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Justin Bruening's Fitness Tips
A Fitness Plan for Every Man
Actor Justin Bruening has always been his own best motivator. It comes from a self-reliance he learned to embrace in his native St. Helena, Nebraska, where the tiny population didn't include many personal trainers. In fact, he still doesn't have one. And yet Bruening, now 29, managed to grow from a 5'1", 100-pound high schooler into a 6'3", 205-pound rump kicker in NBC's Knight Rider. "I've packed on a lot of muscle since then," he says, by way of understatement.
His workouts aren't the only key to his success, though. More important are the principles that drive his exercise and nutrition plans. They're linked by a vital common thread, the same one embraced by just about every guy who sports a six-pack: "Consistency," Bruening says. "If you can go to the gym regularly and eat the right foods most of the time, the details take care of themselves." Take his advice and you can transform your physique, too.
Know your limits
Bruening knows what he can do -- and more important, accepts what he can't. "If I don't do my workout in the morning, I know I'm not going to do it at all," he says. "I won't lie to myself." This self-honesty is vital: It turns procrastination into "now or never" -- and more often than not, he chooses "now." But the few times he does hit the snooze button, he doesn't stress about squeezing a training session into an already packed schedule. The whole day, including his workout, would only suffer if he tried. "I forget about it, and resolve to make sure it doesn't happen again for a while," he says. That's the workout equivalent of a mulligan, and you should take only one a week.
Don't backslide
"It's far easier to maintain a fit body than to recover from a layoff," says Bruening, who admits that he knows from experience. And haven't we all been there? Let that memory fuel your motivation. If you can't complete your entire 45-minute workout, do what you can, even if you have to settle for an 8-minute session of pushups and body-weight squats.
Make it personal
"I design my own workouts," Bruening says. "In fact, I learned a lot of what I use from Men's Health." (Hey, he brought it up.) By catering his routines to his needs, he's never bored. He even limits his cardio to 10 to 15 minutes a day, because he doesn't like going longer. "The key is to go hard the entire time," he says. A smart approach to personalizing your routine is to run or bike at the fastest pace you can maintain for the duration of your workout session. To gauge this, take note of your mileage (if you're going for a specific time) or clock (if your goal is distance) at the halfway point. You should match that number in the second half of your workout. Faster on the front end? Start off easier next time. Speedier on the home stretch? Pick up your starting pace.
Strive for balance
Bruening monitors his diet closely, and he knows he should combine carbs -- a guilty pleasure -- with protein and fat. "That's how you stay full and satisfied," he says. Mix and match your combinations to keep yourself interested. "My snack of choice right now is sliced apple with peanut butter," he says. "It's perfectly balanced. Cheese sticks with whole-wheat crackers are great, too."
Give in to cravings
"One day a week, I eat whatever I want," Bruening says. This doesn't nix his philosophy of consistency, though. Think about it: If you stick to your diet 6 out of 7 days a week, you're moving closer to your goal 86 percent of the time. Those are good odds in any endeavor. Just don't go overboard: Bruening will succumb to junk-food cravings, but stops himself at 300 calories. His favorite cheat: Fried chicken and grape Kool-Aid, a combo that barely edges out his runner-up, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
Build Biceps Like Bruening's
Add size to your biceps and triceps with this 15-minute, multi-weight arm workout from fitness instructor Pavel Tsatsouline, author of Enter the Kettlebell!
First, pick three weights
Heavy: The heaviest dumbbell you can curl 10 times.
Light: A dumbbell weighing half of what you can curl for 10 reps. So if your heavy weight is 30 pounds, select a 15-pounder.
Medium: A dumbbell between the two weights above. Round down if you must. (So if the midpoint is 22 1/2, for example, just grab a 20-pound dumbbell.)
Then lift
Gather your three dumbbells. Without resting, do 5 repetitions each of light, medium, and heavy single-arm dumbbell curls [1], in that order. Follow that immediately with 5 reps each of light, medium, and heavy single-arm dumbbell shoulder presses [2]. For each exercise, do the light and heavy sets with your left arm and the medium sets with your right arm. (See the chart.)
After you've finished the entire circuit of both exercises, rest for 3 minutes. Then repeat it -- but this time, do the light and heavy sets with your right arm and the medium sets with your left arm. Rest for 3 minutes again, and repeat the entire cycle as many times as you can in 15 minutes. Complete the workout two or three times a week.
[1] Curl Grab a dumbbell with one hand and hold it with an underhand grip at arm's length next to your hip. Without moving your upper arm, curl the dumbbell as high as you can. Pause, and slowly lower it to the starting position.
[2] Shoulder press Hold a dumbbell just outside your shoulder, with your arm bent and your palm facing your neck. Now press it straight above your shoulder until your arm is straight. Then slowly lower it.
