Training & Performance
ArchiveWant to dunk a basketball? No? How about maximizing your performance in every sport you do? We thought you'd be interested in that. The following training program was followed by writer Josh McHugh, who writes about his quest to dunk a basketball in the March issue of Outside. Adhere to it the way Josh did, and you may remake yourself into a bone-a-fide
If you lived here, you'd be fit now! Our three high-style gyms will take you there.
THIS STRENGTH REGIMEN—designed by Los Angeles–based coach Steve Ilg, author of Total Body Transformation (Hyperion)—was built to match the groove of the Zen room. » YOU CAN ACHIEVE what Ilg calls Wholistic Fitness with this routine, which utilizes yoga blocks to create strength, balance, endurance, and flexibility. » STRUCTURE RULES:…
Los Angeles-based coach and author Steve Ilg (Total Body Transformation, Hyperion 2004) has spent the last 20 years honing a workout program that combines the best of strength, focus, balance, endurance, and flexibility for athletes
In the January issue of Outside magazine personal trainer and elite triathlete Karen Merrill put together a strength program that only requires a set of weights and an adjustable bench. Here we'll give you her program again with step-by-step instructions to every exercise.
As if all the hype about “natural male enhancement” weren’t enough of a challenge to men’s self-confidence, a recent study at the University of Central Florida found that ads featuring muscle-bound male models can distort men’s body images the same way rail-thin swimsuit models do women’s. Look, guys: “Fit” doesn’t…
For an injury-free season on the slopes, limber up before you go
A new test for bike saddles promises to protect you from getting numb or falling limp. Go nuts!
Is no cut at all. The latest surgery-free solutions to sports injuries may help you bypass the O.R., and put you back at the top of your game.
You’ve done other books, right? Q: Warren, I really don’t think your new book is your first. It seems that I have a book about ski-bumming in Sun Valley that I…
Think of this as your adventure tool box: We’ve got the strength moves you need for peak performance, from core training to flexibility building to explosive power drills. Ramp up your fitness plan with these six workouts, guaranteed to get you buff—and ready to play outside.
 Outside magazine, October 1995 The Ubergirl Cometh The age of Gabrielle Reece is upon us. She’s big, she’s strong, and with thousands more like her out there, she’s replicating fast. Can you deal with that?…
Here's the deal: Ten breakthrough workouts from the best fitness experts and coaching pros around. Great tips for nutrition, gear, and fine-tuning your form. Killer ideas to keep you motivated. Ten high-performance meals you can prepare in less than ten minutes. It's everything you need to start fresh, keep your options wide open, and realize your fitness dream
Meet your secret muscles—and find out how these hidden assets can leverage your leap to peak performance
Travel can be a minefield of fatigue, jet lag, strange food, and fitness regimens shot to hell. It doesn't have to be that way. With our road-warrior plan, you can fight back—and win.
Everybody knows that many athletes cheat by using performance-enhancing drugs like steroids, testosterone, and EPO. But what is it like to take these banned substances? Do they really help you win? To find out, we sent an amateur cyclist into the back rooms of sports medicine, where he just said yes to the most controversial chemicals in sports.
How is weight training for snowboarding different from weight training for skiing? Anne Davis Boulder, Colorado
I get sunburned every time I go skiing. What SPF should I be looking for in my sunblock? Dian Goodspeed Albany, New York
Beta-tested by Olympians and elite athletes, the wizardry of neuromuscular training will hardwire you for peak performance
Bill Phillips, the most successful fitness author in history, is a Colorado recluse who got his start teaching muscleheads how to use steroids. He's cleaned up his act—his Body-for-Life program runs street legal, and it works—but he's still banking on a timeless American urge: Everybody wants to be huge.
Pass the summer splash test with these rowdy water fitness contests
The Fountain of Youth is a myth. But take heart: Intelligent training and an adventurous spirit will keep you running, kicking, screaming at the peak of your potential for years to come.
Want an easy plan to prepare you to climb a mountain—say, 14,494-foot Mount Whitney? Here's a five-week program that'll whip you into summit-worthy shape.
Grueling workouts are the only way to get ready for long-distance endurance, right? Wrong.
The fittest firewoman alive is transforming her colleagues into elite athletes. When she's done with them, she's coming after you.
This month in New Zealand, the crew of Oracle/BMW will try to win the America’s Cup with the help of some unorthodox conditioning: grunting up and over sand dunes, terra firma’s closest approximation of a yacht rolling at sea.
With $100,000 for the winners, the world's most relentless teams, and a 138,000-vertical-foot Rocky Mountain course, the Subaru Primal Quest seemed poised to give big-time adventure racing a smashing return to U.S. soil. But then the race began—and all hell broke loose. A front-line report from the wildest, bumpiest game in the wilderness.
IN THE MARKET FOR AN INTERNET COACH? Then you’ll need to decide between a virtual coach (costs range from $0-$20 per month; no personal interaction included) and a bona fide online coach (costs range from $60 and up per month; live coach at the other end of the line). A…
Need a daily powder fix? Chase epic snow through the calendar with our guide to the best places to ski and snowboard each month.
For a faster, stronger you, take it slow (with a grain of salt)
Got insurance?: a bite will hurt but the evacuation cost is deadly. Q: I plan to sail around the world over the next three years. Can you recommend a good international insurance policy that covers emergency medical evacuations? — Mark Downing, Portland, Oregon…
Your well-tailored fitness program may be missing something important—a regular massage. Here's our hands-on guide to the right rub.
She's pinching, you're flinching—just in time, professional advice for DIY massage
Injury, pain, the psychology of recovery, and getting back on the trail
Train as hard as you want, but until you've tapped the secrets of top-notch form you'll be all go and no flow
Adventure races have come into their own. Time to join the self-punishing fun and tackle your first one.
Twice a year, the good men of Scotland's Orkney Islands work out their issues the old-fashioned way. They riot.
Calling all fitness Luddites and low-tech aerobic warriors—it's time to change your ways. Let us unlock the mysteries of heart-rate training and help you maximize your workouts.
Don't be put off by the funny equipment—functional training builds real-world skills in the gym
Science is sprinting toward the super-enhanced athlete. Say hello to tomorrow's inhuman being.
Triathlon, the arcane sport of masochists, is poised to hit it big, with a high-profile Olympic debut and two camera-ready hardbodies in a duel for glory. Will America fall for the seduction?
With longer days looming, it's high time to build stronger, faster legs
Your diet's dialed, your body's buff. Now plug in to the frontier of athletic performance—brain-wave biofeedback. It could revolutionize your game.
So is adventure racing pure competition, or just a grueling way to grab TV ratings?
She can hit frontside 50-50s all day long, snag half-pipe titles with her eyes closed and stretch her hang time to the edge of forever, but what while Cara-Beth Burnside do when it's time to grow up?
Then pay attention, because there's more to posture than walking around with a book on your head
As often as we use them, we can't help but abuse them. Or can we?
How to use those health club machines to your post-holiday advantage
Heed those rusty hinges now, and they'll work more smoothly when it really counts
A modest bit of indoor dedication now will give you the freedom to let loose this winter
Don't sweat that impending trip — it's easy to keep in shape away from home
Toughen your midsection, and hardy arms and legs are sure to follow