In the most basic and obvious sense, weight training exercises can fall into 3 different groups based on how they are preformed and what type of equipment is used.

They are:

1. Free Weight Exercises
2. Body Weight Exercises
3. Machines

Despite what anyone else tells you, each type of exercise can serve a useful purpose in literally every workout routine regardless of what your goal is.

However, certain types of exercises are definitely more ideal for certain people based on factors like experience level, training preferences, body type/genetics, and of course, your specific fitness goal.

So, let’s go through free weight exercises, body weight exercises and machines and look at some examples of each, find out what their pros and cons are, and see how they compare with each other.

You’ll then be able to easily determine which is best (and worst) for you.

Free Weight Exercises

A free weight exercise is any exercise where the resistance is provided by a barbell, dumbbells, or any other free moving object. Some common examples include any type of barbell or dumbbell press, row, curl, extension, or deadlift.

Basically, if you’re moving some sort of weight (like a barbell or dumbbell) from point A to point B, and that weight isn’t supported by or attached to anything other than you, it’s most likely a free weight exercise.

PROS

• Completely natural movement. Allows you to move through a range of motion that is completely natural for your specific body. Nothing is restricted or put into any sort of fixed position that may not be perfect for you body.
• Uses additional muscles. Since you are in full control of the weight and stabilizing the entire movement itself, you are therefore recruiting the use of various stabilizer muscles that tend to go unused with machines.
• Extremely functional. Free weight exercises allow you to mimic actual movements that you actually do in real life, and in the exact manner you’d actually do them.
• Ideal for home use. If you happen to do your weight training at home, a barbell (or dumbbells), some weight and a bench is all you need to be able to perform dozens of different exercises in your house.

CONS

• Usually harder to learn at first. Especially when compared to machines (and to a lesser extent, body weight exercises), it’s usually a little harder to learn proper technique as a beginner.
• Higher potential risk of injury. There is a risk of injury with EVERY type of exercise, but the potential may be a little bit higher with free weights than others.

Body Weight Exercises

A body weight exercise is any exercise where the resistance is provided by your own body weight.

Instead of moving a barbell or dumbbell from point A to point B like you would with a free weight exercise, a body weight exercise requires moving your own body from point A to point B. Some common examples include push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, and dips.

PROS

• Completely natural movement. Allows you to move through a range of motion that is completely natural for your specific body. Nothing is restricted or put into any sort of fixed position that may not be perfect for you body.
• Uses additional muscles. Since you are in full control of of the weight (which is your body) and stabilizing the entire movement itself, you are therefore recruiting the use of various stabilizer muscles that tend to go unused with machines.
• Extremely functional. Body weight exercises allow you to mimic actual movements that you actually do in real life, and in the exact manner you’d actually do them.

CONS

• Sometimes too hard/impossible. For certain people (especially beginners and people who are overweight), body weight exercises like pull-ups and dips are extremely hard and in some cases just impossible to do. With free weights or machines, if it’s too heavy, you can just use less weight. With a body weight exercise, you’re kinda stuck with your own body weight. (I will mention however that there are ways around this issue to some degree, but that’s a topic for another time.)

Machines

A machine exercise is any exercise that works on a fixed path with the weight (and usually the entire movement itself) stabilized for you by a machine.

Rather than holding the actual weight that is providing the resistance and moving it from point A to point B (like you are with free weight exercises), you are instead holding handles that are in some way attached to some form of weight, and you’re moving that from point A to point B.

Some common examples include any type of machine press, row, curl, extension, leg extension/curl, and leg press.

PROS

• Usually easier to learn and do. Using a machine is usually as simple as sit down, grab the handles and move them in the only direction they are capable of moving. Especially in the case of beginners, this is the easiest form of exercise to learn.
• Can sometimes be safer. While you can definitely still get injured using a machine, there is usually less risk of injury when compared to free weight or body weight exercises.

CONS

• Unnatural movement path. A fixed, unnatural movement path forces you into positions that in many cases are not right for many people. At best this can be uncomfortable and make it hard to progress and properly train the target muscle. At worst, it will eventually cause an injury.
• Least functional type of exercise. The carryover between machines and movements you actually do in real life is lesser than it is with either free weight or body weight exercises.
• Does part of the work for you. While you are definitely still working the target muscle and moving the weight (or in this case, the handles) from point A to point B, the entire movement is being stabilized by the machine itself and therefore preventing you from using various stabilizer muscles.
• Not ideal for home use. Machines are the most expensive (by far), take up the most space (by far), and are the least usable (one machine is typically only capable of one exercise, whereas a barbell or dumbbells can be used for dozens).

