Gain a Pound of Muscle Every Week

Maybe you've had sand kicked in your face. Maybe you've lost one too many attainable women to beefier guys. Or maybe you've read so much about weight loss that actually admitting you want to gain weight is a societal taboo. Whatever the reason, you want to bulk up. Now.

But forget about your alleged high-revving metabolism, says Doug Kalman, R.D., director of nutrition at Miami Research Associates. "Most lean men who can't gain muscle weight are simply eating and exercising the wrong way," he says.

Here's your fix: Follow these 10 principles to pack on as much as a pound of muscle each week.

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Standard Pushup

The benefit: The standard pushup works your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core.

How to do it: Kneel down on all fours and place your hands slightly beyond shoulder-width apart. Set your feet together and straighten your arms and legs. Your body should form a straight line from ankles to head. Keeping your elbows pulled in toward your sides, lower your chest to an inch above the floor, and press back up. That's 1 rep.

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8 Variations of the Pushup

The pushup is probably the first muscle-building exercise most guys ever master, and also the first one they abandon. At some point they discover the bench press, come up off the floor, and never look back. But if you want a truly athletic physique, that's a big mistake.

How do I know? Because 3 years ago I set out to discover the training secrets of the world's best fighters for my book Ultimate Warrior Workouts. I traveled from sun-scorched beaches in Brazil to blood-and-sweat-soaked rings in Thailand. No matter where I looked, I found the planet's toughest men training with pushups. And many were doing variations of the exercise I'd never seen before.

I've included eight of those variations here. Think you're tough? Try to complete 10 reps of each—80 pushups total—in 5 minutes or less. It's a body-weight challenge that's sure to make you a believer in the power of the pushup.

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