Is Exercise a Waste of Time?!
My short answer would have to be yes...it can be. Since I operate my business out of a public gym, I get to witness what constitutes a "workout" for the average gym-goer. This generally involves spending the majority of the their time performing silly exercises that provide little benefit to improving their fitness or performance. For guys this typically means performing an endless amount of bicep curls and crunches, while their female counterparts can be found doing long, low-intensity elliptical sessions. In both cases, this is not their fault. Mainstream media has outlined that these are the best ways that gym time is to be spent. Exercising in this fashion would take more hours than there are in a given week to produce any amount of real fitness results. The not-so-secret secret is that by learning how to exercise effectively and efficiently, three 30-45 minute workouts per week is all you really need to drastically improve your fitness levels. Sounds too good to be true? Well it isn't. But...there's always a but right?...exercising "properly" takes some learning and practice. Going through the growing pains that are required to learn how to properly perform the exercises that provide real results is worth the effort.Whether you are looking to improve muscular endurance, hypertrophy (muscle growth), strength, or power, by incorporating the following guidelines into your program you will be looking, feeling, and performing better than ever and have more time to do the things that matter to you.
1) Perform Mainly Compound Movements - this is critcal to making the most of your gym time. A compound movement is any exercise that uses two or more joints to perform the exercise. Think bicep curl (one joint - elbow) vs. a deadlift (three joints - ankle, knee, hip). I should mention that these compound movements are equal to more than simply the sum of their parts. For example, let's look at a squat. A squat uses the quads, hamstrings, glutes, adductors, abductors, core, and some smaller muscles in the lower leg. This one exercise is superior to performing multiple exercises that focus on each of these muscle groups in isolation because when used in concert with one another each muscle is able to produce more work. Bottom line, at least 80% of the exercise that you do should be compound movements. Some examples of compound movements are; barbell front squats, chin-ups, deadlifts, barbell cleans.
2) Reduce Rest Periods - this is one pretty much goes without saying. Spending less time standing around and more time exercising is generally a good thing. There are times when reducing rest periods is not advisable, but that mostly relates to maximal power and strength efforts. The best way to take advantage of reduced rest periods is to create "circuits" of exercises and proceed from one exercise to the next with minimal rest periods. The key is to avoid combining similar exercises so that there is some "active recovery" taking place in a one group of muscles, while you exercise another. Let me give you an example. You could build a circuit containing an upper-body push exercise (e.g.; a push-up), an upper-body pull exercise (e.g.; a chin-up), and a lower-body exercise (e.g.; a lunge), and perform each exercise in sequence. Repeat this circuit 3 times and you've just performed a total body workout in 10-12 mins. Using this type of protocol is one of the key ways to make the most efficient use of your exercise time.
3) Incorporate Interval Training - Ah yes, good ol' interval training. There is a lot of mis-information out there in mainstream media regarding exercise, but those that praise the benefits of interval and completely accurate. With the proper application an interval training protocol you can receive nearly all the benefit of a 40 minute aerobic session in 10 minutes or less. No way!...way. There are a wide variety of intensities, work-rest ratios, etc, that can be utilized but what it really boils down to is effort. Performing alternating maximal efforts with rest periods is one of the most effective ways to improve you fitness levels in a highly efficient manner.
4) Plan Recovery Strategies - this one is less about what you do in the gym and more about what you do pre- and post-exercise. Getting adequate rest and sleep, eating a nutrient rich diet, and making sure to consume a proper post-workout snack will all ensure that you get the most out of you efforts in the gym.
So there you go. A quick overview of some highly effective ways to ensure you're not wasting your gym time. If you have any questions or would like further information please drop me a line. Thanks!
1) Perform Mainly Compound Movements - this is critcal to making the most of your gym time. A compound movement is any exercise that uses two or more joints to perform the exercise. Think bicep curl (one joint - elbow) vs. a deadlift (three joints - ankle, knee, hip). I should mention that these compound movements are equal to more than simply the sum of their parts. For example, let's look at a squat. A squat uses the quads, hamstrings, glutes, adductors, abductors, core, and some smaller muscles in the lower leg. This one exercise is superior to performing multiple exercises that focus on each of these muscle groups in isolation because when used in concert with one another each muscle is able to produce more work. Bottom line, at least 80% of the exercise that you do should be compound movements. Some examples of compound movements are; barbell front squats, chin-ups, deadlifts, barbell cleans.
2) Reduce Rest Periods - this is one pretty much goes without saying. Spending less time standing around and more time exercising is generally a good thing. There are times when reducing rest periods is not advisable, but that mostly relates to maximal power and strength efforts. The best way to take advantage of reduced rest periods is to create "circuits" of exercises and proceed from one exercise to the next with minimal rest periods. The key is to avoid combining similar exercises so that there is some "active recovery" taking place in a one group of muscles, while you exercise another. Let me give you an example. You could build a circuit containing an upper-body push exercise (e.g.; a push-up), an upper-body pull exercise (e.g.; a chin-up), and a lower-body exercise (e.g.; a lunge), and perform each exercise in sequence. Repeat this circuit 3 times and you've just performed a total body workout in 10-12 mins. Using this type of protocol is one of the key ways to make the most efficient use of your exercise time.
3) Incorporate Interval Training - Ah yes, good ol' interval training. There is a lot of mis-information out there in mainstream media regarding exercise, but those that praise the benefits of interval and completely accurate. With the proper application an interval training protocol you can receive nearly all the benefit of a 40 minute aerobic session in 10 minutes or less. No way!...way. There are a wide variety of intensities, work-rest ratios, etc, that can be utilized but what it really boils down to is effort. Performing alternating maximal efforts with rest periods is one of the most effective ways to improve you fitness levels in a highly efficient manner.
4) Plan Recovery Strategies - this one is less about what you do in the gym and more about what you do pre- and post-exercise. Getting adequate rest and sleep, eating a nutrient rich diet, and making sure to consume a proper post-workout snack will all ensure that you get the most out of you efforts in the gym.
So there you go. A quick overview of some highly effective ways to ensure you're not wasting your gym time. If you have any questions or would like further information please drop me a line. Thanks!
posted by Chris Kennedy at
19:32
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