In order to look halfway decent when it’s time to get naked with a woman, you need to exercise consistently and go easy on the Bugles. The problem is that going to the gym isn’t fun and takes precious time away from important things like dominating Skyrim. And when you do go to the gym regularly but you stop seeing progress — you’ve either stopped losing weight or adding muscle mass — it’s tough to find a reason to keep returning.

Meatheads refer to the stagnation as plateauing, and once it happens, you have to find new training methods and techniques to break out of the rut. Sometimes it’s as easy as brining your mp3 player or Discman to the gym; other times it means showing up with a brand new game plan. 

1. LISTEN TO MUSIC
Putting on earphones at the gym can help drown out the sounds dudes grunting like cavemen when they bench press or elliptical super hard. But a 2009 study also found that people who listened to their choice of music while exercising performed at least one extra rep on every set of every exercise during a shoulder workout compared to those who listened to no music.

2. BE MORE EFFICIENT
Hitting a weight lifting plateau is like doing your job well but never being given a promotion or raise. The techniques below are like working half the time and being paid twice as much for it. So use them.

• Drop sets: Perform a set of an exercise, then immediately reduce the weight and do the same lift until failure. (If you are able to lift the reduced weight as many times as the initial weight, you’ve taken off too much.)

• Supersets: Two exercises performed back-t0-back with little or no rest between sets.

• Trisets: Same as a superset, except you’re doing three exercises instead of two.

• Giant sets: Same as a triset, except you’re doing four or more exercises instead of three.

Liam Neeson has beaten up terrorists, pimps, Sith, and Batmen. And since movie studios never put out derivative movies, he had to find something different to beat up. So he went with the obvious choice — bloodthirsty wolves!

The Grey, which opens this weekend, stars Neeson as the alpha male of a drilling team stranded in the Alaskan wilderness. In it, Neeson shows those wolves who’s boss by wielding broken mini liquor bottles strapped to his fists. Now, if you’re being attacked by animals but don’t have access to a hotel mini bar and some string, you’ll need to go to plan B. And we’re here to help.

DOGS
Wolf attacks are actually extremely rare — there’ve only been 49 documented cases in the U.S. since 1942. Domestic dogs, however, bite 4.7 million people each year in the U.S. If you should run into a pissed-off mutt, remember not to run, because the dog will just assume you’re prey and chase you. Instead, stand up tall, turn slightly sideways to the dog, keep your arms at your sides, avoid eye contact, and back away slowly. If the dog does bite, pull its ears or gouge its eyes.

Yes, you can make a high-energy playlist, hire a personal trainer (if you can afford one), and pick a cardio machine that’s near a TV. But we’ve got a list of things that can be even more helpful in keeping you motivated — and that can make your workouts far more effective.

TIP #1: CHANGE YOUR WORKOUTS REGULARLY
Switch your workouts around every few weeks or whenever you feel like you’re no longer seeing results (muscleheads refer to that as plateauing). Mix up the exercises, sets, reps, rest periods, level of intensity, length of time, and number of days you train; it’s called the muscle-confusion principal. (Yes, even your muscles can get confused.)

And you can do this automatically by signing up for the Muscle & Fitness Trainer. It’s free, and depending on what you want to do — build muscle, lose weight, get bigger guns than Mr. Olympia — it’ll build you personal workouts. If you don’t check in and train when you’re scheduled to, the M&F Trainer will send a message to your friends and family to let them know. You might not feel guilty for eating Funyons and watching Netflix instead of going to the gym, but you’ll definitely feel annoyed when you’re bombarded with Facebook posts from people busting your chops for bring a loafer.

Broad shoulders make your clothes fit better, make you look more imposing, and make you look more powerful, which are all good things … unless you’re at a bar and a drunk short guy with self-esteem issues is looking for someone to fight, because then he’ll choose you. Anyway, if you want solid shoulders, you probably need to hit the gym. We’ll tell you how to add size, strength, and definition to your deltoids, but it’s on you to use a reasonable amount of weight (the amount of weight is always secondary to form).

