Exercise

By Jill Yaworski

Does your treadmill workout make you feel like a rat on a wheel? Then it’s  probably time to change up your routine. And not just because you’re bored. “The  human body wasn’t designed for conveyor-belt training or repetitive,  one-dimensional movement,” says Dan John, a fitness coach in Burlingame,  California, and the author of Never Let Go. So try one of John’s novel  cardio drills below. Or better yet, try all three. You’ll blast fat and improve  your fitness quickly. And the best part: You won’t have to find ways to distract  yourself during these workouts—you’ll be too busy getting in shape.

The “55″ workout Start by doing one body-weight squat and  10 pushups. Rest for 30 seconds, and then do 2 squats and 9 pushups. Gradually  work your way up to 10 squats and down to 1 pushup. You’ll complete 55 reps of  each exercise by the time you’re done—and reap both the cardiovascular benefit  of aerobic training and the muscular pump of a strength session. (And if you  like this routine, you’ll love The  World’s Most Efficient Workout.)

10-meter  sprints Find an area in your gym where you can sprint for 10  meters. Once you’ve covered the distance, pause just long enough to inhale and  exhale once through your nose. Sprint back and pause, this time inhaling and  exhaling twice through your nose. Continue the drill—breathing normally as you  sprint, and adding an additional nose inhalation and exhalation when you  pause—until you can no longer breathe through your nose. “It takes more effort  than breathing through your mouth—even during rest—which increases the intensity  of the exercise,” John says. The result: more gain in less time (and distance)  than on a treadmill. (Don’t undermine your fitness efforts: Make sure to avoid The  Worst “Free” Restaurant Foods in America.)

Jumping-jack  pyramid Do as many jumping jacks as you can in 10 seconds. Rest for  an equal amount of time. Next, do as many jumping jacks as you can in 20  seconds, and rest 20 seconds. Then do 30 seconds of jumping jacks followed by 30  seconds of rest. Now work your way back down the pyramid (30, 20, 10). Repeat  three times. This will change the way you think about jumping jacks forever. And  for more than 80 lightning-quick workouts that will get you in shape fast, check  out The Men’s Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts and The Women’s Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts.

By Jill Yaworski

If you can’t see your abs, don’t assume it’s because you’re missing out on a magical abdominal exercise or secret supplement. Blame your mindset.
You see, losing belly flab is a boring process. It requires time, hard work, and most important, dedication. Take the right steps every single day, and you’ll ultimately carve out your six-pack. But if you stray from your plan even a few times a week—which most men do—you’ll probably never see your abs.
The solution: six simple habits, which I teach to my clients to help them strip away their lard for good. Think of these habits as daily goals designed to keep you on the fast track to a fit-looking physique. Individually they’re not all that surprising, but together they become a powerful tool.
The effectiveness of this tool is even supported by science. At the University of Iowa, researchers determined that people are more likely to stick with their fat-loss plans when they concentrate on specific actions instead of the desired result. So rather than focusing on abs that show, follow my daily list of nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle strategies for achieving that rippled midsection.
The result: automatic abs.
Need help planning your workout? Men, click here | Women, click here.

Wake Up to Water

Imagine not drinking all day at work—no coffee, no water, no diet soda. At the end of an 8-hour shift, you’d be pretty parched. Which is precisely why you should start rehydrating immediately after a full night’s slumber. From now on, drink at least 16 ounces of chilled H₂O as soon as you rise in the morning. German scientists recently found that doing this boosts metabolism by 24 percent for 90 minutes afterward. (A smaller amount of water had no effect.) What’s more, a previous study determined that muscle cells grow faster when they’re well hydrated. A general rule of thumb: Guzzle at least a gallon of water over the course of a day.

