Ask Joe Weider

Tip of the Week: When working out, do that which you like least first or else you might not do it at all.

This is a fairly common-sense bit of advice, but one most people don't seem to apply to their workouts. Say it's your day to train arms, shoulders and abs, but you really don't enjoy ab training. The natural temptation would be to stick your abs at the end of the workout, after arms and shoulders. Then, as often as not, by the time you get to them you're so tired that you give them half the attention you should, if not skip them entirely.

One of the Weider Principles is the Muscle Priority Principle, which is about training weaker body parts before stronger ones to help bring them up. Well, I suppose what I'm advocating here is a different kind of priority — prioritizing that which you don't particularly enjoy before training that which you do. Hmmm ... I may have to think up a new principle name for this.

Q: What order do you recommend organizing chest exercises? I typically do flat barbell bench presses, incline dumbbell presses, flat dumbbell flies and dips. That's the order I use, but I read your recent column about pre-exhaustion and am thinking about putting flies first. Any thoughts on this, Joe?

Joe: I think the way a person arranges exercises within a workout is a highly individual thing based upon his or her specific needs. For example, if your upper pecs are lagging, I would recommend prioritizing incline presses and then working your way down the chest. If it's the lower pecs that need work, start with dips.

In general, I do like the idea of pre-exhaustion, especially for so large a body part as chest. By the same token, I also think the Confusion Principle is key to anyone at the intermediate level or higher. This means switching up the order of exercises and even the exercises themselves.

So, consider starting your chest with a single-joint movement such as flies or pec decs or cable crossovers to pre-exhaust the chest, but don't get stuck on a specific order of exercises for more than a few weeks at a time.

Q: I'm a 28-year-old woman, and I've always had rather narrow hips.

I also have a lean and athletic build, but I would like to build some curves onto my body. What exercises would you recommend for giving me hips?

Joe: I think many women would feel blessed to have your particular concerns. Most women I speak with are interested in reducing rather than building. I bet you have more than a few jealous friends.

There are definitely a few exercises you can do that will help add mass to your hip region. The primary lower body builder, as I've mentioned here in the past, is the squat. In particular, the lower half of the movement is where the glutes, hamstrings and hip muscles are most affected. Because deep squats can be difficult on the knees, I recommend using light weight or no weight at all (which is called deep knee bends) and aiming for reps in the 20-30 range.

Additionally, the abductor machine is excellent for targeting the tensor fasciae latae, which is the muscle that runs the outer edge of your hip. Again, no need to use heavy weights here. Aim for 20 reps.

Finally, Romanian deadlifts are excellent for working the entire glute-hip-hamstring region. A good description of how to perform this variation on the standard deadlift can be found at www.muscleandfitness.com/training/exercises/25.

Below I've outlined a simple program for adding muscle to your hip area using these three exercises. Perform it twice a week, and I believe you should begin seeing the fruits of your labor within eight weeks or so.

Joe's Hip Building Routine

Exercise —— Sets —— Reps

Squats —— 3 —— 20-30

Abductor machine —— 3 —— 15-20

Romanian deadlift —— 3 —— 10-15

Joe Weider is acclaimed as "the father of modern bodybuilding" and the founder of the world's leading fitness magazines, including Shape, Muscle and Fitness, Men's Fitness, Fit Pregnancy, Hers, Golf for Seniors and others published worldwide in over 20 languages.To find out more about Joe Weider, write to him and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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