Carla Sanchez

Better Results, Less Time: Maximizing Your Time in the Gym

as Presented by Carla Sanchez

Edited by Real SOLUTIONS Editors

Time. Who couldn't use more of it? With so many commitments to work, family, friends, etc., sometimes it seems impossible to fit in a full workout.

But Carla Sanchez has a motto: "No excuses. Just results." And with that thinking, she created the ultimate super-fast workout. She calls it Carla's Cardio Build. We call it one heck of a workout, especially when you're tight on time. Got 20 to 30 minutes? That's all it takes.

She put our first annual "Fitness & Nutrition Boot Camp" attendees through this workout at the Pointe Athletic Center here in Golden on Sunday morning, June 11, and there wasn't one person who didn't feel his or her muscles burning. Sort of a "hurts too good" kind of feeling, if you will.

So go ahead. Print this out and head for the gym. In under 30 minutes, you'll feel worked. Plus, experience better results in less time. Trust us!

Please note: Do each exercise listed and immediately move on to the next exercise without any rest.

"Butt-Busting, Thigh-Burning" Squats: 10 to 15 reps

Carla favors free barbell squats. As she says, guys, if you want bigger legs, squat. And women, if you want smaller, shapelier thighs. Squat.

Here's how Carla demonstrated the lift: Step into a squat rack, and position the barbell on the "shelf" just above your shoulder blades. Step back with your feet just a touch more than hip width apart. And you're ready to start.

To perform the exercise, bend your knees and slowly and carefully lower your hips down until your thighs are about parallel with the floor. Then drive the weight back up to standing.

If you don't have a barbell, you can also do this exercise with dumbbells (with one hanging by each side). Or try Swiss ball rolling against the wall squats.

For a visual demonstration of the proper form used on the squat, click into our weight-training resources area on Real SOLUTIONS here: Squats

"Heart-Pounding, Super Fat-Burning" Jump Rope: 100 Jumps

For this exercise, you'll need a jump rope. (But if you don't have one, you can just pretend...seriously.) Now, jump, rotating your wrists to bring the rope over your head and in front of you, hop over the rope, and repeat. 100 times. Yes, 100 times. If you mess up while jumping, don't worry about it. Just pick up where you left off, including in your count. The goal here is to perform 100 jumps consecutively, without pausing.

Now, keep in mind, you should be performing your jump rope exercise immediately following your squats, without rest. It's called "active rest." This will ensure you are able to maximize your time and increase the intensity of your workout for greater results.

"Glute-Firming, Thigh-Crushing" Walking Lunges: around the running track

Although Carla had her attendees perform their lunges around a running track at the Pointe gym, you can also perform lunges by walking across your weight-training workout floor or wherever you work out at home, just so long as you have a long enough straightaway to at least "walk" five or so steps with each leg, before you have to turnaround. Ok, so on to how Carla demonstrated the walking lunges... With your hands at your hips or holding a dumbbell in each hand, step one foot until it's about three feet in front of the other. Bend both legs, lifting your back heel off the floor until your front leg is parallel with the floor and your back knee is nearly touching the floor. Straighten your body until you're standing and swing the back leg forward until it's three feet in front of the other leg, so you're "walking" forward with each lunge.

As you bend your legs, think in terms of 90-degree angles. That is, in the bottom position, the thigh of your front leg will be at a 90-degree angle with your calf. And your hip should be directly over the back knee, again with your thigh at a 90-degree angle with your calf.

Continue lunging until you've gone all the way around the track or you've performed at least 20 to 25 repetitions on each leg.

If you're short on space—i.e., you don't have a walkway or running track—you can always perform step-ups on a sturdy bench. They're performed similarly to walking lunges, except that you step up, one leg at a time, onto a raised bench. For a visual demonstration of the proper form used for lunging and "step-ups," click: Lunging/Step-Ups

"Chest-Sculpting, Triceps-Burning" Push-Ups: 15 to 20 reps

Here's how Carla demonstrated how to do this exercise: Start in a plank position (meaning try and lie as flat as a board from your head through to your toes) with your arms and legs straight, balancing your weight between your hands and toes.

Slowly bend your elbows, lowering your torso toward the floor until your nose is just hovering over the ground. Then push up (thus the name of the exercise), straightening your arms until you return to plank position.

Please note: The key to performing pushups is to keep the back flat and the abs tight. Don't let your butt reach for the sky, and don't let your belly sag toward the floor.

If you get tired, and your chest and triceps fatigue, but you've not yet completed 15 repetitions, try dropping your knees to the floor (but keeping your back straight and your butt down) and finish your desired repetitions.