Eat Breakfast Every Day

A University of Massachusetts study showed that men who skip their morning meal are 4 1/2 times more likely to have bulging bellies than those who don’t. So within an hour of waking, have a meal or protein shake with at least 250 calories. British researchers found that breakfast size was inversely related to waist size. That is, the larger the morning meal, the leaner the midsection. But keep the meal’s size within reason: A 1,480-calorie smoked-sausage scramble at Denny’s is really two breakfasts, so cap your intake at 500 calories. For a quick way to fuel up first thing, I like this recipe: Prepare a package of instant oatmeal and mix in a scoop of whey protein powder and 1/2 cup of blueberries.

As You Eat, Review Your Goals . . .

Don’t worry, I’m not going all Tony Robbins on you. (I don’t have enough teeth.) But it’s important that you stay aware of your mission. University of Iowa scientists found that people who monitored their diet and exercise goals most frequently were more likely to achieve them than were goal setters who rarely reviewed their objectives.

. . . And Then Pack Your Lunch

My personal Igloo cooler just celebrated its 19th anniversary. I started carrying it with me every day back in college. Of course, it often housed a six-pack of beer—until I decided to compete in the Purdue bodybuilding championship. (Second place, by the way.) Once I knew I’d have to don a banana hammock in public (the world’s best motivator), I began to take the contents of my cooler seriously. And so should you. In fact, this habit should be as much a part of your morning ritual as showering. Here’s what I recommend packing into your cooler.
• An apple (to eat as a morning snack) • Two slices of cheese (to eat with the apple) • A 500- to 600-calorie portion of leftovers (for your lunch) • A premixed protein shake or a pint of milk (for your afternoon snack)
By using this approach, you’ll keep your body well fed and satisfied throughout the day without overeating. You’ll also provide your body with the nutrients it needs for your workout, no matter what time you exercise. Just as important, you’ll be much less likely to be tempted by the office candy bowl. In fact, my personal rule is simple: I don’t eat anything that’s not in the cooler.

Exercise the Right Way

Everyone has abs, even if people can’t always see them because they’re hidden under a layer of flab. That means you don’t need to do endless crunches to carve out a six-pack. Instead, you should spend most of your gym time burning off blubber.
The most effective strategy is a one-two approach of weight-lifting and high-intensity interval training. According to a recent University of Southern Maine study, half an hour of pumping iron burns as many calories as running at a 6-minute-per-mile pace for the same duration. (And it has the added benefit of helping you build muscle.) What’s more, unlike aerobic exercise, lifting has been shown to boost metabolism for as long as 39 hours after the last repetition. Similar findings have been noted for intervals, which are short, all-out sprints interspersed with periods of rest.
For the best results, do a total-body weight-training workout 3 days a week, resting at least a day between sessions. Then do an interval-training session on the days in between. To make it easy on you, I’ve created the ultimate fat-burning plan.

Skip the Late Shows

You need sleep to unveil your six-pack. That’s because lack of shut-eye may disrupt the hormones that control your ability to burn fat. For instance, University of Chicago scientists recently found that just 3 nights of poor sleep may cause your muscle cells to become resistant to the hormone insulin. Over time, this leads to fat storage around your belly.
To achieve a better night’s sleep, review your goals again 15 minutes before bedtime. And while you’re at it, write down your plans for the next day’s work schedule, as well as any personal chores you need to accomplish. This can help prevent you from lying awake worrying about tomorrow (“I have to remember to e-mail Johnson”), which can cut into quality snooze time.

