Author: Bonnie Pfiester

Did you know your abs can talk? Even if someone has big biceps or nice legs, the abs speak the loudest of all muscles. The abs tell on you when you’ve been lazy or cheated on your diet. They literally define your level of discipline in both the gym and the kitchen.
For this reason, the abdominals are the most coveted muscle group in the gym—everyone knows they require a lot of hard work. Of course, there are some people who are genetically gifted in the ab department, but that is rare. Even if someone is gifted with perfectly shaped abdominals, the person still has to train them and work to reveal them. People with an advantage still have their work cut out for them if they want a lean and mean six-pack.
Don’t give up if you are not genetically gifted, though. You can still have great abs; it will just require some work. The first step is setting your goals. The amount of definition you desire will determine just how hard you’ll have to work. Here are a few different looks and what it will take to achieve each of them.

Look 1: Flat Abs

The first step to getting abs is just flattening out the ones you have. Many people are walking around with a gut hanging over their jeans simply because they have poor posture.
If you want to flatten your belly, you have to retrain your body to hold your stomach tight even when you aren’t thinking about it. You do this by training your core with planks and exercises that work your transverse abdominals. As your muscles get stronger, it becomes easier to hold your abdomen flat.
The other thing you need to do is adjust your calories to get in a daily caloric deficit to burn off excess body fat. This is best done by lowering calories and increasing cardiovascular exercise.

• Focus: Transverse abdominals
• Exercises: Plank and practicing good posture
• Diet Difficulty: Disciplined, tracking caloric intake

Look 2: Horseshoe Abs

Have you ever noticed how mainstream fitness models have horseshoe-shaped abs? Many people think six-pack abs can look too masculine on a woman. Horseshoe abs are the next step up to looking fit without going to extremes or looking too hard.
Taking your abs to the next level requires more work in the kitchen than the gym. Diet is the first thing you will want to step up. Next, you’ll want to add oblique exercises to your plank routine. Increasing cardio can also help you achieve your goals faster.
As you lean out, you will begin to see the main outline of the abs, which is that horseshoe shape. The next line to show is the line that runs up through the middle of the abdominals (called the linea alba).

• Focus: Transverse abdominals and obliques
• Exercises: Plank, side plank pulses, and oblique crunches
• Diet Difficulty: Disciplined, reducing calories

Look 3: Six-Pack Abs

If you want to trade your beer belly for a six-pack, you have to do a little more work. In addition to working your transverse abdominals and obliques, you will have to focus on building the rectus abdominis.
This is where strength training comes in. Weighted abdominal exercises develop larger abdominal muscles so they are more visible under the skin. However, you will never see them if you don’t really crack down on your diet and shed the fat that is covering them. Reducing calories and ramping up cardio will help uncover your hard work in the gym.

• Focus: Transverse abdominals, obliques with main focus on rectus abdominis
• Exercises: Plank, side plank pulses, oblique crunches, weighted crunches, and reverse crunches
• Diet Difficulty: Disciplined, reducing calories and tracking substrates (high protein, low carb)

Look 4: The Serratus Shred

The last look is what I’m calling the serratus shred. This is a look you don’t see every day; it requires a more extreme diet and even more training in the gym.
The serratus muscles are a small grouping of muscles that run over the top 8–9 ribs under the outside of your chest. They are often seen in physique competitors and bodybuilders, as well as in boxers.
On top of doing tons of cardio to shed the last little layer of fat covering these small muscles, you’ll need to add a few more exercises to your repertoire. Hanging abdominal exercises are great for improving the serratus. Other exercises include the crunch and punch, pull over, and ab wheel.
Remember, even if you work your serratus muscles to death, they will never be seen if you don’t melt the fat. This look will require the most discipline of all.

• Focus: Transverse, rectus abdominis with an emphasis on the serratus and obliques
• Exercises: Plank, side plank pulses, oblique crunches, weighted crunches, reverse crunches, hanging serratus crunches, pull overs, and ab wheel roll outs
• Diet Difficulty: Extreme discipline, reducing calories and tracking substrates (high protein, low carb)

Whether your goal is to flatten your stomach or get completely shredded, it won’t happen by accident. You will have to set clear goals and do the work required to reach them—but it will be worth it!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much to cover up a good looking set of abs. Five to 10 pounds of fat is more than enough to hide a perfectly sculpted six-pack. So if you want to see the abs you have been working so hard on, you will have to get rid of the fat that’s covering them. That’s where these three machines come in.

