This gym looks like way too much fun.

The Tempest Freerunning Academy in Los Angeles bills itself as California’s first and only training facility dedicated to freerunning and parkour. Be aware that these are true athletes with serious experience, and strong soft tissues and joints. If you don’t have training, don’t try this at home, even for your own Jackass-style vid.

By Jack Hafferkamp, PhD

Few Reps! readers haven’t felt that moment of inevitability: You’re making out with your woman, going through all those steps you’ve learned to take to get her “ready,” when suddenly the “Popeye effect” occurs. It’s as if your manhood starts signaling “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more” and the only way to hush the insistent voice is to go for the end move. For many guys, these few minutes of activity that precede penetration comprise the sum total of the experience we consider foreplay.

With a quickie in some hidden corner during your office lunch break or in the bowels of a parking deck, such an approach is particularly acceptable—even essential—because it’s fast and dangerous and a little provocative. But at most other times, real foreplay is about making sex hotter for you and her—it’s not merely a preparatory act to knocking boots.

Foreplay is about teasing and stretching out the experience of sex (and not paying attention to Popeye’s voice in your head) to make it more intense and satisfying—for both of you.

Don’t Fire Yet

Foreplay can be subtle or overt, but its aim is to progressively add to arousal. And it doesn’t take Masters and Johnson or Dr. Ruth to tell you that the greater the arousal, the hotter the sex between you and your partner. In this sense, the equation is a simple and direct correlation: The better the foreplay, the better the orgasm—for both parties.

Foreplay can involve a wide range of possibilities, and there is no single set of surefire techniques to make it work. The fact remains that there are an amazing number of ways to add to the pleasure of sex by teasing your lover. Your job is to borrow some—any or even all of these ideas—and adapt them to the real-life connection you have with your partner.

Categories

You can slice and dice foreplay into assorted categories and possibilities, but to avoid making our exercise feel like a class in algorithms, think of foreplay as a set of two possibilities: the psychological and the physical.

Psychological Foreplay By using elements of psychological foreplay, you can help create a sexy atmosphere between you and your partner—a conspiratorial mood in which both of you know what’s going on and enjoy the process. Whether she’s a new partner or a longtime lover, a great way to get her attention is to let her know that you’re thinking of ways to tease and please her.

Here’s what you need to do in Phase 1:

1. Tell her you think she’s beautiful.

2. Tell her how much you desire her.

3. Make physical contact—touch her. But be subtle here at first: Hold her hand, touch her shoulder and put your arm around her. Don’t immediately go for her breasts or butt.

Then you’re off to the races in Phase 2:

Just remember that the aim of this race is counterintuitive: You’re supposed to go as slowly as possible.

4. Send her a note or email telling her how much you would like to please her. But be subtle here—keep it suggestive, not overt.

5. Leave notes for her in unexpected places: on the refrigerator, in her shoes, in her underwear drawer.

6. If you have a preexisting relationship, take her shopping to buy:
a. Sexy underthings (let her pick)
b. A sex toy (again, let her pick)
c. Erotica (you guessed it: let her pick)

7. Send her a box of erotic chocolates. (You can find them online.)

8. Text-message her an erotic love poem. Be witty and brief, but skip the limericks.

9. Play footsie with her under the table when you’re with friends.

10. Kiss her deeply when you’re in a public place.

11. Take a weekend trip together to a place where no one knows you and you can be overt about being lovers.

12. To really blow her away, try creating a perfume just for her. You can do this by finding a local store that sells essential oils and working with the salesperson to mix up something original. Apply that perfume to your partner’s neck.

13. Take her to a nice restaurant and ask her not to wear panties.

14. Make her dinner. Women love men who cook for them. Prepare sexy foods and feed them to her:
a. Steam mussels
b. Offer asparagus spears
c. Split open figs and serve with crème fraîche. Joke with her about what split open figs look like. Be subtle—use the language of seduction, not the locker room.

15. Role-play. Each of you can take on a different persona, such as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, a mean boss and a bad secretary or, for the more adventurous, the good old master and slave (leather, anyone?).

16. Blindfold her and read her an erotic story. Put pen to paper and write your own—she’ll be dually impressed.

17. Watch an erotic movie together.

18. If your partner is a longtime lover, arrange to meet her as if you were strangers in a hotel lounge. If the role-play works, you’re only a credit card away from a room.

19. Set a romantic after-dinner scene with candles and appropriate
mood music. Slow-dance with her and tell her that she’s beautiful. Nuzzle her neck.

20. Cover her bed in rose petals. You’d be surprised at how inexpensive over-the-hill roses can be from your neighborhood florist and just how effective this gesture can be.

21. Arrange an erotic photo or video shoot. Take turns being the model and photographer.

22. View the results together.

Physical Foreplay

Inevitably, there will come a time for you to move on to physical foreplay, eliciting physical sensations and generating them. But here again, the aim is to slow down and smell those rose petals—or your partner—along the way. These suggestions move from the psychological to the physical, just as the rising tide of passion should.

