Lunchtime Workout #2: The Ideal Gym Routine

For those who hit the health club during their lunch hour, we've asked Elanna Schwab, certified personal trainer and part-owner of Main Line Health and Fitness in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to recommend the perfect get-fit-quick gym routine. The following workouts involve machines found in most health clubs. "If you've only got 30 to 40 minutes to work out, you must focus on the quality, not quantity, of your exercises, as intensity will yield maximum results," explains Schwab, who advocates working out in a way that overloads and stimulates the muscles. That's why she suggests just one set per strength-training exercise. Doing each set slowly and to failure—meaning the pertinent muscle group is exhausted at the end of eight to 12 reps—intensifies the exercise so you get maximum results in a minimum amount of time.

Even though weight training is the basis for two out of five workout days, Schwab suggests that you get your heart pumping on those days also by not taking breaks between exercises. And because her regimen is a total machine workout, you save time by not having to do a ton of stretching, because "machines work your muscles' full range of motion, which ultimately helps with flexibility." In addition to machines, however, Schwab strongly suggests finding time to take a yoga or a Pilates class at least once a week, whether it's on a Saturday morning or on your way home from work.

The following workout regimen includes two days of resistance training with machines (on Mondays and Thursdays) and three days of cardio exercise (on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). When resistance training, remember to perform one set of eight to 12 repetitions per exercise and do each rep slowly and to failure, then quickly move on to the next piece of equipment. Should your facility not offer some of the following pieces of equipment, ask a fitness professional to offer an alternative.

Mondays and Thursdays (resistance training, eight to 12 reps per exercise)
Exercise ^#1: hip extension
Muscles worked: glutes

Exercise ^#2: leg extension
Muscles worked: quadriceps

Exercise ^#3: leg curl
Muscles worked: hamstrings

Exercise ^#4: leg press
Muscles worked: entire lower body

Exercise ^#5: (Monday) seated row/(Thursday) lat pull-down
Muscles worked: lats and torso

Exercise ^#6: (Monday) women's chest fly (sometimes called ten-degree press)/(Thursday) lateral raise
Muscles worked: pectoralis major (chest)/deltoids (shoulders)

Exercise ^#7: pull-over
Muscles worked: latissimus dorsi (back)

Exercise ^#8: (Monday) bench press/(Thursday) overhead press
Muscles worked: pectoralis minor (chest)/secondary shoulder muscles

Exercise ^#9: (Monday) assisted chin-ups/(Thursday) bicep curls
Muscles worked: upper body/biceps

Exercise ^#10: (Monday) assisted dips/(Thursday) tricep extensions
Muscles worked: chest and triceps/triceps

Exercise ^#11: abdominal crunch machine
Muscles worked: abdominals

Exercise ^#12: lumbar extension
Muscles worked: lower back

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (cardio exercise)
Choose a piece of cardio equipment, such as a treadmill, a stair stepper, a stationary bike, or an elliptical machine, and exercise for 30 to 40 minutes. Try to work a majority of the time at an intensity between 65 percent (beginners) and 80 percent (advanced) of your maximum heart rate. (Maximum heart rate equals 220 minus your age.)

Next page: Quick Exercises To Do At Your Desk