It may come as a shock, but these three machines have the potential to shape your midsection more than any abdominal machine you can find in a gym.

1. Food Scale

If you are working hard to sculpt your abs in the gym, you need to work even harder to uncover them in the kitchen. Otherwise no one will ever see the sculpted muscle hiding beneath your skin. The only way to do this is to reduce body fat, and that begins with diet.

Most people have excess body fat simply because they don’t realize how much they are actually eating. People tend to rely on guesswork instead of hard facts, eyeballing amounts and estimating portion sizes. Guesswork rarely works.

As a result, people give up on their dream of getting sculpted abs because they aren’t getting the results they feel they deserve. Even if they are doing 500 crunches a day, it’s rarely enough to compete with what you eat.

Weighing and measuring food is the best way to monitor your caloric intake in order to reduce body fat and reveal those pretty abdominals that have been hiding for so long.

2. Elliptical

Although diet is definitely the most important step in reducing body fat, you can ramp up results by increasing cardiovascular exercise. There are several fantastic machines that are extremely effective in burning fat including the elliptical, treadmill, stair climber, and rower.

Exercises incorporating rotational upper body movement are even better for tightening the midsection. That is why the elliptical cross trainer with swinging arm handles tops my list. Other exercises that trim the waistline include running and kickboxing. The key to choosing the best exercises for sculpting abs is choosing the exercise that incorporates upper body movement and burns the most calories.

Increasing regular cardiovascular exercise can help boost your daily caloric deficit, which will also improve results.

3. Weight Scale

I know what you’re thinking. You are probably wondering how stepping on a scale can help uncover your abs. It’s called accountability—and more people need it.

For some reason, people tend to justify why they aren’t getting results. They will often talk themselves into believing they are doing everything right even if they aren’t getting the results they initially wanted. If you are working really hard in the gym, you can have a tendency to feel like you deserve to eat more. This false sense of achievement can give you the approval you need to cheat on your diet, ultimately sabotaging your hard work.

The scale helps hold you accountable. Initially, you can gain muscle and lose fat without it being reflected on the scale, but eventually the scale will be an accurate measurement of weight loss. Unless you only need to lose a couple of pounds, most people will need regular weigh-ins to keep them from falling off the wagon.

There are dozens of exercises you can do for your abs, but none of them will truly pay off unless you master fat loss—and these three machines are sure to help you reach your goals.

We all know the McDonald’s jingle “you deserve a break today.” There are definitely times along your fitness journey when you need both a mental and physical break. The only problem is that if you aren’t careful, your break today can turn into a break this entire year.
The same way a bad habit can be broken in 21 days, a good habit can also be broken if there is too much time spent repeating poor behavior. Activity fuels more activity, and unfortunately, laziness fuels laziness. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a lazy day, but it does mean you need to put some rules in place to prevent a downward spiral once you get a taste for the lazies.

1. Plan your time off.

If you allow your emotions or body to tell you when to take time off, you are doomed to fail. If you listen to your body, you’ll end up on the couch eating bonbons every night. Our body loves food and sleep. But if you’re like me and you want to look and feel great, you will need to remain in complete control.
If you are very purposeful about your fitness breaks you can enjoy your time off while still remaining in control. By scheduling days off, vacations, and downtime, you can enjoy relaxing days without guilt because it’s all part of your plan. You know exactly when you are going to take time off, and you have a plan already in place to return to your fitness routine.
Another reason to schedule time off is that there are some days your body really needs rest and there are other days it does not. By scheduling days off, you can be sure to maintain more balance.
You can also plan intense workouts before your day of rest to make the most of your downtime and maximize healing. In addition, you may even notice you actually work harder the day before your “fitcation,” simply because you know you will get a rest the next day.

