplifies your touch," Fulbright says. So lick your way down from his navel to his pubic bone. Then, just when you're almost at his goods, veer off and create a new path over his hip bone and along the crease of his thigh. Finally, gently suck the skin on his inner thigh; the flesh here responds to a stronger sucking motion, and the wetness will hint at other forms of oral play.

Feel a Little Pain

Sure, you cry out when getting a bikini wax. But during sex, a tiny bit of pain can feel surprisingly erotic. "As you become more aroused, your body releases endorphins that act as a natural pain reliever," says Ian Kerner, Ph.D., author of Passionista. "Plus, firmer touch causes blood to rush to those areas, heightening the response of your skin receptors." In other words, light spanking will actually feel good. Plus, the element of surprise will make it more exciting. So as you're gently tracing your fingers down his back, give him a little scratch with your fingernails or lightly pinch his sides. He'll finally know what it means to "hurt so good."

The Better Sex Diet

2010-07-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

If you had to choose between eating a rich piece of chocolate cake and having mind-blowing sex, which would you pick?

If you're finding it a tough call, here's why: Food and sex are two of the strongest and most closely linked human desires. "The satisfaction from eating a delicious meal and the satisfaction from having sex both activate pleasure receptors in the brain," says Audrey T. Cross, Ph. D., formerly a professor of nutrition at Columbia University's School of Public Health. "This explains why humans often associate eating with sex."

And while the notion of aphrodisiacs is largely unfounded, there are certain foods that can energize you, trigger your libido, and give you stronger orgasms. Eat these 11 foods regularly for a boost in the bedroom.

Share a dark chocolate dessert

Of course, the act of devouring something gooey and decadent is incredibly sensual. But there's an even sweeter side to chocolate: According to research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, a compound in dark chocolate called phenylethylamine releases the same endorphins triggered by sex and increases the feelings of attraction between two people. And indulging could pay off in bed: The Journal of Sexual Medicine reports that those who consume at least one cube of dark chocolate daily experience greater desire and better overall sexual function than those who don't partake.

Add a carnal condiment
A spicy meal can spice up your romance. Sauces, sides, and dressings made from chili peppers (such as hot sauce or salsa) contain the chemical capsaicin, whose effects mirror the signs of arousal (sweating, tingles, rapid heart rate, and flushed cheeks). And, according to WH advisor Yvonne K. Fulbright, Ph. D., people tend to credit their date with evoking those spine-tingling feelings.

Munch on a banana
Got pre-date jitters? Eat a banana a few hours before your rendezvous. This yellow superfruit helps release serotonin (the happy chemical) into your bloodstream, lifting your mood and calming your nervous system. And they have a sexy side effect: "Bananas contain potassium, a mineral that increases muscle strength, an element crucial to orgasm," says Lou Paget, author of The Great Lover Playbook.
Nibble on asparagus

It can make your pee smell funky (so not sexy), but this vegetable is bursting with folate, a B vitamin that increases blood levels of histamine, a neurotransmitter that helps you orgasm. "Asparagus also contains the plant chemical protodioscin, which has been shown to boost arousal and even help combat erectile dysfunction in some men," says Lynn Edlen-Nezin, Ph. D., coauthor of Great Food, Great Sex.

Serve filet mignon

"Lean cuts of red meat are great sources of zinc, a mineral that curbs production of a hormone called prolactin, which at high levels can cause sexual dysfunction," says Jennifer Berman, M. D., director of the Berman Women's Wellness Center in Los Angeles. Choose deep red cuts with round or loin in the name. These types are the leanest.

Split a pizza

Cheese contains magnesium, a mineral your muscles need in order to contract (spasm) during orgasm, according to Edlen-Nezin. Add healthy toppings like mushrooms and broccoli—both of these vegetables contain vitamin A, which regulates progesterone, a steroid hormone that helps flip on your sex drive. And don't be surprised if he feels a surge of desire too—studies show the scent of cheese (any type) increases blood circulation to his nether regions by 5 percent.

Have Super Sex All Month Long

2010-07-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Why you have sex, how often you orgasm, and how wild you're tempted to get in bed all depend in part on where you are in your menstrual cycle. "When women hear the word menstrual, they tend to think of cramps and discomfort," says Gina Ogden, Ph.D., author of The Return of Desire. "But the hormones that influence your cycle—estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone—fluctuate each day and affect your sexual behavior in dramatic ways."

And although every woman is different, knowing what changes your body is going through can help you plan for a month of unbelievable super sex.