23. Simply make out. Good old tongue kissing and caressing your partner are time-honored ways to turn her on because they work.

24. Dry-hump—that is, rub against her with clothes on. Work your leg between hers.

25. Offer to paint her toenails. For many women, this is a very intimate gesture. Unless you’re a pedicure artist, you will paint outside the lines, so be prepared for some good-natured ribbing. If it seems too much for you, then…

26. Offer to massage her feet. If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, the way to a woman’s arousal may just be through her feet. Do this slowly and carefully—let her tell you where it feels good.

27. Suck her toes.

28. Massage her neck and back. For some women, feet work; for some, it’s the neck. The fun is in finding out which works for your girl.

29. Strip each other. Doing it while dancing is a nice way to maintain physical contact and diminish any self-consciousness. Remind her how beautiful she looks.

30. Turn the lights out completely and have her explore your body in the dark—or vice versa.

31. Take a bath together. Wash her hair—slowly. This is another very intimate act for many women. Just as slowly, dry off her hair afterward using a very luxurious towel.

32. Gently and lightly explore her body with only your fingertips.

33. Stroke her body with a feather.

34. Test her squeal factor with an ice cube.

35. Touch parts of her body that you have previously avoided—you’ll be surprised what areas tickle her fancy. (Remember that she may insist that turnabout is fair play.)

36. Spank her and tell her that she’s a naughty girl. Start slow and light and build up to increase sensation as she becomes acclimatized.

37. Have her put the condom on you. Don’t like condoms? You’d be surprised how much fun it can be to have your partner unroll it on you.

In the end, a good part of the fun of foreplay is being creative. It’s about finding new ways to tease and please your lover. A truism of great sex is that the more pleased your lover is, the more pleased you’ll be.

By Sarah Tuff

This story can be found in the current issue of Reps!, now on sale at newsstands everywhere. For lots more fitness, health, nutrition and exercise advice, get a copy of the May/June 2012 Reps!

As a Reps! reader, you know that staying fit and active and carrying lean muscle tissue takes effort. Just like your car, your hiking gear, your road bike or your mountain bike, a healthy, strong and muscular body requires consistent maintenance. Keeping your body in top shape not only helps you meet your training and sports performance goals, like a game of pickup basketball, but it can also help you steer clear of metabolic syndrome, a growing health condition that’s impacting American men. According to recent statistics, more than 35% of U.S. males, 20 years and older, show signs of metabolic syndrome, and it’s predicted that percentage will continue to rise.

While technically not a “disease” in itself, metabolic syndrome is a condition marked by the presence of a cluster of risk factors that could mean trouble for your health, often sooner than later. These factors include having a large waistline, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, low levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol and high triglycerides (a form of blood fat). Obviously, having any of these risk factors isn’t good for your health or performance. But when a few of them are combined, it can contribute to serious disease. “Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of abnormalities that increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes,” explains Robert Henry, MD, president of Medicine and Science for the American Diabetes Association.

The good news is that you can steer clear of metabolic syndrome by living an active lifestyle and limiting your individual risk factors. By super-tuning your health, just like you would a car or your skiis, you can reduce your risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, systemic inflammation, atherosclerosis, heart attack, stroke, erectile difficulties, possible assorted cancers, and keep your body at its best. As a Reps! reader, you’ve already got the tools to get going and take charge of your health. Here’s how you can do it.

Keep Your Belly Lean

Obesity is linked to a higher likelihood of developing all of the metabolic syndrome risk factors, but increasingly, research is showing that belly fat specifically is one of the biggest risk factors for metabolic syndrome. For men, a waist circumference over 40 inches signifies trouble, so keep your belly tight with these fit strategies:

Try cooking with safflower oil. A study from Ohio State University found that the oil (which can be used for sauteing veggies) is linked to reduced abdominal fat and inflammation along with improved cholesterol, blood sugar and insulin sensitivity. Use it to saute zucchini, mushrooms and bell peppers for your morning eggs or evening vegetable side dish.

Skip the situps. Crunches alone don’t get rid of abdominal fat. Strong, powerful abs are made mostly in the kitchen — a clean diet accounts for 80% of your fat loss. But when you’re on the go, you should focus on reaching the deeper muscle layers of your abdominals simply by drawing in your navel — try it while standing in line or sitting at work. The contraction will engage assorted motor units, keeping them active and healthy.

Add 5–10% more weight to your strength training routine. A recent study found that resistance training, combined with caloric restriction, was more effective than cutting calories alone in reducing unhealthy visceral fat (the deepest layer of fat on your body, especially your midsection). Before you increase the amount of weight you lift, make sure you can complete all sets of a particular exercise at your current weight with proper form.

