The 20-Minute Workout That Really Works

Optimize Your Exercise

Who has time for 30 minutes of aerobics plus a strength-training session? This 20-minute workout burns fat and tones your trouble zones -- fast!

Multitasking, that fancy word for cooking dinner while talking on the phone and helping your kids with homework, magically weaves extra time into your day by allowing you to do several things at once. That makes it the perfect concept to apply to your exercise program, too.

With the Super Circuit workout on these pages, you'll alternate body-sculpting exercises that target several areas at once with intervals of aerobic training. The result: a full-body, muscle-shaping routine combined with high-intensity cardio bursts that burn calories and incinerate body fat. In other words, twice the workout in half the time. And to make our Super Circuit even more super, we've chosen moves that tackle typical trouble zones such as the butt, chest and abs.

Alternate each set of each body-sculpting move with a one-minute cardio interval for a total of 20 muscle-firming, fat-burning minutes.

Important: Keep moving! Blast through the routine without any rest; as soon as you finish your cardio interval, jump to the next body sculptor. Do this workout at least three times a week and you should see shapelier muscles, a dip in body fat and an increase in strength in about 30 days.

Basic equipment: An aerobic step, an exercise mat or thick towel, and a set of light weights (3 to 8 pounds, depending on how strong you are). If 3-pound weights are too heavy, do the exercises without weights. As you get stronger, add weights to your workout.