GET A LEG-UP

When you hit the workout wall, will you have what you need to push through? A new supplement—betaalanine— may make it easier to conquer the most challenging parts of your routine. The amino acid helps maintain strength during your workout 70 percent better than creatine does, report researchers at Florida Atlantic University. “By delaying fatigue, beta-alanine allows you to train harder,” says Jeff Stout, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., the study’s lead author. This means your strength levels will last long enough to finish all your sets and repetitions. Our pick: timedrelease betaalanine supplement.

LONG AND STRONG

For too many men, hamstrings are hell. Badly tuned ones can lead to back pain, leg strains, and worse. So our thanks go out to the British researchers who discovered that men who add the glute-ham raise to their workouts suffer fewer hamstring strains than men who don’t perform the move. Here’s how to join the protected: Kneel on a stack of exercise mats and have a training partner press down on your lower legs. Lower your torso as far as you can, resisting gravity with your glutes and hamstrings. Catch yourself with your hands, then muscle back up to the starting position. (Push off with your hands if you need to.) Adding two or three sets of 10 repetitions to your workouts could stave off a world of trouble.

BIGGER ARMS, FEWER EXERCISES

Auburn University researchers have found that you can blow off boring wrist curls and extensions and still build your Popeye muscles. Simply holding barbells or dumbbells strengthens your wrists and forearms by as much as 25 percent and 16 percent, respectively, in 12 weeks, says lead study author David Szymanski, Ph.D., C.S.C.S. So stick to moves for larger muscle groups, and your arms will develop just fine. For another fast way to grow and show, Szymanski suggests using “fat bars”—the larger diameter places greater emphasis on your forearms. Can’t find fat bars at your gym? Roll a towel around the bar to make it thicker.