I’VE BEEN CALLED A pencil, a string bean, skin and bones. I’ve heard the three words no man who cares about his physique ever wants to hear: “You work out?” Trainers refer to us as ectomorphs—which sounds like something from Ghostbusters—to distinguish us from mesomorphs, the guys who always look like they work out even when they don’t.
My fellow ectomorphs and I prefer to call ourselves “hard gainers.” We brush off the insults, chalk up our physiques to high metabolism, and take solace in the fact that some of us are good at endurance sports.
At least that’s what I used to do. Then I had my Charles Atlas moment. But it wasn’t a sand-kicking bully who made me want to become bigger and stronger. It was a former girlfriend who wanted to hire movers to carry her furniture into a new apartment because she was afraid I’d hurt myself if I tried to help.
I knew it was time to build strength and muscle. But before I could, I had to demolish five of the myths that hold skinny guys back.
MYTH 1: An ectomorph can’t gain muscle I almost puked during a test of my maximum bench press. Martin Rooney, C.S.C.S., director of the Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, explains why: “Lifting weights is a stimulus. It attacks your body—everything from your muscles to your nervous system,” he says. “That was your body being challenged in a way it’s never been before. It isn’t used to that kind of stress. Now your muscles will rebuild and prepare for the next attack.”
I’d need it: That first workout was humbling. At 6 feet tall and 146 pounds, I could deadlift just 105 pounds and bench press 95 pounds only three times. I could do 11 chinups, which isn’t bad, and my 11.5 percent body fat would be the envy of many mesomorphs if they weren’t already laughing at my 12-inch upper-arm girth or my wimpy 20-inch vertical jump.
Rooney assured me that building up from this shaky platform would be difficult but not impossible, as long as I was willing to push myself. “Your body is an incredibly adaptive organism,” he says. “That’s why every time you lift, you have to challenge yourself to provide a greater and greater jolt to shock your muscles into another round of rebuilding.”

MYTH 2: No matter how much he eats, a hard gainer can’t put on weight If you think you eat enough to build muscle, try this experiment, courtesy of Alan Aragon, M.S., a nutritionist and Men’s Health advisor from Thousand Oaks, California.
Pick a recent day that represents how you typically eat. Try to remember everything you consumed and run it all through a calorie calculator, like the one at nutritiondata.self.com. If you’re like me, you’ll see a problem. I estimated that I ate about 2,000 calories a day, but it was really more like 1,700—nowhere near what I needed to maintain my existing muscle mass, let alone add to it. “Underweight people tend to overestimate their daily calorie intake,” Aragon says. “Then they incorrectly attribute their low weight to a high metabolism.”
So calories matter. But so do the sources of those calories, Aragon says. More food means higher levels of glucose circulating in your blood. That creates metabolic stress, leading to inflammation, and inflammation can lead to a whole host of problems, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. So trying to build a more muscular body with junk food is like trying to build a log cabin with wood drenched in lighter fluid.
Aragon directed me toward whole grains, which provide fiber that may help regulate blood glucose, and foods rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids to fight inflammation. But I still dreaded the answer to my next question: How much will I have to eat?

MYTH 3: He has to eat till he bursts Aragon’s nutrition plan called for 2,500 calories on workout days, including 213 grams of protein. That much protein amounts to almost 2 1/2 pounds of raw sirloin, or 34 large eggs!
I had trouble stuffing it all down at first. It took me a half hour to finish breakfast, and my lunches in the company cafeteria horrified my coworkers. Soon I realized I couldn’t consume all my calories in three giant meals. So I adapted: I kept a jug of almonds and a bunch of bananas at my desk for snacks. I stored a block of cheese and a gallon of chocolate milk in the office fridge. “Your body will tell you how it best processes calories,” Aragon says.
“For some people it’s large meals. For others it’s around-the-clock eating. If you time it right, you should rarely feel as if you’re force-feeding yourself.”

MYTH 4: He must live in the gym Each week I worked out 4 or 5 days, training for up to 6 hours total. (See this month’s poster.) But if I felt physically or mentally drained, I skipped a workout or two. “If your body’s sore, it’s telling you it needs more time to recover,” Rooney says. I’m convinced that the extra rest time enhanced my results, giving my body the time it needed to recover and to come back stronger.

