Why is this here? Well, looking your best is in part finding clothes that fit. The other part is truly being fit. Living a healthy lifestyle plus dressing well is the ultimate combination. More about our trainer at the end of the post.
“Sun’s out, gun’s out!” my husband excitedly shouted as we drove through our downtown.
“What?”
He then explained to me that the scrawny kid skateboarding down the street had his shirt off. But does that exclamation statement apply to all who walk around shirtless? Turns out it does.
Interesting. There is a time and a place to walk around baring your “guns” for all to see. A sunny afternoon in a public shopping area does not qualify as an appropriate place to do so. And no offense, but this is especially true if you look like you don’t work out. When is it okay to bare it? Beaches, pools, or anywhere you’d be wearing swim trunks. The occasional super-hot day when you are washing the car in your driveway or mowing the lawn also could pass. But if you are going to bare it, and most women would agree; it would be nice if it looked like you put effort into the way you look.
You can show your “guns” off while keeping your clothes on as well! Most women, and men for that matter, can tell if a guy works out or not even when he’s fully clothed.
I realize not everyone is going to have muscle lines built into their outfits, but he looks dang good outside his suit as well. Henry Cavill photo credits here, here and here.
So, you don’t have to look like Superman in order to look good in a T-shirt (or out of one), but you do have to put some effort into your body. Not everyone is going to have a perfect everything, but people can tell if you take care of yourself. If you choose not to exercise and eat healthy, then ripping your shirt off, “guns-a-blazing” might not be for you.
Clothed or not, for me personally I like to see strong arms (full shoulders, horseshoes on your triceps, full biceps), full chest, defined traps, a flat stomach and a wide back. Wow- that’s a lot of muscle groups! And it’s easier to build up and define those muscles than you might think. The best exercises to develop your upper body may not require a gym or weights at all, so no excuses! Here are six key exercises that’ll have you looking great in a fitted t-shirt in no time. Remember: always warm up prior to exercising, and stretch afterwards.
Pull ups, Puhsups, and Tricep Dips. The trifecta for great shoulders and arms.
1. Pull-ups– Good old fashioned pull-ups work your shoulders and back. You can buy a pull-up bar for relatively cheap and it’s a great piece of equipment to have. They are super easy to put up and takedown, so no need to worry about having it out all the time. That is unless you plan to show off your skills to visitors. Can’t do one? Work your way into full pull ups by using a chair at first to assist.
2. Push-ups– Great way to work your chest, arms and your whole body. And you don’t need any equipment except for yourself to do them.
3. Tricep dips– Just use a chair! Make it harder by stacking your feet or holding one leg up while dipping down.
4. Plank it out– Have you ever tried to hold a plank for 5 minutes straight? It’s hard. You can build up to it though. When watching TV, try planking during every commercial (usually 30 seconds). Planks are a great way to work your abdominal muscles, your back, abs and arms.
Keep your core in a straight line during a plank.
5. Sit-ups and crunches– You can vary it up and do bicycles, toe touches, reverse sit ups, etc. Try for 15 minutes of abdominal work every other day. You don’t need to do a hard core (pun intended) abdominal routine every day, and you shouldn’t.
6. Supermans– (Back to him again?) Most people just focus on their abdominal muscles, neglecting their lower backs. Your back is super important!! Just doing abdominal work can create an imbalance of muscles, leading to potential injury. Keep your back strong by doing Superman’s: Lying face down on the ground with your arms extended, lift your arms and legs up in the air and hold. Your core should be taking most of the weight. Hold for up to one minute. Rest, repeat.
Do this work out a few times a week, and you’ll be looking good in a fitted shirt or ….ahem… not wearing anything on top.
Contributor Kelly Sturdy is a Certified Personal Trainer and Specialist in Fitness Nutrition. While not training her clients or competing in Bikini Class body building competitions, Kelly can be found in her organic garden, possibly talking to a chicken or two. For more of her articles, click here.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – Do you even lift, bro? SQUATS! Paleo brah. Abs are made in the kitchen! Dead Lifts!!! Cleans!!!
Don’t forget leangains brah.
Kettlebells brah.
spot me water weight work hard play hard sweet quads cocaaaaine braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/kentucky-strong-get-back-to-the-basics/
Turkish get-ups or get out.
Brah.
personally i like to soak in a tub of oats for 3 to 4 hours a day. after that i hit the gym and do shoulder shrugs until i can’t feel my face.
