The Women's Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts: A Leaner, Sexier, Healthier You--In 15 Minutes a Day! (33 page)

CYCLING WORKOUTS

Whether you ride indoors or out, a bike is the perfect tool for superfast fat burning since there’s no pounding on your joints, just pure, unabated eye-popping effort. These workouts are designed for both a spin or stationary bike and a road bike. On a spin or stationary bike you’ll just be increasing the resistance. On a road bike you’ll be shifting into a larger gear.

Workout #1: The Lance Armstrong

These workouts get your calorie-burning motor running by becoming progressively harder until you’re at your ceiling (then you just hang on!). Gauge your intensity on a 1 to 10 scale. If you’re outside, you can use the average speeds as a guide. More experienced riders may pedal faster.

Workout #2: Rolling Hills

If you’re outside and have access to hills, you can ride up them for a prescribed amount of time and then cruise back down and repeat. If not, or if you’re using a stationary bike, simply click into a bigger gear to increase the resistance. The goal is to make those pedals hard to turn during each effort while keeping the pedals turning around smoothly. Your speed will drop as the resistance increases, but you should be able to keep your pedal stroke fluid, not choppy. When the workout calls for a standing climb, rise off the seat for the duration of the interval. For seated climbs, stay planted in the saddle and increase your pace to pedal as quickly as you can.

ELLIPTICAL WORKOUT

This perennial gym favorite provides a sweat-breaking, impact-free platform for high-intensity intervals. The following workout will push you through the machine’s toughest settings for a full-body burn. You’ll be increasing your speed, measured by the strides per minute indicator on the machine’s dashboard, and ratcheting up the resistance at the same time, getting a little faster and tougher with each effort until you are maxed out. Remember, don’t hold on to the rails, but rather pump your arms to keep your feet turning over as quickly as you can. If you have access to a machine with an incline feature, you also can add intensity by simulating some hill climbs. Just use the
HIIT the Hills workout
.

Ramp It Up!

*Strides per minute.

NOT A WALK IN THE PARK

While the elliptical has always been known as a great tool for injury rehab, lately it has developed an unfair reputation as the machine for those who would rather read than sweat. True, you can take it easy on this device by hanging on to the handrails and allowing pedal momentum to do the work—but used properly, it can kick your metabolism into high gear. A new study from the University of Nebraska found that exercising on an ellipitcal trainer burns as many calories as running on a treadmill at the same level of effort. Oxygen consumption was also equivalent on both machines, but people's average heart rates were actually higher when working out on the elliptical, possibly because the newness of the motion requires your muscles to do more balancing work. To keep your body guessing, alternate between both cardio machines.

SWIMMING WORKOUT

Water is 800 times denser than air, so doing the equivalent of sprinting across a pool burns fat like nothing else. This workout will shed inches off your body. Do the workout as prescribed, swimming the recommended stroke for the prescribed number of lengths and at a range of effort from 1 to 10. (Note: The workout is based on a standard 25-meter lap pool; Olympic-size pools are 50 meters. If you’re unsure of the size of your pool, ask the pool manager or lifeguard. One length is across the pool. One lap is across the pool and back.

FREESTYLE POINTERS

Better form means a better workout. Practice these fine points when learning to crawl.

1.
Look at the bottom of the pool. Lifting your head causes your hips to drop and slows you down.

2.
Be a fish. Practice swimming smooth and quietly without slapping the water, a sign of wasted energy.

3.
When extending your leading hand, let is sink 8 inches before starting your pull. Imagine you’re wrapping your arm over a barrel and pushing it behind you.

4.
Roll, baby, roll. Developing good body roll allows you to use your strong lats, core, and back muscles to drive your stroke and it helps you cut through the water efficiently. And breathing becomes easier. To learn proper rotation, practice kicking on your side with a pair of flippers and one arm stretched in front of you.

The Uptempo Medley

If you’re an experienced swimmer, add lengths or laps; if you’re a beginner, subtract lengths or laps.

A STROKE OF GENIUS

To get the most from your swimming intervals, build a more efficient (longer and faster) stroke. Try this drill: Take two strokes with your right arm, one with your left, one with your right, and then two with your left. Next, take one stroke each with your right and left, two with your right, then two with your left. Continue this pattern for 5 minutes. This helps you even out your stroke and find a good rhythm, says Keith Bell, PhD, of the American Swimming Association.

JUMP ROPE WORKOUT

If you haven’t skipped rope since you watched
Sesame Street
, you’ll soon see why boxers, who use this simple tool to enhance their footwork all the time, never seem to have an ounce of fat on their bodies. This workout mixes different kinds of jumps—alternating right and left feet, doing high double jumps, where the rope goes under your feet twice—to give your body different challenges between the fast bursts. In general, jump about 2 inches off the floor—just enough to allow the rope to skim the floor beneath your feet. Keep your elbows close to your body and stay on the balls of your feet.

Skipping School

* Jump high enough to pass the rope under your feet twice before landing.

** Jump over the rope and land with your feet wide apart. Then on the next jump, land with your feet together.

*** Run in place while swinging the rope up and around.

CASH FOR SWEAT

Nothing motivates like material rewards. Promise yourself a splurge for not missing a workout session for 1 month. Or it may be even more effective to set up a penalty for missing them. "People will work twice as hard when money is at stake," says Ian Ayres, economist and professor at Yale Law School and author of
Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done
.

HOW TO TRY IT:
Register your goal and credit card info at stickk.com. If you don't do a predetermined number of workouts, the charity of your choice gets a payday that gets charged to your plastic. "This is even more effective if you give money to something you don't like," adds Ayres. Diehard liberal? Set up your account to donate to a conservative group, and watch the pounds melt away.

Chapter 9:

15-Minute Workouts for Every Body Type

NO MATTER WHAT TYPE OF FRAME YOU WERE BORN TO GROW INTO, YOU CAN SCULPT AND TONE IT TO SHOW OFF YOUR SEXIEST ATTRIBUTES.