How to Cut Your Gym Time But Increase Your Results

May 28, 2011 – 5:12 am

The old notion that more is better shouldnt apply to the duration or frequency of your workouts. I wasted years over-training, and getting slim to nothing in the way of results from a strength and aesthetics perspective. But it didnt have to be that way.

I just finished a 25-minute workout using giant sets that focused on 3 muscle groups. It was an awesome workout. I was in a bit of a pinch for time, but I wasnt about to waste a workout skipping out on the sets that I wanted to cover. It was as good if not better than a previous workout I had done that took 45 minutes.

If you had a choice between a 2 hour workout, and a 30-minute workout, and the 30-minute workout got you better results, which would you choose? Its a stupid question Ill admit. But too many of us are blindly choosing the 2 hour workout, when we could increase our gains, and have a more intense, fun, and challenging workout if we incorporated a few techniques into a shorter time period.

Here are a few tips you can use in your training, to cut down on time, and increase results:

There are two kinds of challenge workouts:

1) . You go through the list, finishing every rep of every exercise chronologically until youve finished. You time the entire workout from the first rep to the last. However long it takes for you to finish the workout, that is your score.

I love these workouts because I add weight each week, but I also try and drop my time each week. Ive had some of my best results using these workouts and they can last anywhere from 20-45 minutes. Oh yea, and you dont have scheduled rest periods, you simply rest minimally when you can go no further.

2) . Give yourself 60 seconds to complete as many push-ups (for example), and a few other exercises. Rest 15 seconds in between each 60-second time limit.

The amount of reps you complete of each exercise is your score. You keep the same weight by try and increase the number of repetitions you can complete every time you do the workout. This is more of a test or a gauge to see how your fitness level is improving.

Example: (you can superset the same, or opposing muscle groups your choice)

A1. Bench Press

A2. Yates Row

Example:

A1. Military Press

A2. Bent-over Lateral Raise

A3. Seated Lateral Raise

Both supersets and giant sets are great ways to double up or triple up exercises to increase muscle damage, burn, and lactic acid, while decreasing time. Remember, you want to break down your muscle in as little time possible. Its in recovery that we build that muscle back up.

If our workout is too long, we release cortisol a muscle and bone-eating hormone involved in our fight or flight mechanism. By keeping our workouts short and intense, we are ensuring that our hormones are on our side.

I see this all the time in the gym, and Im guessing you do to:

Guys wandering around for 5 minutes in between sets, totally oblivious to what their rest periods are. You also see guys wandering around with a puzzled look on their faces trying to figure out what they should be doing next.

I was there and I used to to that too. So I know how ineffective that kind of training is. You have to know what youre going to be doing before you walk into the gym. This could mean writing your own program or getting someone elses. Either way, your workout has to be clear, and written down.

A lot of us fitness guys will say that lifting to failure in each set is over-kill. Im not one of them. I think that lifting to failure within proper form in each and every set is the way to go. Everything before those reps is a build up.

Failure should make you want to quit. Its painful. Its your body telling you that it cannot complete even one more rep. Lifting to failure will ensure that youre not wasting any time in the gym that youre getting the absolute most out of every single rep and every single set.

If youre doing a challenge workout, make sure you complete every single repetition you can possibly complete before taking a minimal rest period. If youre doing a more conventional workout, or using supersets and giant sets, have your goal rep count, and choose weight accordingly. If you choose a weight thats too light, run with it and lift until you fail. If you choose a weight thats too heavy and you fall a bit short, make sure that you truly went to failure.

Lifting to failure will make sure that youre getting the most bang-for-your-buck. If you want to drop your training time, youll need to make sure that every set you do is of the highest quality.

*Also, make sure to keep your training to a maximum of 4-days a week, get your 8 hours of sleep each night and eat the right foods at the right time. Recovery is the second have of the equation, and something that we didnt talk about in this article.

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