As spring weather heats up and heads into summer, there are reminders everywhere that it's almost time to peel off the layers of clothes and bare some skin. For many people, it's the perfect excuse to start exercising and getting in shape.

Donna Organ, an employee at Ladies Workout Express in Los Gatos, says her main concern is helping clients get "rid of their winter bodies" and look better naked, too. Representatives from large and small health and fitness centers in Los Gatos and Saratoga say they typically experience a surge in memberships as the weather heats up in spring and summer, and also right after Jan. 1 as people make New Year's resolutions.

"The vast majority of people want the same things--to feel better and look better," says Josh Rogers, owner of Cadence Fitness in Los Gatos.

But with stressful work schedules, family obligations and busy lives, not everyone can spend more than an hour a day at the gym. So health clubs in the area are increasingly offering clients more "express" programs--20- to 30-minute workout options aimed at getting people into the gym and back to their lives as fast as possible.

But are these "express" programs just another quick fix or gimmick to get people to join a workout center, or are they really effective? How long is the right amount of time for a person to exercise? The answers, according to gym owners like Diane Wagner at Ladies Fitness Express, are that everyone is different. Everyone has different fitness and nutrition goals.

"Time constraint is a huge thing," says Rogers, a personal trainer with a background in physical therapy. "I don't believe that you can reach most fitness goals in half-hour sessions, two or three times a week."

Rogers, who was born and raised in Los Gatos and is a 1993 graduate of Los Gatos High School, started his own business, Cadence Fitness, which offers a circuit, sport-based training program for people who share the same fitness goals. His facilities also offer private training, spinning, youth fitness and sport-specific training. The majority of his clients have decreased their body fat, toned their muscles, increased their cardiovascular fitness and become more agile, in addition to feeling more fit and healthy. Rogers says the "express" programs, which seem to be popping up everywhere, are great for people to get started, but they aren't a long-term solution.

"They are better than doing nothing, but you are going to outgrow it eventually, sooner than later, because the workout never changes," Rogers says. "They don't have a trainer pushing you. There's no coordination involved, no neuromuscular activity involved, no eccentric resistance. And you're going to get bored, and boredom usually means you give up."

Curves International, a chain of clubs for women, offers a 30-minute circuit-training program, which it recommends customers use at least three times a week. At any Curves location, clients are prompted by a voice over a loudspeaker to move in a circle from one workout station to the next, approximately every 30 seconds. Clients usually go around the circle two or three times within 30 minutes. At typical "express" facilities, clients work out on machines aimed at targeting all the major muscle groups, with recovery station platforms in between stations. The intent is to keep a person's heart rate up throughout the entire workout.

Places like Ladies Workout Express have added to what Curves offers, Wagner says, since it has more advanced versions of the program with the ability to change resistance levels on the machines and vary the interval times at each machine. Ladies Workout Express also offers aerobics, personal training assistance and Pilates classes. Wagner says Ladies Workout Express caters to women who have anywhere from 15 to 100 pounds to lose and are usually middle-aged.

"We live in a faster paced society, and women are asked to multi-task, and they are jamming more into their schedules than they ever have before," Wagner says.

Wagner says 20 to 30 minutes is what doctors recommend for aerobic exercise because it gets a person into their fat-burning zone.

Saratoga Curves owner Christine VanHoy attests to the success of her program in local communities like Los Gatos and Saratoga.

"It consists of strength and cardiovascular training at the same time, which is why we can fit so much into a half-hour, plus stretching," says VanHoy, pointing out the hydraulic resistance machines designed for women.

"They are much safer, like water aerobics, and you go at your own pace so it's good for people at any age," says VanHoy.

The Curves program advocates starting out slower and progressively getting faster and building strength on the machines. A success wall, covered in strings of beads at the Saratoga Curves branch, charts how many inches and how much weight clients have lost. Clients also expressed feeling comfortable in the female-only facilities like Curves and Slender Lady, Inc., another women's fitness franchise. But there are also resources for men in a hurry, like Cuts Fitness or Blitz, express workout chains that incorporate activities like hydraulic strength machines, cardiovascular boxing and martial arts.

"For me, when I joined (Curves), the beauty of this was I didn't have to think this machine needs so much weight and I have to do so many repetitions," says VanHoy. "You don't count, and you don't get bored because you can do anything for 30 seconds."

That's also what Ladies Workout Express customer Susan Weinstein likes about the program.

"I like how the machines work and how they are adjustable," says the Los Gatos resident. "I like that it's kind of mindless and I don't have to think about it."