2. Set some boundaries for your time off.

If you have been busting it in the gym to lose weight, you will want to set some solid boundaries for the days you are taking off so you don’t erase all your hard work. For instance, you may plan one cheat meal a day (instead of three). Your boundaries may be the types of foods you eat or portion sizes.
Other boundaries may include a predetermined amount of time you decide to take off, setting guidelines for the maximum number of days in a row you will allow yourself to go without exercising. Setting boundaries is an excellent way to hold yourself accountable while still enjoying a break from your normal routine.

3. Trade your activity.

Another way to protect your investment is not to skip exercise altogether but do something different, easy, and fun.
Instead of completely taking off from the gym, you may want to trade your normal intense one-hour workout for a light walk on the beach with your sweetheart or choose an activity on your day off that keeps you on your feet, like playing goony golf.
If you are used to lifting weights, try a relaxing yoga class instead. Taking off from your fitness routine may not mean taking off period.
Another way you can mix things up is taking a break from the actual length of time you normally invest in fitness. Instead of a 90-minute workout, do a quick 10-minute high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout. A short workout will still give you the feeling of taking off without the guilt of skipping altogether.

4. Plan your comeback.

One problem with taking a break is that our bodies might like the break a little too much. So it’s important that you plan the exact date and time you will return to normal. Better yet, you should return to a very clear fitness plan—complete with an exercise routine, meal plan, and a fresh set of goals.
The more you have planned for your return, the more you can plan on success.

5. Have a backup plan.

As you have probably experienced yourself, our lives can be a complete mess when we return after a vacation or taking time off. I often say I need a vacation from my vacation just to recuperate from being out of town or to be able to survive my return to who-knows-what.
As we come back to a pile of work on our desks and feeling like we have a lot of making up to do, it’s easy to justify putting off our workout just a little longer. This can be a dangerous excuse. It may be a good excuse, but it’s an excuse you don’t have to use.
Be prepared in advance for distractions, excuses, and extra work. If you miss your first day back, have a backup plan to ensure your one missed workout doesn’t turn into a couple of weeks of you playing catch-up at work—and getting behind at the gym.
Taking time off from the gym won’t kill you. As a matter of fact, it can actually help you come back stronger, refreshed, and even more focused than before—as long as you stick to your plan. If not, your “I deserve a break today” could turn into a “Super Size Me” mistake.

You’ve probably seen those fitness memes that say “Oh, are you sore from working out? But did you die?” No matter how hard you actually do work out, everyone can relate to the feeling of dying from an intense workout.

It seems like workouts just keep getting harder and harder these days. People are lifting more, getting their heart rate up more, and even exercising more, but is it really necessary to work out that hard?

On the one hand, there are many people who don’t work out hard enough. They never really know what it feels like to push a heavy weight or get their heart rate up where it should be.

On the other hand, you have people who are addicted to killer workouts that leave them on the floor begging for a chalk outline to mark the evidence of their death. Instead, a photo is normally taken so the brutality can be posted for all to see on social media.

People are paying big money to be physically beat to a pulp in the gym. It’s a phenomenon that is spreading like wildfire, and I don’t see it dying down anytime soon.

Why do people enjoy the pain? I have a few theories.

1. You are killing yourself in the gym because you are killing yourself in the kitchen.

Many people lack self-control when it comes to eating so they work out more so they can eat more. If they were as disciplined in the kitchen as they were in the gym, though, they’d get results so much faster, and they wouldn’t have to work out nearly as hard.

If you think about it, it’s a lot easier to eat 1,000 calories than it is to burn them. One meal out can cost you 1,000–2,000 calories if you aren’t careful, and it would take you several workouts to erase what you ate in 30 minutes.

When people understand the math of calories in vs. calories out, they end up trying to make it up in the gym with more workouts, tougher workouts, and longer workouts.

Unfortunately some of these crazy hardcore workout peeps never really reap the benefit of their beast-mode workouts because they never get control of their eating. So they become addicted to training because really they are addicted to food.

2. You think that every workout has to be tough to be effective.

Before you can determine what is effective, you have to determine what your goal is. An effective workout means a host of different things depending on the purpose of your workout. You also have to determine what is realistic, safe, and maintainable.