MYTH 5: Results will be minor I won’t lie: This plan is tough, especially in the first few weeks. Some days I was so sore I wanted to avoid walking up a flight of stairs. And the results are unpredictable. You may gain a few pounds right away, or you may lose a pound or two because of the radical change in your routine. But once you’re past the shock stage, you should see steady growth. “Beginning lifters can expect about 2 pounds of muscle growth a month,” Aragon says.
Key point: Each time you hit the gym, give your best effort. “You may think it’s just 1 rep you’re missing, but that last rep is when your muscles are working hardest,” Rooney says. “The question isn’t whether you’re a hard gainer, but are you a hard trainer?”
Rooney retested me about 4 1/2 months after my first visit. I deadlifted 250, and my 3-rep max on the bench press jumped to 165 pounds. I cranked out 20 chinups, and my vertical leap soared to 26 1/2 inches. That’s in addition to the 14 pounds I gained. And it may not sound like much, but I added 2 inches to my biceps. My waist was still 32 inches, and my body fat actually decreased to 9.8 percent.
But the sweetest reward wasn’t measured with a barbell or tape measure. A friend mentioned that she was moving to a new apartment and asked if I could help with the furniture.
“No problem,” I said. And it wasn’t.
Want to try it? The Skinny Man’s Muscle Plan is available exclusively on Men’s Health Personal Trainer. There you’ll find Rooney’s complete plan, and have access to our customizable nutrition program—which will help you create the best diet for your goals, lifestyle, and preferences. Click here to learn more!

The old reliable exercises are fine for producing old reliable results. But if you want a physique that’s better than the body you have now, you need exercises that do more for you than the ones that took you to this point. Luckily for you (and your muscles), trainers and scientists across the continent spend their days asking excellent questions, such as “Why do we do it this way?” and “What if we did it that way?” The answers they find are surprising—and useful. Turn the page to read about exercise variations and technique tweaks from some of the country’s most innovative trainers. You’ll refresh your workout and soon have muscle in places you didn’t even know it could grow.
Like these exercises? Click here for three MORE exercises you should do everyday

Try a new muscle formula

Do at least 3 sets of pulling exercises—rows, pullups, and pulldowns—for every 2 sets of chest and shoulder presses you perform, says Brian St. Pierre, C.S.C.S., the owner of BSP Training & Nutrition in Augusta, Maine. Chances are you’ve been doing just the opposite, so this approach can help you build the muscles you’ve been neglecting. The result: Improved posture, better overall muscle balance, and faster gains.

Sculpt bolder shoulders

Strong, stable shoulders will help you lift more weight in nearly every upper-body exercise. So start each upper-body workout with the band pull-apart, suggests Shon Grosse, P.T., C.S.C.S., owner of Comprehensive Physical Therapy and Fitness in Colmar, Pennsylvania. It trains your rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers, the network of muscles that help create a strong shoulder joint. (And it counts as another pulling exercise.)
Keeping your arms straight, use both hands (palms up) to hold a stretch band out in front of your chest. Now squeeze your shoulder blades together and stretch the band out to your sides, without bending or lowering your arms, until the band touches your sternum. Reverse the move and repeat. Do 2 or 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets.

Beef up your back

Most of the fibers in your upper-back muscles are horizontal, which is why rowing exercises work them so well. But the ones in your lats are closer to vertical. The J pull-in hits your lats from start to finish, says Lee Boyce, a Toronto-based strength coach. “And it won’t take much weight for you to feel a deep contraction.”
Attach a rope handle to a high pulley of a cable station. Grab an end with each hand and kneel facing the machine. Keeping your arms straight and your torso upright, pull the rope down toward your groin. (The rope’s path of travel should look like a J.) Try 3 sets of 10 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets.

Pump up your pecs

If you’re unhappy with your chest development, you may have one of two problems.
You don’t work your chest enough. Sometimes you just need to do more work. Boyce recommends the 1 1/2-rep bench press, which effectively doubles the workload of your pectoral muscles. On a flat bench, lower the weight to your chest, and then press it halfway up. Lower it again, and then press it up until your arms are straight. Use 70 percent to 80 percent of your 1-rep max, and perform 3 or 4 sets of 8 reps.
Your shoulders are beat up. Years of dips and bench presses will do that to you, says Tony Gentilcore, C.S.C.S., co-owner of Cressey Performance in Hudson, Massachusetts. To build your chest and triceps while sparing your shoulders, he recommends the close-grip board press. Duct-tape a pair of footlong 2×4s together, the 4-inch sides facing each other; secure the block under your shirt. Load a barbell onto a flat bench-press station. Lie on your back and grab the bar using an overhand grip, your thumbs 12 to 15 inches apart. Lift the bar, lower it to the block, come to a dead pause, and then push back to the starting position. You can go heavy: 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps.

