Whatever your objective, there are a few keys — shortcuts, if you will, to developing discipline. Believe it or not, you’re not “doomed” if you don’t currently have a high level of discipline. It can be developed, just like developing a muscle. In the next few pages, you’ll learn some of these tricks of the trade used by the masters of discipline to accomplish great things.

So here’s to your success — see what the Number 10 discipline tip is on the next page.

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What you need are separation and striations, STAT! This workout for “bear claw” shoulders has you covered. So called because it appears as if a bear took an angry swipe at your delts, bear claw shoulders are the ultimate in upper-arm aesthetics, whether for competition, camera, or chillin’ at the cabana.

Shoulders can be — operative phrase “can be” — one of the most stubborn body parts to train. They may require subjection to severe duress before they develop. If trained improperly — wrong ranges and tracks of motion, too much weight, etc. — they can become prone to injury. The trick with shoulders (and this is the Voice of Experience talking) is to train them intensely, get them hot and pumped, and not worry so much about weight, at least not initially. Variety is also key, so throw this workout into the mix often with other shoulder routines.

DOWNLOAD “Bear Claw Shoulders” Workout as a .PDF

You may notice this workout focuses on the medial (sometimes referred to as lateral) and posterior (rear) deltoid heads. What about the front, or anterior ones, you ask? Actually, most people get more than enough work for their anterior delts through other exercises, like push-ups, every variation of bench press known to humans, overhead presses, and so on. So no need to target the front delts specifically, here.

Watch the video for special tips and demonstrations of the exercises mentioned. For your training convenience, you can print this workout as a PDF or download it to your PC or mobile device.

A word on injuries, since they ARE so common with shoulders … this workout is specifically designed with higher reps in mind so you focus on:

1) using the primary muscles, not helper muscles

2) working toward the burn, which is an indicator of muscular stress (that’s a good thing) and…

3) making “cheating” unnecessary and therefore making injury/aggravation less likely.

Enjoy the burn!

(This public service announcement is part of a continuing MuscleFoundry.com series on gym etiquette)

Ah yes, good ol’ Mr. Preen. This guy would like to jump back and kiss himself — and he often does — the gym mirror needs to be cleaned hourly of his lip smudges.

He’s easy to spot by his huge hair, jacked-up upper body, and ginormous gym bag brimming with performance-enhancing drugs and paraphernalia.

Never having done an honest day’s work in his life, his lavish lifestyle and high-maintenance companions are financed by either a) drugs  b)  fraud  c) mommy and daddy or d) any combination of the above

While this lazy s.o.b. hates actual work, he does love working chest and arms, because they’re so easy to see in the mirror … and it shows any time he has to remove his pants.

People hate him because he’s the male embodiment of umm … a certain feminine hygiene product. But people can’t live without him because he gives the rest of us so much to gossip about. Little piece of advice for ya: don’t be this guy.

If you’re laughing, that means you KNOW this individual. If you’re not laughing, that probably means you ARE him. Just remember, the first step toward change is awareness.

…Do YOU know a “Mr. Preen” type? Who else can’t you stand at the gym? Sound off in the comments!

The wide-shouldered, narrow-waisted look is certainly easier to attain if you’ve been handed a good set of genetics; but you need not fret if you weren’t a huge winner in the physique DNA lottery.

In addition to eating the right foods to keep your waistline in check, there’s one exercise in particular you can do that will dramatically bring out the sweep of your lats and rear deltoids.

The common forward-facing grip pull-up beats practically everything for overall latissimus dorsi development, as well as for other areas of the back. Yes, you can find many other effective back exercises to blast your dorsal side, but few are as functional or as simple as front-grip pull-ups.

If you’ve never done them, or aren’t used to hauling up your own bodyweight, you can try them assisted with a stable chair or a partner boosting you on the concentric (up portion) initially.

Keep your movement smooth and controlled, as this will give your muscles maximum stimulation and help prevent injury.

There’s really no limit to how many you should do in a given set. For more muscle thickness and shorter sets, you can hold a weight with your feet or wear a special belt with a chain attachment from which you can suspend weight plates. But for simplicity, you can also just blast out high reps. Either way, you’ll vastly improve your functional strength while doing an exercise that translates directly to a more powerful, fit appearance.

Welcome, fellow physique phanatic. The re-launched, re-designed MuscleFoundry.com is finally here! This site is your passport to the body of your dreams.

Not through gimmick miracle pills or “10-minute workouts” that leave you with all the sex appeal of a generic sandwich-shop pitchman. MuscleFoundry shows you how to combine the proven power of hard work with the modern help of cutting-edge exercise science to achieve your goals.

Enjoy the brand-new articles, videos, and interaction to get your best body ever. Now, let’s get to work!