Tough workouts are great, and I do believe every workout should have a certain level of intensity to it, whether your intensity comes from heavy weight or less rest time. But you don’t have to feel like you are about to die every single time you work out for it to be effective.

On the contrary, sometimes you need a light to moderate workout to allow your body to heal from a previously challenging exercise routine. You also have to give your joints time to heal and your muscles time to repair between tough workouts.

Unfortunately, some people (especially the competitive ones) can get more focused on beating a time or getting a new personal record than doing what their body needs that day. You should always listen to your body, whether it is telling you what you need to do today (short-term goals) or it reminds you of your endgame (long-term goals).

3. You have misconceptions of what defines a good workout.

Most people think a hard workout is a workout that takes your breath away. If your heart is racing and you feel like you are about to pass out, then you think that’s a good workout. Or maybe you think a good workout is when you lift a really heavy weight.

In reality, if you want to be physically fit and balanced, you need to train your body using all three metabolic pathways: phosphagen (high power/short duration), glycolytic (moderate power/moderate duration), and oxidative (low power/long duration).

I won’t bore you with the scientific explanation of each metabolic pathway; just understand that we should avoid sticking to one training style.

If you love long-distance runs and think a short run is ineffective you are wrong. Long runs only train our oxidative (aerobic) system. Try short runs with sprint intervals mixed in to build strength and power and improve lung capacity.

Or if you love lifting heavy weight with a lot of rest time in between you’re working more of your phosphagen and glycolytic systems. Try reducing rest time, reducing weight, and increasing intensity with a faster pace to improve endurance.

If you have a magnetic attraction to the iron, you may actually entertain getting off the bench press and getting on the treadmill. Don’t cry, bodybuilders and powerlifters, I know it will be hard but you can do it.

Bottom line, you should never be stuck applying only one training method. Whether you train all three metabolic pathways in one workout or mix it up throughout the week, your workouts should incorporate all three training systems.

4. You enjoy feeling like a beast.

Seriously, some people just like a crazy hard workout because it makes them feel tough. However, there are a lot of people out there doing workouts that are very tough but are the wrong kind of workout for their goals or body type.

There are overweight women powerlifting because they are already strong from lifting their heavy bodies around. So, sometimes heavy women love lifting heavy simply because it is something they are good at. They actually may need to reduce their resistance and do more cardiovascular training to burn more fat and calories.

The fact is, everyone hates doing stuff they stink at. I’m definitely one of those people. I’m the most unflexible person on the planet so I hate yoga, but my body needs it. I will never leave a yoga class feeling like a beast, but it’s what my body needs.

5. You feel guilty if you don’t beat yourself up hard enough in the gym.

I think many people use the gym as a form of punishment for all they do wrong throughout the day. Whether it’s making poor food choices or feeling out of control in other areas of their life, sometimes the only thing people feel like they can control is their body.

So, they lift heavy, run fast, and beat their body into submission to make up for the rest of the day. I know because I used to be one of those people. When I was younger, I hated my job, I had no dating life, and I could barely pay my bills. My life was seriously out of control. The one thing I could control was my body, so I spent way too much time in the gym. I worked out all the time, to the point that it became an unhealthy obsession.

Although exercise is healthy and very important, over-exercise is very unhealthy and can damage your body—and even hurt relationships. Maybe the types of workouts you do are great, but you need to find balance with the amount of training you do.

If you are working out because you don’t feel like you deserve a compliment unless you hit the gym or if you are in the gym to erase the bag of M&Ms you ate the night before, you may be working out too hard for the wrong reasons.

Take the fit test

If you really want to measure your physical fitness, you shouldn’t measure it based on whether you can survive a brutal workout. A more accurate way to measure your fitness is to compare yourself to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) definition of physical fitness. ACSM defines physical fitness as having five specific components.

How many of these five components are you actively improving?

• Cardiovascular endurance
• Muscular strength
• Muscular endurance
• Flexibility/mobility
• Body composition

If you are killing it in the gym but your body composition is still out of whack, something needs to change. If you can run a marathon but you can’t squat your bodyweight then something needs to change. If yo
u are strong and fast but can barely reach your shoes, something has to change.