Day 1

Take control during sex
On the first day of your period you'll feel extroverted and bold, thanks to a rise in the feel-good hormones oxytocin, testosterone, and estrogen. Your libido should be amped, too, so aim for all the pleasure you can. Woman-on-top is ideal because your clitoris is extra sensitive and you can control the depth and angle while he lies back and enjoys the view. If things get messy, throw a towel on the bed or take a shower before you get busy.

Day 2

Indulge in slow, sensual sex
You're feeling good, because estrogen and testosterone continue to rise today. "Estrogen magnifies the five senses, so kisses feel more intense and your man looks more attractive to you, making sex a total mind-body experience," says Gabrielle Lichterman, author of 28 Days. Light some candles, play slow tunes, and satisfy each other from head to toe.

Day 3

Pamper him
"A surge in testosterone boosts your confidence in your union and makes any annoying habits your partner may have seem less grating," Lichterman says. (His snoring may not become cute, but you get the idea.) So treat him to a spine-tingling massage. There's no doubt he'll return the favor.

Day 4

Think outside the box
Your right brain is famous for giving you creative ideas, and today tiny levels of rising estrogen and testosterone boost the odds you'll use this side of your mind. "You're apt to feel more imaginative when it comes to brainstorming or making decisions," Lichterman says. Your creativity will spill into the bedroom, too. Check out womenshealthmag.com/sexpositionand road test some hot new carnal contortions.

Day 5

Get competitive
"Your right brain may have been in charge yesterday, but today estrogen and testosterone will increase even more, shifting the power to your analytical left brain," Lichterman says. Testosterone also makes you competitive. Use that bold streak to challenge him to a naughty game, such as strip poker. If you win, so does your libido: According to a study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, conquering a guy elevates your testosterone levels by 49 percent, making you even more amorous.

Day 6

Bond with your guy
By now, you should be feeling calm, rational, and remarkably clear-headed. "Estrogen gets another boost, making you social and articulate," says Jed Diamond, Ph.D., author of The Irritable Male Syndrome. So take advantage of your way with words and tell your guy exactly why you love him. He'll eat it up.

Day 7

Sync up your sex drives
You're still chatty due to elevated estrogen levels, and as an added perk, "your energy will skyrocket," Lichterman says. Since guys are often raring to go in the morning (their testosterone levels peak in the a.m.), take advantage of your extra adrenaline and hop in the shower

Lubricant Tips For Hotter Sex

2010-07-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

Once surreptitiously stashed in bedside-table drawers, only to be brought out during those drier-than- Chardonnay sex sessions, lube is emerging from the shadows and taking center stage. "Women used to be embarrassed about buying lubricant, because they felt it meant they couldn't get aroused on their own. But now couples use it to enhance the great sex they're already having," says Linda Banner, Ph.D., a sex and marital therapist in San Jose, California. "Not only does lube let both partners move more rhythmically and easily but it also helps conduct sensations, which increases the odds of climax." Follow these tips to reach new heights of pleasure.

Break For Hot Sex

2010-07-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

When you feel a strong connection with someone, it's tempting to just go at it. But taking time to savor the experience has a big pleasure payoff.
ELISE NERSESIAN

When you feel a strong sexual connection with someone, it's tempting to tear off his clothes and go at it. But taking time to savor the experience has a big pleasure payoff. "When you engage your body and mind in bed, you'll feel more relaxed, connected to your partner, and aroused—all of which result in better sex," says Logan Levkoff, Ph.D., a certified sexuality educator. "Plus, taking things slowly will stave off your orgasm so that when you finally do peak, it will feel more explosive." Here, tips that will help you extend the act.

Before Sex
In the morning, start getting primed by shooting him a sexy text or sending an e-mail to his personal account: "What are you going to do to me later?" or "I can't wait to get you out of your work clothes." (Just make sure you don't write anything too graphic—you never know who might end up reading it.) According to Ian Kerner, Ph.D., author of She Comes First, "The act of writing stimulates the imagination in ways that other sensory media does not. Writing compels you to fill in the blanks and create your own visuals. The combination of the writer's words and the receiver's interpretation is actually a form of sex in and of itself." Plus, telling him what you're planning to do to him that evening will keep you on his mind all day long.

To become aroused, you need to switch off your amygdala, the portion of your brain that controls fear and anxiety. About an hour before you plan to get busy, draw yourself a steamy bath to calm your mind and awaken your nerve endings; the hot temperature of the water will bring blood to your skin's surface, making your whole body more sensitive to touch. Lather up with some cucumber-scented soap (research says this aroma can be a turn-on), then queue up your favorite music. A study found that listening to familiar tunes lowers anxiety and blood pressure. "The emotional response people have to listening to music they know by heart triggers a deep, relaxing physiological response," says George Stefano, lead study author and director of the NeuroScience Research Institute at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury

During Sex
Start things off with sensate touch—a series of exercises designed to increase trust and arousal without touching each other's genitals. "The goal of it is to relax and build intimacy," says licensed psychologist and sex therapist Arlene Goldman, Ph.D., coauthor of Secrets of Sexual Ecstasy. She suggests stripping down, then taking 10-minute turns playing giver and receiver, applying stimulation everywhere but the genitals. Don't focus so much on how your touch makes him feel, but rather on how you feel touching him. Slowly stroke his pecs and arms, kiss around his groin, and run your fingers through his hair. When it's his turn to touch you, ask him to lick your inner thighs, rub your lower back and feet, and kiss your neck.

