Tips to make some exercises more effective

Fitness is one of those things in life that requires constant study and lifelong learning. Most times, the principles and practices of diet and exercise don't change all that much from one era to the next (save for the major, anti-carb movement of the late 1990s that was a diametric change from the carbo-loading that went on in the 1980s), but there's always something new to learn.

Even when you know how to do something, you may come across a small bit of information that shows you how to do it better. How to fine tune everything, if you will. To that end, I thought I'd offer up a few tips on how to make some common exercises even more effective.

Side Lateral Raises. Instead of focusing on using the strength of your entire arms to hoist up the dumbbells, let your hands and arms remain only slightly rigid throughout the movement. Concentrate on raising your shoulders, which will then, in turn, raise the weight. You'll feel much more tension on your deltoids if you perform the exercise in this manner.

Swiss Ball Crunches. To make this exercise even more difficult and place even greater emphasis on your core muscles, try placing your feet together on the ground. Keeping your feet spread far apart better stabilizes your body as it rests on the ball, reducing the effort required by your core muscles to keep you from falling off.

Hanging Leg Raises. These are pretty tough to do in the first place, so making them tougher may not be in the cards right now. But if it is, try pulling your body to the top of a pull-up position and stay there. From this position, perform your hanging leg raises as you would if you were dangling with your arms fully extended. You'll immediately find that this method requires a great deal more core strength and endurance. Once you've reached your last rep, drop down by finally extending your arms and burn out with a few more from the more standard position.

There are so many little tweaks that can be done to really amp up some exercises. These are just a few I figured you might benefit from, but there are literally hundreds more for you, me, and the rest of us to learn. If you have any of your own you'd like to add, please be my guest in the comments section below.