As you change up your routine to better match your goals, you’ll still have tough workouts. They just may look and feel a little different. The key to a successful workout is not whether it kills you, it’s whether it helps you reach your goals.

As much as I’d like to think I am adventurous, I really prefer living in my safe little familiar box. However, sometimes I venture out (or get forced to venture out) of my box. One day I was forced to get out of my little box and enter an altogether different kind of box—a CrossFit box.

I had the opportunity to go to Reebok headquarters and check out their new gear for the coming season. I was so excited to see the facility and meet everyone. I also had the privilege of meeting their fitness experts as part of the event. Our schedule was jam packed with fun workshops, from learning about their newest technology to working out with their pros. This is when things got scary.

Reebok has a CrossFit box on their campus called Reebok CrossFit One. This is the home of 500 athletes, all of whom work at Reebok headquarters. Their professional trainers and CrossFit pros were going to lead us through a Workout of the Day (“WOD”).

Up until this day, I had never done a CrossFit workout or been to a CrossFit gym. Although my husband, Steve, was a certified CrossFit trainer and we used a lot of their training principles, being in a CrossFit box was totally out of my box.

Right away, Steve and I were separated into different groups. My heart was pounding and my nerves were going crazy. I needed my security blanket. Steve is my protector and translator at these kinds of things. I felt so insecure, vulnerable, and alone.

The CrossFit trainer stood in the front of the group and began to explain the workout. He directed our attention to a whiteboard with writing on it that looked like some kind of mathematical code or hieroglyphics. He explained that the workout was going to be a group WOD, where we all would work together as a team. “Oh no,” I thought, “I don’t want to let my team down.” As if I didn’t have enough pressure.

Although I’ve been in the gym industry for most of my adult life, it was like the trainer was talking in a foreign language. He would mention exercises I was familiar with, but still I had no idea exactly what we were doing. He seemed to be speaking in code.

First, the trainer listed the prescribed exercises, weight, and repetitions. Then he explained that the whole workout would be one big relay, starting and ending with a run. In the middle of the relay, the team would rotate through the exercises until several hundred repetitions were completed. Every team would be timed, and the first one to finish would win a pat on the back. That’s a lot of pressure for a pat on the back and some bragging rights.

It was time to start. I understood enough of it to know it was going to be tough but not enough to know what in the heck I was really about to do. So like any newbie, I just hoped someone in my group knew what to do so I could follow their lead.

Although I didn’t really understand the workout, I did understand that we were going to be competing with one another. Each team would be racing to be the first one to finish. “Great,” I sarcastically thought to myself. I hate the element of competition. I already have enough stress just competing against myself. All I could think of was how I wasn’t prepared. If I were ever to compete, I would want to be prepared so I could do well. Nevertheless, I sucked it up and just did my best.

Because I was a runner, I was chosen to do the first part of the relay, which was a 200-meter sprint. I ran out the big roll-up door into the frigid Boston air as fast as my chicken legs would take me. Everyone cheered me on as I rushed back through the door while they waited to start the next part of the relay, the circuit of resistance exercises. I wasn’t sure if they were praising me for my wicked fast pace or screaming “hurry!” because I wasn’t fast enough for them. Who knows, but there was a lot of whooping and hollering going on. The energy was high.

Each person in our team took a place in the circuit of exercises assigned to us. Box jumps, thrusters, and pull-ups were the core exercises in the circuit. We would each rotate through the stations, completing as many reps at each station as we could until we hit the required reps for each exercise. Once we were done with the exercises, we finished with the 200-meter sprint again.

The whole workout was a blur. I was just in survival mode. It probably didn’t help that there was a camera crew there taping the whole thing. Pride was gone. I just wanted to get through it without dying.

People were shedding clothes like it was a strip club. After the workout was over, people were sprawled out on the floor like a massacre just happened and dead bodies were everywhere. Despite the pain and sweat, people slowly began to peel themselves off the floor and make memories. Everyone was snapping photos (me included) proving they survived the workout and posing with the shirtless CrossFit pros.

