It doesn’t really matter how many hours besides you record or how many overtime you did for the average person. It is really about what happens during training that matters most. Sometimes I watch human exercises and I think it is better that they do nothing. I really don’t care how much time I spent at the gym if the training was zero intensity and the only significant thing you did was create long-term problems.
What I am trying to achieve is that this time is not really the determining factor that will determine your success or failure. It is more about what was done during that period. Some people are afraid to work because they think they need to spend two hours at the gym to make it meaningful. Properly programmed, good strength training should take no more than 45-60 minutes for an average person. And believe me, many of us are average. There aren’t many practitioners of progressive fitness exercise.
What about your cardiovascular fitness training? The last time I checked, my heart raced after a series of chops and chins or some other series or tight circuit. Even doing 12-15 minutes of some interval training can be more productive than staying on the treadmill for 60 minutes.
So, if you don’t exercise anymore, you need to exercise more skillfully in order for the exercises to be productive for a healthy living. How you do it?
Choose the right exercises. This really has to do with common sense. What requires more work? A set of hacks or a set of leg extensions? Which one involves more muscles? Multilevel exercises should make up most of your routine. They usually require more work. They usually require more stabilizing muscles. Any variation in variations, variations in swelling, pressure, variations and variations in the chin should constitute the majority of your training.
Push the mass. Everyone has different intensity levels, but everyone has to go through their training. A 5 lb double bench press can be intense for an 80 year old man. Great. He pushes. The problem is that I see 23-year-old girls doing the same bench with dumbbells and wondering why their arms are not “toned”. If you want your body to change, if you want to strengthen yourself, you have to push the intensity. The hormonal changes that occur due to the increased level of intensity are the ones that will make the changes in your body. Too many repetitions, low weight is another way of saying “I just lost five minutes at the gym”.
Get off the elliptical. Not once have I seen anyone press hard on the elliptical. It is the first equipment used in the gym for a reason: it is easy to use. You want to use it for some recovery work, right. But the evidence is there. And it is not scientific evidence. The same people use the elliptical trainer every day, usually the same elliptical trainer. And the same people don’t get results from it. They don’t get results, so what do they do? They add more time. How long can you honestly add? Remember, we are trying to reduce your time here. You are probably much better off doing a body weight circuit than using that piece of mental sleep.
Use supersets. I used to spend hours in the gym years ago. And that was only on the day of the chest. Make a series of bench presses. Rest for three minutes. Make another set of bench presses. Rest for three minutes. And the cycle would be repeated with all the exercises until the end, to lessen mosquitoes in the chest. That was until I found a much better and effective way. Hey, if I form pairs of opposite muscle groups or exercises for the lower and upper body, I can do the same work in a short period of time. My rest periods are decreasing. My training density is increasing. I leave the gym much faster. And what do you know? My results are better.
You have a plan. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the gym, you need to know what you’re going to do before you even get in the front door. Don’t waste time wasting time between exercises because you don’t know what to do next. Or don’t do an exercise just to get some exercise. Every exercise must have a purpose. Each set must have a purpose. Every exercise must have a purpose. If you are not good at writing your own training programs, there are many good things available on the internet. The field of strength and conditioning is constantly evolving. Or if you know of a coach who gets results from other people, call him.