Go for seven hours of sleep per night. People under the age of 40 who slept less than that amount every night, showed a 32% gain in visceral fat, according to a 2010 study published in the journal Sleep.

Every five minutes, add a two-minute high-intensity interval to your cardio routine. “Moderate activity will have a limited benefit,” says Gary Liguori, PhD, assistant professor of health, nutrition and exercise sciences at North Dakota State University. So, don’t be afraid to push the edge of the envelope regularly. Intervals are a particularly superb way to increase your calorie and fat burn, even for hours after you’ve finished the workout.

Control Your Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure is an important factor in staying healthy and avoiding metabolic syndrome. While the American Heart Association considers optimal levels to be anything below 120 over 80, it’s not uncommon for an active guy’s numbers to be even lower. But what if they get too high? If your number is 130 over 85 or more, it could signal trouble and may lead to a spike in your insulin levels. In turn, the increased insulin levels could cause the loss of magnesium and the retention of sodium in your body, which can increase your blood pressure even further, explains Kansas-based Ron Hunninghake, MD, coauthor of Stop Prediabetes Now (Wiley, 2007). As well, insulin spikes can derail fat loss efforts on the spot and lead to weight gain. Stop the cycle with these tips:

Take the salt shaker off the table, suggests Henry. “This will help you keep your sodium intake to less than one and a half grams per day.” A diet low in sodium helps prevent blood pressure from rising. Try it!

Differing Views on Sodium

The FDA’s Dietary Guidelines suggest that your RDA of sodium shouldn’t exceed 2,300 milligrams, but the American Heart Association disagrees, stating that you should limit your intake to only 1,500 milligrams per day. As long as you’re active and healthy, you can ingest the higher amount.

Super High-Sodium Fast Foods:
McDonald’s Angus Bacon and Cheese: 2070 mg of sodium
Wendy’s Baconator Double: 2020 mg of sodium
Carl’s Jr. Southwest Patty Melt Six Dollar Burger: 1970 mg of sodium

Fit in a nap, whenever you can. A new study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine found that those who slept 45 minutes in the daytime had lower blood pressure than those who didn’t. Even a shorter nap should do wonders for your overall health — and don’t forget, muscle grows when you’re asleep.

Add another workout to your week. The more active you are, the more likely you are to reduce high blood pressure resulting from a high salt diet, found a study presented at a recent American Heart Association meeting. On your scheduled days off, do what’s called active rest — ride your bike in the neighborhood, go for a light jog, play some Frisbee, or take your dog for a hike.

Keep Your Blood Sugar Balanced

Your body’s main source of energy is glucose, or blood sugar, which your body creates by breaking down the food you eat. But when glucose gets diverted from normal cellular function and builds up in the blood, it can lead to metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. Keep your blood sugar levels stable with these guidelines:

Don’t skip a complete breakfast. Science has shown repeatedly that eating a full breakfast — complex carbohydrates and lean protein sources — goes a long way toward helping you control blood sugar for much of the day. One study showed that whole grain barley or rye helped particularly regulate blood sugar for long periods.

Store your big plates on a hard-to-reach shelf and save them for special occasions, like the odd time when your mom comes over. Replace them with smaller plates for day-to-day use. Then, use the plates to eat more often, ingesting smaller, more frequent meals of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and proteins, which can help keep your blood sugar balanced by limiting the spikes that come from eating processed foods, says Henry. Keep in mind that eating small meals six or seven times a day can actually help you lose weight and control hunger.

Program your training date and time into your smartphone. Exercising at the same time each day has been shown to help prediabetic and diabetic patients control their blood sugar, says North Dakota State University’s Liguori. Working out consistently, combining cardio and resistance training, makes the body more sensitive to the insulin it produces, even if you don’t have metabolic syndrome or diabetes. Increased insulin sensitivity means better blood sugar management.

Manage Your Triglycerides

Triglycerides are a form of blood fat circulating in your body. A high level of triglycerides thickens your blood, which increases the likelihood of clotting and blockage, and can eventually lead to health complications such as a heart attack or stroke. Excess triglycerides (greater than 150 milligrams/deciliter) may also be a signal of metabolic syndrome. Luckily, your lifestyle choices have an impact, which means you can control your numbers. Here’s how to keep your triglycerides below 150 during your next blood test:

Work out before you go out with the guys. Let’s not kid ourselves, we’re all going to splurge on nachos and beers at some point. But simply exercising before the indulgence can help reduce the negative impact on your bloodstream, found researchers at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Hitting the gym before a cheat meal can help reduce the amount of lipids in your blood because exercise alters the signals your body sends after consuming fatty foods.

Offer to be the designated driver. Even small amounts of alcohol elevate triglyceride levels.

