Photo: eman_winston, Flickr

Chin-ups and pull-ups can help you get fit quick, says fitness instructor and holistic nutritionist Sarah Brown at That's Fit.ca, and as we all know, any strategy for getting in shape without a huge time commitment is a plus.

These two exercises, which are essentially the same except for hand position (palms face you for a chin-up; palms face away for a pull-up), are great because they work so many areas of the body all at one time, which means they won't suck up the minutes in your day.

Here, five exercises you can practice, and some tips from Brown on how to pull your weight on the bar, which you can find in the gym, on a playground, or you can even secure one in a doorway of your house.

Don't worry if your body won't budge at first. Just hanging from the bar is a good first step.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answers. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose one per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hey there Fitzy, I'm in fairly good shape, but I'm sick of my back fat. It sucks! My stomach area is pretty flat, but I have this roll over my hips that I hate. Whatcha got for me? Mitch

A. Hi Mitch. I'm glad you wrote, and yes ... back fat does "suck." I've had it before, the dreaded "muffin top," and I didn't enjoy it one bit. So, how do you get rid of it? That's the million-dollar question today, right? Lucky for you ... you've come to the right place.

Yesterday, I posted a video of my 5-year-old cranking out four pull-ups. Perfect? Not really. Impressive? I think so.

This girl, featured in the video below, claims she can do 16 proper pull-ups. They look good to me -- well, until her obvious struggle at the end, which is still pretty darn admirable, if you ask me.

What do you think? And how many pull-ups can you do? Me? Not-a-one.

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I wasn't there to witness his wonder, but my husband caught it on video. Once home from his outdoor adventure with our boys yesterday, John downloaded the proof that our 5-year-old can do his very own pull-ups. Then he hit play, and there it was: Danny, in all his glory, cranking out four solid pull-ups. Four, on top of some others he'd already done before John started filming. Four more than I can do.

Here's Danny. Look at him go.

To get sleeve-stretching arms, the common misconception is that you must focus on building your biceps bigger and stronger. The reality of the matter, however, is that your triceps make up around 70 percent of your upper arm's muscle mass, which is why pressing exercises are just as important for your guns as pulling movements.

The prevailing belief used to be that in order to build a muscular body, you had to perform a workout split -- you know, Monday: back and triceps; Tuesday: chest and biceps, Wednesday: legs and abs, etc. And though this approach may still work quite well for certain people (especially seasoned bodybuilders), the more trusted method these days is to focus on compound moves that target large muscle groups.

So, getting back to your goal to build arms that look like an anaconda that just swallowed a pig, don't spend too much of your time with isolation moves for your triceps ... or your biceps, for that matter. Instead, stick with exercises like the bench press, a compound movement that targets your chest, shoulders, and also hits your triceps with a vengeance. The same logic applies for your biceps. Don't spend 30 minutes of your workout on dumbbell curls; rather, focus your energy on compound pulling exercises, such as the pull-up or the bent-over row, as these moves will work your back, rear delts, and biceps all at once.

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Just when I think I'm doing pretty good in the fitness department, I see a video like this one. Check out these people cranking out pull-ups, dead lifts, box jumps. Holy Cow, do I feel inadequate. And weak. And far from physically fit. I also feel inspired, and a little worried I might hurt myself if I jolt my body they way these folks do.


Spartan 300 Challenge from CrossFit Central on Vimeo.

What you see in this clip is the new CrossFit Central Spartan 300 video. Kind of makes you want to join in, doesn't it? It does me.

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How is it that the military is able to whip people into shape in such short time, even though they don't have special gyms and fancy fitness equipment for new enlistees? A - Enlistees are pushed to their physical limits; and B - All that's required to transform the body are the fitness basics.