I won’t lie. There was not one moment of the workout I thought was fun, but I sure was happy when I finished. As I looked around the room, it seemed like many people actually enjoyed the beating. Me? Not so much. Since I’m not a competitive person, I think the competitive nature of the workout added more stress to an already stressful situation. But I can imagine competitive people would have loved it.

To be honest, I have to admit that I trained a lot harder knowing the workout was timed and we were competing with other teams. So as a training technique to get you to work harder, this format was very effective.

Would I want to train that hard every time I went to the gym? Oh, heck no! However, I did realize it is very good for me to get out of my box and try new workout styles, methods, and routines—and more importantly, push me physically and mentally.

Since my first CrossFit encounter, I’ve continued to get out of my box. I change up my workouts a lot more, checking out new exercises and attending more educational workshops. Trying new things has not only improved my own fitness, it’s made me a better trainer. As a result, my workouts are never boring either.

You don’t have to love every workout you do, but it’s extremely important to get out of your box and try new things. The more things you try, the more you learn about yourself and fitness.

Thank goodness for all the different gyms, CrossFit included. The more gyms you try, the better chance you have of finding the perfect match for you.

No gym? No problem. Bodyweight exercises have become so popular that they placed second in the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) annual Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends. In fact, you won’t see one piece of fitness equipment or fad workout in ACSM’s top 10 fitness trends this year. This hasn’t always been the case, though.
Let’s recap the last few decades. If you went back in time 50 years, it wouldn’t take long to figure out just how much the world of fitness has changed. A visit to one of the first fitness centers back in the day, often referred to “health spas,” may have included a few leisurely laps in the swimming pool and socializing with friends in the steam sauna.
After Arnold Schwarzenegger wowed moviegoers in 1970’s Hercules in New York, bodybuilding quickly gained popularity. By the late ’70s and early ’80s, people began putting a greater emphasis on weight training. While Arnold was inspiring men to pump more iron, women were flocking to Jane Fonda’s aerobics classes.
By 1989, I was working at my first gym, wearing a one-piece thong over leotards. Women of all ages were doing Jazzercise on an open carpeted floor and loving it. Carpeted dance floors slowly were replaced with wood floors in private group exercise studios, offering a much larger variety of specialty classes. Year after year, new trending workouts like Tae Bo, Reebok Step, Spinning, and Zumba would make the top charts with traditional bodyweight exercises not even being discussed.
However, in more recent years, fitness has simplified in many ways. People exercising these days are training more like an athlete in a 1960s gym class or a new cadet in basic training. The bench press is being replaced with pushups and fancy treadmills are being passed over for plyometric exercises.
Why has bodyweight training taken off? First, it’s cheap. Okay, it’s better than cheap. It’s free. You literally need nothing but floor space. Second, bodyweight exercises are endless. There are a variety of bodyweight exercises for every muscle group. If you have access to a computer, there are thousands of exercises you could learn in the privacy of your home. Lastly, they work.
In order for an exercise to make ACSM’s top 10 list, the exercise trend has to work–and bodyweight training is no exception.

6 Reasons to Do More Bodyweight Exercises

1. Strengthens the Core. Unlike working out on a machine, where your core is supported by a bench, bodyweight exercises incorporate the full body–including the core. A strong core helps prevent back injuries and improves posture.
2. More Efficient. Bodyweight exercises can also be more efficient because many bodyweight exercises incorporate both strength and cardiovascular endurance in one single exercise. Instead of working each individual muscle independently on weight machines, you can work more muscle groups at once, saving you time.
3. Improves Flexibility. Since you aren’t saddled with additional heavy weights, it’s safer to complete the full range of motion, which results in improved flexibility.
4. Develops Better Balance. Most people don’t attempt to do daily tasks on one leg. However, many bodyweight exercises, like lunges and planks, require good balance. The more exercises that require balance, the better.
5. Always Challenging. Bodyweight exercises can be challenging for all shapes, sizes, and physical conditions. The more fit you are, the more reps you may get in during an allotted amount of time. As long as you are giving each exercise your all, you are getting a great workout no matter what your fitness level is.
6. Never Boring. Since there are so many exercises to choose from and so many ways to put different exercises together, you’ll never be bored or confined to certain moves. The longer you do bodyweight exercises and expand your exercise library, the more you’ll enjoy them.
If you’ve been using a list of excuses that include “I can’t afford to join a gym” or “I don’t have any equipment,” I just took your excuses away. It’s time to clear a space on the floor and get to work!