Add to your adductors

You wouldn’t be caught dead on the inner-thigh machine. But you also don’t want to ignore your adductor muscles, an area of untapped growth potential. Target them by doing pullups while holding a light weight plate between your feet, Grosse suggests. You’ll force your abs and adductors to engage as you work your back, shoulders, and arms.

Blast your biceps

To hit all the muscle fibers in your biceps, you need to either lift max weight or lift at max speed—which nobody does when they work their biceps, says Chad Waterbury, M.S., the author of Huge in a Hurry. The next time you do curls, use a weight you think you can lift just 6 or 7 times. Bang your reps out as fast as you can while maintaining good form. That means lifting the weight quickly, lowering it at a normal speed, and immediately starting the next rep. Stop the set when one rep is clearly slower than the others. You may pull off 4 or 5 reps on your first set, and fewer on later sets. Rest for 45 seconds between sets, and shoot for 25 reps total.

Trick out your triceps

Waterbury recommends jackknife pushups as a triceps-building companion for the high-velocity curls (tip 6).
Assume a pushup position but place your toes on a bench; keep your hands on the floor, thumbs 6 to 12 inches apart, and hips up. (If you feel the blood rush to your face, you’re in the correct position.) Do pushups as fast as you can without rearranging any of your favorite facial features. (That is, don’t hit the floor.) Go for 35 reps total, with 7 or fewer per set.

Power up your legs

Supercharge any lunge variation by extending your range of motion, making your muscles work harder and grow faster. Boyce recommends these brutally effective leg builders.
Reverse lunge from step: Stand with both feet on a 6-inch-high box or step. Take a long step back with your right foot and descend until your knee almost touches the floor. Return to the starting position, and then repeat the move with your left foot.
Bulgarian split squat with front foot elevated: Place your left foot on a 6-inch step in front of you and your right foot on a bench  behind you. Drop straight down until your right knee almost touches the floor. Do all your reps, switch sides, and repeat. Perform 3 sets of 12 repetitions for each leg using body weight only, or 10 reps holding dumbbells at your sides.

Shift your butt into gear

Deadlifts and squats are great for your glutes, but only if you’re actually engaging those glutes. If your knees cave in toward each other, you’re doing less with your butt and more with your back, says Brian Zarbatany, C.S.C.S., training director at the Human Performance Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The solution: Grab the floor with your feet, as if you’re trying to twist through the outsides of your shoes. That helps you keep your knees out and your glutes working.

Get more from your core

The abdominal push press is the best ab exercise you can do in bed, although you’ll probably want to try it on the floor first, says physical therapist Jonathan Fass, D.P.T., C.S.C.S. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Lift your right knee so your hip is bent 90 degrees, and press your left palm into your right thigh, near your knee. Now try to lift your thigh to your chest while pushing back with your hand. If you’re doing the exercise properly, your core should work to produce a stalemate. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds, switch sides, and repeat until you’re sick of it.

Mix it up for a hard middle

If you have a partner, Fass recommends ab prayers, a core-building exercise for two that can double as foreplay. Stand facing each other in an athletic position. Put your palms together (as if praying) in front of your chest, elbows extended 6 to 10 inches from your body. Have your partner push and pull your hands in all directions, forcing you to adjust. Go for 30 seconds, and switch. You should both feel your midbody muscles working.
No partner? Try stir the pot, a classic core exercise from spine specialist Stuart McGill, Ph.D. Assume a plank position with your forearms on a Swiss ball, and roll the ball around by moving your forearms and elbows in a circular pattern.

