Slim Without the Gym: Sculpting Moves for Your Fitness Type

If You Like Biking

Focus on: Targeting your hips, glutes, and legs with endurance-based (mostly higher reps and lower-weight) strength moves, as well as core-stabilizing exercises.

The payoff: More pedal power and fewer aches and pains when you log extra miles in the saddle.

What you'll need: A stability ball.

1. Jump Lunge

Targets glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves

Lunge forward with left leg, bending left knee 90 degrees; keep knee directly over ankle. From here, jump forward about 4 to 6 inches without switching legs, using arms for momentum. Stand up. Do 5 to 10 reps, then switch sides and repeat.

2. Ball Back Extension

Targets low to mid back, core, glutes, hamstrings

Lie down with your belly over the ball, feet hip-width apart, legs extended and feet anchored to the bottom of a wall. Lift your chest off the ball while raising both arms out 45 degrees, palms down. Hold for 3 counts and lower back to start; do 10 to 20 reps.

3. Ball Leg Curl

Targets lower back, abs, hips, glutes, hamstrings

Lie faceup on the floor with calves on the ball, feet flexed and arms on floor stretched out over head. Lift hips about 6 inches off the floor, forming a straight line from feet to shoulders. Slowly roll the ball toward glutes, until knees are bent 90 degrees and feet are flat on the ball. Slowly roll ball back to start and repeat; do 10 to 20 reps.

Originally published in FITNESS magazine, July 2007.