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Thursday, June 21, 2007

A Better Body in 5 Minutes

Pump Up Your Pecs

By Alwyn Cosgrove, Men's Health

This workout is designed to trigger a growth spurt by maintaining tension on your chest muscles for a full 5 minutes. Make sure to use a timer you'll need to know when to stop.

How to do it: Set an incline bench to a 30-degree angle and grab a pair of dumbbells, choosing the heaviest weights that allow you to complete 10 repetitions of the dumbbell incline fly (described below). You'll use this weight for both exercises 1 and 2. Do the moves in the order shown, following the step-by-step instructions for each.

Exercise 1: Dumbbell Incline Fly

* Hold the weights above your chest, with your arms slightly bent. Without changing the bend in your elbows, lower the weights out to your sides. Reverse the motion to return to the start
* Do one set of eight reps.
* Don't release the weights; hold them straight above your chest, and rest for 15 seconds in that position.
* Do as many more repetitions as you can.
* Rest for 15 seconds, then move on to exercise 2.

Exercise 2: Dumbbell Incline Bench Press

* Hold the weights above your chest with your arms straight. Bend your elbows to lower the weights to the sides of your chest. Pause, then push the weights up.
* Do as many repetitions as you can.
* Rest for 15 seconds with the weights held above you.
* Do as many more repetitions as you can.
* Rest for 15 seconds, then set the weights down and move on to exercise 3.

Exercise 3: Wide-grip Pushup

* Get into pushup position, but with your hands placed about twice shoulder-width apart.
* Do as many pushups as you can.
* Rest for 15 seconds and keep repeating until your 5 minutes are up.

Labels: Exercise Tips

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