Workout Plan

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Workout PlanA Better Body in 5 Minutes

When your workout stops working, start here

By: Alwyn Cosgrove, Photographs by: Beth Bischoff & Mark Hanauer

No matter what kind of workout you do now, I can show you how to make it better. And all I need from you? An extra 5 minutes. Simply choose one of the bonus muscle builders that follow, and tack it on to the end of your current routine. It won't take long, and it'll yield great dividends, allowing you to customize your training to achieve almost any goal. Whether you want to build bigger arms, sculpt a rock-solid core, or eliminate back pain, it's just 5 minutes away.

Start today and you'll instantly improve your workout. Your body will soon follow.

Build Sleeve-Busting Arms

You can accomplish a lot in 5 minutes, and this arm-building routine is proof. To do this workout, simply pick any two exercises that target your arms: one for your biceps and another for your triceps. As an example, you might choose the EZ-curl-bar curl (biceps) and the dip (triceps). For either, select the heaviest weight that allows you to complete eight to 10 repetitions, and then alternate between the exercises, doing sets of five or six repetitions without resting. It's not uncommon to do four or five sets of each. And this means you'll be logging a total of eight to 10 sets of challenging arm work in just 5 minutes.

Perfect Your Posture

Sitting hunched over a keyboard for 10 hours a day trains your muscles and connective tissues to adapt to that position, adding a hunch to your posture. But you can unravel your slump with an exercise called the prone cobra, which helps counteract the damage of your daily grind.

How to do it: Lie facedown on the floor and rest your arms at your sides, palms down. Contract the muscles in your glutes and lower back to raise your upper torso and legs off the floor. At the same time, rotate your arms outward till your thumbs point toward the ceiling. Hold this position for 60 seconds, rest for 60 seconds, then repeat two more times, for a total of three sets.

Banish Back Pain

"Lower-back problems often stem from tight gluteal muscles," says Nate Green, a personal trainer in Whitefish, Montana. His solution: a foam roll ($23 at performbetter.com). "Your muscle tissue is like a rubber band. If it has a bunch of knots in it, you won't be able to stretch it very far," says Green. By using a foam roll to alleviate these knots, you'll make your muscles more pliable--and quickly relieve back pain.

How to do it: Sit on a foam roll on the floor, with your feet up and your hands on the floor for balance. Now slowly roll your butt over it, stopping on the tenderest spots (these are knots) for 20 to 30 seconds or until the pain subsides.

Pump Up Your Pecs

This workout plan is designed to trigger a growth spurt by maintaining tension on your chest muscles for a full 5 minutes. Make sure to use a timer---you'll need to know when to stop.

How to do it: Set an incline bench to a 30-degree angle and grab a pair of dumbbells, choosing the heaviest weights that allow you to complete 10 repetitions of the dumbbell incline fly (described below). You'll use this weight for both exercises 1 and 2. Do the moves in the order shown, following the step-by-step instructions for each.

Exercise 1: Dumbbell Incline Fly

Hold the weights above your chest, with your arms slightly bent. Without changing the bend in your elbows, lower the weights out to your sides. Reverse the motion to return to the start.

Do one set of eight reps.

Don't release the weights; hold them straight above your chest, and rest for 15 seconds in that position.

Do as many more repetitions as you can.

Rest for 15 seconds, then move on to exercise 2.

Exercise 2: Dumbbell Incline Bench Press

Hold the weights above your chest with your arms straight. Bend your elbows to lower the weights to the sides of your chest. Pause, then push the weights up.

Do as many repetitions as you can.

Rest for 15 seconds with the weights held above you.

Do as many more repetitions as you can.

Rest for 15 seconds, then set the weights down and move on to exercise 3.

Exercise 3: Wide-grip Pushup

Get into pushup position, but with your hands placed about twice shoulder-width apart.

Do as many pushups as you can.

Rest for 15 seconds and keep repeating until your 5 minutes are up.

Bench More, Save Your Shoulders

"One of the keys to both a bigger bench press and better shoulder health is the ability to stabilize your shoulder blades," says Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., a physical therapist in Indianapolis. The reason: When you're able to squeeze your shoulder blades down and together--and hold them that way while you bench-press--you create a more stable surface from which to push the bar. This allows you to lift heavier weights while reducing the stress on your shoulder joints. Do the two exercises that follow in the order shown. Hold each movement for 10 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, then repeat until you can't maintain a 10-second hold. As you improve, increase your hold time.

Hanging Scapular Retraction

How to do it: Grab a pullup bar with an overhand grip, hands just beyond shoulder-width apart, and hang at arm's length. Without bending your elbows, squeeze your shoulder blades down and together. (Your body will rise slightly.) Hold, then rest by relaxing your muscles without letting go of the bar.

Serratus Dip

How to do it: Grab the bars of a dip station and lift your body until your arms are completely straight. Without bending your elbows, press your shoulders down as you push your torso up. Hold, then relax your muscles, which will cause your torso to lower relative to your shoulders -- as if you were shrugging them.

The 5-Minute Six-Pack

If you do only crunches, you're shortchanging your abs. Why? Because in addition to flexing your trunk -- as you do in a crunch -- your core muscles also allow you to flex your hips, rotate your body, and stabilize your spine. So for the best results, you need to target each of these functions. To hit them all in about 5 minutes, do one set of each exercise below in the order shown, with no rest between.

Plank

Assume a pushup position, but place your forearms on the floor. Brace your abs as if you were about to be punched in the gut, and hold for 30 seconds.

Side Plank

Lie on your left side and prop your upper body up on your left elbow and forearm. Then raise your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to ankles. Brace your abs for 30 seconds. Then repeat on your right side.

Swiss-Ball Crunch

Lie on your back on a Swiss ball so that your hips and your lower and upper back rest on the ball. With your fingers placed behind your ears, raise your torso as high as you can by crunching your chest toward your hips, then return to the starting position. Do 15 reps.

Reverse Crunch

Lie on your back on the floor, with your knees slightly bent. Raise your knees to your chest by lifting your hips up and in. Lower your legs to the starting position. Do 15 repetitions.

Cable Woodchopper

With your right side toward the weight stack of a cable station, grab the rope handle of a high pulley with both hands. Pull the rope down and across your body until your hands are just outside your left knee. Reverse the move to return to the start. Do 15 reps, then face the opposite direction and do 15 more.

Reverse Cable Woodchopper

Now attach the rope handle to the low-pulley cable . Bend over and grab the rope with both hands, your arms nearly straight and just outside your right knee. Pull the rope up and across your body until your hands are in line with your left ear. Reverse the movement. Do 15 repetitions, then face the opposite direction and do 15 more.

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