Choose aerobic exercises that work the whole body

Whether you’re just warming up for weight training or performing a predominantly aerobic workout, choose exercises that use your upper and lower body at the same time. Rather than stationary cycling, try a rowing machine, hop on the treadmill and pump your arms, or take an aerobic dance class. Full body motion will maximize your workout intensity.

Challenge yourself with short bursts of high intensity aerobic exercise

Getting your heart rate up to 75% or more of its maximum, even if it’s just for a few minutes, is a great way to burn calories, build endurance, and improve your performance during aerobic exercise. When you’re first getting started working out with high intensity, it’s best to choose an exercise where you are unlikely to injury yourself. Stationary bikes and elliptical trainers, which minimize the impact on joints, are good options for getting started with high intensity training.

Try circuit training

Circuit training is a series of strength training exercises that work different muscle groups and may be performed with machines, free weights, or both. Work out intensely at each exercise in the circuit, then rest the muscles you worked while you rotate to the next exercise which works a different part of the body. Moving from station to station quickly will add a cardiovascular challenge to your circuit training, too!

Never wait for a machine

If you work out at a busy gym, waiting for a machine can serious eat into your workout time. Rather than losing valuable minutes in line, learn a number of alternate free weights exercises to work the same muscle group. If the machine you want is busy, you can just hop over to the free weights area and pick up a barbell or dumbbell. Varying your workout to include machines and free weights is a great way to keep your workouts challenging and to develop the stabilizer muscles that are so key to developing functional strength.

Skip the water breaks

It’s important to stay hydrated throughout your workout, but if you’re constantly taking water breaks you can lose momentum. Carry your own water bottle with you throughout your workout to minimize unnecessary breaks.

Work large muscle groups

When you’re in a time crunch, working out large muscle groups should take priority over working small muscle groups. The large chest, back, and thigh muscles are the strongest muscles in the body and burn the most calories during exercise, and strengthening them produces the best gains in posture and overall strength compared to other muscle groups.

Perform compound exercises

If you’re weight lifting, choose exercises that work multiple muscle groups with the same motion rather than exercises that isolate individual muscle groups. Example compound exercises are lunges, deadlifts, and push-ups.

Work on opposing muscle groups

Pick pairs of exercises that work opposing muscles groups (e.g. quads and hamstrings, chest and back, or inner and outer thighs) and perform alternating sets of these exercises with minimum breaks between sets. This will give you a balanced workout and help you to quickly exercise multiple muscle groups.

Break up your workout into 10-minute pieces

If your biggest challenge is finding a single chunk of time that’s big enough to perform your complete workout, break your workout into 10-minute pieces. Use resistance bands or bodyweight exercises to perform your strength training exercises during 10-minute breaks at the office, or run for 10 minutes before your morning shower. Fitting a few ten-minute standing routines or ten-minute mat exercises into your day adds up quickly.

Multitask

When all else fails and you can’t even get ten minutes away from work or chores, try incorporating exercise into otherwise sedentary activities. Maybe you can march in place or do a basic aerobic step routine on your conference calls, or perhaps you can try sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair during work to challenge your abs. Learn to use bodyweight exercises that don’t require any equipment. Get creative!

If you’re a distance runner interested in running faster and farther, you can incorporate explosive-strength training into your workouts to improve your running economy and running power. Running economy describes how efficiently your body runs. If you improve your running economy, that means you can run farther using the same amount of energy (or less energy) than you used before. Running power is a measure of your ability to produce power when you are at close to maximum aerobic exertion.

If you’re interested in adding explosive-strength training to your workouts to improve your running performance, consider trying some of the exercises demonstrated below, or check out this list of running plyometrics exercises. Keep in mind that explosive strength training is designed for intermediate or advanced athletes and should not be attempted by those who are not conditioned for high-intensity exercise. Check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise routine.

Example Explosive Strength Exercise Regimen

This video shows two athletes performing a sequence of several explosive strength training motions using staircases and plyometrics boxes to perform various hopping exercises.

Example Bounding Exercises

There are a variety of bounding exercises that can be performed as part of an explosive strength training workout. The focus of bounding exercises is to push off explosively with one leg while driving the knee of your other leg up and forward, emphasizing the knee lift motion to attain maximum height during each bound.