So, Which Type Of Exercise Is Best For You AND Your Goal?

In most cases, most of the time, this is how it breaks down based on your specific goal:

Performance Related Goals

If your primary goal is performance related (increasing strength, improving performance, etc.), then the majority of your workout routine should be comprised of free weight and body weight exercises. Machines should usually be kept to a minimum, or possibly none whatsoever.

Looks Related Goals

If your primary goal is looks related (building muscle, losing fat, getting “toned,” etc.), then really all 3 types of exercises can serve as suitable choices for your workout routine. In general however, free weight and body weight exercises are the ideal first choice, with certain machines being a perfectly fine secondary option.

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How had I gained 23lb in just a little over a year?

“Doesn’t your weight class go up to 140?” asked the gentleman recording my weight.

“Well, yes. But I’ve never weighed 135 in my life!” I replied.

“I’m sure it’s just water weight,” my new friend politely suggested.

This was my weigh-in experience at my last NAS Strongman competition in August. Just fourteen months prior, I had weighed in at an NPC Bodybuilding show at 112lb.

Left: Me at 112lb on 6/21/14 at my first NPC bikini competition.

Right: Me at 135lb on 8/28/15, 10 days out from Maryland’s Strongest Man.

I’m pretty sure I went outside and cried, then proceeded to order a salad while all of my friends got pizza for dinner. I knew I wasn’t fat, and I was happy with how I looked in the mirror. But for some reason, hearing one hundred and thirty five pounds out loud crushed me.

Focus on Goals, Not Numbers

When you see (or hear) the number on the scale and it’s not what you thought it would be,consider the many other factors at play, including:

• Water Consumption: A healthy, hydrated individual holds several pounds of water weight at all times.
• Timing: Your weight will vary throughout the course of a day. Ever notice your abs look better in the morning? That’s because you didn’t eat or drink all night.
• Elimination: Did you poop today? If not, you’re probably a bit heavier than usual.

However, more than any of these factors, consider your own personal goals. I’ve slowly come to terms with the fact that if my goal is to get stronger, I’m going to have to be comfortable with a few extra pounds. Here’s what I’ve discovered since I accepted that reality:

Good news:

1. All of my lifts have increased in the past year.
2. I have more energy and strength to get me through the day.
3. I can move my own furniture and lift cars off of babies, if necessary.
4. I have attracted a mate with the enormousness of my glutes.
5. He cooks me bacon and pancakes every weekend, and I eat them without guilt.

Bad news:

1. Fitting in pants is hard when you have giant quads and a small waist.
2. According to my BMI, I am just shy of being classified as overweight.
3. Can’t really think of anything else.

Personally, I’m happy with how I look now. I don’t feel like I look 20lb heavier than a year ago. I am excited by my increased strength and am focusing on becoming a better athlete, not just my appearance.

Nutrition Advice to Become a Strength Training Animal

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or dietician. I am a certified personal trainer and self-proclaimed fitness fanatic. This is what works for me, but it may not work for you. Take what you can from this and make it work for your needs.

1. Eat. You’re going to take in more calories than non-athletes in order to sustain your performance in the gym and meet your goals. I eat 4-6 meals daily, which includes pre- and post-workout meals.
2. Protein is your friend. Protein is the main focus of every meal/snack that I eat. As a female, I shoot for 1g protein per pound of body weight each day. I typically shoot for 20-25g of protein per meal. Good quality animal protein is best – chicken, beef, salmon, eggs – but don’t discount other protein options such as Greek yogurt or protein powder.
3. Carbohydrates give you energy, so eat them. I eat carbohydrates before and after my workouts. My favorites include sweet potato, oatmeal, rice, and of course pancakes after Strongman Saturdays.
4. Gluten and dairy are not so scary, if your body can tolerate them. I can tolerate both, so I eat them both. If you have a legitimate intolerance, you know what to avoid. But if you are buying gluten-free cookies just because they’re sold at Whole Foods, save your cash and buy the regular ones.
5. Fats keep you full between meals. If your goal is to gain muscle, fats will help because they increase testosterone levels (and no, you won’t turn into a dude). I get my fats from butter, oils, bacon, and avocado. Nuts are another great option, but sadly I’m allergic.
6. Carb cycling is a great option if you are trying to cut/maintain weight for a competition.Typically I would do this by increasing carbs on heavy lifting days (deadlift day or strongman event training) and decrease carbs plus increase fats on a recovery and rest day.

