Pushups strengthen chest, arm, shoulder and stomach muscles. Correct form helps you avoid injury and get the most from your workout.

1. Lie facedown with hands slightly rotated inward at mid-chest, slightly wider than shoulders. Look at floor to avoid neck strain.

2. Starting position: Rise, balancing on hands and toes while keeping legs, back and rear end flat. (Too hard? Try knees on the floor with legs bent and feet up.)

3. Inhale as you slowly lower yourself until elbows are at 90 degrees, keeping body in a straight line.

4. Think of pushing the floor away from you as you straighten your arms, keeping body straight. Exhale as your arms straighten out, keeping elbows slightly bent.

See how many you can do. Start with a goal of six sets of five repetitions.

SIT-UPS

Lie on the ground with your knees bent and arms crossed on your chest. Have a friend hold down your legs by the calf muscle. (This keeps leg muscles from lending too much help to the gut muscles.) Using your stomach muscles, gently raise your shoulder blades off the ground. (Don’t jerk yourself up!) Lower yourself, but don’t rest on the floor. Your stomach muscles should be tight the whole time.

If at first you struggle, try the Plank: Clasp your hands, then form a tripod on your elbows and toes, with your feet together. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Rest for a minute, then repeat. Feel those stomach muscles? That’s your gut getting stronger.

Until you’re 14, keep working till you can do two sets of 25 to 30. Older guys can shoot for two sets of 50.

PUSH-UPS

Form a table on your toes and hands, with your hands shoulder-width apart. Keep your back and rear end flat. Use your arms to lower yourself halfway or farther, then push yourself back up. Remember to breathe!

Don’t be bummed if you struggle at first. If you can’t do any, try push-ups using your knees instead of your toes, or hold the table position without locking your elbows.

Until you’re 14, keep working until you can do two sets of 30. Older guys can shoot for two sets of 45 to 50. As you continue to improve, do more!

BODY-WEIGHT SQUATS

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Use your legs to lower yourself, as if you’re sitting down. As you sink, raise your arms in front of you. Once you reach a seated position, slowly stand up again while lowering your arms.

After you get the hang of this, try doing squats on one leg. You won’t be able to go as low as the double-leg squat. (To start, simply stand on one leg with your eyes closed. Sounds easy, right? Just try it!)

Until you’re 14, try to do 25 single-leg squats on each leg. Older guys can shoot for 40 to 50. As you improve, you can add some weight, such as a plastic milk jug full of water in each hand.

WEIRD-WALK LUNGES

Outside or in a large room, take a huge step. The knee of your back leg should nearly touch the ground. Repeat until you weird-walk 10 steps. Rest for one minute, then repeat. Do two to four sets.

LEGS

Hamstrings: Gently pull knee to chest until stretch is felt. Repeat with other knee.

With hands on ankle, pull head toward knee. Repeat with other leg.

Groin: Grasp feet with hands and, bending from hips, gently pull forward until stretch is felt on inside of thighs.

Calf: Keep back leg straight with heel on floor and turned slightly outward; lean into wall until stretch is felt in calf. Repeat with other leg.

Ankle: Rotate ankle clockwise, then counterclockwise, 15 rotations each direction, each ankle.

With back knee facing forward, toes in line with knee, gently press front of back foot and ankle down and toward the floor. Repeat with other leg.

Quadriceps: Pull heel up until stretch is felt on front of thigh. Repeat with other heel.

UPPER BACK

Rotators: With feet shoulder-width apart and 12 to 24 inches from the wall, turn upper body and try to place hands on wall at shoulder height. Repeat to other side.

LOWER BACK

Extensors: Bring knee to chest and hold. For more stretch, bring head to knee and hold. Repeat with other knee.

Lumbar Rotators: Keep back flat and feet together, rotate knees and hold. Repeat to other side.

ARMS

Triceps: Pull elbow behind head with opposite hand. Repeat with other arm.

Biceps: With arms straight and fingers interlaced, raise arms until stretch is felt.

