15 secrets to a better workout: try these insider tips to get results today

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, Oct, 2004

1) TRY THE ULTIMATE WALKING LUNGE--ON A TREADMILL.

Walking lunges are excellent for sculpting your glutes, hams, quads and adductor muscles, but finding an open path in the gym can be a problem. Instead, try this version with either light dumbbells or a weighted vest, setting the treadmill (incline and speed) at fairly low intensity till you get the hang of the movement. Take a 2-3-foot stride forward and bend your lead knee to about 90 degrees. Push off your front foot to rise back up, bringing your trailing leg forward so it becomes your lead leg. Safety is critical here, so make sure you're experienced with lunging movements and know how a treadmill operates. To boost endurance and increase fat-burning, go slower for a longer period; to build muscle, work up to doing these for 2-3 minutes and then resting a minute.

2) OPPOSITES ATTRACT.

Training opposing or antagonistic muscle groups back to back can actually trigger a neural response that increases the amount of force your muscles can produce. Bottom line: Performing opposing exercises with little or no rest in between (called supersetting) may allow you to lift slightly heavier weights than in straight-set workouts. Try alternating chest presses and back rows, for example, taking almost no time between the two movements but a 60-90-second break after you finish the combination. Do the row first in the next superset, and continue this pattern for an even number of sets to maintain muscle balance. Other great muscle pairs: biceps and triceps, quads and hamstrings, low back and abs.

3) CURLS ARE FOR GIRLS.

You probably already do biceps curl movements to improve the strength and shape of your arms, but adjusting your hand position can slightly alter the stimulus on your biceps. Taking a wider grip may put more emphasis on the short (inner) head, while using a narrower grip may shift more relative stress to the long (outer) head. Alternate your grip on successive sets to work your arms in different ways, and use incline and preacher benches to alter the range of motion and the biomechanics of the movement. Don't forget to keep your elbows back when performing standing curls, and switch to an EZ-bar if the barbell overly stresses your wrists.

4) HAVE A BALL.

Like using the exercise ball? This superset strengthens your stabilizer and core muscles while still giving the targeted muscle group a good workout. Using the dumbbell bench press as an example, do a heavy set (8-10 reps) on a flat bench. Then, without resting, immediately do a set of dumbbell bench presses on the ball, using a weight with which you can get 10-12 reps. The first half prefatigues your pecs, while the light weight used on the ball will be sufficient to work your chest and train your stabilizers. Be careful on subsequent heavy sets on the flat bench. After fatiguing your stabilizers, it may be tough to handle the weight you'd normally use for 8-10 reps. For safety, always work with a partner or get someone to act as a spotter.

5) BURN MORE FAT BY DOING CARDIO FIRST.

If you do both weight training and cardio in the same session, do the activity you want to maximize first because the second one is compromised to some degree by fatigue. So if your training goal is endurance performance--running a 10k or a half marathon--do your cardio first and then weights, but flip the order if you want to maintain a high level of intensity in your weight workouts. For optimal fat loss, warm up with light cardio for 10-15 minutes, followed by resistance training, then finish with cardio. This arrangement matches the training intensity level to the most potent fuel source available to your muscles, enabling the highest level of performance--and calorie burning--possible during each minute of your workout.

6) DOING THE SAME OLD INCLINE, DECLINE AND FLAT-BENCH PRESSES FOR CHEST?

Time to work some of those intermediate angles to mix things up. Start by finding an adjustable bench that has numerous stops, and use those different settings whether you're training with dumbbells, cables or the Smith machine. For this workout, position it under a Smith machine. After a couple of warm-ups, do consecutive sets (resting 60-90 seconds between each one) from a 40-degree incline, 20-degree incline, flat, 20-degree decline and 40-degree decline, choosing a rep range to focus on building strength (4-6), muscle (8-10) or endurance (more than 12). Add a couple of sets of dumbbell flyes--starting with the incline position and moving to the decline position over the course of several sets--for a complete chest routine that works all the angles. Don't forget: As the bench angle moves from incline to flat to decline, you can typically lift a little more weight.

7) TRY THIS TWIST ON THE LEG PRESS TO FINISH UP YOUR LOWER-BODY WORKOUT.

Using a very light weight on the leg press, train unilaterally--one leg at a time--and do 12 reps with each leg. (The 12th rep should be a challenge; your nonworking leg should rest under the sled.) Make sure you press through your entire foot to extend your leg. Once you finish both sides, position both feet on the sled and do up to 20 full-range reps with this same weight. Though the weight is relatively light when you use both legs, the lactic acid buildup will make this a real challenge.