Foreplay is an important part of slow sex. Problem is, couples often motor through it. Prolong it by stopping in the middle to make out, share a sexual fantasy, or exchange massages. Another option: Take a break to give each other oral until you both climax—and then start up again.

Ready for intercourse? Choose a position that encourages you to stare into each other's eyes, such as missionary or girl on top, with him sitting up and facing you. "Positions that give you a full view of each other's naked bodies can build arousal too quickly, while ones that lend themselves to eye contact increase intimacy and tend to build arousal more gradually," says Levkoff. Start moving slowly in random, circular patterns—it will feel good for both of you without building that steady momentum that leads to immediate orgasm.

After Sex
"The time after sex is just as important as foreplay," says Goldman. "It's like eating dessert after a fabulous dinner." Lie still for a few minutes while he stays inside you, focus on the sound of your heartbeats and breathing, and feel the sweat trickling down your bodies. "Staying physically connected like this will keep you both feeling bonded," she says.

Then try a little dirty talk. "Speaking intimately can be a wonderful way to stay connected and prolong the sexual experience, because the dialogue almost puts you into a sexual trance," says psychotherapist Tina B. Tessina, Ph.D. Asking specific questions (e.g., "Did you like it when I did X to you?" or "Is your body still tingling too?") helps you stay in the moment more than open-ended questions, which let your mind wander.

If you're yearning for another go-around, tempt him with a little self-stimulation. "By letting him know you're ready for sex again, you'll not only boost his ego but also keep him in a heightened state of arousal," says Kerner. "Since a man's main goal is to keep his partner turned on and sexually satisfied, seeing her all charged up will likely have the same effect on him."

The Truth About Protein

2010-07-22T10:52:00.001-07:00

If you are what you eat, what does that make a vegan? A string-bean, milquetoast kind of a guy? Of course not—and renowned strength coach Robert dos Remedios, a vegan, is strong evidence to the contrary. Really strong.

But most men eat animal products. And we really do become what we eat. Our skin, bones, hair, and nails are composed mostly of protein. Plus, animal products fuel the muscle-growing process called protein synthesis. That's why Rocky chugged eggs before his a.m. runs. Since those days, nutrition scientists have done plenty of research. Read up before you chow down.

You Need More

Think big. Most adults would benefit from eating more than the recommended daily intake of 56 grams, says Donald Layman, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of Illinois. The benefit goes beyond muscles, he says: Protein dulls hunger and can help prevent obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

How much do you need? Step on a scale and be honest with yourself about your workout regimen. According to Mark Tarnopolsky, M.D., Ph.D., who studies exercise and nutrition at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, highly trained athletes thrive on 0.77 gram of daily protein per pound of body weight. That's 139 grams for a 180-pound man.

Men who work out 5 or more days a week for an hour or longer need 0.55 gram per pound. And men who work out 3 to 5 days a week for 45 minutes to an hour need 0.45 gram per pound. So a 180-pound guy who works out regularly needs about 80 grams of protein a day.

Now, if you're trying to lose weight, protein is still crucial. The fewer calories you consume, the more calories should come from protein, says Layman. You need to boost your protein intake to between 0.45 and 0.68 gram per pound to preserve calorie-burning muscle mass.

And no, that extra protein won't wreck your kidneys: "Taking in more than the recommended dose won't confer more benefit. It won't hurt you, but you'll just burn it off as extra energy," Dr. Tarnopolsky says.

It's Not All the Same

Many foods, including nuts and beans, can provide a good dose of protein. But the best sources are dairy products, eggs, meat, and fish, Layman says. Animal protein is complete—it contains the right proportions of the essential amino acids your body can't synthesize on its own.

It's possible to build complete protein from plant-based foods by combining legumes, nuts, and grains at one meal or over the course of a day. But you'll need to consume 20 to 25 percent more plant-based protein to reap the benefits that animal-derived sources provide, says Dr. Tarnopolsky. And beans and legumes have carbs that make it harder to lose weight.