Answer only the emails you must. For the others, stand up and go talk to your colleague instead. In fact, make it a point to get up out of your desk chair every 30–45 minutes and move around. A new study published in the European Heart Journal found that even if you work out on a regular basis, sitting all day at work can result in higher triglyceride levels and other risk factors for heart disease. Bonus: In the same study, those who took the most work breaks also had the smallest waistlines. So get moving in between all those hours spent sitting on your ass.

Boost Your Good Cholesterol

If you want to stay healthy, it’s not enough to keep your “bad” LDL cholesterol levels low (these are the ones that invade your blood vessels and cause plaque buildup that can lead to heart disease and stroke). You also need a high level of “good” HDL cholesterol, which cleanses your artery walls of bad cholesterol, shuttling it out and preventing it from clogging your bloodstream, thus reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease (remember, the arteries feeding your penis are among the smallest and can plaque up in your early 30s, leading to erectile difficulties at a young age). Ideally, your HDL levels should be 50 milligrams/deciliter higher. Here’s how you can boost your levels:

Eat fats — the right kind. You can top off salads or meals with a handful of sunflower seeds and a couple of tablespoons of chopped avocado instead of the processed, unhealthy croutons and cheese. According to a Canadian study, monounsaturated fats (which are found in foods such as nuts, seed, oils and avocados) can up your LDL levels, even when cutting calories to bring out that sixpack. So don’t rule out all fats from your nutrition plan; simply focus on the good fats.

Set a weight loss goal of six pounds. Losing that small amount can raise your HDL levels by 1 milligram/deciliter. With consistent clean eating and training — both anaerobic and aerobic — you can safely lose 2 pounds a week, making that six pound goal a mere matter of three weeks of effort. Then, recommit to lose six more to lower HDL again, and then go for it.

Watch your alcohol intake. Post-heart attack, most male survivors are told to limit their alcohol intake to two drinks per day, which is said to help raise HDL levels a bit. Anymore than that and you risk elevating your triglyceride levels.

Increase fiber intake. Whole grain foods and vegetables have been shown to increase HDLs cruising in your blood stream, while helping you trim that waistline, since fiber reduces the amount of fat your body absorbs from meals. According to the American Dietetic Association, the male RDA for fiber is 38 grams.

By Neva Cochran, MS, RD, LD

So, why should every man care about fiber—not the kind you wear but the kind you eat? One very important reason—particularly as you get older—is regularity. Another reason, and likely more important irrespective of age, is that fiber speeds the food through the digestive tract, allowing less fat to be absorbed by your body. Before going any further, it should be first pointed that there are two types of fiber: insoluble and soluble.

Insoluble

Sometimes referred to as “nature’s broom,” insoluble fiber helps move food through the digestive tract more rapidly. Because your body doesn’t have the enzymes to digest the insoluble stuff that used to be called “roughage,” the indigestible fiber provides bulk and pushes undigested food through the gut to the end.

Found in wheat bran and the peels, skins, seeds and strings of fruits and vegetables, insoluble fiber is also believed to reduce your risk of colon cancer and diverticulosis (another serious colon condition).

Soluble

On the flip side, soluble fiber boosts your health by combining with water in the gut to form a gel-like substance that delays the absorption of sugars and attaches to some of the fat and cholesterol in the small intestine to prevent their absorption. If you’re trying to maintain your weight or even lose some of that fat, this sticky business is a good thing, as you’ll see.

Oatmeal (not the instant kind), oat bran, flaxseed, psyllium, nuts, beans, carrots, apples, oranges, pears and berries are good sources that help reduce total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels, lower blood sugar and help with weight management. A study conducted at Saint Joan University Hospital and reported in the British Journal of Nutrition found that participants who consumed soluble fiber two or three times a day lost 10 more pounds and felt fuller after meals than those who ate little soluble fiber.

How Much?

While the typical North American only eats about 15 grams of fiber a day, active guys like you need to eat 25 to 35 grams a day. While this may seem like a lot, it’s not particularly difficult to do if you include the recommended minimum of two fruit servings, three vegetable servings and six grain servings a day, with at least three of them coming from whole grains, such as whole wheat pasta and brown rice.

Supplements?

While it’s easy to get all of the fiber you need by eating a balanced diet, fiber supplements may be considered an alternative in a pinch. “Look for a fiber supplement that provides three to five grams of fiber, and take two a day to boost your fiber intake by six to 10 grams,” suggests Robin Plotkin, a culinary and nutrition consultant and registered dietitian. Plotkin recommends taking one that contains psyllium fiber, which helps lower cholesterol when it’s part of a diet that’s low in saturated fat. “And be sure to drink plenty of fluid when you increase your fiber intake—at least eight glasses a day,” she adds.

Your Fiber All-Stars

It should be easy to hit your daily quota of fiber—25-35 grams—by mixing and and matching from this list.

Note: All portions, unless noted otherwise, are for one cup.
Pass On Gas: As you add fiber to your diet, it’s best to do it gradually to avoid the formation of excess gas. By increasing your fiber intake by about five grams a day, your body adapts gradually and gas becomes less of a problem.