Sample Body Weight Workout:

Do 30 seconds of each:

• Jumping jacks
• Burpees
• Push-ups
• Sit-ups

Repeat five times as quickly as you can, with no rest, for an intense 10-minute workout.

Training can get expensive. There’s good news, though. If you don’t have the luxury of a hiring your own personal trainer, or you don’t have access to a really great (more affordable) group training class, you can turn your watch into one tough trainer.
Back when I started working out, my workout consisted solely of reps and sets. No one ever gave me a time limit. Time wasn’t really even addressed. By the age of 18, I was showing people how to use the weight equipment at the gym, and I never once talked about pace, how long to work out, or how long to rest between sets. All I did was show them the equipment, help them find a challenging weight, and spot them while they banged out their 12-15 repetitions. Then we’d talk until they felt ready to do another set.
As I reflect back, I don’t ever remember anyone sweating while lifting weights unless the air conditioning was not working. People sweat during aerobics classes, but weight training was totally different. Well, not today. Things have changed dramatically.
Over the years, experts have seen how adding a time component to a workout can completely change things. Even if the exercises are exactly the same, working out to the clock can give you a totally different experience. By using an interval timer app or handy gadget like the Gymboss Interval Timer, you are forced to stick to a training schedule. Typically, this means less rest and more work.
Before I started using a timer, I pretty much did my next set when I felt like it. With a timer, I work out when it tells me to work out–and most of the time, it’s much sooner than I would like. That’s when I realized my timer became one mean trainer.
There are several ways to use time to your advantage. Here are four different training methods where your clock becomes your toughest trainer.

1. Tabata

Tabata is a specific style of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), alternating 20 seconds of work with 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds lasting a total of 4 minutes. Tabata is great for improving your pace as a runner, but can also get you in amazing shape when used with body weight or free weight exercises.
The most common exercises for Tabata training are multi-joint exercises like sprints, pushups, squats, kettlebell swings, pull-ups, burpees, and rowing. I also use Tabata to isolate muscle groups in bicep curls, tricep dips, and push presses if I really kill one body part.
Tabata is intense, and it’s awesome because you get a lot of work done in very little time.

2. AMRAP

AMRAP stands for for As Many Rounds As Possible. How does this fall under a time component? It’s not like you just do as many rounds of an exercise or circuit until you can’t do it anymore. AMRAPs are timed. You will have a certain exercise or combination of exercises to do in a set time, like 5 minutes. It’s your job to get as many rounds, or sets, as you can in that amount of time.
AMRAPs ramp up intensity like crazy, especially when you’re working out with a partner or in a group setting. The clock measures your fitness level and gives you a number to beat the next time you do the workout.
There is no set guideline for AMRAPs. You can do a 5-minute AMRAP or a 20-minute AMRAP. The key is to keep the time and tasks the same each time you attempt the workout so you can measure progress.

3. EMOM

EMOM stands for Every Minute On The Minute and is another great way to keep you on task. For example, you may have an EMOM where you do 10 squats every minute on the minute. You can also do a combination of exercises, like five box jumps and five burpees every time the clock hits :00.
Another way to increase intensity is to increase reps, weight, or exercises each round. You can add one or two reps, 5-10 pounds, or one more exercise each minute, making each round more and more challenging.
Like an AMRAP, EMOMs often last from 5 minutes to 20 minutes.

4. HIIT

HIIT is the most versatile of all timed workouts. HIIT alternates repeated bouts of high-intensity intervals with lower moderate-intensity training, called active rest.
An example of a HIIT workout could include one minute of high-intensity training at over 80 percent of your maximum heart rate with two minutes of moderate-intensity active recovery. For example, you may run for one minute followed by a moderate jog or fast walk for two minutes.
While a 2:1 ratio is popular, everything goes with HIIT training. You can create all types of interval combinations, like 30:30, 40:20, 50:10 and so on. You can also flip flop intensities, using the longer interval for the high-intensity exercise and the short interval for the low-intensity exercise.
You really can’t go wrong with any combination of interval training. As long as you are on the clock, you are burning calories and staying on task.