So if protein can help keep weight off, is a chicken wing dipped in blue-cheese dressing a diet secret? Not quite: Total calories still count. Scale down your fat and carbohydrate intake to make room for lean protein: eggs, low-fat milk, yogurt, lean meat, and fish.

But remember, if you're struggling with your weight, fat itself is not the culprit; carbs are the likely problem. Fat will help keep you full, while carbs can put you on a blood-sugar roller coaster that leaves you hungry later.

Timing is Everything

"At any given moment, even at rest, your body is breaking down and building protein," says Jeffrey Volek, Ph.D., R.D., a nutrition and exercise researcher at the University of Connecticut. Every time you eat at least 30 grams of protein, Layman says, you trigger a burst of protein synthesis that lasts about 3 hours.

But think about it: When do you eat most of your protein? At dinner, right? That means you could be fueling muscle growth for only a few hours a day, and breaking down muscle the rest of the time, Layman says. Instead, you should spread out your protein intake.

Your body can process only so much protein in a single sitting. A recent study from the University of Texas found that consuming 90 grams of protein at one meal provides the same benefit as eating 30 grams. It's like a gas tank, says study author Douglas Paddon-Jones, Ph.D.: "There's only so much you can put in to maximize performance; the rest is spillover."

Eating protein at all three meals—plus snacking two or three times a day on proteins such as cheese, jerky, and milk—will help you eat less overall. People who start the day with a protein-rich breakfast consume 200 fewer calories a day than those who chow down on a carb-heavy breakfast, like a jam-smeared bagel. Ending the day with a steak dinner doesn't have the same appetite-quenching effect, Layman says.

Workouts Require Fuel

Every guy in the gym knows he should consume some protein after a workout. But how much, and when? "When you work out, your muscles are primed to respond to protein," Volek says, "and you have a window of opportunity to promote muscle growth."

Volek recommends splitting your dose of protein, eating half 30 minutes before the workout and the other half 30 minutes after. A total of 10 to 20 grams of protein is ideal, he says. And wrap a piece of bread around that turkey, because carbs can raise insulin; this slows protein breakdown, which speeds muscle growth after your workout. Moreover, you won't use your stored protein for energy; you'll rely instead on the carbs to replenish you.

One study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, pinpointed 20 grams as the best amount of postworkout protein to maximize muscle growth. (See 5 Perfect Protein-Packed Gym Snacks.)

You're doing this because resistance exercise breaks down muscle. This requires a fresh infusion of amino acids to repair and build it. "If you're lifting weights and you don't consume protein, it's almost counterproductive," says Volek. Protein also helps build enzymes that allow your body to adapt to endurance sports like running and biking.

Powders are for Everyone

Everyone—not just muscleheads—can benefit from the quick hit of amino acids provided by a protein supplement, bar, or shake. Your best bet is a fast-absorbing, high-quality kind like whey protein powder (derived from milk): "It appears in your bloodstream 15 minutes after you consume it," Volek says.

Whey protein is also the best source of leucine, an amino acid that behaves more like a hormone in your body: "It's more than a building block of protein—it actually activates protein synthesis," Volek says. Whey contains 10 percent leucine while other animal-based proteins have as little as 5 percent.

Casein, another milk protein sold in supplement form, provides a slower-absorbing but more sustained source of amino acids, making it a great choice for a snack before you hit the sack. "Casein should help you maintain a positive protein balance during the night," says Volek. Building muscle while you sleep? Thanks to protein, anything's possible.

5 Myths About Antioxidants

2010-07-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

It's billed as an epic story of good versus evil—biology in comic-book form. The villains: free radicals, those nefarious DNA-attacking poisons of modern life. Our fearless defenders: antioxidants, poised to protect us from—well, everything, right? You've heard the claims:

They cure cancer!

They prevent aging!

They supercharge your immune system!

But while we think we know what antioxidants do, few of us know what antioxidants actually are. And food manufacturers are fine with that; the less you know, the more likely you are to swallow the hype. "Antioxidants have a health aura around them," says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. "They are supposed to fight something bad in your body. Who wouldn't want to consume more of a helper like that?"

There's no doubt that antioxidants can be good for you. But to maximize their benefit, we first have to strip away some assumptions.

Free Radicals Must Be Destroyed

Not so fast.

The basics: Antioxidants fight free radicals, which are unstable molecules in the body that can cause DNA mutation. Even though free radicals have been linked to serious conditions like heart disease, Parkinson's, and cancer, they aren't necessarily villains--they're by-products of a basic metabolic process called oxidation. "They're absolutely essential to life," says Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., director of the antioxidants lab at Tufts University. "For example, immune cells will shoot free radicals onto invading bacteria in order to kill them. They're an important part of the body's defenses."

