Here's what most people don't know: if you want to look like an athlete this summer, you have to work out like one.

Getting ripped and buffed doesn't mean you have to play a sport (though that helps). You can get great muscles and attractive "cuts," like the indentation between the glutes and back of the thighs that makes the butt look more round, with just three resistance movements.

Warning: The three exercises are hard core, and need to be done with perfect form. If you're a beginner in the weight room at your gym, get a coach or personal trainer to give advice on your technique. To make sure you've got the balance wired, start out practicing just the movement alone, without any weight.

If you're female, remember that women don't make the quantity of testosterone that men do, so the workout that makes a male's muscles bulge will make women's muscles toned and curvy.

The easiest of the three exercises is the triceps pulldown, which also gives the quickest payoff. These small muscles develop fast. Look at the arms of any pro basketball player to see the eye candy of good triceps. Working them will give great definition to the back of the arm, and also help firm up any flab or saggy skin in that area.

Use the lat pulldown machine to build triceps. Attach a bar for the grip. Do the movement in a standing, not sitting position. Hold the grip at shoulder level, hands shoulder width apart. Keep the upper arms tight to your side throughout the pulldown, there should be no movement of the upper arms.

Pull down until your arms are straight, then slowly lift your hands back to your shoulders.

The deadlift is one of the top weight exercises, essential to every elite athlete, from football players to figure skaters. It builds a firm, round butt, and works the thighs as well as the core, forearms and upper back. It may seem as simple as picking an Olympic barbell up off the floor, but the proper technique requires precision.

Have the bar slightly touching your shins. As you prepare to lift, stick your butt out a little and inhale deeply. Lift your eyes to where the ceiling meets the floor. Keep your back absolutely flat, don't let it curve as you bend to pick up the weight. Your arms should be held straight as well; only the core, butt and legs should work when you deadlift. Exhale and hold your back flat as you bend at the hips, not the waist, to lower the weight.

Another athletically essential movement is the 'good morning.' Again, it looks simple; just a bowing movement. But again, looks can be deceiving. In this exercise, a barbell is held on the upper back and shoulders. The lifter bends over until the back is parallel to the floor, then straightens up again.

But proper form dictates that the bend is done at the hips, the back is kept flat, the chin is held up to stabilize the neck, and the eyes are focused at the wall straight ahead. There must be no shifting of the back. Athletes have been seriously injured because they twisted or curved their back while doing good mornings.

This movement builds the spinal erectors, columns of muscle on each side of the spine that gives a ripped look to the lower back in divers and wrestlers. Aside from strengthening the back and stabilizing the core, this exercise also helps increase balance and gives added strength when doing other exercises as well.

There's an additional reason to build these muscles besides looking good. Red juicy muscles need a lot of nutrition. They even burn stored fat to get it. So while you're creating a ripped and toned body, you're also turning it into as fat burning machine. You'll be stronger, more muscular---and thinner.

It takes constant metabolic energy, or calories, to feed muscle. So as you get stronger and more muscular, you're also building a 24/7 fat-burning machine. Who could ask for more?

Wina Sturgeon is the editor of the online magazine Adventure Sports Weekly. For the latest in adventure sports and physical conditioning, visit Adventure Sports Weekly at http://adventuresportsweekly.com

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