Civilians can learn from this approach and apply it to their own workouts. Rather than spending an hour on an elliptical, leisurely gliding through a cardio workout, try ditching the equipment (and the gym) and go run an outdoor trail instead. Sprint up hills, jump on top of boulders, and leap over small creeks. Push yourself to limits you know you're capable of reaching, but for reasons probably related to a digital readout on a piece of cardio equipment, you never have. As for resistance training, try ditching the bands for a bodyweight workout. Get down and give yourself ten push-ups. Twenty, if you can. Then, find a sturdy bar to hang from and bang out some pull-ups. If you're unable to do so, perform horizontal pull-ups instead. Work your legs with some prisoner squats. Hit your core with sets of the plank and side plank. Push, push, push!!

Don't let these gyms salespeople fool you; it is possible to get a good workout anywhere. Does having an entire gym at your disposal make that task any easier? Of course it does. But, having too many options can also be a distraction, not to mention a forceful attraction to an easier workout. Remember, workouts are supposed to be hard. If yours isn't, it's probably the reason your body's not, too. It's time to change that, but to do that, you must not give in to the temptation of fancy fitness. Stick to the basics, soldier.

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Home gyms are great to have, but there are a couple of drawbacks. For one thing, they tend to be a bit costly. Plus, it takes up a lot of room, so unless you have a whole extra room dedicated to fitness equipment, it can be an eyesore. But, if you need to have a home gym, what other option do you have?

The HealthCare Chin-Up Exercise Bar seems like a good choice if you don't want to spend a ton of money and don't have a lot of space. It's only about $50 ($54.99, on sale right now for $44.99 here), and it can easily be folded up and put away in a closet when not in use.

And, as far as use goes, it's easy to use it in a variety of ways. First and foremost, it's a chin-up/pull-up bar. As you can see in the picture above, it goes up in your doorway (no drilling or holes or anything like that required), holds up to 300 pounds, and can be taken back down in seconds.

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Having just written about the importance of building a reasonable amount of back strength, I decided it's only right that I also suggest a method of how to go about doing this very thing. So, pull-up a chair and listen, my friend.

On second thought, pull-up yourself! Then lower yourself ... and then pull yourself up again!! The classic pull-up is one of the best exercises you can do for your upper back muscles. Just the other day, I mentioned a variation of this move -- the alternating side chin-up. However, when it comes to pull-ups of any kind, there's one problem that is frequently encountered: they're too difficult. Some people can do 50 pull-ups, while others can't even complete one. Because pull-ups are a body weight exercise, how much you weigh will play almost as big a role as how fit you are in terms of your performance.

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Even in the most urban environments, there is usually at least a park or two where you can bang out a great outdoor workout. This time around, however, I'm not talking about taking the proverbial walk in the park. No, I'm getting downright torturous with the outdoor workout I'm about to send you on.

You may want to send me hate mail after doing this workout, but start now and you'll be thanking me when Memorial Day rolls around and you're looking lean and fit for summer.

Warm-Up. Fill a backpack full of heavy items and wrap them in clothes or a few towels. You'll probably want to include a water bottle in that pack somewhere, too. Next, strap that backpack on and start jogging! Complete at least one full circle around the predetermined path.

Pull-Ups. Find a nice, solid tree that has a fairly even branch from which you can safely hang. Keep your hands just slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and perform as many pull-ups as you can. If you're really feeling strong, keep that backpack on and do them.

Hill Runs. Drop that backpack in a safe place (not that anyone is going to steal a backpack full of weights, but just in case) and sprint up a hillside. Once you get to the top, take a five second break and then amble back down. Give yourself a 30-second breather and then sprint back up. Do this a total of five times.

Being someone that's arithmetically challenged, I'm surprising even myself right now by saying that I'm a fan of numbers. Words have always been more my thing. So, in a reversal of one of my own personal, lifelong maxims, I've come to realize that my focus on health and fitness is primarily a numbers game.

This is probably why my attention is easily stolen by the bold-fonted numbers that appear sporadically in issues of Men's Health magazine. True, there is always a collection of words that appear underneath, explaining what the numbers above represent. But still, without those numbers, those statements remain unquantified and, frankly, far less interesting.

In the most recent edition of the British version of the magazine (which is more or less the same as the U.S. version, only with the more frequent use of the letter "U"), the following numbers appear at the bottom of a random page: 10, 1, 20, 79. I bet you want to know what these numbers represent, don't you? So did I.