Too many free radicals, on the other hand, are harmful. Pollutants, cigarette smoke, and sun overexposure can generate so many free radicals that your normal antioxidant defenses become overwhelmed, leaving you vulnerable to cell damage and disease. Some researchers also link free-radical oxidation with aging.

That's where antioxidants come in. "We need to make sure we have adequate antioxidant defenses to combat all the excess free radicals," says Blumberg.

Do this: Assuming you've curbed bad habits such as smoking and excessive tanning, turn to your diet. If you eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, your diet is naturally rich in thousands of antioxidants. Studies suggest eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to reap the most health benefits.

All Antioxidants Are Created Equal

Not even close.

Any molecule that protects your cells against oxidation is technically an antioxidant, says Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. "They're anti-oxidation." This includes familiar nutrients, like vitamins, as well as more unfamiliar types of antioxidants, like flavonoids and polyphenols—about 8,000 varieties in all.

But don't assume that all antioxidants operate the same way, Blumberg warns. "You can't say, 'Well, I'm not going to worry about taking in enough vitamin E, because I take lots of vitamin C.' All the vitamin C in the world won't substitute for vitamin E," says Blumberg. Some antioxidants excel at fighting certain types of free radicals (yep, there are different varieties of those, too) while others are effective only in specific parts of a cell. Still others can battle free radicals only under the right conditions.

"Think of antioxidants as an army," he says. "You need generals, lieutenants, corporals, privates, and others with specific duties. You can't fight an enemy with only generals." So how do you create an effective defense system in the battle for your life? By building a multipronged counteroffensive—er, diet.

Do this: Branch out and try something new in the produce aisle. In a 2006 study, researchers at Colorado State University found that people who ate the widest variety of fruits and vegetables had the most DNA protection.

All Antioxidants Come from Fruits and Vegetables

Nope.

The entire plant kingdom—including beans, nuts, seeds, and grains—is awash in antioxidants, according to a recent study from the University of Scranton. That's because all plants produce antioxidants to fight against predators and UV rays, says Vinson. It's important to steer clear of refined grains, though; they've been stripped of most of their antioxidant benefits.

Even meat, dairy products, and eggs contain some antioxidants, which mainly come from the nutrient-rich plants the animals fed on.

Do this: Eat whole-grain foods, beans, nuts, and seeds regularly. When animals are on the menu, make sure they've been grass-fed; meat and dairy products from these better-fed beasts have been shown to contain higher levels of antioxidants. Eggs from pastured hens also rank higher in antioxidants—look for them at farmers' markets.

Antioxidant-Fortified Foods Are Healthier

Not really.

The ink was barely dry on early antioxidant studies when food companies started slapping the A-word on their packaging. You can even chug an antioxidant-fortified version of Cherry 7UP. The FDA requires food manufacturers to list the variety of antioxidant in a product; that part is often in fine print. Look closely, and the label reveals that you're receiving a tiny helping of vitamin E. Perhaps "Cherry 7UP Vitamin E" didn't sound as impressive.

If you're relying on processed foods to supplement your antioxidant intake, you may be surprised to find that many processed foods have relatively small amounts of just one or two kinds. Since variety is critical, you probably aren't making up for lost ground.

Do this: Ignore the hype—there's no research to prove that packaged products provide the same health benefits that whole foods do. Instead, focus on the ingredient list. If a food product contains mostly plant foods, it's likely to be rich in antioxidants.

If I Exercise and Take Supplements, I'll Be Superfit

Maybe not.

Working out leads to more oxidation and an increase in free radicals. That's not a bad thing. "Since free-radical production is a normal response to exercise, taking a large dose of antioxidants right after a workout could interfere with the natural, beneficial response to exercise," says nutritionist Alan Aragon, M.S., a Men's Health weight-loss expert. The logic is unexpected but clear: Scientists speculate that the oxidative stress triggered by exercise promotes insulin sensitivity and weight loss, and possibly reduces your risk of diabetes.

Case in point: A 2009 German study found that when exercisers took antioxidant supplements (vitamins C and E), they weren't rewarded with the typical postexercise boost in insulin sensitivity. So much for that well-intentioned antioxidant-fortified recovery drink. Michael Ristow, M.D., an author of the study and chairman of the department of human nutrition at the University of Jena, Germany, speculates that other antioxidant supplements might have similar negative effects, though more study is needed.

Supplements can even sap your power: A 2006 British study found that runners who took 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily for a week lost muscle strength.

Do this: If you're exercising to lose weight, your antioxidants should come from whole foods, not from supplements or antioxidant-enhanced food products. When it comes to antioxidants, more isn't always better.

How Antioxidants Work

Normal cellular processes—as well as stressors like cigarette smoke and sunburn—trigger your body to produce excessive amounts of cell-damaging molecules called free radicals. Here's how antioxidants can come to the defense.

