Why do people spend money on gym memberships and equipment when they exercise wrong and get little, if any, results? Good question and one for which I have no answer. The truth is, very few people work out with maximum effectiveness. I believe learning how to feel an exercise, I mean really getting into each rep and making those reps pump the muscle and make it burn, is the key. Whether you're short or tall, fat or thin, young or old, if you can feel an exercise, it's going to work! Did you ever notice how differently you feel an exercise just by changing the position of your hands, feet or elbows? If you haven't experimented with this, it's time you did! Slight variations or nuances force your body to use different muscle fibers and neural pathways, working your muscles at different angles, thereby giving you better results. Let's look at some simple exercise nuances that you can use right now that can make a huge difference in your training. Remember, form is everything. The Nuance of Grip Take a wide grip on a barbell and do an incline press. Where do you feel it? Outer chest. Move your hands closer together and you'll feel it more in the inner chest and triceps. Same exercise, yet two very different ways of hitting the same muscle. Use a wide grip on chin-ups and you'll feel more upper lat and teres; closer grip with the elbows moving downward from the front of the body hits more lower lat. Experiment with various positions on every grip-involved exercise you do and you'll soon be turning your weaknesses into strengths.  The Nuance of Angle Do a barbell curl on a steep-sided (90-degree) preacher bench and you'll feel the stress in the upper biceps. Do that same curl on the opposite side of the bench (at a 45-degree angle) and you'll feel it in the lower biceps. Legs are a terrific bodypart for exercises using different angles. Do a 30-degree leg press and you'll feel it in your lower quad; do one at 45 degrees or higher and you'll feel the pressure in the upper quads and hamstrings. Lower the foot platform on the hack squat and you'll feel the stress in your upper quad. Raise the platform and the emphasis shifts to the lower quad area just above the knee. And don't forget leg extensions. The knees-angled-down position works the lower quads and inner vastus. The knees-angled-up position works the upper quad.  The Elbow Nuance Just moving your elbow up or down, into the body or away, can also make a big difference. Most bodybuilders do the triceps dumbbell kickback with their upper arm in line with their upper torso. But to really make the triceps scream, keep the upper arm close to the body and raise the upper arm and elbow up and above the upper torso. The higher you raise it, the harder it gets. Be sure to lock the arm out at the top of the movement. Another great triceps exercise is the pressdown. Here's a trick you can use to feel the same exercise, with the same hand grip, in different parts of the triceps, simply by moving your elbows. Take a fairly close grip - 6-8 inches apart - on a straight bar. With elbows close to your body, do a set of 10-12 reps of pressdowns. Now, keeping the same grip, move your elbows out and away from your body, almost in a direct line with your upper torso. Be sure to lock your arms out at the bottom of the movement. Where do you feel each movement? So simple, yet so effective. And let's not forget the seated dumbbell curl. Elbows in, elbows out, elbows back or elbows forward hits the same biceps in many different ways. Experiment and find which ones make your biceps beg for mercy the most!  The Hand Nuance Simply by moving your hands, you can feel the same exercise in many different ways. Take for example . . . The barbell curl. After you've taken a wide grip, place your elbows close to your body. As you curl the weight up, you should feel the stress on the outer biceps. Lower the bar and move your hands close together - 4-6 inches apart. Now the stress is placed on the inner biceps. Try the seated cable row for back. Many bodybuilders use a stirrup bar that places the hands close together. Try using a straight lat pull-down bar. On one set, keep your hands spaced wide. If you keep your elbows out away from your body, you should feel the movement more toward the center of your back. For the next set, bring your hands close together - 6-8 inches apart - and pull with your elbows in close to your sides. You should now feel it in the outer lats. And don't forget the old tried-'n'-true method of hand pronation - turning the palms down - when doing triceps pressdowns. Use a rope instead of a bar. Keep your elbows close to your sides. At the bottom of the movement, pronate your hands and lock your arms out and hold the peak contraction for 1-2 seconds. Really feel the triceps burn. Just those few inches of hand pronation can make a big difference!  The Foot Nuance You've got to have a lot of sole to do this. You change foot position three ways to hit the calf and thigh muscles differently. In the standing calf raise, pointing your feet straight will work the overall calf. In my case, turning my feet out seems to hit my inner calves more, while turning them inward hits my outer calves. Let's move to the hack squat machine. To minimize stress on the knees, place your feet high up on the foot platform. Keep your heels together and turn your feet outward. You've now directed the emphasis to the inner thigh. By keeping your feet and legs together and pointed straight, you'll direct the emphasis to the outer thigh - an excellent way to develop a fabulous quad sweep. As you probably know, squatting is one of the best leg exercises. Yet, some beginners and intermediates may find some of the squat variations difficult. One such variation involves placing the legs almost in a direct line with the upper torso, feet wider than shoulder width and turned outward. The knees must travel in a direct line over the middle toes. Obviously, the weight used in this exercise must be fairly light to minimize injury and maintain ideal form. One way to do this exercise correctly is with a Smith machine. Because the bar travels in a fixed position, you can experiment to find the optimal leg position without having to worry about stabilizing the upper body. Many call this a ballet squat. For hitting the inner thigh, upper-outer thigh and glutes, this exercise is a killer! Go for 12-20 reps