Build bigger calves

Instead of working your calves in isolation, try the bench bridge, which works them in conjunction with your hamstrings and glutes, says Nick Tumminello, a Baltimore-based personal trainer. Lie on your back with the balls of your feet on the edge of a bench and your knees slightly bent. Lift your hips. You should feel it from your calves through your glutes. Lower your hips and repeat the move for as long as you can.

Move more and risk less

Everyone wants to lift more on the classic powerlifts, and nothing beats hard work, of course. But you can also produce big improvements by incorporating even the simplest of tricks. For the barbell squat: During the move, “Pull the bar down as if you’re trying to rip it apart,” Gentilcore says.
“You’ll activate your lats, which provide more spinal stability.” You’ll move more weight with less risk of injury. And if you actually do rip the bar apart, please send us video.

Boost your bench

This one may seem “bass ackwards,” but to improve your bench press, the experts would like you to start with your butt.
“Clench the bench” by contracting your glutes, and keep them contracted throughout your set, says Joe Stankowski, a personal trainer in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You’ll find that this tweak solidifies your base and allows you to generate more force on the lift. Don’t forget to unclench when you’re done.

Raise your deadlift

Here’s a gear tip: Wash your socks. Then, when you arrive at the gym, perform the deadlift with your shoes off (if your gym allows it), advises strength coach and power-lifter Eric Cressey, C.S.C.S. “Shoes increase the distance the bar has to travel,” Cressey says. They also lift your heels off the floor, which puts more emphasis on your quads and less on your glutes and hamstrings, where it belongs. Either barefoot or in your stocking feet is fine. If your gym frowns on this, invest in shoes with minimal heel lift. Or find a new gym.

By Jill Yaworski, Photographs by Cody Pickens

WHEN LIAM MCINTYRE AUDITIONED FOR THE television drama Spartacus: Vengeance, he couldn’t have looked less fit for the title role. He was fresh off a movie called Frozen Moments, playing a man who had awakened from a coma. Skinny made sense for that. For Spartacus? Not so much.
But McIntyre is a good actor, so the Starz network put him at the top of its list, with one major caveat: At go time, he’d better look the part of a rebel warrior.

So he set out to rebuild his musculature. “It was a combination of mental and physical effort,” he says. “The body can do incredible things as long as the mind supports it.”
We’re providing McIntyre’s fitness advice and our own Spartacus workout. Put them both to work, and when you reach go time—beach vacation, high school reunion, first date—you’ll be sure to look the part, too.

CREATE A NO-FAIL PLAN McIntyre wanted a body like Hugh Jackman’s in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It would have been a challenge anyway, but especially so given McIntyre’s 13-hour workdays. His strategy: Never miss a planned workout.

Make it work for you: Focus on the means, not the end. University of Iowa scientists found that people are more likely to stick with a weight-loss plan when they concentrate on specific actions instead of the desired result.
“Break your goal into habits that will help you achieve it,” says Rachel Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., co-owner of Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, California. For example, you might set a goal of completing the 2012 Spartacus Workout 12 times a month. That’s just three workouts a week. But if you reach your 12-workout goal every month, by the end of the year you’ll have logged 144 high-intensity workouts. How many gut-busting workouts did you complete last year?

MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS McIntyre had never been a gym rat before Spartacus. “I didn’t treat my body as well as I should have,” he says. But with his new role, he needed to perform intense weight workouts 4 days a week—every week, for months. Now McIntyre is stronger and fitter than he’s ever been. “When I look back at the photo the Spartacus producers took at the start, I think, ‘Oh, God,’ ” he says. “I didn’t realize how much weight I’d lost for Frozen Moments.” Which is a good reminder: Amazing results don’t happen overnight, but they do happen over time.

Make it work for you: Since you’re not likely to notice a change in the mirror right away, focus on what you can measure: Your performance. “You should be able to do more every workout; lift more weight, do more reps, add more sets,” says Cosgrove. “You can bet that if your numbers are improving, so is your body.”