1. When a molecule loses an electron, it becomes a reactive free radical with an extra, unpaired electron.

2. The free radical tries to steal an electron from a nearby molecule to regain balance.

3. This can create another free radical, causing a chain reaction that can damage cell components, including DNA. This can lead to possible health problems ranging from a weakened immune system to cancer.

4. An antioxidant molecule can neutralize a free radical by giving up one of its own electrons. Unlike a free radical, it's able to maintain stability by redistributing its electrons.

Best Summer bodies

2010-07-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

channing tatum

daniel craig

dwight howard

dwyane wade

hugh jackman

jason statham

josh duhamel

kellan lutz

kelly slater

ll cool j

mario lopez

paul walker

ryan kwanten

ryan philippe

taylor lautner

zac effron

Facebook Can Hurt Divorce Cases

2010-07-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

By Carolyn Kylstra

"Going through a separation or divorce? Then you’d better separate from your social media accounts.

Eighty-one percent of the country’s top divorce attorneys say they’ve seen an increase in the number of cases that have used social networking interactions as evidence, according to a recent survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The most popular online divorce evidence comes from Facebook—66 percent cite it as the primary source, followed by MySpace (15 percent) and Twitter (5 percent).

Alan Plevy, a family law attorney at the firm SmolenPlevy in Vienna, Virginia, says most of his clients have at least one of these three accounts—and he’s seen the impact they have had firsthand.

“For some reason or another, people seem to think that these sites are private,” he says. “And then they do things on those sites that tend to get them in trouble.”

These include: Posting pictures of a recent trip to Cancun, when they’ve claimed poverty to avoid paying child support. Or writing sexual messages on other women’s walls, proving that they’d been unfaithful.

Plevy recounts a recent story of what happened when one such woman received a phone call from her concerned mother-in-law. The mother-in-law noticed that her son had changed his relationship status from “Married” to “Single,” and left updates about how he was ready to party. But this was the first that the woman had heard of her husband’s newfound “singledom”—now she’s Plevy’s client.

“She and her husband were having issues, and had talked about possibly separating, but he took it to the next level without her knowledge,” Plevy says.

He and his colleagues recommend that anyone going through a divorce should deactivate all social media accounts, unless they’re used for strictly professional purposes.“Remember that anybody can access this information,” he says.Need more convincing? Here’s the kicker: Even if you personally don’t post anything salacious on your wall, other people in your life might not show the same restraint.“Say you’re going through a divorce, and you say that you’re in a relationship with a new person,” Plevy says. “We can then access that person’s account, and learn even more about your behavior from him or her.”

7 Strategies to Satisfy Hunger and Lose Weight

2010-07-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Recently, Cornell University researchers asked a group of people a simple question: "How do you know when you're through eating dinner?"

The answer might seem obvious. After all, doesn't everyone push the plate away when they feel full? Well, no. The leanest people do, according to the scientists, but people who are overweight rely more on what are known as "external cues." For example, guys packing a few extra pounds tend to stop eating when . . .

Their plates are clean.

Everyone else in their group is finished.

The TV show they're watching is over.

Unfortunately, these cues have nothing to do with how they feel physically. "People's brains are often out of touch with their bodies," says C. Peter Herman, Ph.D., a University of Toronto expert on appetite control. "And when eating becomes mindless, overeating becomes routine."

The key player in all of this appears to be a region of your brain called the left posterior amygdala, or LPA. This area monitors the volume of food in your stomach during a meal. Fill your gut to a comfortable level, and the LPA tells your brain to drop the fork. Trouble is, it delivers that information at dial-up speed in a DSL world. "Many men consume calories faster than their bodies can say, 'Stop!'" explains Herman. "So they look to external cues to guide their consumption."

The bottom line is this: To shrink your gut, you need to start listening to it. We've scoured the science and tapped the top experts to help you learn how to do just that. Use these seven simple strategies, and you'll fill up without filling out.

Sit Down to Snack

Turns out, the trappings of a formal meal make you think you're eating more than you actually are—and that may boost satiety levels. A 2006 Canadian study found that when people ate lunch while sitting at a set table, they consumed a third less at a later snack than those who ate their midday meals while standing at a counter.

Think of it as the Zen of eating: "If you treat every dining experience with greater respect, you'll be less likely to use your fork as a shovel," says sports nutritionist and behavioral psychotherapist Lisa Dorfman, M.S., R.D. "And that includes snacks as well as your three squares."