Larger chains like 24-Hour Fitness, which has clubs throughout the United States, recently introduced an Xpress Zone at its Los Gatos location, which features a 24-minute circuit-training program. Certified personal trainer Melissa Pittillo says the zone is designed to give people a full-body workout in 24 minutes, if used at least three times a week.

"It does cover all your major muscle groups and keeps your heart rate elevated," she says. "It is enough."

The zone targets abdominals, quadriceps, hamstrings, pectorals, deltoids, biceps, triceps and the back. But, she says, people can always do more, so they are not just working the same muscles continuously. 24-Hour Fitness offers regular cardiovascular machines, free weights, group classes such as aerobics, kickboxing, yoga, spinning and Pilates, personal training and more, so it's more of a full-service facility.

"There are all kinds of ways to mix and match," Pittillo says. "There's no end to how you can switch and change up your workouts."

She says another downside to smaller circuit-training programs like Curves, other than boredom factor, is that eventually a person's body will come to some type of plateau. Pittillo predicted that eventually the newness of the "express" facilities will wear off. She mentioned many of her female clients come from such facilities.

"More than ever, we are very busy trying to juggle work and kids, and we're looking for the quick fix," she says.

VanHoy, from Curves in Saratoga, disagrees.

"It's not a quick fix. It's an exercise program designed for women that works what they can do and continue," she says. "We have women of every age and every shape and size. And women who have never exercised, ever, can do this."

Since everyone has different personal fitness goals, there's no one program that will work for everyone. Pittillo also adds that people are often prompted to start working out by a major event in their life like a wedding, bikini season or a high school reunion where they want to look their best.

"The other thing we're finding out is that doctors are pushing their clients to work out," she says, adding the benefits can include bringing down high blood pressure and helping to reverse obesity and heart conditions. Fitness can also be a great form of physical therapy for injuries, she adds.

Jennifer Eng, a fitness coach at Shape Xpress in Saratoga, says the club offers stress management services for clients such as an infrared sauna, tanning, Reiki remote energy healing and therapeutic facials. Eventually, the club may expand its offerings to include yoga, meditation and massage therapy.

"It's so [clients] can get re-centered before they have to go back into the community," she says.

Rogers says "express" facilities are catching on because of the short amount of time they require, as well as because the settings might be less intimidating than large gyms, especially for people who have never exercised.

"People just don't want to work hard, and that's what it comes down to," Rogers says. "I wouldn't have a job if everyone was self-motivated. Everyone will benefit from having a personal trainer, but most need it to get where they want to go."

Rogers says the government recommends 60 to 90 minutes of exercise a day, but that's just what is recommended. It's not necessarily what works for everyone.

"I always tell everyone, 'You get out of it what you put into it,'" he says.

Personal trainers also tell their clients that diet is the most instrumental part of getting in shape.

"You can exercise until the cows come home," Rogers says. "But your body won't change until what you eat changes."

Pittillo tells her clients that without the right diet, a person won't see results as quickly, even if they are putting in the cardiovascular and resistance training.

Ladies Workout Express personal trainer Olivera Radisic said no one diet works for everyone, so consulting a nutritionist is a good idea.

"Diet is almost 75 percent of what you are going to look like," she adds.

Especially when it comes to fitting into that itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny yellow polka dot bikini.

LOCAL WORKOUT FACILITIES

Body Firm

51 University Ave., #D, Los Gatos

408.395.3519

Cadence Fitness

17419 Farley Road West, Los Gatos

408.395.3009

Courtside Club

14675 Winchester Blvd., Los Gatos

408.395.7111

Curves

466 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos

408.399.5102

15551A Union Ave., Los Gatos

408.626.7053

14456 Big Basin Way, Saratoga

408.872.0799

Fitness Clinic

15405 Los Gatos Blvd., Suite 101, Los Gatos

408.626.7053

Ladies Workout Express

227B N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos

408.395.0546

Los Gatos Athletic Club

285 E. Main St., Los Gatos

408.354.5808

Los Gatos Swim and Racquet Club

14700 Oka Road, Los Gatos

408.356.2136

Move It Fitness Studio

47 E. Main St., Los Gatos

408.395.4455

Pinnacle Fitness

15445 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos

408.358.3551

Shape Xpress

18576 Prospect Road, Saratoga

408.725.0847

Southwest YMCA

13500 Quito Road, Saratoga

408.370.1877

The Fitness Group

16905 Roberts Road, Los Gatos

408.356.5717

The Fitness Edge

328 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road, Los Gatos

408.354.4436

24 Hour Fitness

18760 Cox Ave., Saratoga

408.364.2444

24-Hour Fitness, Los Gatos Express

14090 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos

408.358.2468