First Posted: 4/8/2013

The hottest tip in fitness is knowing who to turn to and what sources are the best at soliciting information. Health and fitness tips are a dime a dozen, but weeding out the junk will separate you from the pack and catapult you into the next fitness level. It’s time to make the most of the upcoming summer season with this compilation of some of the best tips I’ve gathered over the years, compliments of Men’s Health magazine.

– Strengthen your core. Save your back, lift more, sprint more. It all starts in your middle.

– Tilt your review mirror up, just far enough to force yourself into an upright position to see behind you, which is good for posture and an aching back.

– Never eat out of the original container. How many times have you dipped into a pint of ice cream only to find yourself staring at the bottom of the container 15 minutes later?

– Your LDL cholesterol doesn’t mean much, at least not as a standalone stat. That’s because it doesn’t consider your “good” HDL cholesterol, which may counteract the bad kind. A better gauge of heart disease risk is your ratio of total to HDL cholesterol, a notion confirmed by a 2001 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

– Tape a golf ball to the back of your pajamas. It’ll stop your snoring by forcing you to sleep on your side or front. Back sleepers often have blocked airways and that leads to a host of troubles.

– Drink green tea, the wonder liquid. Few beverages have been celebrated as much as green tea, the antioxidant-rich elixir that may help prevent prostate cancer, and lower heart disease risk.

– Use a blow-up workout partner. We’re not sure when we fell in love with our curvaceous assistant (the stability ball, that is), but the affair was consummated when the stability ball push-up was created.

– Use the stall nearest to the door. It has the fewest germs and most toilet paper because everyone walks past it.

– Lose your gut, because belly fat kills. Visceral fat (the stuff that settles in your abdomen) lets toxins seep into your vital organs, which is why round-bellied men die sooner than those that have flat bellies.

– Drink chocolate milk. Several studies days it’s the perfect post-workout drink. You’re welcome.

– Hard and fast is best. The quickest way to burn fat and build fitness is with short and intense bouts of exercise, primarily with high-caliber exercises. Lose the long, slow cardio workouts.

– Eat the bacon. Fat doesn’t make you fat; too many calories does. Fat is good, just not too much. Again, you’re welcome.

-Tim Hlivia is the owner of Leverage Fitness Studio in Forty Fort.