Here's how the numbers break down ...

10 = Percentage harder your lats work for lat pull-downs with a wider-than-shoulders grip, versus a close grip

1 = Number of pull-ups the average man can do

20 = Percentage of your body fat you need to lose so you can double the number of pull-ups you can do now

79 = Percentage of the oft-neglected middle trapezius muscles (on your back) that is recruited while doing the single-arm row

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If you haven't already done so, you must visit Fitz's website Fitzness.com for a look at her encounter with the blue Wiggle Anthony Field. In the bottom right-hand corner of her site you'll find a once-pudgier Wiggle working his magic with a pull-up bar. He swears by it -- he loves a pair of rings too -- and says he's used nothing but his own body weight to transform his physique. What a physique it is.

Fitz told me I should take a stab at this pull-up bar thing. She's incorporated it into her workout routine and says it's really making a difference in her abs. That's what I need -- different abs -- so I gave it try. We happen to have a bar here at my house and so I gave it a whirl. Well, a whirl implies I made something happen with that bar. I did not. I simply hung there. I tried to lift my body but it never did budge. I almost pulled my arm from its socket in my struggle to make a move, but progress? Nope. The fit and trim Wiggle says that's OK. If you can't do anything but hang, then just hang. Keep at it and eventually, you'll make strides.

Mr. Field makes pull ups look effortless. At this point, maybe they are for him. But I bet when he was heavier and not so agile, they weren't such a cinch. Success takes time, patience, determination, and lots of practice. Once I muster up this bundle of characteristics, maybe I'll be able to pull up my entire 135 pounds. Maybe Fitz will feature me on her website too.

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As I look into my crystal fitness ball, I see images of what 2008 may bring in the way of workout trends. The more I look, the clearer it becomes that the the theme of '08 will be: Back to the Basics.

People are becoming more and more fed up with suped-up exercise machines and lackluster results. Consequently, they are returning to workout principles that, for some reason or another, have sort of fallen out of fashion in the last ten years or so. That being said, expect to see an increase in the use of kettlebells, circuit training workouts, jumping rope, pull-ups, and other body weight exercises.

It's easy to make this prognostication because this changeover is already taking place. Old fashion hard work has -- and will -- again become an integral part of physical fitness.

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For those of you out there who are not working out regularly, you may want to consider starting with the following five exercises. And, for those of you who have been working out for quite some time, you too may want to consider using the following five exercises.

Some are lesser-known, some are pretty common, but all are dynamic muscle-toners. Just don't hate me if you're sore in the morning.

5 - Pull-Up. A sure-fire method to get that famous V-taper is to do this exercise. Try any number of variations on this classic muscle-builder, and you'll soon see the definition in your back, shoulders and arms that you were hoping for.

4 - Box Jumps. Think of this exercise as a squat without a bar but somehow still as difficult. Not only will your quads be screaming by the time you're done with your set, but your heart will feel like you just ran wind sprints, making this a fantastic resistance/cardio exercise.

3 - Spider-Man Push-Ups. Traditional push-ups are one of the best upper-body exercises you can do, but this modified version makes them that much more effective (and difficult). Perhaps the greatest benefit of this version is that you will also utilize your core muscles.

2 - Plank With Rotating Knee Raises - I'm not sure I can even explain this one with words, but I'm going to try. Here goes: Start in a standard plank position, holding it for quite some time. Then, in a circular motion, raise your right knee toward your left elbow. Once it has gone as far as it can, circle it back to its original position. Next, follow a similar pattern with your left knee, only this time raise it toward your right elbow. If you feel like you're going to die, you're probably doing it right ;)

1 - Deadlift - Arguably one of the best total-body exercises, the deadlift can either be the hero of your workout or the bane of your existence, depending on your form. Performed incorrectly, you'll be nursing an aching back. Performed correctly, however, and you'll see results almost immediately. Use this exercise as a strength and muscle builder by going heavy (once you have the proper form down), or use it as a great fat-burning cardio blast by using light weights and doing several repetitions.