In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s nearly impossible to set aside the time you need at the gym each day. It seems there are always more “important” things to be doing. When you do get into the gym, avoid these 7 time wasters.

1) Believe it or not, one of the first things that wastes your time in the gym, is spending too much time at the gym. I realize that may not make sense, but it’s true. You don’t necessarily need to do cardio for 90 minutes everyday. Once you go beyond what your body needs, you’re wasting time.

2 – No more long rest periods between exercises. Usually this happens when you see a friend and you spend 10 minutes chatting about fitness. Talking about getting fit isn’t going to help you get fit. Don’t take as many breaks and instead schedule some time over coffee when you’re both of you are away from the gym.

3 – Plan your workouts. Make sure you know what exercises you’re going to do, how many reps you’ll do of each and how much weight you’re going to use. If you’re constantly trying to figure things out on the fly, you’ll double your time in the gym.

4. Not having a backup plan- There is nothing more frustrating then going to the gym with your plan in hand and someone is already using the machine! Having a backup plan ensures you spend more of your time in the gym exercising and less time feeling frustrated. If someone is using the chest machine, no big deal: Do push-ups instead.

5 – Get intense! Push yourself further than you thought you could go. Physical gains don’t happen when you’re barely pushing yourself. You need to be going to failure on almost every exercise. Even if you’re just building strength and have no interest in bulk, you should still work to failure, just at a higher level. Remember, bulk comes between 8 and 10 reps and strength comes when you’re doing between 12 and 15.

6) Form is vital. Doing too many “cheat” reps will kill your time in the gym. Focus on the right form and you’ll benefit greatly from every rep. Each time you do an exercise wrong, that’s one more wasted rep.

7. Not seeking the advice of a professional- If all the top athletes have coaches and professional trainers, don’t you think you could use their advice? Having a trainer will help you to get further along in your training then trying to do it by yourself. He or she will help you to use proper form, technique, rep ranges, tempo, rest intervals and exercise combinations to maximize your results and minimize your frustrations

I’m sure you didn’t relate to all seven items. You may only relate to one of them. If that’s the case, fix that one time and gain back some time for other areas in your life. If you could relate to them, focus on a few at a time and lean out your gym time while you lean out your body.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 11:17 pm and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.