Remember, when you’re attempting to build muscle, stick between 8-12 reps. And your goal with this shoulders workout is to isolate each deltoid head and your trapezius with precise movements, not to make yourself hemorrhage from the ears. So if you’re gasping for air, take some more time and lighten the load on your next set.

Shin splints — or medial tibial stress syndrome, if you want to be all sciencey — occur when too much force is repeatedly placed on nearby connective tissue. (How much is too much depends on the person.) And while we know you’re obviously enough of a badass to play through the pain, we still suggest you try these remedies.

• REST
You don’t need to be bedridden, but you should refrain from activities that require repetitive impact on hard surfaces or involve the same muscles as running. Try biking, swimming, or running in the shallow end of a pool if you’re one of those guys who can’t sit still.

• ELEVATE YOUR LEGS
When you’re just sitting around, elevate your shins elevated above your heart and take anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen or aspirin to reduce swelling. It’s tough to do at work without looking like a lazy ass, but try to sneak it before and after work if you can.

• ICE YOUR SHINS
Icing an injury is almost always a good idea since the cold constricts blood vessels and reduces inflammation. Try to ice your shins for 10-15 minutes up to four times a day, and be sure to do it after stretching or exercising. To prevent your skin from feeling like it’s being iced with napalm, always wrap the ice in a towel or washcloth.

• USE COMPRESSION
Use an elastic bandage or compression sleeve to apply pressure to the injured area. But if the pain gets worse, the area becomes numb, or your foot starts turning blue, loosen the wrap. Duh.

• STRETCH YOUR LEGS
Stretching the muscles of your lower legs will help build new collagen, speed repair, and strengthen and increase flexibility — all of which will make you less susceptible to shin splints.

• CHOOSE THE RIGHT RUNNING SHOES
Your shoes need to fit your foot type. If you overpronate, you have flat feet that roll inward more than 15 percent. If you underpronate, the heel makes initial contact with the ground but the inward movement of the foot occurs at less than 15 percent. And if your shoes are old and worn and smelly, you should get rid of them for the sake of others around you and because they’ve most likely lost their ability to control the rotation of your foot and absorb shock.

• RUN ON SOFT SURFACES
Running on concrete or asphault can cause and aggravate shin splints. So if possible, choose grass, dirt, or bouncy castles.

• SUPPORT YOUR ARCHES
Along with well-cushioned shoes that fit your foot type, arch supports and orthotics help soften and disperse the stress on your shinbones. Try the relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf ones at pharmacies or Target. If they don’t cut it, you may need to head to a podiatrist for orthotics made from casts of your feet.

Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme recently dipped into a bar while on break from shooting scenes for The Expendables 2, and apparently the guy downs cocktails as fast as he delivers roundhouse kicks. A few hours of heavy drinking later and a boozed-up Van Damme found himself involved in an arm-wrestling match with another bar patron. He lost and went into glass-smashing rage after realizing his watch was missing, which we’re guessing he removed to arm wrestle. (If you’re waiting for a punch line, there isn’t one. This seriously happened.)

If you ever find yourself challenged to an arm-wrestling match by a buddy or some lout at a bar, we don’t want you losing or hurling glassware. To help you walk away victorious, we suggest you do two things: One, rewatch Sylvester Stallone’s Over the Top so you’re properly motivated. Two, use these tips and exercises from Allen Fisher, 26-time arm wrestling world champion.

TECHNIQUE POINTERS:
Tip #1: Keep your arm and elbow as close to your body as possible to achieve greater leverage.

Tip #2: Rotate your arm inward toward your body when you get the jump on your opponent.

Tip #3: When you reach the halfway point, rotate your arm slightly outward, and shift into more of a pushing mode. This technique will rattle your opponent and get him off-balance for a quick finish.

Tip #4: Don’t use the ”roll over” technique from the movie. Sure, Stallone steamrolled people all the way to the top of the tournament, but if you losen your grip or lose concentration, you’ll lose.

