Turn On Power: Workouts to Power Up Your Muscles

Jeanette Jenkins' Training Tips

It's fitting that Jeanette Jenkins' company is called the Hollywood Trainer. When she's not putting celebs like Queen Latifah, Pink, and Paula Patton through their paces, she's putting out workout DVDs, like her latest, Sexy Abs with Kelly Rowland & Hollywood Trainer Jeanette Jenkins. Known for taking an eclectic, cross-training approach to fitness -- weights, cardio, kickboxing, Pilates, yoga, you name it -- Jenkins' success comes from continually challenging her clients to do more. "So many people don't ever come close to realizing their true physical potential," Jenkins says. "Power means having the mental strength to push yourself to your limit."

"Start a habit of working harder for part of every session," Jenkins says. "To see big results, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable."

Power Principles

Channel Flo Jo. "A favorite move I use is Sprint on the Spot," Jenkins says, a nod to the world's fastest woman, Florence Griffith Joyner. "You don't need a treadmill; simply sprint in place for 15 to 30 seconds, pumping your arms and raising your knees high."

Man up. "The most empowering thing for a woman to be able to do is push and pull her own body weight," Jenkins says. "Do push-ups from your toes instead of your knees, even if it's only two, and add reps from there. Then aim to do a pull-up. Start with the Gravitron machine and lat pull-downs in the gym, then have a pal spot you on the pull-up bar."

Mind your power portions. "For experienced exercisers, make plyometric moves like burpees and jump kicks about a quarter of your circuit," says Jenkins, who demonstrates the meaning of plyo here. "They're great for toning, but limiting the number you do will keep you from overtraining or getting injured."