The Women's Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts: A Leaner, Sexier, Healthier You--In 15 Minutes a Day! (5 page)

• Convenience.
First and foremost, is the place convenient for you to get to? It doesn’t matter if you find the Shangri-la of fitness clubs. If it’s out of the way, you will not go. Period. Think about it: If it takes you 20 minutes to drive to the club and 20 to get home, plus time to change in the locker room, your 15-minute Superfast Workout has suddenly transformed into a superslow waste of time. Your health club or gym needs to be along your normal daily path and open during hours that you can easily accommodate. If not, take a pass and keep looking.

• Does it feel good?
The right club should feel good immediately. First impressions count. If you walk in and think, “Wow,” that’s a good start. If you’re trying to talk yourself into it, leave.

• The staff.
Committing to a gym is like buying a car, but you shouldn’t feel like you’re at a used-car dealership when you walk in the door. The staff and trainers should be sharp, credentialed, helpful, and engaging. But ultimately the place should sell itself. You shouldn’t be pressured with a hard sell.

• Affordability.
Obviously, you shouldn’t blow your budget on a gym, but don’t shortchange yourself, either. Joining a cheap, so-so gym you never go to ultimately wastes more money than spending a few extra bucks a month on one you really love. Your health, strength, and fitness are sound investments.

If I work out after lunch, should I eat a recovery meal afterward?

You don’t have to scarf something immediately, as you would if you had skipped the preworkout lunch. The idea that you need to eat a fast-acting recovery meal or shake as soon as possible after training is rooted in research on endurance athletes who were doing 2½-hour workouts. Your 15-minute Superfast Workout—even if it’s really intense—won’t deplete your glycogen stores. Besides, you ate lunch, so your body isn’t running on empty.

How do the body-specific workouts work? I always heard you couldn’t lose weight in one place.

That’s a great question. You know, because 10,000 other trainers and I have told you a million times, that you can’t get rid of belly fat by doing dozens and dozens of crunches. That’s still true. You cannot spot reduce. But what you can do is spot tone, which many of the Superfast Workouts will do. When your muscles are untrained, they will be soft and, in the case of those affected by gravity, like your triceps and tush, saggy. If you have excess fat on the backs of your arms or on your behind, you will not make it go away by doing kickbacks and squats. But you will tighten, tone, and firm those muscles, which will improve the appearance of those areas. Because you’re burning calories during your workouts, you’re also shedding fat, which means you’ll be able to see those newly toned muscles shine through sooner.

How do I know if I’m working my muscles hard enough?

If you have the breath to ask, you may not be. Seriously, for strength workouts, use the guidelines under “How much weight should I lift?” The final repetition or two should be very tough. You should need to work hard to complete it with proper form and not be able to easily do more. For your HIIT workouts, simply use the talk test, which measures how many words you can spit out while you’re cranking out your efforts. Researchers have found to be very accurate way to judge exercise intensity without a heart rate monitor or other equipment. Those same researchers recommend using the Pledge of Allegiance as your guide. It works like this:

• Low-intensity activity (warmup):
You should be able to say the entire pledge—all 31 words—comfortably, breathing at the usual pauses.

• Moderate aerobic activity:
While working at this level you should be able to easily recite four to six words of the pledge at a time. You shouldn’t have to strain to get the words out of your mouth. You’ll be working at this intensity during most of the resistance-training circuits.

• High-intensity activity (intervals):
This is an all-out effort (where you should be during the hardest parts of your HIIT workouts). When cranking it at this intensity, you should be able to speak only a word or two between breaths. (You’ll know you’re fully recovered from these efforts when you can say the whole pledge comfortably.)

Do I need a spotter?

Not often. Most of the workouts in this book involve bodyweight exercises or lightweight dumbbells that won’t get you into trouble. However, anytime you are using heavier weights or lifting a barbell over your head or chest (think bench press), it’s a good safety measure to ask a friend for a spot. Accidents happen every year, and you don’t want to add to the statistics.

What gear do I need?

You don’t need anything more than your own body to get rolling on some of the 15-minute workouts. But a little equipment can open a lot of body-sculpting doors, especially if you don’t belong to a fitness club. Here’s a rundown of the gear required to do many of the Superfast Workouts in this book.

DUMBBELLS:
Hand weights are must-haves. With a few sets of dumbbells, you can work every body part; they don’t take up much space, and they’re relatively cheap (about a dollar a pound, but shop around). For the best results, invest in three sets: light (5 to 8 pounds), medium (10 to 12), and heavy (15 plus). Another good option is an “all in one” adjustable set like PowerBlocks or the Speed Pac from Reebok. In the case of the Speed Pac, each of the dumbbells adjusts from 2.5 pounds using the handle only to 12.5 pounds using all the weights. Each weight plate allows you to increase the weight by 2.5 pounds—a feature many women appreciate because it allows you to increase your weight in smaller increments rather than making a 5-pound jump as you might have to do with traditional dumbbell sets. The all-in-one package also takes up less space, if storage is a concern. One other benefit of dumbbells: They are safer to use than barbells, especially if you don’t have a spotter.

BENCH:
Technically, you don’t need a bench. You can use a stability ball, chair, or even the floor for many traditional bench moves. But a bench does make it easier to lift a heavier weight with proper form, so an exercise bench is worth the investment if you’re going to be working out at home. Look for one that is adjustable, so you can perform exercises on both an incline and a decline. You can find adjustable benches at most sporting goods stores.

