Need for Speed

There are many things in life that, admittedly, you don’t want to rush. Weekends. Sex. Weekend sex. But for the stuff that takes up our precious time—from cleaning the house to climbing the ladder at work, from painting a room to shedding pounds—hitting the fast-forward button would be a big help. Mainly because it would leave more time to enjoy the things that are worth taking slowly. These tips will help you crank it up to get certain sweet rewards faster and to blow through some toils and annoyances quicker. Speed reading is allowed.

Cardio machines that burn calories fastest
The treadmill is the easiest-to-find winner. Running at a moderate pace can burn 400 to 600 calories in an hour, depending on your size. But the best calorie-incinerator may be the VersaClimber, or a combination stair-stepping/climbing machine that can burn 500 calories in less than 30 minutes in a 180-pound person.

Become a faster cyclist
“Train your hip flexors and hamstrings to gain pedaling strength and endurance,” says Brandon Schuchard, a 24 Hour Fitness manager in Gilbert, Arizona. “The cable hip flexion is the ideal exercise to do that.” The move is easy: Attach a cuff to the low cable of a cable machine, set to a light weight (say, 10 pounds). Insert your right ankle in the cuff. Stand straight, facing away from the cable machine. Take a short step forward with your left foot, and then slowly raise your right knee until your thigh is parallel with the ground, keeping your knee bent. Lower the weight slowly back to the starting position. Put the cuff on your left ankle to train the other side. Do three sets of 12, 10, and eight repetitions, hitting both legs. Do this four times a week, and try to increase the weight by 5 pounds every week, says Schuchard.

Sail through the supermarket
Size up the cashier, not the number of people waiting in line. “See how quickly the cashier moves the products across the scanner, and how sharp and experienced he or she seems,” says Phil Lempert, food correspondent and editor for NBC’s Today Show and founder of supermarketguru.com. If the cashier is flustered, steer yourself to a different line.

• Erase the aisles Spend more time on the perimeter of the store where the freshest foods are located. Don’t waste time going down aisles you don’t need—like the junk food aisle.

• Don’t be listless Organize your grocery list so items located close together in the store are near each other on your list.

Fastest way to add 10 pounds of muscle
Hitting the gym is only part of the equation. Making adjustments in your eating, weight training, and rest can help you add as much as ½ to 1 pound of lean muscle mass per week. “This is the quickest healthy way to add lasting muscle mass,” says Schuchard. Here’s the three-part plan:

• Eat a surplus Most people who are trying to gain muscle don’t eat enough, says Schuchard. You need to add at least 100 calories a day to build muscle, he explains. Your diet should include nutritious complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains), good fats (such as olive oil), and lean protein.
• Perform compound exercises using free weights After you’ve built a good foundation, get muscle-specific with bench presses, shoulder presses, weighted dips, squats, and seated rows. Use as heavy a weight as you can lift safely for three sets of no more than 12 repetitions, resting for 1 minute between sets. Increase the weight resistance as soon as you can do more reps. Do at least three workouts a week.
• Sleep You build muscle when you rest, so don’t skimp on sleep. Get at least 8 hours, and don’t overtrain.

Quickest way to work a room
“Walk in like you own the place,” says Marsha D. Egan, a licensed career coach. Enter the room with good posture, confidence, and a sincere smile, and approach the event as you would a party at your own house, working the room with a focus on making sure others are feeling comfortable and connected. Look people in the eye, give a firm handshake, and impress the higher-ups by mentioning something that shows you’ve been paying attention at the office. Remember, make a big entrance and a small exit.

Make your workout faster
These two exclusive features can cut your workout time in half while boosting your results:

• Take the Xpress Zone Most 24 Hour Fitness facilities offer a specially designed cardio and weight workout that’ll train your entire body in as little as 24 minutes. In the Xpress Zone area, you’ll do a circuit of 12 exercises on weight machines while resting as little as possible. “You move as quickly as you can,” says Josh Lyon, manager of Fitness Operations for 24 Hour Fitness. It’s perfect for people who work out during their lunch break, or anyone who wants to combine cardio exercise and weight training.”
  
• Get bugged 24 Hour Fitness offer members the bodybugg, a complete caloric management system. It includes a device that you wear as an armband, which monitors your calories burned, skin temperature, and core temperature. Download your vital statistics to a computer to study your workouts to see where your intensity peaks and drops. This will help you design efficient workouts, saving you time while paying big dividends.

Zip in and out of the doctor’s office
Go to a specialist first (getting a referral from your primary doctor on the phone, if necessary) and bring a written list of your symptoms to help you and your doctor get down to the matter faster, says Alan Stockard, D.O., a sports-medicine physician in Decatur, Texas. Also, always get the first or second appointment of the day, and avoid Mondays and Fridays—those are typically the busiest days.

Enter the arms race
Incorporate the following three exercises into your routine, says Schuchard. To make sure you use proper form for optimum safety and effectiveness, ask a trainer to demonstrate them. Use enough weight so that the last reps are hard to do.

• Biceps:
  Preacher curls Stand or sit behind a preacher bench, holding a light dumbbell in one hand with an underhand grip. Press your chest against the back of the bench and curl the dumbbell up slowly until your forearm meets your bicep. Start with two sets of 12 and 10 repetitions, and when you can do more, increase the dumbbell weight by 2.5 or 5 pounds and do three sets of 12, 10, and then eight repetitions per arm.
• Triceps:
  Skull crushers Lie on your back on a bench, and hold a barbell with an overhand grip above your chest with both arms extended straight out in front of you. Your hands should be shoulder-width apart. Slowly lower the barbell down until it touches the top of your head, bending your elbows only (don’t move your shoulders). Then raise the bar again to the starting position. Start with two sets of 12 and 10 reps, and when that gets easy, add 5 pounds to the barbell and do three sets at 12, 10, and eight reps.
• Shoulders:
  Anterior-deltoid raises Stand with your arms at your sides, holding a light dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip. Keeping your arm straight and your palm facing downward, lift your right hand until the dumbbell reaches shoulder height, then slowly lower it back down. Repeat the move with your left arm, and keep alternating. Start with two sets of 12 and 10 repetitions. When you can, use slightly heavier dumbbells for three sets at 12, 10, and eight repetitions.