FUEL YOUR MUSCLES “You can lift all the time,” says McIntyre, “but if you don’t eat the right foods, you won’t have the body you want.” The key ingredient for any diet is protein. It provides the nutrients you need for muscle growth and also keeps you satisfied between meals.

Make it work for you: To grow larger and speed fat loss, Alan Aragon, M.S., a nutritionist in Thousand Oaks, California, recommends eating 1 gram of protein per pound of your target weight. So if you want to weigh 180 pounds, you should eat 180 grams of protein a day.
But some guys say it’s too expensive; others say they feel like they have to force-feed themselves. So shoot for 0.7 gram of protein for every pound, says Aragon. It’s still a highly effective dose for your muscles. The only downside: You may find that you’re hungrier and more at risk of binge snacking.

FIND A PARTNER McIntyre rarely goes to the gym alone. “There are tons of benefits to working out with someone else. You can do a better range of exercises if someone’s there to spot you,” he says. Plus, others push you outside your comfort zone. “They’ll yell at me when I’m not working hard enough, and compliment me when I am.”

Make it work for you: Find a workout partner or join a boot-camp class at a local gym, says BJ Gaddour, C.S.C.S., a leading boot-camp expert. “The more people we have training together, the more energy, sweat, and encouragement are in the room.”

THINK BEYOND YOURSELF McIntyre inherited his role as Spartacus from the actor Andy Whitfield, who recently passed away after a long battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “Andy was amazing at his job,” McIntyre says. “I want to do justice to the character he already created. I think of Andy and remind myself that no day is too hard.”

Make it work for you: Not in the mood for a sweat session? Keep moving for the people who can’t. Says Cosgrove, whose husband is a stage IV cancer survivor and the co-owner of their gym, “Put it in perspective. It’s not chemo. When you think about people fighting for their lives, it makes a workout seem like nothing.” Honor them by making yourself better. “We owe it to people like Andy to bring our best to everything we do,” says Cosgrove. “And that includes taking care of our health.”

Want to try it? The 2012 Spartacus Workout is available  on Men’s Health Personal Trainer. There you’ll find the complete  four-week plan with exclusive exercise videos, and have access to our customizable nutrition  program—which will help you create the best diet for your goals,  lifestyle, and preferences. Click here to learn more!

THE 2012 SPARTACUS WORKOUT

This year, give your body the ultimate fitness challenge
Two years ago we teamed with Starz to create the official Spartacus Workout. Its popularity surprised even us: Readers told us it was their favorite Men’s Health workout ever. So to kick off the new season of Spartacus: Vengeance, we asked Rachel Cosgrove, C.S.C.S.—the fat-loss expert who created the routine—to design an all-new version that’s even more intense, challenging, and effective. Like the original, the 2012 Spartacus Workout requires only a pair of dumbbells, a stopwatch, and, well, some serious grit. But try Cosgrove’s plan just once and you’ll quickly understand why it burns fat, sculpts muscle, and leads to fantastic results.

Directions Do this workout 3 days a week. Perform the exercises—or “stations”—as a circuit, doing one movement after another. At each station, perform as many repetitions as you can in 40 seconds using perfect form. Rest for 20 seconds as you transition to the next exercise. After you’ve done all 10 exercises, catch your breath for 2 minutes. Then repeat the entire circuit two more times. If you find you can’t keep working for the entire 40 seconds, use a lighter weight. If you feel as if you could keep going hard for an additional 15 seconds, progress to a heavier weight.

1. DUMBBELL SQUAT TO ALTERNATING SHOULDER PRESS AND TWIST

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and hold a pair of dumbbells next to your shoulders, elbows bent, palms facing in [A]. Push your hips back and squat deeply [B]. Push back up, rotating your torso to the right and pivoting on your left foot as you press the dumbbell in your left hand above your shoulder [C]. Lower the weight and rotate back to center. Repeat, rotating to the left and pressing up the dumbbell in your right hand.

