I just finished working my quads on a weight machine. My head races and my body hums all in an attempt to lose weight. Only moments ago, my legs worked so hard that they began to fail. They worked so hard that my muscle tissue cried out in pain and began to tear. Now having just finished, my body sweating with effort, I can rest for a couple of minutes before doing it again.

Each day this week I will have targeted a different group of muscles. Each day I will work them, stretch them, and tear them. Each day, I will work so hard that my heart beats a new rhythm into my metabolism. Each day, my body will set to repair damage I have done in such manner that it does not happen again. Each day doggedly break my body down and force it to improve itself. This is working out, this is getting fit, this is what it takes.

As I sit and stretch between sets, my quads still reeling, I scan around gym. I take in those around me. At this hour, there are few people willing to brave cold mornings to make run to gym. There are two people working with some free weights near by. They are within earshot and while I am resting I listen to them complain about, work, relationships, their bosses, clothes, their bodies and their friends. The conversation flows from one topic to next seamlessly and it is clear by their candor that they know each other well; that they have been friends and work out buddies for a while. What grabs my attention however, is not meandering topics of their conversation, but fact that conversation is occurring at all.

I ponder this until I start on my second set. As my second set starts, all I can focus on is exercise; flexing my muscles against weight. During relatively short time it takes for me to run through my set and completely exhaust my quads, every action, every breath becomes an exercise in methodical control and economy. Every action I make is geared to exercise at hand.

A recent study found that home workouts may do even more good than workouts at a gym. This is good news for people who are time crunched and find it's too much trouble to make it to a health club.

So how do you get most from your home workouts? Follow these suggestions:

1. Have A Plan. Know exactly what it is you want to accomplish and how you intend to get there. Plan out exercises and amount of reps and weight you will use. If time is a factor, make sure volume of your workout fits alloted time. If you can only squeeze in 10-15 minutes, then make most of it. Use compound moves for large muscle groups. Use an exercise log and refer back to it. It's a great way to track your progress.