Fitness

6 Ways to Firm Up Faster and Double Your Results

By Syma Kranz, PFC

You don’t have to become a “gymaholic” in order to transform the way you look. Not now. Not ever. Research proves it: You don’t have to work out longer— just smarter. Isn’t that great news? After all, who has even one more second to devote to the gym? Make these easy tweaks to your routine and spend the time saved enjoying your new shape.

1. Burn More Fat

Old thinking: Walk long and steady

New approach: Do speed bursts

Short pops of energy help your body burn fat both while you work out and long afterward—and in less workout time. In a recent study, exercisers who performed just two to three minutes of high-intensity, 30-second sprints on exercise bikes (with four minutes of easy pedaling in between) three times a week boosted their ability to use oxygen—a key factor in fat burning—by about 30%, says study author Martin Gibala, PhD, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario. What’s more, your metabolism stays revved longer after a vigorous workout than after an easy one. Researchers from Canada’s Laval University found that although participants who did short bursts burned only half as many calories during their workouts as peers who exercised longer, they had burned nine times as much fat after 15 weeks.

Improve results: If you normally walk for 45 minutes, cut it down to 30. After a short warm-up, speed walk at your fastest pace for one minute. Recover for one minute, walking at a moderate pace. Repeat about 15 times. Cool down.

2. Erase Arm, Hip, and Thigh Fat

Old thinking: Lift for 12 to 15 reps

New approach: Pump out only 3 to 5

Performing just a few reps with heavy weights activates hard-to-tone “fast-twitch” muscle fibers that atrophy (hence the jiggly flesh) as you age. The problem is that many women use 3- to 5-pound dumbbells when they really should be using 10-pound or even heavier weights, says researcher William Kraemer, PhD, a physiology professor at the University of Connecticut. If you amp up your weight-training, you can fire those fibers and regain your strength and shape.

Improve results: Once a week (but no more—your muscles need recovery time), trade in your 3- and 5-pound dumbbells for 10-, 15-, even 20-pounders. Think it’s too hard? Remember, you routinely pick up 10-pound grocery bags and maybe even 50-pound kids. Shoot for three sets, 3 to 5 reps per set. If you can’t maintain good form, the weight is too heavy; pick a slightly lighter one.

3. Do Anything Better

Old thinking: Dive right in

New approach: Think first

Scientists from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation found that when men and women simply imagined exercising their little fingers and biceps for 15 minutes a day, five times a week for 12 weeks, their strength increased by up to 35%—without actually moving a muscle. This is testament to the power of the mind-muscle connection, says Sean McCann, PhD, sports psychologist with the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. “When you visualize an action, your brain develops a model of it that allows you to recruit the muscles you need and perform more effectively and efficiently when you actually do it,” he says.

Improve results: Take a few seconds to picture yourself performing a perfect set of squats or even just briskly walking down your favorite path. Then get out there and do it.

4. Tighten Your Abs

Old thinking: Hit the mat

New approach: Stand up

Your abs are made of endurance-based muscle fibers, which is a fancy way of saying that it takes dozens of crunches to fatigue (and tone) them. However, many women who do crunches on the floor find that their necks start to ache before their abs begin to burn, so they stop—and never get the firm midsections they want. The secret to firmer, flatter abs: Add rotation— twisting your abs and obliques (side muscles)—to other strength moves such as squats or lunges. This rotation works great when you’re in plank position, which I see as the ideal ab exercise. The muscles in your midsection are designed to hold you upright and stabilize your torso, and anytime you twist or turn, they jump into action. Activate them throughout your workout and they’ll be quicker to fatigue once you hit the floor.

Improve results: When you do lunges, add a twist, rotating from your middle toward the knee that’s out in front. Also, when you stand up from a squat, raise one knee toward the opposite shoulder as high as you can and rotate your torso toward that knee. And remember that your best ab move is planks. This position really works your muscles to the core. Then, when crunch time comes along, you can cut your repetitions in half.

5. Power Up Your Walks

Old thinking: Stretch first

New approach: Get moving

A review of 23 studies found that stretching before an activity damages muscle tissue, which reduces muscle strength and hinders performance. Start each workout by moving your limbs through a full range of motion. You want to get the fluid in your joints flowing, so your ankles, hips, knees, and shoulders are well lubricated and move with ease.

Improve results: Do each of the following moves 6 to 10 times before you start walking. And stretch only after your workout. Studies show this can help keep you limber and prevent chronic injuries such as tendinitis.

Heel raise: Lift heels off ground, rising up on toes, then rock back slightly onto heels so toes come off ground.

Four-way leg lifts: Shift weight to left leg and gently swing right leg out to side as far as it will go and then back across your body. Repeat with left leg. With weight on left leg again, raise right knee toward chest, then swing and extend it to back. Repeat with opposite leg.

Hula-hoop swivel: Rotate hips like you’re hula-hooping. Reverse direction.

Shoulder swing: Keeping shoulders relaxed, bend elbows and gently swing arms forward and back, stretching through chest and fronts of shoulders.

6. Avoid Drop-Out-itis

Old thinking: Take time off

New approach: Skip the rest days

Exercise—even a light workout—actually reduces next-day soreness and speeds your body’s recovery. The reason: It increases blood flow, which delivers healing nutrients to your muscles and flushes out metabolic waste. Plus, when you move your body every day, whether it’s taking a walk, lifting weights, or simply stretching, exercise becomes part of your daily landscape, which means you’re working out more consistently. And that almost guarantees faster results. (Read: You’ll burn more calories.)

Improve results: Do some activity every single day, even if it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes. This doesn’t have to mean more exercise. Simply borrow time from your other workouts and spread it out over the week.

Syma Kranz, AAAI, is a certified aerobics instructor and the fitness director at Fitness Fusion in Lakewood, New Jersey. What started out as a small exercise class in her home catapulted into a popular gym that prides itself on having tzanuah professional instructors and an appropriate atmosphere with lyric-free music and proper attire. Syma specializes in training women to integrate fitness into their busy lives, paying special attention to proper form and alignment and specializing in core and pelvic floor strengthening.