2. MOUNTAIN CLIMBER AND PUSHUP

Assume a pushup position. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your ankles [A]. Without allowing your lower-back posture to change, lift your left foot off the floor and move your left knee toward your chest [B]. Return to the starting position, and repeat with your right leg. That’s a mountain climber. Now do a pushup [C].

3. DUMBBELL SIDE LUNGE AND CURL

Hold a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length at your sides [A]. Take a big step to your left and lower your body by pushing your hips back and bending your left knee. As you lower your body, bend forward at your hips and try to touch the dumbbells to the floor [B]. (Note: Go only as low as you can without rounding your lower back.) Then push yourself back to the starting position as quickly as you can. Perform arm curls [C]. Alternate back and forth, doing a lunge to your left and then a lunge to your right.

4. PLANK WALKUP WITH DUMBBELL DRAG

Start in a pushup position with a dumbbell on the floor next to your right hand. Lower your body into a plank so you’re resting your weight on your forearms instead of your palms [A]. “Walk” back up to a pushup position [B]. Without leaving this position, grasp the dumbbell with your left hand [C] and drag it underneath your chest until it rests on your left side [D]. Repeat, this time dragging the weight with your right hand.

5. DUMBBELL STEPOVER

Stand holding dumbbells at your sides [A]. Step forward with your left foot and lower your body until your front knee is bent 90 degrees [B]. In one motion, push back up and take a long step back with your left foot into a reverse lunge [C]. Keep shifting between forward and backward lunges with the same leg for 20 seconds, and then repeat on the other side.

6. DUMBBELL SINGLE-ARM ALTERNATING CLEAN

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a dumbbell between your feet on the floor. Push your hips back, squat, and grab the dumbbell with one hand [A]. Pull the dumbbell up and “catch” it at shoulder height as you rise to a standing position; keep your knees slightly bent [B]. Pause, lower the dumbbell to the floor, grab it with your other hand [C], and repeat on the other side [D].

7. PUSHUP-POSITION ROW AND SQUAT THRUST

Place a pair of dumbbells on the floor and assume a pushup position with your hands on the dumbbells [A]. Pull the right dumbbell up to the side of your chest [B]. Pause, and then lower the dumbbell; repeat the move with your left arm [C]. While holding the dumbbells, quickly bring your legs toward your torso [D], and then jump up [E]. Once you land, squat and kick your legs back into a pushup.

8. GOBLET SQUAT AND ALTERNATING REVERSE LUNGE

Hold a dumbbell vertically in front of your chest, cupping one end of the dumbbell with both hands [A]. Keep your elbows pointed toward the floor and perform a squat [B]. Then push back up to the starting position [C]. Now step back with one leg—into a reverse lunge—and lower your body until your front knee is bent 90 degrees [D]. Pause, and then push up quickly. Alternate your lunging leg with each rep.

9. DUMBBELL RUSSIAN TWIST

Sit holding a dumbbell in front of your chest. Lean your torso back slightly and raise your feet off the floor [A]. Without moving your torso, rotate the weight to your left [B] and then to your right [C]. Move back and forth quickly.

10. DUMBBELL STRAIGHT-LEG DEADLIFT AND ROW

Stand with your knees slightly bent and hold a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length in front of your thighs [A]. Without rounding your lower back or changing the bend in your knees, bend at your hips and lower your torso until it’s nearly parallel to the floor [B]. Without moving your torso, pull the dumbbells up to the sides of your chest [C]. Pause, and then lower the dumbbells. Raise your torso back to the starting position.

Want to try it? The 2012 Spartacus Workout is available  on Men’s Health Personal Trainer. There you’ll find the complete  four-week plan with exclusive exercise videos, and have access to our customizable nutrition  program—which will help you create the best diet for your goals,  lifestyle, and preferences. Click here to learn more!

http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/skinny-spartacus