By Tim Rigby, MA

It’s summertime and this is the time of year when you’re most likely to ask yourself if you’re ready for the beach, lake or river. But we’re not talking about lying motionless on the sand with your iPod cranked to Deadmau5; we’re talking about the opportunity to show how functional your muscle truly are with a game or two of beach volleyball.

The game seems simple, doesn’t it? Serve the ball, hit it back over and defend at the net. Along the way, there’s some running involved, but the court is small, so it can’t be that tough, right? Think again. There’s a very good chance that your opponents have done their homework—or, at least, enough weight training—and developed strong, explosive actions from their legs, shoulders and arms that may give them a marked advantage over you.

Resistance Training Works

They say that success is when preparation meets opportunity. If you, therefore, “prepare” yourself for success in volleyball, that opportunity will arise when you step on the court. If you perform several specific weight training moves, you can take advantage of an easy but decided edge over your opponents.

Don’t believe us? “Strength training through weight lifting is a critical developmental factor for volleyball players at all levels,” says Glenn Hoag, head coach of the Canadian men’s national volleyball team. “From the professional level and the national team right through the ranks of recreational players, strength training is used for many reasons, including gains in power and speed, joint stability, injury prevention and overall fitness level.”

So, it’s easy to appreciate that you’re more likely to win in volleyball if you put in due time at the gym. Players at all levels are becoming increasingly faster and stronger—and this is no accident. “The demands of the sport are increasing, as is the importance of a good balance between technique and strength development for volleyball players,” says Hoag.
Here, Reps! presents a battery of resistance training moves that can hold the key to your success in beach volleyball.

Volleyball ‘Power’ Workout

*Take no more than a 30-second rest between sets to help develop your endurance threshold

Standing French Press

The volleyball actions of spiking and serving the ball are forceful actions that require power from your triceps. The French press mimics these actions nicely and isolates the long head of your triceps because your arms are positioned away from your sides. Developing this muscle will help you pack a serious punch to the ball.

Set-Up: Stand upright, in a shoulder width stance for stability, with your knees slightly bent. Using an overhand grip, with your hands slightly narrower than shoulder width, hold a light dumbbell above your head, arms fully extended.

Action: Bend your elbows and lower the bar directly behind your head in a controlled manner to avoid injury. Stop when you’ve lowered the dumbbell about 90 degrees and feel the stretch in your triceps in the bottom position. Raise the bar back overhead by pressing with your triceps, keeping all other muscle groups inactive.

Dumbbell Front Raise

Blocking shots by defending at the net comprises much of volleyball. Once you’ve jumped, it’s critical to get a good arm extension and to hold your ground while your opponent fires the ball straight at you. Strong anterior (front) shoulders are a tremendous defensive asset.

Set-up: Stand upright, in a shoulder width stance for stability, with your knees slightly bent. Grasp a pair of dumbbells using an overhand grip in each hand and let your arms so that dumbbells rest at thigh level.

Action: Inhale slightly and raise the dumbbells immediately in front of you. A good tip is to keep your elbows slightly bent to reduce strain on the joints. Raise the weights until your arms are parallel to the ground and hold for a count of one. Lower the weights slowly in a controlled manner back to the start position. Make sure that the weight isn’t too heavy to cause you to swing the dumbbells upward via momentum.

Dumbbell Lunge

The essence of volleyball is jumping ability—not just straight up but also side to side and sometimes even rearkward. Dumbbell lunges serve to hit your quads, hamstrings and glutes—the biggest three muscle groups involved in all-around jumping proficiency.

Set-up: Stand with your feet hip width apart, knees soft, and hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides.

Action: Take a big step forward with your left leg, bending both knees and lunging toward the ground with your chest lifted and your shoulders back. When your left thigh comes parallel to the ground and your right knee is nearly touching the ground, push off your right foot and straighten both legs, bringing your right foot up to meet your left in a standing position once more. Repeat alternating legs.

Dumbbell Squat

Simple physics dictates that you can’t jump up if you don’t squat down first. This move offers a great replication of the jumping action in volleyball but goes even deeper—you’ll sink down far enough to develop fast-twitch fibers in your quads, hamstrings and glutes that will help you soar higher when you actually jump in play.

Set-up: Stand up straight, with your chin up and hands holding dumbbells at your sides. Your feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart.

Action: Bend your knees about 45 degrees as you lower yourself into the bottom position—do not allow your toes to float beyond the plane of your toes. Press forcefully with your quads and explode vertically. As you’re rising, keep your spine straight and the weights at your sides. This action mirrors motions where you’re defending at the net and blocking a shot.

Mountain Climber

Regardless of whether you play in teams of two, four or even six players, the concept of volleyball is simple: to keep the ball in the air. To do this, you’re going to have to move explosively in every direction. Mountain climbers are performed with speed and power that can help you greatly in volleyball.

