Your four largest muscle groups deserve special attention

The numbers from the health-club industry are downright cheery. More than 11 percent of Americans now belong to gyms, according to a trade group, and those 34 million gym members swiped their cards an average of 93 times in 2001. So where are all the muscles? We haven't seen them, either. That's why we called together Club Shred, our unofficial BMF collective, to figure out why men aren't getting the results they want, and what they can do instead. Our hard corps came up with fitness tips for training your largest muscle groups. Follow the rules and you'll be one of the guys who have something to show for their 93 gym visits this year.
Build a Better Back



"Scapular retraction" sounds like a surgical procedure -- and, for all we know, it very well may be. But in the weight room, it's a muscle action that strengthens the middle part of your trapezius, one of your back's biggest muscles.

The movement: Pull your shoulder blades (scapulae) together in back (retracting them). The exercise: any variety of row -- seated using a cable machine; bent-over with a barbell, dumbbells, or T-bar; or standing, pulling a cable down to your face.

Latest retraction: For something a little different, try the bow and arrow, suggests Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S., a strength coach in Toronto. Attach a stirrup handle to a high cable pulley. Stand with your right side facing the weight stack, as if you were a left-handed archer. Grab the handle with your left hand and hold it in front of your face, like a bowstring you're about to pull back. Now pull it back and to the left using midback muscles, pause, return to the starting posi-tion, and repeat. Do one set of 10 to 12 repetitions with each arm for starters. Add one set each workout, to a maximum of three sets. This will build strength and muscle mass in your scapular retractors.

Arm Yourself
Your arm muscles aren't isolated hunks of meat. They work hardest in conjunction with bigger, stronger upper-body muscles. "If you want big arms, do chinups and dips," says Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., a strength coach and owner of Cosgrove Results Fitness Training in Newhall, California. "The rest is fun, but it's just details."

Dip tip: If you can't jump right onto the parallel bars and knock out a set of dips, start with bench dips. Sit on the edge of a bench or chair, palms alongside your hips, fingers pointed toward your legs, feet flat on the floor. Straighten your arms so your butt comes off the bench, then bend your arms as you slowly lower yourself (in front of the chair) until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Pause, then push back up. When you can do more than 10, progress to parallel-bar dips.


Chin music: Most men can't do chinups. The kneeling lat pulldown is an exercise that helps you get there. Attach a straight bar to a high cable pulley, grab it with a shoulder-width, underhand grip, kneel on the floor, and then pull the bar down past your chin. Gradually increase the weight and decrease the repetitions until the weight's so heavy it pulls you off the floor. Now you're ready for the chinup bar.
Pack Your Chest

The exercises that use the most muscles build the most muscle. That's why bench presses are better than flies. "Adding 100 pounds to your bench will put on way more mass than anything else," says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S.


Bench it up: Everyone knows how to do the bench press: Lie on bench, grip bar, lower bar to chest, and so forth. But few pay any more attention to their foot position during bench presses than they would during sex.


Try this: Imagine that you're doing the exercise standing up. Set your feet in a wide, athletic stance. And push out the repetitions as if you were throwing the bar to someone standing in front of you, rather than lifting it off your chest. The extra vigor in your execution will result in extra inches on your body.

Be a Leg Man
If you know how to squat, you can get an entire lower-body workout with one set, says Tim Ziegenfuss, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., an exercise physiologist and nutrition researcher in Wadsworth, Ohio. You use 200 muscles to walk; you'll hit more when you squat with a barbell across your back.



Squat till you drop: Here's the drill: Warm up thoroughly. Select a weight you think you can squat for 10 repetitions. Now squat as many times as you can with that weight. When you can't do any more, stand and catch your breath, then do single repetitions until you get to 20. (These are sometimes called "breathing squats," since you're allowed to breathe as many times as necessary between repetitions.)



The key: The weight stays on your shoulders until you've finished all 20 repetitions. Then you rack the barbell and crawl home.