Sample Training Day Meal Plan

• Breakfast (7am): 3-egg omelet with veggies cooked in olive oil with half an avocado, water and tea
• Morning Snack (10am): 1/2  cup plain Greek yogurt with berries, water
• Lunch (1pm): 1 5oz piece chicken breast with asparagus and half of a sweet potato, seltzer
• Pre-workout (4pm): Apple/some sort of fruit or carb (some days I have granola) and tea
• Post-workout Dinner (7pm): Beef stew with potatoes and root veggies, water
• Evening Snack (9pm): Protein mug cake

Additional Tips on Your Journey to Swole-ness

• Use before/after photos, measurements, or your clothes to measure your progress, not the scale.
• Do exercise that makes you happy. Most days I really love strongman training. Sometimes I want to focus on Olympic weightlifting. Some days I do yoga – and that’s okay! Listen to your body and do what makes it happy. If you are training for a competition or event, obviously keep your training on task, but if you need a rest day, take it. Your body will let you know when it’s had too much.
• Be nice to yourself. Be forgiving when you eat a donut at work or skip the gym for happy hour one night. You only get one life. There’s no reason to beat yourself up over the occasional cheat meal/day/weekend. Personally, I will never give up Doritos.

Embrace your beefy thighs, sun-eclipsing booty, or any other body part that makes you feel a bit self-conscious. Appreciate the strength your muscles give you and the personal records you’ve set. Strength is beauty!

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But this is not always the case.

Throughout the years of experience, I have acquired a few fundamental tactics that could help you get the most out of your hour of power when you train.

Some might seem obvious, but still respect them and learn to apply them consistently.

1. Warm up!

• “Duh, dude” is probably the first thought in your head. Well let me ask you, do you know how to warm up in an effective manner. Maybe you do, but bear with me. The warm up is so crucial to getting a good work out in because it is what establishes the pace for the remainder of the workout.
• In order to warm up for a kick ass work out, take your time.
• Start by shaking off your limbs. Do some slow movement and some isometric holds to start raising your body’s temperature. Make sure you are continuously moving so that you can keep getting warmer.
• You should incorporate stretching after you’re a little warm. You can hurt yourself if you stretch cold.
•  Once you got some blood flowing, go ahead and smack the muscles that you are targeting in your workout. That’s right, slap that area like it was a bongo. It should definitely make a sound. This will bring even more blood to the area.
• You also want to always have the core warm too, this is because it is literally used in almost every movement you do. Unless you are isolating a small muscle like the bicep or shoulder. But even then, you will still ask for help from the core.
• Warm up for the core can involve doing planks, one of my all time faves, or the a glute bridge which will engage the lower back like hell.
• Make sure you go in the working sets, with blood flowing through your veins!

2. Do ATLEAST one set to failure.

• Growth is your body’s response to stress. It is the adaptation that happens when we pound our bodies with movement that is unfamiliar.
• Even if you are not training for muscle growth, failure sets will help improve your skill and/or strength.
• Why? Simple. It forces your body to adapt to a new level of demands.
• Repping till you can’t anymore is the fastest way to produce growth on the human body, take advantage of it.

3. Cooldown

• Are you the type to just finish the workout after the last set of your working exercises?
• If you are, quit the habit. Incorporate at least 5 minutes of cooling down, either by stretching or doing low intensity movement like hanging after a pull up session, twists after a core session or hold top of a push up after a push session.
• Stretching is specially important so you can restore flexibility and full range of motion into the muscles that you were contracting throughout the whole workout.
• You will also release extra wastes from your muscles like lactic acid.
• It speeds up RECOVERY! This is a big one.
• It gives your heart and your blood flow a smoother transition. Sometimes, when you don’t cool down, your blood will stay in your large muscles and your brain wont get enough supply of oxygen causing dizziness or lightheaded.

These 3 fundamental principles should be practiced in each of your workouts. They will make a difference.

The warm up will absolutely help you get a better workout.

The failure sets will force more growth in your body.

The cool down will restore flexibility, range of motion, redistribute blood around the body and speed up recovery.

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Top runners share coaching pearls of wisdom that have led them to greatness.

Their coaches’ names don’t often appear in the headlines, but make no mistake — the best athletes don’t rise to the top on their own. The brains behind those gold medals, national titles and world championships are lurking on the sidelines, stopwatches in hand, inspiration and high-fives at the ready.