Turn Off the Tube

University of Massachusetts researchers found that people who watched TV during a meal consumed 288 more calories on average than those who didn't. The reason: What you're seeing on television distracts you, which keeps your brain from recognizing that you're full

Slow Down and Savor

"Pay close attention to those first three bites, which people usually wolf down due to excitement," says Jeffrey Greeson, Ph.D., a health psychologist at Duke Integrative Medicine. In fact, mimic a food critic: "Examine the food's texture, savor the flavors in your mouth, and then pay attention and feel the swallow," he says. "Psychologically, this form of meditative eating boosts satiety and promotes a sense of satisfaction for the entire meal."

While you're at it, try spicing up relatively bland fare, such as scrambled eggs, with hot sauce or smoked paprika. "Hot, flavorful foods help trigger your brain to realize you're eating," says Dorfman.

Take a Bite, Take a Breath

University of Rhode Island researchers discovered that consciously slowing down between bites decreases a person's calorie intake by 10 percent. "Breathing helps you gauge how hungry you are, since it directs your mind toward your body," says Greeson. "It's also quite practical, since you can do it throughout a meal and not draw attention to yourself in a social situation."

Don't Share Your Food

Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo observed that men who ate with a group of buddies downed 60 percent more calories than when they ate with a spouse or girlfriend. That's because people often match their intake of food to that of their dining partners.

Of course, you shouldn't have to sit home on guys' night out. Choose one reasonable entrée for yourself, and skip the communal foods—bread, nachos, wings, and pizza, for example—which encourage you to take your eating cues from pals.

Keep a Food Journal

It's an effective way to remind yourself how much you're eating over the course of a day. But it doesn't need to be complicated: University of Pittsburgh scientists found that dieters who simply wrote down the size of each meal (S, M, L, XL) were just as successful at losing weight as those who tracked specific foods and calorie counts.

One useful addition: Detail the motivation behind your eating habits. "Were you really hungry or just blowing off steam before bedtime? Recognizing that you weren't feeling true hunger reinforces the idea of listening to your body," says Dorfman.

Don't Trust the "Healthy" Menu

You're likely to underestimate your meal's calorie count by about 35 percent, according to a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. The best approach is to check the restaurant's nutrition guide before you order. A University of Mississippi study found that people consumed 54 percent fewer calories when they used this simple strategy.

15 Fired-Up Foods that Burn Away Pounds

2010-07-21T11:29:00.001-07:00

The shortcut to losing weight? Fast food. Not the kind the clown and the King try to shove down our throats, but rather, edible amphetamines-foods that act like speed for the fat-melting motor known as our metabolism. Eat these foods and you're guaranteed to burn more calories...just by sitting there and listening to yourself digest.

Only one catch: Like any good buzz, this boost is temporary. "The only way to alter your resting metabolism permanently is to gain or lose weight, or to build extra muscle," says Janet Walberg-Rankin, Ph.D., a professor of exercise physiology at Virginia Tech. But look at it this way: If you have a few of these supercharged snacks and drinks throughout the day, for enough days, you will lose weight.

And that's if you're doing nothing. Imagine if you were to stop listening to your stomach serenading you and actually begin exercising, too? The blubber-busting possibilities are endless. So grab a fork; it's time to add fuel to the fire.

Milk, Whole Grain Cereal, Oats

Secret Ingredients: Calcium, complex carbohydrates, and fiber

How they work: Complex carbohydrates and fiber pump up metabolism by keeping insulin levels low after you eat. That's good, because spikes in the production of insulin send a signal to the body that it's time to start storing fat. And in order to stockpile fat, your body has to slow down your metabolism, causing you to burn fewer calories, says Margaret McNurlan, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition and medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Since oatmeal breaks down slowly in the stomach, it causes less of a spike in insulin levels than foods like bagels, she says.

Besides helping to keep insulin production down, eating breakfast can also help stoke your daily calorie burn. When the U.S. Navy studied the metabolisms and eating habits of a group of its personnel, it found that eating breakfast helped raise the men's metabolisms by as much as 10 percent. "By skipping meals, you slow down your metabolism and prime your body to store fat," says McNurlan.

The calcium in milk is a metabolic trigger as well. A University of Tennessee study found that dieters who consumed between 1,200 and 1,300 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day lost nearly twice as much weight as dieters getting less calcium.

Jalapenos, Habaneros, Cayennes

Secret Ingredient: Capsaicin—the chemical in peppers that gives them their bite

How it works: By speeding up your heart rate.

A study from the late '80s found that eating a single spicy meal can boost your metabolism by up to 25 percent, with the spike in calorie burning lasting for up to 3 hours after you finish eating. More recently, a study from Laval University in Quebec found that men who consumed coffee plus red pepper-packed snacks and meals were able to burn nearly 1,000 more calories a day than a control group.