The video below shows a track athlete performing one type of bounding drill:

Example Box Jump Explosive Strength Exercises

There are a variety of explosive strength exercises that can be performed with basic exercise boxes of varying heights.

A basic box jump movement is demonstrated in this video:

More advanced athletes might move on to this sort of box jump motion:

Here’s an example double-leg box jump:

And here’s a lateral double leg box jump demonstration:

Remember that the benefits of explosive-strength training aren’t limited to runners. For any sport, incorporating sport-specific explosive-strength training will help develop the maximum power you’re able to exert while performing the specific motion targeted by the exercises.

Where Did the Body Type Theory Come From?

The idea that all bodies can be classified into one of three categories, or somatypes, originated with American psychologist William Herbert Sheldon, who proposed that human personality traits correlate to certain physiological traits. Sheldon’s theory in turn built on more ancient ideas about human physiology, psychology, and spirituality. The three major body types as Sheldon defined them are ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph, and he proposed that a person’s temperament could be predicted by looking at that person’s body type. Although Sheldon attempted to prove through various personality tests and research studies a definitive correlation between body type and personality type, he was unable to support his theory statistically. His psychological theories remained popular throughout the 1950s but today are generally considered simplistic and outdated.

Despite the limited value of Sheldon’s somatype theory to predict human temperament, his observation that the body generally falls into one of three categories based on musculature, fat composition, and bone structure continues to have value as it relates to exercise physiology. What you should know is that your body type may be changed slightly or a great deal by changing your diet and exercise program, and your current body type may determine what aspects of your exercise plan will be more challenging than others.

So what are the body types?

Ectomorphs, often referred to as “slim” or “skinny,” are characterized by their slight build, delicate bone structure, and difficulty gaining weight. Mesomorphs tend to have an athletic build with wide shoulders and narrow waist and easily gain lean muscle mass during exercise. Endomorphs have a stocky build, tend to have wide waist and hips, and gain and store weight easily as fat. If your body type doesn’t fall obviously into one of these categories, use this quick 12-question quiz to help you decide which body type describes you best.

Diet and Exercise for Ectomorphs

The biggest fitness challenge for most ectomorphs is maintaining a healthy weight, so if you’re an ectomorph your workouts should focus on building lean muscle mass. In general, a challenging strength training program supported by a healthy diet designed to support muscle growth should be your central focus. Aerobic exercise will still be important for you to maintaining overall good health, but you should be careful not to over-exert yourself during aerobic exercise, as this could raise your base metabolic rate and make it hard for you to maintain a healthy weight.

Diet and Exercise for Mesomorphs

Mesomorphs are blessed with the physiological ability to shed fat and build muscle easily, so your biggest challenge if you’re a mesomorph will probably be maintaining the motivation to work out and eat healthily over the long term. If you don’t stick to a healthy diet and exercise plan as a mesomorph, you can still fall out of shape quickly.

Diet and Exercise for Endomorphs

Most endomorphs will be interested in losing fat weight due to their tendency to add and store fat. If your an endomorph interested in losing weight, you will need to pursue an exercise program with a high level of aerobic exercise combined with a strength training program that builds your lean muscle mass. Because high-intensity workouts will be important to endomorph exercise plans, be sure to choose supportive workout clothing (such as the right sports bra) and appropriate footwear to stay comfortable and reduce the risk of injury. A wholesome diet with sufficient nutrients and calories to give you energy will be important, but in many cases endomorphs will need to carefully monitor calorie consumption in order to lose fat.

Mari Winsor’s method of Pilates instruction involves what she calls “dynamic sequencing,” an arrangement of Pilates exercises in an easy-to-follow cycle intended to produce maximum strength and flexibility gains with a low-intensity workout. The exercises Winsor teachers target the muscle groups known in Pilates as the “powerhouse”: the large muscle groups of the abdominals, back, and buttocks. Winsor Pilates routines do not use any equipment more complicated than a mat, so her instructional videos can easily be followed at home without a significant equipment investment.