It’s not always about injury rehab or splits. Often what coaches impart to their athletes has more to do with integrity, values and beliefs. The best of them have a knack for bringing out the best in us — not just as runners, but also as human beings. They’re the source of humor and tough love. They’re also the masterminds of race strategy, fueling and cross-training plans. They tally the miles, they write the workouts. They ask if you’ve eaten your vegetables. And when the work is done, the race is won or lost, they teach the lessons that help us grow.

“Coach Joe Vigil led me to my life philosophy: If you have it, share it,” says Deena Kastor, 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist. “Anything — from a sandwich, money in your pocket or knowledge-through-experience — is not worth having unless you can share it with others. He lives by these words, and I have used this as my sounding board for every decision I make in regard to pursuing my goals and living my life.”

So, in tribute to all those who dedicate themselves to making us stronger, faster, more confident and, let’s face it, smarter runners, RT put a call out to some top athletes in the sport to find out which nuggets of knowledge have made all the difference. Read on to find out what they said.

Dathan Ritzenhein, 2012 U.S. 10,000M Olympian

On his High School coaches, Brad Prins and Mark Nessner:

“They shaped the way I confronted challenges with injuries later in my career. We had so much fun, but we also worked harder than anyone else. We would meet at the pool at 5:30 a.m. for extra cross-training, and they were always trying new methods: sprints, drills, plyometrics, or any other additional training I could do. Now anytime I have an injury, I put my full energy into finding a way to stay fit. It was 15 years ago, but it is something I carry with me every day of training.”

DON’T RUSH – THINGS DONT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT

Meb Keflezighi, 2004 U.S. Olympic Marathon Silver Medalist

On Bob Larsen, his coach for almost 19 years:

“You don’t know what’s ahead, but keep doing the right things and make small progress. Don’t rush — things don’t happen overnight. He always reminds me that if somebody ever said to me at UCLA that I could be a national champion, I wouldn’t have believed them. I wouldn’t have believed I could have an American record. But keep doing the right things over time, and progress comes.”

THE PROGRAM SHOULD FOLLOW THE ATHLETE, NOT THE ATHLETE FOLLOW THE PROGRAM.

Ryan Hall, U.S. Olympic Marathoner

On his father during the early years, and Renato Canova, his former coach:

“‘If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing it.’ My dad used to always tell me this

[before races] growing up. I used to put an incredible amount of pressure on myself before races and workouts, to the point that I wasn’t enjoying myself anymore. This simple reminder has stuck with me to the start line of two Olympic marathons. It is often the last thing I think before the gun fires. I have to remind myself to not take myself so seriously. This is just sport after all, and the point of sport is to have fun.

“Coach Canova says that the program should follow the athlete, it’s not the athlete who should follow the program. This is so huge because runners tend to get so married to a program that if they deviate from it they see that as a failure, when in actuality it is the program that should be adjusting continually for the athlete’s changing day-to-day needs.”

Aaron Braun, 27:41.54 10,000M Runner

On Damon Martin, his coach at Adams State University:

“Run for something greater than yourself! A lot of people consider running to be an individual sport, which in all physical aspects it is. But the mental aspect doesn’t have to be, and Coach Martin and I believe that your performance is enhanced if you go away from the individual aspect of it. The main benefit of thinking this way is late in the race, when your body is screaming at you to just slow down a little. If you’re only running for yourself, you’re likely to accept what your body is asking you to do and back off a bit. If you’re running for something greater than yourself, your brain will tell your body to shut up [and] keep pushing with all you have until you cross that finish line. What is something greater than yourself? You just have to find something you believe in. In college, it was my team. My new teammates are my wife, Annika, and little girl, Makenzie. They count on me to run tough for them, and late in races when I’m tired and want to slow down, I try to think of them. It becomes clear that I am running for something much greater than myself.”

RUNNING IS SIMPLE

Molly Huddle, 5,000M American Record-Holder

On her current coach, Ray Treacy:

“I remember one of the first meetings I had with Ray. He asked, with five years of my old training logs in hand, if there was anything he should know that Tim Connelly, my Notre Dame University coach, hadn’t told him. ‘I can be stubborn,’ I said. He laughed and said he could handle that. I think he has deftly coached some similarly intense athletes by standing back enough to not interrupt their strengths but stepping in enough to prevent them from getting in their own way. He reminds me that running is simple and to mostly leave the worrying to him. That has saved me a lot of energy and let me run fit and free.”