Small snacks can also help keep your body from running out of fuel-preventing those 3 p.m. office blahs. "When you restrict the number of calories your body has for fuel, your metabolic rate can drop temporarily," says Susan Roberts, Ph.D., chief of the energy-metabolism laboratory at Tufts University in Boston. That makes it easier to pack on the pounds and harder to burn them off again.

Green Tea, Coffee

Secret Ingredients: Caffeine and a chemical in the tea called EGCG

How they work: Caffeine helps speed up your heart rate. The faster your heart beats, the more calories you burn. EGCG works in a similar way, but instead of revving up your heart, it causes your brain and nervous system to run more quickly-again helping you burn more calories.

In studies, researchers found that a combination of caffeine and a 90-mg dose of EGCG taken three times a day can help you burn an extra 80 calories a day. And that's just when your body's at rest. A study conducted by the Canadian government found that soldiers who consumed caffeine in the 12 hours prior to a physical-fitness test not only were able to work out longer before becoming exhausted, but also consumed more oxygen while working out. The body's oxygen requirements are directly related to the speed of-guess what-your metabolism, so the more oxygen you use, the more calories you burn during your workout.

Lean Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey

Secret Ingredient: Protein

How it works: It takes more energy for your body to digest the protein in meat than it does for it to digest carbohydrates or fat, according to Doug Kalman, R.D., director of nutrition at Miami Research Associates, a nationally recognized pharmaceutical-research facility. "That means that the more protein you eat, the harder your body has to work to digest it, and the more calories you'll burn in the process," he says.

When researchers at Arizona State University compared the benefits of a high-protein diet with those of a high-carbohydrate diet, they found that people who ate a high-protein diet burned more than twice as many calories in the hours following their meal as those eating carbs. Even better, researchers in Denmark found that men who substituted protein for 20 percent of the carbs in their diets were able to boost their metabolisms, increasing the number of calories they burned each day by up to 5 percent.

Salmon, Tuna, Sardines

Secret Ingredient: Omega-3 fatty acids

How they work: By altering levels of a hormone called leptin in your body. Several recent studies suggest that leptin directly influences your metabolism, determining whether you burn calories or store them as fat.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that mice with low leptin levels have faster metabolisms and are able to burn fat more quickly than animals with higher leptin levels. The best way to lower your leptin? Eat fish.

Mayo Clinic researchers studying the diets of two African tribes-one of which frequently ate fish and one of which didn't-found that fish eaters had leptin levels nearly five times lower than the levels found in tribes that primarily ate vegetables.

The good news, if you don't like fish: Fish-oil supplements may work just as well as the stuff with scales. French researchers found that men who replaced 6 grams of fat in their diets with 6 grams of fish oil were able to boost their metabolisms and lose an average of 2 pounds in just 12 weeks.

10 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Without Starving

2010-07-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

You can stage a coup on calories without ruining your life or eating a single rice cake: Just follow this simple advice.

Way #1

Always Eat a Man's Breakfast

No more Lucky Charms--you want some protein and fat. Scrambled eggs and a few sausage links will keep you fuller longer than an airy doughnut will.

Way #2

Eat More!

We're talking three good snacks and three healthful meals. But what do you serve during the bowl game if you can't have chips and dip? Mixed nuts--especially almonds--will satisfy your craving for something crunchy while helping to build muscle.

Way #3

Just Say No to Starches

Foods like pasta, white bread, and potatoes make you fat. If you must have pasta, make yours whole-wheat. Same goes for bread, and swap white potatoes for sweet potatoes. Just don't eat too much!

Way #4

Lift Weights

Yes, you have to hit the gym, and no, lifting beer cans during happy hour doesn't count. The muscles you build will not only improve your performance, they'll stoke your metabolism so you burn calories long after your workout is over.

Way #5

Think Before You Eat

Don't just stuff your face with the stale cookies left over from the holidays, eat what tastes good and what's good for you. Take your time eating; you'll stay fuller longer.

Way #6

But Have Fun Once in a While--or Once a Week

Stifle those cravings for too long, and you'll be miserable and might fall off your new plan forever. Just splurge reasonably--two slices of pizza, not the whole thing.

Way #7

Go Low-Carb

It's the easiest way to drop weight fast. The cravings are hard at first, but it gets easier--especially when you see the results.

Way #8

Run Intervals

It's easier to alternate between hard and easy running instead of going for a long run--especially if you don't like running. Plus, you'll be done faster and burn more fat.

Way #9

Never, Ever Drink Sweetened Soda

But go ahead, have a glass of wine now and then. Low-carb beer is fine, too, in moderation.

Way #10

Don't Fear Fat

It makes you feel full, helps control your appetite, and your body needs it.