We’ve all been told that success is the result of hard work. Pounds are shed and muscles are built in proportion to the amount of time you spend sweating it out in the gym. The more hours you put in, the better your results.
A significant proportion of time people spend in the gym is wasted, either on ineffective exercises or on excessively long breaks.
If you have all the time in the world, by all means, keep doing sit-ups and bicep curls. But to get the most out of a tighter exercise timeline, avoid these exercises that isolate individual muscles and opt for dynamic compound movements that work several large muscle groups simultaneously. Squats, pull-ups, deadlifts, lunges, and leg presses let you multitask by targeting several areas all at once.
You can also maximize your workout time by combining cardio with strength training. Gradually start trimming seconds off of your between-set break times. Your heart rate will stay up throughout your whole workout, and your muscles won’t get the chance to fully recover before you start your next set, so you can push them to their limit faster.
Your specific exercise routine depends on your fitness level and what you want to accomplish. But for most people, 30 minute workouts are plenty.
To get the most out of that half hour, just make sure you’re covering all your bases and keeping your routine high-energy. Allocate one gym session to cardio, the next to strength training, and just keep alternating.
To avoid setbacks, keep each of your new, shorter sessions extra intense. Amp up your cardio by fitting in more rounds per minute on the bike or elliptical, or upping your miles per hour on the treadmill. Push your strength training forward by gradually adding more weight and doing more reps.
Actually, a long workout isn’t necessarily an effective one.
A significant proportion of time people spend in the gym is wasted, either on ineffective exercises or on excessively long breaks.
If you have all the time in the world, by all means, keep doing sit-ups and bicep curls. But to get the most out of a tighter exercise timeline, avoid these exercises that isolate individual muscles and opt for dynamic compound movements that work several large muscle groups simultaneously. Squats, pull-ups, deadlifts, lunges, and leg presses let you multitask by targeting several areas all at once.
You can also maximize your workout time by combining cardio with strength training. Gradually start trimming seconds off of your between-set break times. Your heart rate will stay up throughout your whole workout, and your muscles won’t get the chance to fully recover before you start your next set, so you can push them to their limit faster.
So how long is long enough?
Your specific exercise routine depends on your fitness level and what you want to accomplish. But for most people, 30 minute workouts are plenty.
To get the most out of that half hour, just make sure you’re covering all your bases and keeping your routine high-energy. Allocate one gym session to cardio, the next to strength training, and just keep alternating.
To avoid setbacks, keep each of your new, shorter sessions extra intense. Amp up your cardio by fitting in more rounds per minute on the bike or elliptical, or upping your miles per hour on the treadmill. Push your strength training forward by gradually adding more weight and doing more reps.