I’m an advocate of the Perfect Pushup. I got mine for around $20 years ago at Wal-Mart. I was doing pushups before, but the Perfects are a whole different experience and work more muscles, better.
http://www.jumpusa.com/perfect_pushup.html
intermittent fasting for that cut phase, brah
I’ll second getting some pushup stands and using them at a slight angle, but am wary of the Perfect Pushup and others that rotate — seems like it’s begging to break and might be easier to hurt yourself with bad form on them (admitting that most people don’t use perfect form), but I don’t have experience with them.
I have stands like the ones linked below, with a full bottom stablization circle, which I like a lot more than other stands which can teeter a bit during use. I have a set which also is angled from the ground rather than flat, which also helps you get the added range of motion that stands are designed to reach.
http://www.amazon.com/Beachbody-ACCPSTAND2103-Tony-Hortons-PowerStands/dp/B005KVH8U4/ref=sr_1_13?s=exercise-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1373908015&sr=1-13
Or you can just use a pair of dumbbells and save some cash 😉
That’s fantastic. Actually true information but hilarious.
If looking to workout without weights, I recommend buying, borrowing or…um, ‘borrowing+’ the ebook, Convict Conditioning. Douchey title & image, but has a bunch of bodyweight exercises. I can’t do the advanced ones, yet. Teaches how to build up to harder exercises starting from point zero. Can’t do one pushup? Shows you the exercises to do to build up to a pushup. Same for pullups, etc. There are a ton of other bodyweight exercise ebooks. Never Gymless, The Naked Warrior, Sealfit, etc. just pick one and go!
see leangains comment brah.
People make it more complicated than it has to be.
If you wanna be “cut” dont bother worrying about anything else unless you lose the body fat. And to do that its almost all diet.
For exercise you need nothing more than doing burpees over and over again. You dont need any equipment. If you feel inclined to buy something get a jumprope. Focus on these three things without giving up and theres your cheap and simple recipe for looking and feeling good.
The exercises here are also really good though not as efficient as the burpee. And if you are overweight these exercises alone will never get you those guns. Gotta lose the fat!
7 minute workout. Science! http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout
Every day, 7 minutes. You’ll need a chair (I assume you have that).
This tool will help you do it http://www.7-min.com
There are also a bunch of free mobile apps that do the same thing as this site.
“Unless, of course, somebody comes up with 6-Minute Abs. Then you’re in trouble, huh?”
“No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody’s comin’ up with 6. Who works out in
6 minutes? You won’t even get your heart goin, not even a mouse on a
wheel. 7’s the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man,
that’s the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin’ on a branch, eatin’ lots of
sunflowers on my uncle’s ranch. You know that old children’s tale from
the sea. It’s like you’re dreamin’ about Gorgonzola cheese when it’s
clearly Brie time, baby.”
2 things: 1) Where can I get that t-shirt with that pocket in the first pic?
2) The most cost effective way to get in shape IMO: http://www.fitnessblender.com/
U AREN’T GRUNTING LOUD ENOUGH, BRAH
REAL close to a DYEL, brah.
That second pic of Cavill could be Daniel Radcliffe’s macho doppelganger.
Old Navy tri blend, sized down, from last year. I don’t think they’re carrying pocket tees this year.
I had a similar thought when I saw the picture, but it was that Elijah Wood had hit the gym.
Not trying to step on any toes, but many physicians and well-known trainers have warned against that form of triceps dips in recent years because of the risk of shoulder injury. Regular dips would be a much better choice, and are complex enough to challenge anyone much farther than the version shown above.
The key to definition in muscle tissue is diet. Of course, it is important to build up muscle groups with resistance training but diet is absolutely necessary to see the horseshoe in the triceps or to see definition in the traps or detail in the back. Low body fat is what makes this all possible.
Stephen,
From what I remember, it was more ligament damage oriented than dislocations. If you’ve dislocated shoulders before, that must stress on the shoulder joint can always dislocate them again. The negative effects aren’t always immediately present. Triceps dips will eventually wreck havoc on most shoulders in one way or another. Parallel bar or ring dips seem substantially safer and more efficient.
And lean muscle maintenance, so your diet (i.e., caloric imbalance) doesn’t make you lose muscle too.
People can agree or disagree about the message of this post, but the writing is fabulous and the best I’ve seen all year on Dappered.