Upgrade Your Home Gym

Crunch better
If you position a Swiss ball under your lower back, your crunch will activate 30 percent more of your abdominal muscles, according to researchers at California’s Occidental College.

Learn the ropes
No room or desire for an in-home treadmill? Jumping rope can burn 150 calories in 10 minutes, achieving the benefits of a cardio machine in a fraction of the time and at minimal cost. The Aero-Speed jump rope from Perform Better swivels instead of flexing, to reduce friction and help you maintain an intense cadence. $35. performbetter.com

Boost your bench
Push with your legs. Doing so causes your thighs and glutes to contract, creating energy that will help drive up the barbell and ensuring that you’re targeting the proper muscles (chest, arms, and shoulders). Trying to pull the bar apart without moving your hands will also help you through a hard lift.

Reduce soreness with pushups
Do two sets of 20 pushups the day after a grueling bench-press routine, or the same number of body-weight squats following an intense leg session. Australian researchers found that men who lifted light weights the day after a hard workout reported a 40 percent decrease in muscle soreness.

Inspire big gains
Adding deep colors—green, red, blue, gold—to your exercise environment could jumpstart your muscle growth. Very saturated, strong colors motivate us to lift more weight, says Kenneth R. Fehrman, Ed.D., coauthor of Color: The Secret Influence.

Speed up your workout
Studies show that listening to your favorite music while you work out can boost your mood and make exercise feel easier, so you may work out longer. In one study, exercisers biked 11 percent farther while listening to music than when they pedaled in silence.