Time Well Spent: How to Maximize Your Gym Workouts

Do you sometimes find yourself doubting if you're getting the most out of your workout time? Do you spend hours in the gym but don't think you’re getting the results you should be? Has working out become a bore for you?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then you probably aren’t maximizing your time when you workout. You may need a change of pace in your daily routine, and here's how to do it:

Mix It Up. Most of the time, the reason behind this lack of drive can be attributed to a poor workout program. Remember, it's important to keep challenging yourself to attain your fitness goals, and the best way to do this is by introducing new exercises to your usual program. By doing so, you can keep yourself from being bored by the same old routine every week.

In addition, this also helps to prevent your muscles from reaching a plateau or homeostasis. The Muscle Confusion Principle states that by continually stressing your muscles the same way, you could render the workout ineffective. On the other hand, adding new exercises can make sure your muscles are constantly challenged by varying movements, sets, reps, and weights top achieve the opposite effect.

Ditch the machine. Yes, using workout machines is very convenient; but are these contraptions as effective as the other exercises in the gym?

Although machines tend to allow faster workouts with a reduced risk of injury, and are easy to use, they can also lead to the increased risk of pattern overload injuries and a false sense of strength gain and safety. Machines limit their users' body movements, which is detrimental to achieving the stretch that some muscles need to develop further.

Free weights like dumbbells and barbells, on the other hand, present a number of benefits that can really maximize your time and energy in the gym. One of these is its ability to increase the use of stabilizing muscles. When you do free weight exercises, you don’t only enhance your target muscles, but also the synergistic muscles that support your body through the lift, your balance, and proprioreception.

The right workout, the wrong way. Now, if you're the type who gets his programs online or through magazines, you have to make sure to read the exercises thoroughly. In fact, if you're unsure of how to do a certain exercise, you should skip it. This is because, no matter how effective an exercise is claimed to be, doing it wrong renders it useless, or worse, dangerous.

For this reason, it's always best to consult with a trained professional about the proper posture and lifting procedures involved in the new workout. This way, you can rest assured you aren’t slowly injuring yourself in the gym.

Don’t worry! You don't have to hire a personal trainer for this; just ask any trainer in your gym about that specific exercise, he'll surely accommodate your inquiry.

By following these tips, you can make sure you aren’t wasting your time in the gym. Make every second count in achieving your fitness goals, whether it's to lose weight, gain muscle, or sculpt washboard abs.

What your favorite workout routine? Feel free to leave a comment – we'd love to hear your workout stories!

Tagged as: exercise, fitness, gym, workout 3 Comments