The videos here in the BL Gym will have you well on your way to a great workout program. Good things take time; keep at it and you’ll soon see real results.

Some athletes, though, would have you believe there’s a faster, better way to getting bigger and stronger: steroids.

They are dead wrong.

Here’s the straight scoop—the fine print you won’t see when you look at muscle-bound professional athletes who took the cheater’s route.

IS IT WORTH IT?

Taylor Hooton lived the good life: good family, good looks, good grades. He was a promising pitcher on his 10th-grade team in Plano, Texas. But Taylor desperately wanted to crack the starting rotation on the varsity.

On more than one occasion, Taylor must have thought, What can I do to make it to the next level? At 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, Taylor was a long, lean player. One of his coaches took him aside and told him he needed to bulk up to succeed at the varsity level. How much do I want it? Taylor asked himself.

In the fall of his junior year Taylor began using steroids on the sly. Over a period of months he added nearly 30 pounds of muscle. When he looked in the mirror he liked what he saw, but those around him didn’t. His girlfriend noticed that Taylor was acting paranoid and jealous. He cried frequently and got into a fistfight with her ex-boyfriend, sending her ex to the doctor for stitches. On numerous occasions Taylor lost his temper and pounded the floor, punched walls or heaved objects. When Taylor’s dad asked why he was acting rude and disrespectful to family members, Taylor said, “Pop, you wouldn’t understand. I’m just stressed.”

But this was more than stress. As he cycled on and off the drugs, Taylor was experiencing the extreme mood swings that are side effects of steroids. The sudden storms of anger and irrational behavior — known as roid rages — were becoming more frequent. His parents, unaware that he was using steroids, sent Taylor to a psychiatrist.

In the month before Taylor’s senior year they took a family vacation to England. Before returning home, Taylor stole a laptop and video projector from other hotel guests. His family was shocked at the uncharacteristic behavior and confronted Taylor when they returned home. As partial punishment Taylor was grounded for two weeks. When he awoke the next morning Taylor sat next to his mom and begged, “Please don’t ground me.”

His mother refused his plea, and Taylor plodded upstairs.

There, he hanged himself, ending his life a month after his 17th birthday.

A NO-WIN GAME

As a boy growing up in Foster City, Calif., Rob Garibaldi lived for baseball. When he was 4 his dad took him to a San Francisco Giants game, where they toured the dugout. Rob looked up at his dad and asked, “Do they get paid to do this?” It was his lifelong dream to suit up in a big-league uniform.

He would do almost anything to achieve it.

By his junior year in high school, college coaches were calling to offer scholarships, but they told Rob he lacked one tool: size. At 5-foot-9 and 130 pounds, Rob was lacking the body pro teams look for. So-called experts told him he needed to get up to 185 pounds by his senior year, according to his dad, Ray Garibaldi.

When Rob turned on the TV he couldn’t help but notice that his baseball idols looked bigger, stronger and faster each year. Hitters were ripping balls over the fences at rates never seen before in the history of the game.

“In Rob’s mind, if those big sluggers had to take steroids, then someone like him would surely have to do it,” his dad says.

By the time Rob graduated from high school, he had grown to 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds. That summer he tried his first cycle of steroids.

Although he started his sophomore year at the University of Southern California, he could not ignore the whispers of coaches that he needed to add some size. During the fall of 2000 he experienced his first roid rage episode. And his life started to unravel.

His roid rages continued. When his father confronted him about his steroid use and suggested testing for liver or kidney damage, Rob left the room and returned in a rage, grabbing his dad by the throat and wrestling him to the ground. He barely slept and late at night often roamed the countryside alone. His parents tried everything to help him, including an involuntary hospitalization and a stay at a treatment center. The doctors explained that he was having severe withdrawal from steroids and that he would suffer until the chemicals were completely gone from his system.

Later Rob had hallucinations and became paranoid. In the early morning hours of an October day in 2002, 24-year-old Rob Garibaldi sat in his car and shot and killed himself with a gun he had stolen the day before.

