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What do Jude Law, Superman, the "300" Spartans, and the Navy Seals who bagged Osama bin Laden have in common? They trained at Gym Jones— a bare bones workout facility in Salt Lake City that caters to the fitness elite. Law trained there before filming "Repo Man." Henry Cavill— who played Henry VIII's buddy in "The Tudors"— tuned up at the gym before filming "Man of Steel." The gym achieved almost instant fame by turning fairly ordinary looking actors playing in the film "300" into buff specimens who looked more like Greek statues than Greek soldiers. Six members of the Navy Seal team who got bin Laden were part of a specialized military training program developed by gym owners Mark and Lisa Twight and gym manager Rob "Maximus" MacDonald. ...

To enhance and promote good health, it may be a good idea to turn back our dietary habits to what they were before the Agricultural Revolution 10,000 years ago, avoiding the foods created in the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago. Eating a modified Paleolithic diet may very well be the key to reducing many of the chronic illnesses and diseases of the 20th century, including obesity, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The American Heart Association estimated that in 2006 there were 81,100,000 people in the United States who were suffering from one or more types of cardiovascular diseases. These diseases are not contagious; they are highly preventable through lifestyle and diet. ...

Everyone grab your infomercial ab products! A new study has finally answered the question as to whether sit-ups, crunches and those quirky hold-a-dumbbell-and-bend-to-the-sideback-and-forth exercises shed belly fat.

Now, toss that junk in the trash can if it claims to drop inches off your waist in bold colors directly below the spandex-clad beach bunny or GQ underwear model.

Let's be clear— exercise is a vital component to developing musculature, including the various muscles that form the "core." Exercise is also a major factor involved in reducing body fat and it is very effective when combined with a maintenance or hypocaloric diet. ...

Anecdotal data is heavily influenced by the power of perception and placebo. If we have positive thoughts about a variable that we put into our training or nutrition, we are more than likely to have positive results simply due to the power of positivity. ...

The evolution of modern gyms from free weights to machines has created a paradox. On one hand, the machines allow one to move quickly and efficiently from one exercise to another without having to break down or add plates to a bar. However, excessive use of machines, especially for the lower body, robs the lifter of a structural base for power and strength, which can best be established by multi-joint and multi-muscle activation. Enter the barbell squat, which arguably presents the best strategy for capturing lower body supremacy. ...

"Recent research has proven that the body prefers to convert to body fat the calories from fat over the calories from carbohydrates. All carbohydrates have only 4 calories per gram, which the body prefers to use directly for energy."

For many individuals who work out several times a week, psychologically a workout starts when the first rep and/or exercise take place. However, according to Drs. John Ivy and Robert Portman, authors of The Performance Zone, if you redefine when your workout begins, you can jump-start the refueling process that can deliver big benefits to improving your performance. ...

0besity continues to be an increasing epidemic in the United States. An abundance of evidence shows that obesity is caused by a combination of a sedentary lifestyle and poor nutritional habits consisting of high-fat and high-glycemic carbohydrates. However, additional factors play a role in obesity, including the improper balance of hormones and diets consisting of foods that cause inflammation. Inflammatory foods may contribute to excess fat accumulation in the abdominal region. ...

If you wake up to the aroma of freshly-brewed coffee every morning and rely on a mid-day cup of Joe to maintain your focus, you're not alone. Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the nation. And though popular, it sometimes graces the top of the food and beverage blacklist due to preconceptions that it is bad for you. ...

When you are tight on time, but you do not want to skip your workout completely, it just makes sense to find an exercise that will activate a wide range of muscles in a short period of time. If you have not tried kettlebells before, you will find that they will provide a fresh lifting experience that will challenge your muscles while also developing superior balance and coordination. ...

With the abundance of information available to people today, it can become confusing as to what type of cardio exercises are best for burning off unwanted body fat effectively. ...

1. Swap out your usual step class for a Soul Spinning class once per week. It's stationary cycling with some drama for the ride.

2. Experiment with lean cuts of red meat, like bison. Broil a bison burger with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy over a salad for a super lean protein-packed meal!

3. Snowing by you? Shovel snow— 30 minutes of shoveling snow will ...

In 1975, the great red Soviet Olympic lifter, Vasily Alexeyev was widely acclaimed as the World's Strongest Man. He won 2 Olympic gold medals and in 1976 hefted 562 pounds in the clean and jerk. He did so easily. So easy, in fact, pundits argued that he could have made 600 lbs., way back then. I met him in 1977. Vasily has just died of heart disease (at 69). ...

In terms of your so-called volume (or the # of sets you do), some favor low sets but with very high intensity while others support high intensity, but still, with many more sets. HIT advocates argue, (without steroids), recovery is limited, so too many sets, say beyond 2 work sets, are inappropriate. HIT frequency is about hitting each muscle group no more than once a week; maybe say with legs, once each 2 weeks and limited sets. The HIT devotees say it takes the body that long to recover from the rigors and muscle damage induced by HIT training. ...

In the September '11 Reader's Digest the feature "Life" had a number of sections on how to do things better and more efficiently. One section was titled, "How to Get More Done," and every tip can be applied to your workout—I've altered the title of each tip to reflect that. If you're looking to get bigger and stronger faster, here's your checklist: ...

Q: I love [3-way] Positions-of-Flexion mass training. I would like to do a little more volume for each exercise. Have you ever thought of dividing up the positions for each muscle, like doing the midrange and stretch exercises at one workout and then the midrange and contracted at the next?

A: Yes. In fact, there's a complete Split-Positions workout in Chapter 10 of Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building, one of the first e-books I coauthored with Jonathan Lawson. For example, for triceps you alternate these two workouts: ...

As we age, we tend to lose muscle. The medical term for this is sarcopenia, which translates to "muscle loss." Unless you do something about it, you can lose 40 percent of your muscle mass by age 70. Various explanations are offered for this age-related muscle loss, such as lack of sufficient resistance exercise, which is probably the foremost cause. ...

We've been relying almost exclusively on the 4X mass method in conjunction with Positions of Flexion to get in ripped, muscular shape over the summer. It's an amazing way to train, as the weights are moderate—-no bone-crushing poundages; joints and spine feel fine-—plus, it's very flexible, as you'll see below. ...

Q: My boyfriend has got me started bodybuilding. He says I should train the same way he does with weights appropriate for me—but don't women need to train differently than men? ...

Do you want to achieve an upper back that is not only wide, but also has thick cables of spinal muscles running from your neck to your hips? Strong and thick spinal extensor muscles are essential to assist you to walk upright, stand and run and to maintain body position when you do squats, curls and overhead presses. ...