One of the reasons why people get discouraged and stop working out is because they don’t get the results they believe they should. Some people spend a lot of time at the gym but have very little to show for it.
This could be due to bad exercise selection or a low intensity workout routine. However, it may also be due to wasted time.
You see, it doesn’t matter how much time passed between the moment you stepped into the gym and the moment you stepped out of it. What matters is what you did in the time you were there.
Do you make the most of your gym time? Do you squeeze every little bit of “fat burning” goodness that you can?
Having gone to gyms for many years, I know how too many people waste their valuable time. They believe they’re getting a great workout, but they’re just passing time. They’re judging themselves based on the time they spend at the gym, not on what they do there. They go home happy but they fail to lose any weight and change their body.
To help you make the most of your workouts, I want to outline the big “gym time wasters” so you’ll be more aware and stop throwing your time away.
Talking
Probably the #1 time waster at the gym. People just don’t realize that a gym is not a social club. It’s a place in which you come to train. You need to be focused on your workout, you need to keep up a certain rhythm, you need to be able to do circuits without interruption.
You’re not going to the gym to meet girls or guys. You’re not there to score dates. You’re not there to talk about the weather, shopping, politics, the economy, or anything else. You’re there to train.
This is why I recommend training with a music player. It signals to the rest of the gym-goers that you’re not open to idle conversation. You mean business.
The more talking you do, the less exercising you will have time for. It’s as simple as that.
Less talking equals more work which equals more burned calories which equals a faster weight loss. So, close your mouth and focus on your workouts.
Drinking
When you workout hard, you’re going to need to drink water to keep yourself hydrated. The problem is that going to the water fountain can cost you some valuable time, especially if you get stuck in line behind someone who is filling up their big water bottle.
The solution is to bring a bottle with you to every workout. I know this can be a drag to carry around, but it will save you a lot of time. Experiment with different bottle sizes to make sure that you’re bringing enough water.
Bathroom Breaks
This may not be possible to avoid every single time, but you should try.
Taking bathroom breaks in the middle of a workout is not a good idea. If you have to go then you have to go, of course. However, each break will take more than a minute (in the best case) and this is longer than the rest time that you should take between sets or circuits. This means that you will get colder, the workout flow will be disrupted, and the quality of your training session will suffer.
I recommend to go to the bathroom before you begin your workout. You will feel lighter during the session itself and, if you do a focused workout, you should be you should finish it before you need to go again.
TV Staring
I like being able to watch TV in the gym when I’m doing cardio. I dislike having them around when I lift weights. It’s much too easy to fall prey to “TV Staring”.
Gym TV Staring is when you stop in the middle of your set or during your rest in between sets to watch something interesting on one of the TVs hanging from the ceiling of your gym.
It can be anything, really: a news report, a spectacular dunk from last night’s game, a beautiful model, etc. These are all useless distractions and they can waste your precious workout time.
Since you can’t avoid these TVs, if your gym has some, all I want you to do is to be aware and keep them in mind. Don’t let them waste your time.
The Wrong Fitness Instructor
In an interesting post on his blog, Craig Ballantyne talked about how angry he was with a fitness trainer he saw who basically wasted his client’s time by having her do very easy exercises (of dubious effectiveness) and blabbing throughout most of her session with him.
I’ve seen this happen time and time again: personal trainers who think they’re cab drivers and it’s part of their duty to talk to you all the time. Some even tell you what’s going on with their life, as if they’re paying you and not the other way around.
Some trainers are awesome and can help you do more effective workouts. The bad ones are simply a waste of time and money. So, choose your trainer carefully. Before you hire anyone, watch how they train other people. Are they focused on the workout or on something else? Do they make the most of the time their clients pay for?
Bottom Line
Your time at the gym is precious. It should be devoted to getting you lean and healthy, to burn fat and build muscle. Avoid the common time wasters and you will have a much better workout.
So, the next time you go out training remember to make the most of your time. You will find that you get faster and better results.
