No equipment? No problem. You can get the same toning results using your own body weight as resistance, says trainer Jackie Warner, star of Bravo’s Work Out. Speaking of which:
Unless you’re injured, it’s time to give up the girly ones with your knees on the floor, says Warner. “Real push-ups are truly the perfect upper body and core workout. They tone your chest, back, shoulders, arms and abs all at once,” she says. To do: Place your hands on the floor directly under your shoulders and stretch your legs out behind you. Pulling abs in and keeping your body in a line from head to heel, slowly lower yourself, then push back up. Even if you can’t manage more than three at a time, you’ll benefit.
4. Intervals Equal Fast Results
Alternating one or two minutes of cardio—whether that’s biking, running, whatever—at your usual pace with one or two minutes at a quicker pace burns fat faster than a regular workout. For an even bigger boost, Braganza recommends interval workouts that combine strength and cardio: Do 10 minutes cardio, then three or four strength moves such as lunges or biceps curls. Repeat two more times and you’ll get a full-body workout in less than an hour.
5. Energy Drinks Are for Hard-core Training, Not Your Average Workout
“I had one client who would go through multiple bottles of Vitamin Water during her hour-long workout,” says Teddy Bass, trainer to Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Christina Applegate. “Finally I said, ‘Um, honey, you may have burned 400 calories with me, but you just drank 500.’” Unless you’re working out for more than an hour, stick with plain old water.
6. Variety Keeps Weight Off
“Your body is very smart; it’ll adjust to any workout routine in six weeks, so you’ve got to switch things up,” says Warner. You don’t have to get a whole new routine to keep getting results—even making tiny tweaks like changing the order of your strength exercises will help.