Don't waste your time on exercise! Tips to make you workout more effective!

While lifting weights won't necessarily burn fat, it will build muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns after you leave the gym and plop down on the couch, Jackowski explains. Another thing: Weight training keeps your muscles in shape so they looked toned when you shed the fat that's now covering them up.

Many people don’t pay enough attention to getting the protein their muscles need to rebuild. If you don’t, you are going to get very little out of your workout, as both cardio and strength workouts require protein for building muscles. I recommend either whey or soy protein shakes.

Maybe this isn’t exactly what Madonna was singing about, but striking a strength training pose may be the remedy for a stagnant workout routine. Contracting a muscle and holding it in a flexed position (aka isometric exercise or static holds) provide strength and endurance benefits that can’t be achieved through traditional isotonic exercises (i.e. lifts that are in constant motion). Test it out with a stability ball wall squat that will engage the thighs and glutes. Start with a goal of 30-seconds and work towards holding this static position for longer periods of time as strength and muscular endurance improve.

Alternate upper- and lower-body exercises without rest in between to up your caloric burn exponentially, says celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson, whose clients include Jennifer Lopez. Moving quickly from biceps curls to squats, for example, can raise your heart rate by forcing blood to shunt from your arms to your legs. Work this technique into your routine once a week.

That burning sensation you get in your thighs after doing lots of lunges? That's means you've reached your anaerobic threshold — you've worked as hard as you possibly can, and you've burned more calories because of it.

Many people contract their muscles slowly and then release more quickly. But if you lift slowly in both directions, you are maximizing each move. Lift and lower to a 5-second count in each direction.

Remembering every exercise performed, every repetition accomplished, and every weight selected during a previous workout is nearly impossible. Without a record of past workouts it’s also difficult to see measureable progress. Using a workout journal or fitness app provides motivation to rock every workout. "Do more, or do it better" becomes an achievable goal.