Equinox Gym

Who doesn't feel pressed for time between the major holidays? I asked my Equinox trainer, Lauren, for a couple quick cardio workouts to burn up the calories. She gave me a rowing workout — a great machine that always seems to be available — and an incline workout on the treadmill. Even though you might be short on time, you don't need to give up your sweat sessions. Try these quickies.

Rowing Machine Workout
Set resistance between two and five; anything higher and you're likely to hurt your back.

• Warmup: Row for three to five minutes at 50 percent of max.
• Sprint: Row at 90 to 100 percent of max for 100 meters; rest for 15 seconds, repeat for a total of 10 reps.
• Cooldown: Row for three minutes, at 50 percent of max.

This is a great workout to add into circuit training for a nice cardio kick. Be sure to read up on tips for using the rowing machine before heading to the gym.

Not feeling it for the rowing machine? Keep reading to check out the treadmill incline workout.

Supersets are an effective way to save time at the gym; they build strength and keep the heart pumping to burn maximum calories. When pressed for time at the gym, don't skimp on your sweat session. Do this full-body workout featuring supersets from Equinox trainer Lauren Fairbanks. It's so efficient you'll have more time for your post-workout sauna.

After warming up with five minutes of cardio and some dynamic stretching (here are five moves perfect for an active warmup), do each superset three times before progressing to the next. Rest for one minute between supersets.

Superset One
Weighted reverse lunges: 15 reps per leg, 12.5-pound dumbbells

• Start standing with weights in each hand and right foot at left knee.
• Step back with your right foot into a full lunge, with both knees at 90 degrees.
• Return to starting position, trying not to touch the ground with your right foot.
• Works glutes, quads, and hamstrings.

Side to center arm raises: 10 reps, five-pound dumbbells

• Stand with weights at your sides.
• Keeping a slight bend in the elbows, raise your arms out to the side at shoulder height.
• Keeping your arms parallel to the floor, bring your arms forward so the weights touch; maintain this position as you lower the weights to your legs.
• Raise your arms in front of you with the weights still touching. Maintain the height of your arms as you open to the side. Lower your arms down. This completes one rep.
• Works deltoids.

Keep reading to learn the rest of the workout.

While you can work your abs lying down, the most effective core exercises are functional moves done standing. Functional exercises mimic everyday moves and easily translate to real-life activities. Equinox trainer Lauren Fairbanks recommends the wood chop using the cable pulley machine to strengthen the abs and back while sculpting a toned torso. "It's a full-body move that works the glutes and the shoulders, and just about everything in between." The primary focus of the exercise is the abs, especially the obliques, which drive the twisting motion.

Starting Position

• Attach the double rope handle onto the cable. Set the weight to 15 pounds.
• Stand your right side toward the machine about two feet from the machine. Grab the handle and open feet to a stable and wide stance.

The Exercise

• Exhale, pull abs to spine, and rotate torso to pull cable down to the outside of your left knee while simultaneously bending it. Imagine you're swinging an axe across your body.
• Keep your arms straight and do not round your back.
• Reverse the motion, controlling the weight on the cable as you return to the starting position. This completes one rep.
• Do 12 reps on each side for three sets.

Source: Megan Wolfe Photography at J+K Fitness Studio

If running is your go-to cardio, strength training should be part your workout routine, especially if you're training for a race. Working with weights, or simply doing body weight exercises, will help make you stronger, which can improve your running, making you faster and more efficient. That extra bit of muscle can help prevent overuse injuries. To balance out a runner's overworked legs, Equinox trainer Lauren Fairbanks recommends that runners strengthen four often neglected areas: the glute max, the glute med, the core, and the upper back.

Glute Max
The glute max is the biggest of all the butt muscles, hence the inclusion of max in its name. The glute max helps power your run, especially uphill.

• Step-ups: This exercise is great for building power in your backside. It trains your glutes for climbing inclines.
• Weighted walking lunges: Walking lunges feel a little like running in slow motion. This exercise mimics the action of running with the glute max engaging to push your pelvis forward. Adding dumbbells to this exercise makes the glutes work just a little bit more, and that's a good thing.

Glute Med
The glute meds, found on either side of the pelvis, help keep you stable while running. This stability helps keep the knees, hips, and lower back in proper alignment as you pound out the miles.

• Lateral band walks: This simple and effective move should be done until you feel the glute meds burn. Be sure to step to the side with the heel making contact before the toe to fire up the butt muscles.
• Side lunge curtsy lunge combo: Lunges are great for working the legs, but this particular combination targets the glute med over the the glute max. By working laterally, these two lunges make the legs work through a large range of motion, strengthening the glute med from a variety of angles.

See more exercises when you read more.

It might be the first stroke you learn as a child, but the crawl is complicated. While mastering freestyle might take hours upon hours in the pool, playing around with simple swimming drills, rather than aimlessly swimming lap after lap, can help you improve your stroke. Ross Haverlah, the swim coach at Equinox in San Francisco, suggests adding the closed-fist exercise to your warmup. "Without your hands pulling through the water, you become aware of how much your forearm participates in the pull of your stroke." Swimming with a fist might feel difficult at first, but the challenge will pay off in the long run.

The Drill
After warming up with 100 yards of swimming at an easy pace, swim the length of the pool with your hands in tight fists; it will feel utterly graceless and a bit like you're punching the water. Make sure to keep your hand in a closed fist to truly reduce the effectiveness of the hand sculling the water; focus on the power of the forearm pulling through the water. Return to swimming with an open hand for one length of the pool. Repeat this sequence three more times.

The Benefits
Incorporating more of your arm as you catch the water adds power to your stroke and helps you swim more efficiently. This means you can cover a larger distance in less time, a win-win.

Incorporate this drill into your next pool workout and see if helps you feel the water more.

How many times have you been told to pull your shoulders away from your ears in a studio cycling class? Keeping your shoulders down not only makes your neck feel better, it improves overall efficiency, from your posture to your pedal stroke. While spinning my pedals in a studio cycling class at Equinox, instructor Lisa Horowitz reminded us all that the position of the shoulder affects the rest of the body too. The concept, known as joint centration, means what goes on in one joint affects the joints above and below it — what's happening at the shoulder affects the spine and the hips.

When on a bike, whether indoor or out, many people hunch the shoulders up while leaning over the handlebars, which leads to a rounded spine — not the ideal position for cycling. Pulling the shoulder blades down and back opens up your chest and diaphragm: this makes it easier to breathe and helps put the back in a neutral position, which restores the arch to the lumbar spine and corrects the angle of the pelvis. With the spine and pelvis in correct alignment, the hip flexors can fire effectively, improving your pedal stroke. Correct shoulder positioning also engages the lats and turns on the abs to help support the torso.

Lisa also suggested raising the handlebars on a stationary bike a little higher than usual to see if it helps posture and positioning. Try it and let us know how it goes.