Buddy Up

A gym partner can make every workout better. Ida Lundgren and Bianca Van Damme (you may know their famous fathers) show how pairing up yields big benefits.

-  ALYSSA SHAFFER

HAVING A GYM BUDDY gives you more than just an opportunity to catch up on the latest gossip - it's a chance to improve your fitness and make your workouts a lot more fun. "Having a partner makes every workout more motivating you have someone to lean on and who can give you feedback", notes Biggest Loser trainer Jen Widerstrom, author of Diet for Your Personality Type. Workout partners Ida Lundgren and Bianca Van Damme have names you might recognise - their fathers Dolph and Jean Claude paired up in the action classic Universal Soldier, and each has his own storied film career. (Bianca's mother, Gladys Portugues, is a former competitive bodybuilder.) Both women have kept their action-star lineage intact with regular workouts and martial arts training.

The workouts here are designed in two parts: Do them separately or on the same day, depending on your schedule. "You'll have four mini full-body workouts strung together, which has a layering effect", explains Widerstrom. Do the exercises in the order given to pre-fatigue muscles so you'll work harder with each round. Intensity is also key: "Go all out for 35 seconds, then use the next 25 seconds to recover", says Widerstrom. "Your heart rate will spike, which will boost the burn."

On days when you want to add more cardio or have time for only a quick workout, do the martial arts drills. They'll help you get lean and improve your stamina so you and your buddy - can have plenty of energy to hit the gym together again tomorrow.

PART 1 Sculpting Circuit

How it works: Warm up for five minutes (jump rope, walk or jog on treadmill, bike, row, etc). Then do each circuit three times consecutively before moving on to the next one. Do each exercise for 35 seconds at an all-out effort; rest for 25 seconds, then continue to the next one. Recover for one minute between circuits.

CIRCUIT A