"You want to do as much work in as little amount of time as possible, so the key is...you want to keep changing exercises, keep doing variations, but keeping the intensity up," said fitness pro Adam Ernster.
Ernster, owner of The Bunker in Beverly Hills, test drives all kinds of equipment to keep clients happy.
"People ask me what the best workout is. It's the one you're going to do, the one you hate the least, the one you might love," said Ernster.
His fitness arsenal is first-class to frugal, starting with slosh balls and aqua bags - great for travel or maybe pumping it up at the park. You just add water.
"They're obviously collapsible. You can fill them anywhere, so you can travel with them. They don't weigh anything," Ernster said.
Fill to create one pound to about 30 pounds, mimicking functional movement like carrying a child or performing tasks where there's heavy lifting. It's not so much about the move, but more about trying to stop the inertia.
We've all seen elastic tubing, but now there are huge oversized rubber bands with variable resistance that put the other ones to shame.
"Women always want to do pull-ups, and they can't. So this is a great way to do that," said Ernster.
Big, fat, oversized bands help gals do assisted pull-ups. In this case, the thinner the band, the harder the workout. But heavier bands will have you struggling with overhead triceps work or postural rows.
There's also Slastix - covered long bands with handles for a variety of workouts.
At the gym, give vibration sensation Power Plate Pro6 a try. Added cables work the upper body efficiently with the vibratory effect working your body twice as hard, which means more work in less time.
And for stepped up cardio, watch for Precor's Adaptive Motion Trainer.
"It basically uses all the muscles you would use when running. So you'll feel your hamstrings. You'll feel everything moving. It's really intense, but there is no impact," said Ernster.
Surpassing standard ellipticals, the user controls both length and stride with 20 different resistance levels to truly give you a leg up on fitness.