For beginners, the Mari Winsor: Pilates program demonstrates proper form for each exercise and provides a good workout series, including modifications for those unable to perform the advanced version of a movement. However, once you’ve learned the basic moves, the amount of explanation included in this DVD may seem to eat into your workout time too much, so you should move on to a more advanced program to get the most out of your workout time. If you want to stick with Winsor as an instructor, her Accelerated Body Sculpting provides a faster-paced workout, but without any of the principles of the exercises explained. If you want both a good pace and some discussion of the exercise principles in a single program, consider one of the top three Pilates DVDs recommended by Think Pilates.

One of the major criticisms made by personal trainers and other fitness experts about Winsor Pilates relates to the claims that Winsor Pilates will help users to loose weight. Pilates exercises alone are primarily strength training and flexibility training exercises, rather than aerobic exercise, which is an important part of an effective weight loss exercise program. If you are interested in using Pilates to achieve weight loss, make sure your overall exercise routine includes daily aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, or anything that gets your heart rate up. Some Pilates videos incorporate dance movement or other high-intensity aerobic exercise with Pilates matwork for users interested in weight loss.

Another thing to keep in mind before beginning a Winsor Pilates program is that, depending on your current fitness level and experience, you may find Pilates exercises too challenging to perform without assistance. In this case, you should consider taking a few instructor-lead Pilates classes before moving on to solo work with DVDs. A certified Pilates instructor can help you work on your exercise form and make sure you don’t injure yourself during your workouts, and for many the added motivation of an in-person instructor or the other members of a workout class can be a great way to stick to a new fitness routine.

Before starting any new work out program, talk to your doctor to make sure the exercise you’re considering is safe for you and will help you achieve your specific fitness goals. Though Pilates exercises may be used safely by some pregnant women during some stages of pregnancy, check with your doctor if you’re pregnant and interested in starting a Winsor Pilates routine or any exercise program. Those who are substantially overweight should follow the same advice.

If you find it easier to stay motivated and focused during your workouts when you’re with a group or a live instructor, check out the class offerings at your local health and fitness club or look for a Pilates studio in your neighborhood. Most clubs will offer one or more weekly Pilates classes, with traditional classes focusing on matwork or exercises that use a piece of equipment called the Pilates reformer. If Pilates will be your primary form of exercise, you should try to attend a class that meets at least three times a week, or else supplement your in-person workouts with practice at home. If you live in a major US city, Yelp is a great place to find a Pilates studio and read what current and former students say about the facilities and instructors. Another good place to locate instructors is using the instructor search tool on Romana Kryzanowski’s website.

If you need to exercise at odd hours or just need the keep flexibility in your schedule, practicing Pilates at home with the aid of a Pilates DVD or video is a great option. There are a number of great video workouts available, from videos that teach individual exercises to complete workouts that guide you through a series of exercises for a complete body workout. Choosing a video or a collection of videos that you find challenging and motivating is the key to successfully working out with Pilates at home. This thorough review of twelve popular Pilates DVDs is a good place to start if you’re trying to pick a good video. If you get bored of using the same videos repeatedly or just don’t want to buy another workout video, you could try checking out the sports and fitness selection available on Netflix streaming, which has a nice selection of full-length Pilates workout videos led by several popular fitness instructors. For some detailed instructions on how to perform the basic Pilates exercises, check out this free guide to Pilates exercises.

One of the most popular Pilates instructors in the US is Mari Winsor. To get a taste of the Winsor Pilates method, check out this full-length workout video available online:

Although some Pilates instructors teach the exercises using a variety of specialized Pilates equipment, you don’t need to buy such equipment up front (or, indeed, ever) to get the vast majority of the benefits of the exercise. At a fundamental level, Pilates exercises use your own body weight and the force of gravity to provide the needed resistance for each exercise, and if you’re in reasonably good health, you will probably be able to perform most Pilates exercises safely and with proper form without the aid of any of the more specialized Pilates machines like the reformer, trapeze, or chair. You might find a basic yoga mat and an exercise ball to be helpful whether you’re planning to take class or start using a video, but even these types of equipment aren’t necessary to get started. Don’t get caught up in purchasing equipment and forget that the most important thing is just to get started!

If you’re looking for a fun, challenging, graceful form of exercise to incorporate into your workout routine, you should definitely give Pilates a try. No special equipment is required, and you can begin safely whatever your current fitness level may be. You might find that Pilates is all you need to stay in shape, or that it injects a nice change of pace into your established workout routine.