Sara Hall, 2012 USA Cross Country Champion

On Dena Evans, her coach at Stanford University:

“Dena Evans became — and is still to this day — a friend and mentor of mine. She had a unique way of communicating using metaphors that sometimes really brought clarity to the task at hand and sometimes took some thought to figure out, but once you did they stuck with you in a greater way. I remember before cross country season one year she sent the whole team a long email comparing us to ears of corn, the goal being to have no bad kernels.”

Kate Grace, 2013 USA 1 Mile Road Champion

On Mark Young, her coach at Yale University:

“Before a race, don’t be afraid to get moving. My college coach would insist on top-quality strides before a race — very fast and longer than my inclination, at least 100m, around 15 minutes from the gun. My impulse is to save every drop of energy for the race, but that meant my body was still warming up in the first 200m and wasn’t as efficient. I learned to not fear a real warm-up.”

EVEN PACE IS NOT EVEN EFFORT

Matt Tegenkamp, 2012 U.S. 10,000M Olympian

On Jerry Schumacher, his current coach:

“Even pace is not even effort. This applies more to cross country and road racing than the track. During an uphill or muddy patch, you are going to have to grind with an increase in effort, but on the downhill try to float and let the terrain do some work for you. The focus is to work on this concept in training and practice so it becomes second nature within a race setting.”

Sage Canaday, Ultrarunner

On his coach at Cornell University, Robert Johnson:

“Run your longer tempo runs at an ‘effortless effort’ pace. Most runners go too hard and push too fast during tempo runs. He always told us to slow down, run relaxed and negative split the workout depending on how we felt on the day. It is always better to be on the conservative side of dialing into lactate threshold intensity, and you have to be patient.”

anet Cherobon-Bawcom, 2012 U.S. 10,000 Olympian

On Steve Guymon, her coach at Harding University, and Jack Daniels, her current coach:

“They both taught me the importance of learning how to read my workouts so that I’ll know what to expect on race day. In college, because I was making great progress, I couldn’t rely on prior race results to tell me what to expect in my next race. Coach Guymon didn’t care that my PR for the 5,000m might have been 17:30. If the workouts indicated I was ready to run a 1-minute PR, he helped me have faith in that possibility.

“When I started working with Jack Daniels, he continued this type of coaching. When I was training for the Olympic trials marathon, he helped me understand that we weren’t crazy to be talking about trying to PR by 8 or 9 minutes. Instead of seeing myself as someone with a PR of 2:37, I went into the race believing that my workouts pointed to a good chance of running under 2:30, and sure enough, that happened. I might have been tempted to say, ‘But I’m only a 2:37 runner; let’s shoot for 2:32,’ or I might have decided to go faster than my workouts suggested I should — and I could’ve crashed and burned. I chose to run an informed race, and it worked out great.

“When I ran the 2012 Payton Jordan 10,000m, my workouts suggested that I might be ready to run under 32:00 — even though my PR was 30 seconds slower than that. I went out around 31:45 effort, felt good, and picked it up a little to run 31:33, which landed me on the Olympic team. Once again, that idea that my coaches preached to me paid off.”

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Here are four good reasons:

• It is a component of every cell in your body. In fact, hair and nails are mostly made of protein.
• Your body uses it to build and repair tissue.
• You need it to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals.
• It is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.

A Core Macronutrient:
Like carbohydrates and fat, protein is a “macronutrient,” meaning that you need relatively large amounts of it to stay healthy. (Vitamins and minerals, which you only need in small quantities, are called “micronutrients.”)

Unlike carbohydrates and fat, your body does not store protein, so it has no reservoir to draw from when you’re running low. Protein bars and shakes are a great way to supplement your diet to ensure you’re getting the right amount of protein.

Different Forms of Protein

Protein comes from a variety of sources, including meat, milk, fish, soy, and eggs, as well as beans, legumes, and nut butters. When proteins are digested, they leave behind amino acids, which the human body needs.

Whey, a high quality protein source naturally found in milk, is a complete protein and contains all of the amino acids your body needs. In general, proteins derived from animal sources (i.e. milk, eggs & meat) are complete, but your body’s ability to use the protein varies.

Benefits of a Protein Rich Diet

Consuming high-protein foods has many benefits, including:

• Speeding recovery after exercise
• Reducing muscle loss
• Building lean muscle
• Helping you maintain a healthy weight
• Curbing hunger

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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 bodyweight 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.

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