Set-up: Assume a traditional push-up position, with your back flat and arms spread parallel to your shoulder line. With this move, your head will be facing down in a comfortable position. Bring your right knee up toward your chin.

Action: Imagine that you’re scaling a wall but simply in a rotated position. Both of your legs will pump here simultaneously. Bring your left knee in toward your chin as you swing your right knee back behind you. Your lower body will feel like a pair of pistons firing alternately. Make sure to generate enough power from the pushing action so that you don’t scrape the floor with your toes.

By George Paige

We are standing on the crest of a wave right now, and that wave is called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Just a few years ago, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) bestowed Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) status on the fat-fighting supplement CLA.

“CLA is one of the few nutraceutical-type supplement ingredients that has received GRAS approval by the FDA,” says Michael Pariza, PhD, one of the leading scientists in the field of CLA. What this means for Joe Obesity—representing nearly one-third of the population in the United States—is that in the near future he’ll feel better about himself for drinking a quart of chocolate milk because it contains CLA. But before CLA hits the food chain, there’s plenty of evidence to show that you shouldn’t wait for the wave; you should paddle out and get some of your own—ASAP.

In the Lab

CLA refers to a collection of fatty acids that are found in meats and milk, and the fact is,
your body needs CLA. Why? The current CLA journey began in 1987, when Pariza—then a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison—discovered that the fatty acid, which was known to exist as far back as the late 1930s, actually had biological activity. Pariza and his associates found that CLA was an anti-carcinogen and were feeding it to mice in an effort to understand how it suppressed tumor growth. They noticed profound changes in the body composition of the mice they were studying. Since then, CLA has continued to show potent cancer-fighting effects in animal studies, but they haven’t been proven in humans. That doesn’t mean that CLA is worthless, though.

In the Weight Room

Multiple studies have shown that CLA helps reduce body fat in obese and overweight populations. But the question has always been this: Though CLA can help the fat guy on the couch go from a size 56 pair of jeans to a size 44, can it help the guy in the gym go from 16% body fat to 10%? A slew of promising research has come to light over the past few years showing that CLA’s greatest potential might be for those who are seriously interested in getting leaner and stronger.

In contrast to this fatty acid’s reputation as a fat burner only for the obese, scientists in Norway conducted a study on healthy subjects who trained in a gym for 90 minutes a day three times a week. At the end of 12 weeks, the group who took CLA lost significantly more body fat than the placebo group. A more recent study showed that CLA is a natural addition for guys who are truly living the Reps! active lifestyle. Researchers at the College of Kinesiology at the University of Sakatchewan in Saskatoon took three groups of strength-trained subjects and gave one group a mix of CLA, creatine and whey protein. The other subjects received either just creatine and whey or a placebo. After five weeks, the group that took all three supplements experienced greater increases in bench-press strength, leg-press strength and lean mass than the other two groups combined.

CLA seems to have similarly synergistic abilities when it comes to burning fat. A study published in the journal Lipids in Health and Disease showed that when CLA was combined with green tea extract (one of the main active ingredients in most fat burner formulations), it led to a decrease in body fat.

CLA could also be a perfect complement to caffeine. While everyone’s favorite stimulant is a potent fat burner, it’s in danger of being overused in the post-ephedra era. After all, there is a limit to how much caffeine your nervous system can handle. The beauty is, caffeine aids fat loss by triggering the release of norepinephrine—a completely different avenue than CLA takes.

“CLA has direct effects on both the fat cell and the skeletal muscle cell,” explains Pariza. “When you eat fat, there are only two things you can do with it: burn it or store it. You burn it in the skeletal muscle and you store it in the fat cells. CLA keeps fat cells from storing fat and stimulates muscle cells to burn fat.”

At the Table

It’s easier than ever to get an efficacious amount of CLA in your diet. First of all, two major reputable brands, Tonalin and Clarinol, supply most of the CLA to manufacturers. One makes CLA from safflower oil and one from sunflower oil—both of which are nearly identical in their molecular structure. Secondly, experts have finally agreed on a daily dosage.

“Three grams a day,” says Pariza. “When we started, we weren’t quite sure, so we were basing it on what we thought could potentially come from your diet if you eat a lot of foods that are high in CLA. It turns out, in clinical trials, three grams a day is the level that seems to produce the maximum effect; if you go up to six or nine grams a day, you’re not getting much more benefit.” It’s clearly not a case of more is better, a not uncommon mindset for many gymgoers.

