Yoga is the most important exer cise of my daily routine. Being surrounded by beautiful women in spandex should be reason enough for you to join a class, but if you need more motivation, consider this: Yoga eases stress, lowers blood pressure, slows heart rates, and increases flexibility. And there’s nothing mystical about it. Loosening your muscles will make them more adaptable, so you may be less likely to injure yourself playing sports. Sure, some of the poses may look ridiculous, but that’s for a reason you’ll learn quickly enough. Yoga can reach and work muscles that are ignored during routine sports and daily life. My favorite maneuver is the sun salutation.

Most guys excel on the leg press because it’s a guided movement. The squat is different; it challenges your legs, but it requires balance and coordination and involves strong upper-body muscles. Your core strength influences how much weight you can carry, because when you squat with a heavy weight on your back, your core muscles must keep your spine stable and protected.

Strengthen your core and add weight to your squats by performing exercises such as Romanian deadlifts, planks, or woodchoppers. After about a month of consistent training (3 days a week), go back to the squat. You’ll be amazed at your improvement.

There is more to weight training than just lifting the weights.  Some people lift on a consistent basis but still don’t see the results that they want to achieve.  Some look worse than when they started.  One reason could be that the person lifting weights is not in the zone.  The Zone Tone method shows you how to get maximum results from your weight training.

Learning proper form when lifting weights is important.  For one thing, lack of form can cause injury.  Swinging the weights is not safe or correct.  Lifting heavy weights to build larger muscles is a common misconception.  Weights that are too heavy can also injure you.

Proper technique is also important when lifting weights.  Using weight machines when you are just starting out doesn’t encourage proper technique.  The machine does most of the work for you which doesn’t teach you form.  Free weights give you the opportunity to learn how the exercises are done. more…