"Ab-Sculpting, 6-Pack Sporting" Bicycle Crunches: 50 reps

Alright, Carla admitted... this exercise is going to "hurt" some of you. But, as she stated, "nothing builds a lean, mean, sexy 6-pack midsection like bicycle crunches." In fact, Carla claims she does this exercise pretty much every day.

Here's how Carla demonstrated performing the bicycle crunch: Lay down flat on your back. Lift your arms over your head and bend your elbows, placing your fingertips behind your ears. Lift your shoulders off the floor as you pull your belly button into your lower back. Bend your legs until your lower legs are about parallel with the floor. Twist your body to bring your elbow to the opposite knee. As the name implies, your legs will look almost like you're riding a bicycle as you perform each repetition.

For alternative exercises for abs, and further demonstration on proper form, click: Ab Alternatives

"Kid-Playing, Fat-Incinerating" Jumping Jack Squats: 20 reps

You remember jumping jacks? The ones you did when you were a kid, in elementary P.E. class, right? Well, do those. Only instead of keeping your legs straight, before you jump, bend your knees until you're almost "sitting" in a deep squatting position. Start with your legs together, squat, then as you straighten your legs, jump them to hip-width apart, then squat, and bring your legs back together. Each time you squat/jump counts as a single rep.

Again, similar to the jump roping you did for cardiovascular exercise, you should be performing your jumping jack squat exercise immediately following your bicycle crunches, without rest. Yes, more "active rest" to build your cardio, burn unwanted bodyfat, and increase your muscular endurance. This will ensure you are able to maximize your time and increase the intensity of your workout for greater results.

"Back-Building, Biceps-Bursting" Smith Bar Pull-ups: as many as you can

If you can do regular pull-ups on a chin-up bar, using your bodyweight, do those as your first option. But many people can do only a couple of pull-ups, so these are an excellent alternative to help you build your upper body strength, particularly your lats and rhomboids (also known as the back muscles).

(If you're not familiar with a Smith machine, it looks like a squat rack, but with vertical poles along each side of the barbell, which serves as a counterweight to the bar and helps the motion of barbell remain on a straight but slightly angled plane.)

Here's how Carla demonstrated performing pull-ups:Set the bar on the Smith machine high enough so you can extend your arms fully when they're completely straight. Lay your body back, holding the bar in both hands, with your legs straight. It's almost as if you were lying back to do an incline bench press, only without the bench.

Pull your body up until your upper chest touches the bar, and then slowly lower yourself as you straighten your arms, lowering your body back to the starting position.

For more demonstrations on back exercises and proper form, visit: Back Exercises

"Muscle-Building, Arm-Shaping" Triceps Pushdowns: 20 to 30 seconds

Instead of counting reps, just do this exercise for 20 to 30 full seconds.

Here's how Carla showed us how to perform triceps pushdowns:You can use a rope, a straight bar, or a V-shaped bar. Whatever you prefer. Facing a high pulley machine, grab the bar or rope in both hands and pull it down until about mid-chest level, which is where you'll start and finish this exercise. Lean slightly forward and drive the weight down until your arms are locked and you're really flexing the triceps. Then slowly, under control, let the weight come back up until your hands are at chest level. Keep the upper arms still and pulled in toward your torso during the entire exercise.

For more demonstrations on triceps exercises and proper form, visit: Triceps Exercises

"Muscle-Building, Arm-Shaping" Biceps Curls: 20 to 30 seconds

Again, instead of counting reps, just do this exercise for 20 to 30 full seconds.

Here's how Carla showed us how to perform biceps curls: In the standing position, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging down by your sides in front of your hips with your palms facing forward. Bend your arms, curling up both of the dumbbells at the same time, using minimal cheating, all the way up to your shoulders.

When you reach the top maximal position, intensely flex your biceps, as you slightly twist your wrist, turning the hands/thumbs outward. This last bit of "flexing" will help build the biceps, faster, by adding more intensity and an increased amount of contraction to the muscle. As Carla repeated throughout the workout, you're not in the gym to "lift a weight" but rather to contract your muscles. This advice really helps you increase your focus and intensity. Contract your muscles. Contract your muscles...

For more demonstrations on biceps exercises as well as proper form, visit: Biceps Exercises

After you've completed the full circuit twice (of all nine exercises), head for the showers. You're done! And then let us know how you feel by emailing us at Editors@isatoritech.com .

So there you have it! When you find yourself short on time and faced with barely more than 15 minutes to spare, and you can workout quickly or skip it altogether... Carla's full-body workout is the much, much better choice.

You can visit Carla Sanchez, anytime, at www.carlasanchez.com, or subscribe to Real SOLUTIONS and read her latest Q&A column (plus, get three gifts!).

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