Don't Waste Time: Be Purposeful with Your Time in the Gym
Doing something to work on your fitness is certainly better than nothing. However, I want you to get the most out of your limited time to train. We all have many life commitments, some of them taking priority at different times. How can you maintain a healthy lifestyle while juggling priorities and limited time for fitness?
Often I see people working out and wonder if they actually have a goal for the day. You’ve probably seen the guy or girl in the gym that’s been doing the same workout routine for the last 20 years. Maybe you are that guy or girl.
Everything you do in the gym should have a specific purpose and should bring you closer to your goals in the most efficient way possible. There should be a reason that you’ve included each exercise. Don’t just do exercises because they look cool, are easy (or hard), or because you saw someone doing them on Instagram. There’s nothing wrong with sometimes doing cool exercises because they’re fun, but stay focused. Pick exercises because they’ll help you realize your goals.
If something doesn’t directly help you, toss it. It can be tough deciding what to keep and what to toss, so here are some ideas:
If you’re training for fat loss, focus on doing a large amount of work using your entire body in a short amount of time. Ditch the bicep curls and easy machine exercises for hard total-body exercises like squats, lunges, push presses, and deadlifts. If you’re really short on time, ditch the easy cardio too and do interval training exclusively.
For muscle gain, you don’t need to be training super heavy with long rest periods every day. Most days, ditch the heavier work in favor of higher reps (8-15) and short rest periods. You’ll need some isolation exercises but pick ones that are tough for you and hammer the muscle group in question. Every now and then you can work in some heavier work but it shouldn’t be the bulk of your training.
For strength, you don’t need a ton of isolation work. Focus on the compound movements (and their close variations) that you want to improve. You can’t be equally strong at everything – pick what you want to be good at and focus.
For multi-mode athletes like triathletes, military, or police, focus is even more important. You only have so many recovery resources and it’s easy to burn yourself out. Focus on the basics of what you need to do and throw out all the fancy stuff and “junk miles.” The basics are the basics for a reason.
If you’re looking for a fitness trainer in the Mt Juliet/Hermitage/Nashville TN area, online fitness training, or just need some advice to get your fitness program started, contact me