Being built like Mr. Olympia may prevent your teammates from stuffing you into a locker if you miss the game-winning goal, but it won’t guarantee you a wicked slap shot. Much like a softball swing, an effective slap shot relies just as much if not more on mechanics than on the size of your guns. To help you add power to your shot, we asked hockey coach Tim Coghlin, the 2011 Division III Men’s Hockey Coach of the Year at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, to tell us about exercises and technique tweaks that’ll help turn you into an offensive menace.

“Strengthening muscle in the right places is a must for a strong slap shot,” Coghlin says. His exercises will strengthen your legs, shoulders, arms, and most importantly, core muscles — and then his technique suggestions will help you utilize your newfound power.

WOODCHOPPER
Woodchoppers are an excellent way to elevate your slap shot power because “they target the core muscles, which are vital to the transfer of power from the lower body to the upper body and into the puck,” Coghlin notes. Use a medicine ball, dumbbell, or cable attachment to execute the exercise.

How to do it:
• Stand upright holding the weight above and beside your ear with both hands
• Make a swift but controlled chopping motion by moving the weight from the starting position across your body diagonally, ending near the opposite knee
• Finish the repetition by returning the weight to the starting position by reversing the motion
• Do 3 sets of 10 on each side.

The fellas we saw wandering around the 2011 Mr. Olympia Expo in Las Vegas were huge. And many of them saw no problem with wearing spaghetti-string tank tops and spandex singlets.

Luckily, we weren’t there for fashion advice. No, we were there for great fitness tips from the kinds of guys who’d be at Mr. Olympia, with one condition: That they all be useful for normal guys. And we guarantee that the fitness tips they gave us will get you better results in the gym.

You have to have speed if you want to be a baller on the flag football field, softball diamond, or pickup basketball court. And that first step is critical when it comes to schooling opponents. So what’s the key to gaining a quicker first step? Training for speed by increasing your stride length or stride frequency. The strength-training exercises provided below will help with that. They’re all basic compound movements — exercises that involve multiple muscle groups — and should be done prior to any additional strength work.

Remember, without proper weight-lifting form and stride mechanics, your odds of getting injured increase. So instead of being hoisted on your teammates’ shoulders after catching an 80-yard TD, you’ll be riding pine on the injured reserve.

BACK SQUAT
• Take a barbell from a power rack or squat stand, keeping your upper back tight and chest up. Set your feet roughly hip-width apart and initiate the squat movement by pushing your hips back and then bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor.

• Squeeze the bar as tight as possible throughout the entire movement, this will create tension in your whole body and help you stay “tight” through the lift.

• Perform 4 sets of 3 – 5 reps.

ROMANIAN DEADLIFT
• Take a barbell from a standing position and with slightly unlocked knees push your hips backward while keeping the bar close to your thighs. Depending upon hamstring flexibility and individuality, lower the bar to knee-level or lower, then push your hips forward to return to the starting position.

• Keep your shoulder blades squeezed tightly and your entire back tight during this exercise to perform it properly.

• Perform 4 sets of 4 – 6 reps.

STEP-UP
• Stand in front of an 18-inch box — or a smaller box if needed, of course — and step up with the right leg and press through the heel of the right foot to bring the left leg up to the top of the box. Slowly lower your left leg back down and repeat for eight repetitions on each side.

• Once the basic step-up movement is mastered with correct body position, try alternating legs each time.

• Perform 3 sets of 8 reps on each leg.

The NSCA Education Team trains athletes to improve athletic performance and reach fitness goals.

Running can be boring, but it’s also one of the best things you can do to shed pounds, increase energy levels, and flee zombies. You’ll want to do everything you can to avoid nagging injuries like shin splints, which means it’s not enough to simply trade up from your scuffed-up Chuck Taylors. You need to buy the best running shoes for your particular body type, running style, and choice of terrain. And whether your flat feet need extra support, the trail running you do is murder on shoes, or your awkward knock-kneed gait defies typical human locomotion, this guide comprising the best running shoes for men will help you find what’s right for you.

Nike Zoom Structure +14 ($100)
Those prone to overpronation — runners with flat feet whose feet roll inward more than 15 percent — and shin splints should look into these two-pound beasts. The mesh upper with flywire strap and enhanced heel strap offer great support and stability, without making the Structures look like corrective footwear.