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Which comes first, cardio or strength training?
I get this question all the time and believe me, it took me a while to feel sure of my answer! Unless your primary focus is strength training, do cardio after, not before, you lift weights. Or do it during another part of the day, or better still, on a separate day. If you perform aerobic-type exercise first, you'll be fatigued for your weight training. As a general rule, strength training has less of an impact on cardio than cardio has on strength training.

How do I know how many reps I should do?
Just how many reps to do can be equally as confusing as just how much weight to lift. Although, the amount of weight lets us know in a hurry if it's too much! The best rep range for gaining size is eight to 20. The optimum results for muscle growth come from lifting a weight that's between 60 percent and 80 percent of what you could lift for one, and only one, repetition. At 80 percent, the average person can do eight to 10 reps; at 60 percent, he can do 15 to 20. Most people say anywhere from six to 12 reps is best for muscle growth, but six would be more than 80 percent.

Stretching
Stretch before you train, and warm up before you stretch. First, do five to ten minutes of low-intensity exercise on a stationary bike or a treadmill. This will elevate your body temperature which helps avoid injury. Once you are are warmed up, stretch for another five to ten minutes, focusing your effort on those body parts you plan to train. In addition, stretch the body part, or parts, being worked for 15 to 20 seconds after every set. And don't jump right out of your training mode. Follow with a brief cool-down in which you basically keep moving for five minutes or so, with another five to ten minutes of stretching. By the end of the workout, the streching should be welcomed as it feels so good!

Single and/or Multi-joint Movements
Most exercises can be classified as either single-joint or multijoint movements. The former includes the barbell curl, in which only your elbow joints move. Along with the deadlift and the bench press, the latter includes the squat, during which your ankles, knees and hips are all being extended and flexed, while your upper body works hard to keep the load stable. Multijoint movements are the more difficult of the two types to master, but it's well worth the effort to learn their proper execution, since they result in maximum muscle growth of more complex muscle groups like the chest or the legs. People often get too specific in their exercise selection. At some point, you need to do multijoint exercises that involve large amounts of muscle mass.

Do Not Overtrain
If you find yourself pushing hard through workouts on a regular basis, feeling fatigued on non-workout days, and having a lot of aches and pains, give yourself a rest. Exercising appropriately and getting enough sleep every night will have you looking and feeling younger and better in no time!

Overload
 If your workout leaves you feeling as though you were run over by a truck, lighten the load for a few days rather than taking time off. In addition, do not ignore the pain. In the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers report that "light exercise may help to ease training pain more quickly than total rest". Maintaining the no-pain, no-gain approach is a surefire invitation to injury.

Gym Rejuvenation
It is hard to miss the fact that regular exercise will help keep you fit, feeling energetic, and looking young. To prevent burnout and make your workout smoother, always work your larger muscles first, such as with chest and back exercises. Save biceps, triceps and shoulders for after the major muscle groups. For lower-body exercises, work the quadriceps first, the glutes, then hamstrings and calves. He also recommends doing a cardio workout one day and strength training the next, rather than both in a day.

Not Feeling Attractive to the Opposite Sex?
Do women really dig only men who work out? No! It is the confidence you show that leads to the sex appeal. If you are not confident and you don't feel good about yourself, why would someone else be attracted to you? So go ahead and workout for your health - not for women, Besides, working out gives a boost to your self-confidence, which, in turn leads to sex appeal. It's a win-win situation!

See also:  Sexual Health for Men
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