BARBELL AND WEIGHT PLATES:
Go to the gym and use the standard 7-foot Olympic barbell. They weigh in at about 45 pounds and are great for squats, lunges, deadlifts, and a variety of lower-body exercises. You can buy smaller, lighter barbells for home use if you find you like them.

KETTLEBELL:
These little weighted balls with handles originated in Russia decades ago, but have recently been getting a lot of love here in the States. Because the kettlebell’s weight is off center (hanging beyond your hand), it makes traditional dumbbell moves more difficult because your body’s stabilizing muscles must work overtime to control your movement. The handle also allows you to perform a variety of explosive and swinging movements. These exercises build strength and endurance in your back, legs, shoulders, and core. You’ll find two kettlebell workouts starting in
Chapter 10
. Like dumbbells, kettlebells come in a range of weights. Or you can invest in an adjustable set like the 20-pound Weider PowerBell for about $100. It comes with a 5-pound handle and adjustable 2.5-pound plates, which allows you to have seven different weights in one bell.

MEDICINE BALL:
I love medicine balls. With them, you can tone your abs and strengthen your core without doing a single crunch. They’re also second to none for sports-specific training. You’ll find a wide array of medicine balls in all sizes, weights, and materials at
PerformBetter.com
. For the biggest bang for your buck, look for one that is rubberized and bounces so you can toss it against the wall or floor. Check out "
Medicine Ball Workout 1
" and "
Medicine Ball Workout 2
" in
Chapter 10
.

STABILITY BALL:
Also known as a Swiss ball and a physioball, this large inflated exercise ball is the perfect addition to any home gym. As the name implies, stability balls are ideal for balance training and they make great core-toning tools. In a study of 41 exercisers, researchers at Occidental College in Los Angeles found that muscle activity spiked in the upper abs, lower abs, and obliques by 31 percent, 38 percent, and 24 percent, respectively, when crunches were performed on the ball instead of flat on the floor. You also can use one instead of a bench for chest presses and seated exercises. These days, you can buy stability balls in nearly every big-box store such as Target and Wal-Mart and even in some supermarkets. PerformBetter.com offers heavy-duty balls if you’re looking for extra durability.

EXERCISE BAND:
If you travel a lot, pick up a few exercise bands. They’re feather light, dirt cheap (less than 20 bucks), and put a complete gym in your tote bag. In fact, few workout tools beat the efficiency of the multitasking resistance band. You can step on the middle and grab the ends for arm curls, hold the ends at your shoulders for squats, and choke up on the band and perform some upright rows without even changing position. You also can tie the ends together and use it as a large band to perform assorted hip, leg, and glute moves. Exercise bands come in a variety of thicknesses for more or less resistance. A good brand is Thera-Band, which offers latex-free bands. Or try Superbands, extra-strong, long resistance bands that are designed for heavy-duty use. You can also by a band utility strap that allows you to easily affix the band to doorjambs and poles.

FOAM ROLLER:
You can’t beat these pressed foam cylinders for a self-massage that will keep you in the game. Roll your achy body parts along one and say, “Ah.” (You’ll find a
15-minute foam roller workout
in
Chapter 10
. Either 6 by 18 inches or 6 by 36 inches is fine. Find them at sporting goods stores or order online for $10 to $25.

VALSLIDES:
These foam-topped slippery plastic disks turn any carpeted, hardwood, or linoleum floor into an ice rink. Use them to add challenge and intensity to lunges (especially side lunges) and for working your core. You’ll find a workout on
sliding moves
in
Chapter 10
. If you don’t have special sliders, you also can use paper plates. They’re not quite as slick, but they’ll get the job done.

JUMP ROPE:
Really, any jump rope will do. But for the best jumping experience, go with a beaded jump rope, which stacks short pieces of plastic tubing over a thin rope. The beading adds heft to the rope, so the rope maintains a wide U-shape to jump through and makes it easier to maintain momentum.

BOSU BALANCE TRAINER:
Half stability ball, half wobble board, the Bosu trainer, which looks like half of a stability ball on a platform, helps build strength and coordination. With the ball side up you can do crunches, squats, even plyometric hops. Then flip it over and do pushups, or try standing on it for advanced balance work.

STEP OR BOX:
A step, like the Reebok aerobic step, gives you a sturdy platform for stepups, elevated pushups, and plyometric jumping moves. For a higher, more intense platform, you also can invest in an adjustable squat box (elitefts.com). It provides a stable, no-slip surface to lift from, and you can quickly raise and lower the height of this box for stepups, split squats, and any number of upper- and lower-body moves and jumps.

How To Use This Book

Your easy guide to a leaner, fitter, sexier you—in half the time!

Pick three superfast resistance-training workouts a week:
Choose from any of the workouts to do, say, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You can do one particular workout all 3 days (although you should start to mix them up after 3 weeks so it doesn’t get too easy for your body) or you can do three different 15-minute workouts in 1 week. You can pick from workouts that target specific areas of your body or workouts for the whole enchilada, workouts that prepare you for a particular sport or workouts that get rid of PMS. Note, if you have time-specific goals (such as an upcoming class reunion), you should do one of our total-body workouts on all 3 days to get the fastest result. But once you’ve achieved that goal (and high school is once again ancient history), you can switch over to another workout. This book is your personalized plan that you can keep on personalizing over time to meet your ever-changing fitness needs.

Pick two specialty workouts:
Two days a week, you have the option of choosing a specialty, non-resistance-training 15-minute workout like the one for PMS or a stretching workout. Or you can just do some light cardio like a quick jog or bike ride if you wish.

Pick one HIIT workout:
Once a week, say on a Saturday, you will commit to doing a HIIT workout, your secret weapon to burning fat and losing weight.