When I heard there was a new Star Wars workout, complete with lightsabers, I thought I would die. Seriously? Are we 5 years old? Could I really walk in the gym with my plastic lightsaber in my hand without looking like a joke and feeling like a complete embarrassment? I just don’t know if I could bring myself to do that. However, to my amazement, people are doing just that.

Last week, I was approached by a reporter who wanted my professional two cents on gimmicky workouts. I believe that as long as we live, there will always be a new fitness gimmick. It is a requirement for business survival in this industry. People get bored, and they want something fresh and new to try, even if it’s a flop.

I admit that gimmicks help business, but do they help the customers? That really depends. After I agreed to do the interview, the reporter told me the article was about the new Star Wars workout, which evidently is a hit at a popular New York sports club. After I fell off my chair in laughter, I immediately looked it up online. Everyone was talking about this new “out of this world” fitness class experience.

How It Works

Before I can determine if something is a fit or a flop, I have to look at all the components. First, I looked at what makes the Star Wars workout “Star Warsy.”

The lightsabers are the most obvious component to the Star Wars role-playing exercise class. In order to do the class, you need a plastic toy lightsaber that lights up and actually makes battle sounds, and two spaceship discs (frisbee-shaped foot sliders to slide across the floor–like Valslides).

They even have fancy names for everything, like Light­saber Leaps, Jedi Jacks, and Padawan Pushups. Even the Tai Chi-inspired cool down is called “Yoda Flow.” For the imaginative person, they make it easy to get in character. Although they have all the components for the fun factor, the real question is: Do they have all the components to make a good workout?

I was pleasantly surprised to see that they use very effective exercises such as burpees, push-ups, lunges, plie squats, and planks. It appears the training method follows a HIIT-like (high-intensity interval training) format, which is based on quick bursts of high-intensity circuits. After the Jedi Master (instructor) leads you through a heart-pumping exercise routine, he or she takes you through a sun salutation in a galaxy far, far away.

Overall, the workout seems pretty decent if you can get over the flashing lights, clanking plastic swords and battle sounds (not to mention the people peering in the aerobics room watching the freak show–I mean, light show).

Pros and Cons

If you have always wanted to be like Luke Skywalker and have been waiting for an excuse to play with lightsabers with other adults, then you’ll likely consider this workout a great success, because showing up is the hardest part. What you actually do in class once you get there is up to you, but that’s what determines if the class is effective for you. Will you be playing with your sword or really working out? Even the best of classes are not effective unless you go to them regularly and give each class your all.

If you already feel like Jabba the Hutt when you go the gym, my guess is that you don’t want to draw extra attention to yourself by walking into the gym with a plastic sword and spaceship discs. I’m just saying. If you would rather be caught with curlers in your hair than caught waving a plastic flashing toy around, then this class is an epic fail because you wouldn’t even attempt it to begin with.

Many people already feel pretty awkward going to the gym, and in my opinion this brings awkward to a whole new level. That is why so many “tough workouts” have been popular. People want to leave feeling tough. They don’t want to leave feeling like a Wookiee.

Of course, if you live life on the wild side and love trying new things no matter how bizarre, then this workout may be a fun change. A gimmick based on solid principles can be extremely effective. So I say try it. Correction. I think Yoda said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

Fit or Flop

There are three questions to ask yourself before you can decide if a gimmick workout is going to work for you: 

– Is the program based on sound principles? 

– Is it something you would do on a regular basis? 

– Is it a program you can stick with for the long haul?

If you aren’t embarrassed about bringing plastic toys to the gym, and the workout is solid, then you’ve got two out of three checked. But as much as I believe the actual workout taught by a really great instructor could be effective, it probably is something you could only enjoy for a short period of time.

Like any fad, I would imagine the Star Wars workout would get old quick. If you could only choose one workout, and this is what you decide to choose, all I can say is “may the Force be with you.” I call this a flop.