Body Strength: 9 Next-Level Strength Training Moves That Burn More Calories and Sculpt All Over

9 Next-Level Strength Training Moves That Burn More Calories and Sculpt All Over

You do the classic strengtheners—plank, squat, lunge, sit-up, and so on. Now here's a simple trick to upgrade them so you get even better tone-up results faster: Slip a set of exercise discs under your palms or feet.

"The discs create friction [AKA resistance] with the floor or a wall, which you can increase by moving slowly and by leveraging more of your weight onto them," says Michael Cummings, a performance specialist for SKLZ, a sports training company in Carlsbad, California. This means you milk each rep for extra strengthening from beginning to end. "That's true for your core, too, because your stabilizing muscles are firing to keep you steady," Cummings says.

Take the typical lunge: Your leg muscles ordinarily ease up on their workload midstep, but if you use discs underfoot to slide into lunge position, those muscles—and others—will constantly contract to help you keep your footing. "Activating more muscles and muscle fibers will burn more calories and build more lean muscle," Cummings says.

We asked Cummings to rev up nine go-to exercise moves by incorporating exercise discs for a workout that will maximize your sculpting from every angle. (We use Slidez discs here, which are specially padded and won't mark floors or walls, but most other discs—or even paper plates—will do.)

"Sliding lets you get deeper into the moves and adds variety to what could otherwise feel like basic or simple exercises," he says. And because you control the resistance, speed, and intensity, anyone can do it. In addition, you'll do different reps and sets based on your personal fitness level.

It's time to see for yourself what this little piece of plastic can do for your physique—your tighter body awaits.

How it works: Do all nine moves in order. If you're a newbie, do one set of five to 10 reps of each move once a week. If you're a regular exerciser, shoot for two sets of eight to 12 reps twice weekly. Sweat vets, you can do three to five sets of 10 to 20 reps two to four days each week.

Total Time: up to 15 minutes