When most of us reach for a performance bar, we’re hoping it will help us get through the next part of the day or workout session. But if you’re currently leading the major leagues in home runs, like premier second baseman Dan Uggla, you need the best nutrients possible to push you through the next crucial inning or game. That’s why Dan depends on the delicious and nutrient-dense Supreme Protein® bars.

“I eat two Supreme Protein® bars a day,” the consistent-hitting second baseman says. “The flavor is unbelievable and each one has all the ingredients to deliver the nutritional profile I need to perform at a high level.”

The key to this superior nutritional profile is 30 grams of premium protein, powered by top-quality whey protein isolate (WPI). This WPI is the gold standard of all protein available today with an amino-acid density unlike any other food source. In fact, the biological value (a measurement of how completely a protein is used) of this whey isolate is much higher than beef, chicken, fish or eggs. This makes it a quicker and more superior lean mass-building agent than anything available and can be easily incorporated into a workout routine to provide optimum recovery and energy support. This is a critical fact that many major athletes like Dan depend on for gaining the advantage.

“During the baseball season, it is important for me to maintain lean body mass and weight so that I can maintain my strength throughout the course of the season,” Dan says. “Supreme Protein® bars allow me to get the protein and nutrients that I need so that I can recover from my workouts faster and exercise longer before feeling signs of fatigue. I’ve definitely noticed a difference since I’ve added Supreme Protein® bars to my routine.”

Incorporating Supreme Protein® into his training methods seems to have paid off as Dan is well-established as one of the elite new major league players, third in 2007 Rookie of the Year voting with a current stat line (mid June) of a Major-League leading 23 HR, plus 50 RBIs and a .281 Batting Average. The match-up with Supreme bars, according to Dan, was one of relative perfection. Less than a year ago, he discovered these amazing bars and developed an affinity, recognizing the same commitment to excellence in the bar recipe that he shows for his career.

This relationship is a natural for me,” he says. “I aspire to be the best player I can be, and the best player among my peers. That’s something Supreme Protein® has already achieved. Supreme Protein® is easily the category leader in both taste and quality.”

And Supreme Protein® bars have achieved this lead in part by offering a premium protein blend featuring high amounts of whey protein isolate to help support lean muscle mass. But this is only part of the story. These incredibly delicious bars deliver a quadruple layer taste sensation like no other bar on the market today, making Supreme Protein® worthy enough to befit the current home-run king.

From his rookie start in 2006, to his well-deserved 2nd base spot at next month’s 2008 All Star Game at Yankee Stadium, this high profile Florida Marlin’s favorite has shown a steady consistency in his performance along with extraordinary offensive firepower. This power-hitting phenomenon credits the power-packed Supreme bars for providing the kind of vital lean mass-building nutrition for the single most awe-inspiring stat in baseball, home run king!

You may not be a top professional athlete like Dan Uggla, but it’s good to know that the same nutritional masterpiece that helped carry this champion to high ranks in the majors is also available for your everyday workouts. Putting Supreme Protein® in your lineup is a winning move!

“How much do ya bench?” It’s arguably the most oft-asked question of bodybuilders and gym rats, and we’re here to tell you, the answer doesn’t matter all that much. In fact, concentrating too hard on the bench press to inflate your max to impressive proportions is counterproductive. The same is true of less celebrated but no-less-common exercises you may rely on workout after workout.

Blasphemy, you say? Read on, and see if we can’t change your mind - and improve your results.

Chest: Barbell Bench Press
We don’t lead off this list with the ever-popular bench press because it’s a lousy exercise. It’s not. However, it’s here because far too many people attribute way too much importance to it, performing it to the detriment of their overall chest development. Too much emphasis on the barbell press leads to thick meaty muscle in your middle chest, while the larger upper-pectoral area lags woefully behind.

Best alternative: To attack the most important area of your chest, Dumbbell and Barbell Incline Presses can’t be beat. Both also hit your middle chest (much more effectively than the flat-bench press hits the upper pecs), making them a solid anchor in any chest-training workout.

Back: Supported T-Bar Row
The T-bar row is a wonderful exercise, directly engaging the muscles of your mid- and upper back. However, a certain variation of the T-bar row includes a pad that you rest your chest on during the exercise. Bad idea - the heavier you lift, the more the weight compresses your chest (and lungs) against the pad as you lift. It’s a lot harder to maintain good form and continue a set to the point of failure when you’re struggling for a deep breath.

Best alternative: Thankfully, equipment manufacturers make a freestanding version of the T-Bar Row, without the pad, allowing you to breathe easy during your sets. You can also do T-bar rows the old-fashioned way, placing one end of an Olympic barbell in the corner and loading the other end. Just straddle the bar and get into position, and you can perform either one-arm or two-arm rows.

Shoulders: Reverse Pec-Deck Flye
The problem with the reverse pec-deck flye is that it’s a poor replacement for the more valuable bent-over dumbbell lateral raise. Try a set of reverse pec decks and you’ll see what we mean - not only are they relatively easy because of the mechanical advantage (due to the design of the machine and the fact you’re upright and not working directly against gravity), but most people find it difficult to focus the effort on their rear delts no matter how well they perform each rep.

Best alternative: Many people do struggle with their form on bent-over dumbbell lateral raises, mainly because they try to lift too much - think about how small the target muscles actually are, and you’ll soon realize that hoisting 50s is calling on more momentum and back muscles than the rear delts. Lighten the load, take each rep slowly and deliberately, and focus on contracting your rear delts on each rep, and you’ll get much better results from this exercise than even pec-deck flyes done with perfect form.

Legs: Leg Press
There’s a reason scrawny-legged guys can press hundreds of pounds on the leg press, but can barely eke out reps with 185 pounds on the barbell squat: The leg press has too much mechanical advantage inherent in its design. Impressive tree-trunk thighs are not forged on a steady diet of leg presses - to really get at the tough muscle fibers of the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, you need to challenge them fiercely, and the leg press doesn’t do that. It’s just too easy in comparison to other superior movements.

Best alternative: The barbell squat and hack squat are a much truer test of mettle for your thighs and glutes - in these two exercises, you’re not at a mechanical advantage, putting your muscles under maximal stress, which is the quickest way to muscle-building results.

Triceps: Dumbbell Kickback
Of all the excellent triceps exercises available to you - close-grip bench presses, dips, lying French presses, two-arm overhead extensions, cable pressdowns, among many others - why would you ever want to cycle in a less-effective move like kickbacks? People commonly bring the weight too far forward at the start of the repetition, taking stress off the triceps and generating momentum to lift the weight back up to an arms-straight position. If you eliminate this issue and stop the weight before your elbow gets to 90 degrees, you are working in a compromised range of motion.

Best alternative: Any of the aforementioned exercises would be better, but one that mimics the kickback closely is the One-Arm Overhead Dumbbell Extension. The bonus? You use gravity to your advantage, eliminating the growth-robbing momentum and the “dead zone” where the stress is taken off the triceps.

Biceps: Standing Barbell Curl
Although the preacher curl machine, with its one-size-does-not-fit-all handles and awkward range of motion, could easily get the nod here, the standing barbell curl has hurt the productivity of many more biceps routines over the years. Like the bench press, this exercise isn’t overrated because it’s a bad exercise - it’s on this list because many guys not only put way too much emphasis on it in their workouts, but insist on letting their ego dictate how much weight they pile on the bar. From there, it’s all about hip thrust and body contortion to swing the weight to the top.

Best alternative: The Incline Dumbbell Curl puts your biceps on stretch for a more forceful and complete contraction, and being on a bench takes away the opportunity to use excess body movement to generate momentum on the lift.