It used to be nearly impossible to get your CLA from food because the amount of dietary fat you’d need to eat would be counterproductive to trying to get lean. But a few things have changed that make the idea of getting the requisite three grams through food fairly realistic. For one, the nutritional stigma of consuming animal-based fats has slowly gone the way of the rice cake, and most physique-conscious guys have loosened the reins on fat while curbing their carb intake. In fact, adherents of the currently popular Paleo or Primal diets will consume up to 50% of their daily calories from fat (mostly animal sources) while eschewing all grains and consuming less than 100 grams of carbs a day. These so-called “evolutionary diets” also place an emphasis on eating meat and dairy products from grass-fed animals, and studies show that milk from grass-fed cows contains 500% percent more CLA than commercial milk, while beef from pastured animals has 550% more CLA than conventionally raised grain-fed cows.

Pastured meat is a self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to CLA because grass-fed meat also contains more trans-vaccenic acid (TVA), a trans fatty acid that has been proven to help fight diabetes, obesity and heart disease. (Don’t get thrown off by the word trans fat. Naturally occurring trans fats are much different than the ones you’ve been warned about in margarine and fried foods.) In addition, TVA is a dietary precursor to CLA—meaning that it will convert into CLA in the body. In fact, subjects fed TVA are shown to exhibit more CLA in their system than those who consume the same amount of supplemental CLA.

While the health, environmental and body-altering benefits of consuming pastured meat and dairy products continue to mount, Pariza still recommends supplementing. CLA actually refers to a collection of 28 isomers—compounds that contain the same molecular formulas but different structural formulas. The majority of CLA is composed of two types of isomers, known as cis-9-trans-11 and cis-10-trans-12—or better known as 9/11 and 10/12. The latter seem to be responsible for the beneficial changes in body composition, although both are anti-carcinogens in different ways and a synergy exists between the two. Since the ratios in milk and meat can change depending on feed and the genetics of the animal, Pariza feels that supplements are the best way to guarantee ingesting the optimal ratio.

In the Pipeline

Ultimately, scientists feel that they have just begun to scratch the surface of CLA’s potential. Even though it has been studied vigorously for nearly 25 years, new upsides continue to emerge.

“I’d say one of the most interesting things is the possibility that it has very pronounced effects on the immune system,” says Pariza. “One of the things it does in animals—and there is evidence emerging that it does this in humans as well—is reduce symptoms of asthma. It helps with hypersensitivity reactions, so people who have hay fever problems will often report anecdotally that they are taking CLA and feel better.”

If CLA has the power to bolster our immune systems, making us feel better more often, that means it will keep us in the gym longer and more consistently. That could be its true power when it comes to helping us build muscle and burn fat.

Pass the Marsupial

It has long been known that milk and meat are the main dietary sources of CLA. Over the past several years, it has been discovered that pastured animals—cattle and dairy cows that are grass-fed rather than grain-fed—can contain five times more CLA than conventionally raised animals. But even more recently, the single richest source of CLA has been discovered: the kangaroo.

Don’t be surprised. Over two million kangaroos are harvested for their meat every year. (They are far from endangered, as there are 48 different species and more than 35 million kangaroos in Australia.) Most of the meat goes into dog and cat food, but kangaroo steaks began popping up in Australian supermarkets with more frequency a few years ago with the outbreak of mad cow disease. Considering that kangaroo meat is loaded with high-quality protein, CLA, iron and zinc, more of us might consider throwing another ’roo on the Bar-B.

Best Sources of CLA

Since CLA is found primarily in meat and dairy products, the list of foods with a high concentration of CLA is a short-ish one. You can try both Tonalin and Clarinol—CLA supplements that can be found at most health and fitness stores. Vegans are pretty much stuck with mushrooms and sunflower oil—both of which are high in linoleic acid. Human breast milk is also high in CLA, but you’re liable to get arrested if you try to tap that from the source.

If you’re looking for high levels of CLA, you’d better ruminate on ruminants. What are ruminants, you ask? They’re animals, like cows, that have more than one stomach. Digestion in these animals begins in an organ called the rumen, where CLA is formed. The animal regurgitates and rechews its cud before eventually digesting the CLAs, where they enter the meat and milk. Here are some common ruminant food sources, along with their CLA values (milligrams of CLA per gram of fat).

Commercially produced beef: 4.3 mg
Grass-fed beef: 21.5 mg
Swiss cheese: 6.7 mg
Turkey: 2.5 mg
Lamb: 5.6 mg
Low-fat yogurt: 4.7 mg
Vegetable oil: 1 mg

By Bill Geiger MA

Honoring his 38 years promoting the sport of bodybuilding and dedication to advancing the cause of fitness worldwide, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger honored Reps! publisher Robert Kennedy on March 3 with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio. Before a sold-out audience at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Bob’s wife Tosca Reno accepted the award on Bob’s behalf. Bob is at home recovering from a recent illness.

Bob has led the MuscleMag team since 1974. His small publishing empire includes fitness titles Reps! and Oxygen, as well as Clean Eating, American Curves and a book division. Based just outside of Toronto, Canada, the company employs just over 100 people.

Video: Tosca Reno, wife of Reps! publisher Robert Kennedy, accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the 2012 Arnold Classic.

