When it comes to standard fitness equipment you'll find in just about every gym, a stair-climber is at the top of the list. It's usually somewhere between the ellipticals and the treadmills, but the cardio machine can be an amazing strength-training tool, too. It's easy enough to use-one never-ending step in front of another-and taking the stairs to get your daily steps in is important for weight control and building a strong lower body, right? Yes. But there's an art to crafting an effective stair-climber workout. Here, five ways to make sure you're the steps you're logging are worth your time (and not just wasted time climbing stairs to nowhere). 1. Focus on building lower-body muscle strength. Every step on the stair-climber engages your calves, glutes, quads, and hamstrings, so it's a good way to target and tone your lower body, says Lisa Niren, C.P.T., head trainer of CITYROW in New York City. The key,...

If you’re only riding, we hate to break it to you, but you’re doing it wrong. Adding some cross-training to your routine—like the rowing machine workouts detailed here—is important for your overall fitness. “Cross-training is important to prevent injury and strengthen the muscles you don’t use on the bike,” says Alex Silver-Fagan, an ACE certified personal trainer and Nike master trainer. Rowing does this particularly well. “Your anterior body (like your chest) is hunched forward on a bike, and rowing opens these muscles up while strengthening the posterior side of the body (like your back and the back of your legs),” Silver-Fagan says. Rowing also allows you to increase your intensity without increasing your impact, which is especially useful for injury prevention. Plus, Silver-Fagan says the rower is one of the few machines that provides both cardio and strength training benefits. “You use 80 percent of your muscles when rowing, namely your legs, the largest...

The treadmill can be more than a stopgap on days when the weather doesn't cooperate or the baby is napping upstairs. Done right, treadmill training will help you maintain and improve your fitness throughout the winter so you're ready to race—or just outpace your running buddies—come spring.Even the hardy runners of Team USA Minnesota, a group of elites accustomed to subzero chills, make time for treadmill running. In fact, Dennis Barker, the team's coach, once lined up some of his marathoners for a three hour run indoors. "If you have a winter or spring marathon like Houston or Disney World, the treadmill gives you some heat training without having to go down to Florida," Barker says. "Besides, you can't leave your fluid bottles outside for long runs in Minnesota. They'll freeze."That certainly won't happen indoors, where you also can monitor the thermostat, tackle made-to-order hills, and enjoy cushioning that protects your joints....