Q: What are some good cardio workouts?

A: If you have a treadmill, stair stepper, or similar equipment, use that for at least 5 times a week for 30 min to start with, and then increase your duration until you're doing the cardio routine for 45 min each session. Include pre + post streching as well as a full abdominal routine, targeting you upper & lower abs as well as your obliques. Also make sure you exercise your back to improve muscle tone & strengthen your "core" as much as possible. If you include some light weight training on top of this, you'll be in excellent shape in 2-3 months, max. If you're already in decent shape, you'll get pretty amazing results in less than six weeks. Good luck.

A: Dear Dani, A few things that I think are kind of neat. To get alittle more strength and cardio for sports try this. Get into the jumping position (like a squat but not all the way down) Jump up as hard as you can so you come atleast 5-6 inches of the ground. Thats one rep. 25 reps equal one set. Once you do one set of jumping squats, immediately do 25 sit-ups (propperly). Once you complete the sit-ups right away do 100 jumping jacks to recover. Completing this "circut" of the 3 exercises equals "one" set Try and do atleast 8 sets straight in a row without stopping. If you want to add on reps to any of the exercises go ahead..just don't make it to many....remember you want to go for 8 to even 10 sets of all 3 exercises without stopping. This will be cardio and strength like you won't believe. Try and do it 2-3 times a week. After 4-6 weeks I will give you the next phase. Remember not to let your knees go over your toes when doing jumping squats....It is straight down bursting straight up. The other thing I like is exercising bikes. Do you have one? If not I can offer other suggestions. Familycoach

A: I swear by stepping up and down on a step board with lively music 30 minutes a day and taking walks when the weather is nice. It does wonders to your posture and legs!