Bob got started in bodybuilding in college with his best friend Gino Edwards (also known as Johnny Fitness), who currently serves as editor-in-chief of MuscleMag. Fascinated by muscular bodies and strength stunts of the men of the times, they brought their passion for bodybuilding and their backgrounds in art and design to the publishing world. After relocating to Canada, they launched their first issue that sold for just $1 and had 115 pages.

By Steven Stiefel & Steve Zim

We understand: You’re a busy guy who’s always on the go, but the good news is, every guy can find time to do the Reps! 30-minute workout four times a week for 10 weeks. It may not sound like a lot of training time, but we’re willing to bet that you’ll get better results from our program than from your current workout. Keep in mind that you’ll continue to burn fat for hours after you’ve finished the workout!

For each half-hour workout, you’ll alternate between two minutes of cardiovascular activity and one minute of weight training. During the course of a workout, you’ll perform 10 sets of resistance training in just 20 minutes. While this may sound like a lot less training volume than a more traditional workout, you’ll be surprised at how much harder and more effective this version can be, especially for the time-pressed man. It will keep you in constant motion and elevate your heart rate. You’ll burn body fat while forcing your target muscles to go to their limits during the one-minute weight sets that you’ve selected for each body part. In effect, cardio will make the resistance-training stimulate more muscle growth, while the resistance sets will allow you to burn more calories during the cardio sets. It’s a classic win-win if you ask us! (Note: If you can’t get to a piece of equipment, the chart provides options so that you can keep plowing ahead with the circuit.)

Reps! Fat Loss/Muscle Up Circuit

Leg Press

Sit in a leg press machine, maintaining the natural curve in your lower back throughout the set. Place your feet on the platform, extend the legs (don’t lock out) and release the safety. Lower the legs as much as possible without altering your lower-back position (often, this is a fairly small range of motion). Press the weights back to the starting position, but avoid locking your knee joints at the top of the rep.

Leg Curl

Lie on a leg curl machine with the back of your lower legs, generally in the area of the Achiles, in contact with the roller pads (as shown). Pull the weights up toward your glutes, maintaining a natural curve in your lower back and using the power of your hamstrings. To avoid injuring your lower back, do not jerk the weight upward or use momentum. Lower the weights deliberately, feeling the stretch in your hamstrings.

Hack Squat

Position yourself in a hack squat machine with your shoulders in contact with the pads. Place your feet on the foot plate so that your knees won’t drift past the front of your toes when you drop into the bottom position. Release the safety catch, then lower your body in a smooth, controlled motion until your thighs and lower legs form an angle of 90-degrees, or slightly more. Press back up, feeling the contraction in your quads.

Incline Barbell Press

Lie on a bench and hold a barbell with your hands a little wider than shoulder width apart. Keeping the upper arms perpendicular to your torso, lower the bar until you reach a point just short of touching your pecs. Keeping your shoulders back, press the weight up. Maintain the natural curve in your lower back and keep your head, shoulders and butt in contact with the bench throughout the set.

Seated Row

Sit on the rowing bench with your knees slightly bent and feet spaced comfortably on the foot plate. Using an overhand grip, grasp a narrow-grip rowing bar with both hands. Keep your upper body upright throughout the set, maintaining the natural curve in your lower back. Pull the bar into your midsection using the power of your lats. Contract your back muscles, before returning to the starting position. Allow the weight to stretch your lats.

Machine Dip

Sit in a dip machine, after selecting a weight that will allow you to push the dipping handles for one full minute. Keep your upper body upright and your arms at your sides to ensure that you hit the triceps correctly. At the bottom, squeeze the triceps hard, then control the handles back to the starting position.

Preacher Curl

Holding an EZ bar, position your upper arms so that they rest against the pads of the preacher bench and extend your arms to reach the starting position (do not hyperextend your elbow joints). Curl the weight up until your arms are vertical. Squeeze the biceps briefly, then feel the stretch as you lower the bar until your arms are nearly straight again.

Machine Shoulder Press

Adjust the seat so that, as you grasp the handles, your hands are at shoulder level in the starting position. Using the power of your delts, press the weight up until the arms are nearly straight and overhead. Lower the weight slowly, feeling the stretch in your shoulder muscles.

Standing Machine Calf Raise

Press your shoulders into the pads and lift the weight off its stack by standing upright. Rise up onto the balls of your feet, using the power of your calf muscles. Note that the weight stack will travel mere inches. Lower the heels, taking the below the plane of the foot plate. Feel the stretch in the calves. This exercise will give you a solid burn.

Ab Machine Crunch

Use an upright or lying ab machine. On the upright machine, place your feet firmly on the floor and press your chest into the pad, initiating the movement from your core. Bring your head toward your knees and contract your abs at the midpoint. Control the weight as you return to the starting position, feeling the stretch in your abs.