Some people may choose not to work out because they think it will take up too much of their time, cost too much or they"ll "bulk up." I"m here to tell you that an effective full body work out can be completed in as little as 30 minutes, 2 times a week. It does not have to cost you your first born in equipment costs or gym fees and while you definitely will not "bulk up" like Ms. Universe, you can make a difference in your body composition, strength and toning.

The routine my trainer, Chris, started me on was something similar to this:

•  body weight air squats
•  incline push ups
•  bicep curls with 8 lb weights
•  braced dumbbell rows with 8 lb hand weights
•  dumbbell shoulder presses with 8 lb hand weights
•  deadlifts with a 35 lb barbell
•  planks
•  side planks
•  chain row sit ups

The beauty of a routine such as this is that you actually save time because you are incorporating many muscle groups all at once, instead of isolating one muscle group and then moving on to the next, which can actually take longer. Because these exercises are done without the benefit of "machines" where your body is supported on a seat, your core musculature has to do some of the work to maintain your upright positioning and your balance, thereby also working your back, abs and obliques to some extent. You don"t have to do 100 sit ups to work on that spare tire and love handles.

It is recommended you do a 3-5 minute warm up prior to starting a full body workout to get the blood flowing to your muscle groups and prevent injury. You should start out with 2 sets of 10 repetitions of each exercise and do this workout two to three times a week, but no more than three times a week.

When you do the exercises, move quickly from one to the next without resting in between the different exercises. When you do this, the workout becomes very aerobic, increasing your heart rate and rate of fat burning.

It's important to allow at least 1 to 2 days of rest in between your full body work outs to allow your muscles to heal. Heal? Heal from what? When you are doing resistance exercises or strength training, you are actually causing microscopic tears in the muscle fibers you"ve just worked. When they are allowed to rest for 24-48 hours they are rebuilding. The rebuilding of the muscle fibers is what makes you stronger, similar to what happens when someone breaks a bone and it calcifies around the break, making it stronger at the site of the break. If you do not allow adequate rest in between working the muscle groups, you are at greater risk for injury.

After you are finished with a workout, it's a good idea to do some gentle stretching of all the muscle groups.

If you don"t have dumbbells or barbells to use for the exercises, you can use anything that has some weight to it that you can hold in your hands as resistance. The exercises also can be adapted to be done with resistance bands.

After a period of 2 to 3 weeks of following the above recommendations you should be striving to reach 15-20 repetitions of each exercise. At that point you should look at increasing the resistance or weight you"re working with to keep progressing forward.

As for "bulking up" -- most of us girls aren"t made that way. While we have a small amount of testosterone in our hormonal arsenal, it's not enough to make us look like a muscle bound male no matter how much we work out.

My trainer has an excellent DVD with the exercises listed earlier in this article, as well as a link to a program that teaches you how to change up your exercise routine using the same DVD on a regular basis so you can keep making progress in your fitness journey to wellness and health.

Here is also a link to my trainer's "exercise library" where you can learn more about sets, reps and intensity.

Keep on movin", livin" and lovin" life!!! - Submitted by Debbie, RN, certified professional trainer (AFPA)