Show time: how Kyle Newell went from shirts to skill

THERE'S ONLY ONE THING WORSE THAN WORKING out and not seeing results: working out and not having anybody else notice your results. After years of dedicated lifting, Kyle Newell of Hillsborough, N.J., found that his muscles just weren't getting the credit they deserved. Here's how he uncovered his potential--along with his abs-and got everybody's attention.

An average-size kid growing up, Newell got heavily into weight training during his junior year of high school. "My friends were into it, so I started picking up the weights and reading about Arnold" Newell says. Intent on getting big, he downed a high-protein diet including plenty of whole eggs and steak and worked out with heavy weights four days a week. In about six months, he gained nearly 30 pounds, putting him at 208.

"Girls came up to me and wanted to feel my arms and chest" he says. As the new big man on campus, Newell enjoyed the celebrity. With fitness on his mind more and more, he decided to major in exercise science when he began college at the University of Delaware in the fall of '99.

But college life overtook him. Although he was still working out regularly and now had the chance to learn everything he needed to know about building and maintaining muscle, Newell was suddenly more keen on just having fun. "Worse, I joined a flat and spent a lot of time eating pizza and partying."

By his sophomore year, Newell, just six feet tall, weighed a mammoth 260 pounds. He was as strong as an ox, but pigging out had become his favorite pastime. Newell remembers a flied-fish binge in the dining hall one night: "I kept eating and eating, thinking of all the protein I was getting. By my eighth piece, the only people left in the room were my roommate and me. I started sweating, and on the way out, I puked!"

The real wake-up call didn't come until the following year, however, when Newell planned a spring-break trip to Cancun and quickly realized he was in no shape to go. "I didn't look good with my shirt off," he admits. "With no definition, I looked like your average big guy--maybe even fatter. It's like I had done all this work but had nothing to show for it." Determined to get his muscles to pop from beneath the tab, Newell applied what he learned in his classes to slim down and improve his health. He began doing cardio four days a week and cutting out processed sugars. "I ate chicken and oatmeal and followed workouts I got from textbooks," he says. The key to Newell's success was his switch from heavy strength workouts to higher-volume total-body routines with short rest periods. "That helped me burn more fat while keeping muscle size." As a result, Newell finally slipped into his bathing suit at a lean 235 pounds.

Smarter training and nutrition carried Newell through the next year, and he graduated in May 2003 a new man at 215 pounds. Today, he's a personal trainer and C.S.C.S. and is working to become a certified physical education teacher and coach. He's also successfully competing in amateur bodybuilding shows--getting the kind of results nobody should have any trouble noticing.

YOU'RE SO VEIN

Want to really see the payoff from the time you've spent at the gym? Throw these classic bodybuilding poses into your bathroom mirror routine so you can see the muscles you've been building. (Or, if you're just getting into shape, use the poses as a gauge to help you figure out your trouble spots. And no, just saying your "whole body" doesn't count.)

THE MOST MUSCULAR

Stand with your legs just inside shoulder width, your right foot forward, and your left foot pointing 45 degrees to the left. Bend forward slightly, flexing your right elbow and clenching your fist. Your left hand should grasp the outside of your left thigh. Flex every muscle.

THE REAR LAT SPREAD

Turn around and extend one leg behind you. Go up onto the ball of your back foot. Pull your arms back to your sides, with your hands just above your waist. Now rotate your shoulders forward to flare out your elbows. Round your back slightly for max lat width.

THE FRONT DOUBLE-BICEPS

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your abs tight. Then raise your arms out to the side, flexing your biceps. Finish the pose by moving your elbows slightly forward to bring out chest definition.

THE FRONT AB-AND-THIGH

Stand with one foot a few inches in front of the other and flex the quads in your front leg. Now reach up and put your hands behind your head, interlacing your fingers. Bend forward at the waist slightly, tensing your abs (as if you were doing a crunch).

THE SIDE CHEST

Turn 90 degrees to the right and flex your left calf so you go up onto the ball of your left foot. Curl your left arm up, palm up, and make a fist. Reach over and grab your wrist with your right hand, arch your back, and flex your pecs. Pull your left arm back and suck in your stomach.

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