DON’T COMMIT THE CRIME

Possession of anabolic steroids is a federal offense punishable by one year in prison and/or a minimum fine of $1,000.

Selling or possessing steroids with the intent to sell is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.

These punishments may be more severe if the violator is not a first-time offender. The Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 has added 18 substances to the banned list. Many so-called “nutritional supplements,” such as androstenedione (called andro), are banned. Legislators are considering more severe penalties for violation of all steroid laws.

It’s not just baseball players like Hooton and Garibaldi who develop a fatal attraction to steroids. Every sport is affected.

Every major sports governing body has outlawed steroids. Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association and International Olympic Committee have banned steroid use by athletes.

At the 1988 Olympic Games, the world’s biggest athletic event, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson bested American great Carl Lewis to win a gold medal in the 100-meter dash. He was hailed as a national hero in Canada and proclaimed “The Fastest Man in the World.”

Then the results of his drug test came back, revealing heavy steroid use.

Johnson was stripped of his medal and, after further steroid infractions, banned from track and field. His career—and his life—was ruined.

COMPROMISING INTEGRITY

You probably have heard the old saying, “Cheaters never win and winners never cheat.”

Although steroids may pump your body up to be bigger, stronger and faster, beyond the deadly dangers there also is a moral price to pay.

Discouraged by her poor performances on the track in 2003, Kelli White began taking the steroid THG, an endurance-boosting drug called EPO and a testosterone cream. Almost immediately she began to train harder, with much less rest between workouts, and her times dropped dramatically. In 2003, after having never won any major track event, she won
the U.S. Championships 100- and 200-meter titles and the world title in Paris, France. White welcomed her new fame and growing fortune.

But the changes in how she felt about herself were devastating.

In an interview with the USA Today newspaper she admitted, “I became somebody totally different. I had to compromise my integrity, my value system. I knew it was so wrong. I look at that person and I’m like, ‘That’s not Kelli White. That’s not who I am, who I started out to be.’”

Upon learning that French athletic officials had discovered a stimulant in her post-race drug test, White confessed to steroid use. She was banned from the sport for two years. In addition to being stripped of her racing titles, White lost close to $700,000 in prize money and endorsements. Whether she ever reclaims her lost self-esteem remains to be seen.

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

On Psychological Damage: “Some individuals develop prominent manic symptoms, including euphoria, grandiose beliefs, reckless behavior, severe irritability and aggressiveness when taking steroids. Steroid abusers also risk the possibility of a depressive episode during the withdrawal period after they finish a cycle. During withdrawal, abusers may experience depressed mood, lethargy, excessive sleep, loss of appetite and sometimes even suicidal feelings.”
—Dr. Harrison Pope, Harvard University researcher, and colleagues

On Physical Damage: “For a teenager, steroid use hastens the closing of the long bones. The body thinks you have finished adolescence, so you may not reach your genetically predetermined height. Males may develop a high-pitched voice, stop producing sperm and develop breast tissue. Users may develop enlarged hearts, liver tumors and a wide range of medical problems.”
—Dr. Gary Wadler, Professor of Medicine, New York University

Legally Speaking: “When professional athletes use steroids, it makes it O.K. in the minds of student-athletes. Steroids are dangerous for so many reasons, but the bottom line is that steroids are illegal, and there are penalties that users will pay.”
—California State Senator Jackie Speier, trying to pass legislation mandating steroid education and awareness

On Cheating: “It’s simple. Most guys don’t want to be associated with cheating. Steroids are illegal. They cause physical
harm. Sometime you’re going to have to pay the piper, and you may have to pay for it later with your health.”
—Former Florida Marlins infielder Damion Easley

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

A few keys to remember:

· Progress gradually. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Listen to your body. When you need a rest, rest.

· A solid program must train both the upper and lower body.

· Know why you are performing each exercise. Set goals and lift weights because you want to, not because someone wants you to.

· Always breathe during a repetition and go through a full range of motion.

· Always consult with your family doctor before beginning any new exercise program.