More workout in less time
Here goes:
1. “Move quickly from upper to lower body.”
This tip alone can save tons of time. Why sit around between sets with your muscles getting cold, your energy draining away, and your butt preventing others from using gym equipment? Do a set of pushups, then move right to lunges. When you’re done with the lunges, do some lat pulldowns, then some calf raises. You get the picture.
When I’m working out my trainee, I also change the order of the exercises so that no two workouts are the same. As she finishes a movement, I’ll announce the next movement, and we go right to it.
2. “Drop the weight.”
This tip is about performing drop sets, which I also like to call “down the rack.” It’s easy to do with machines that have weight stacks, and easy to do if you have room to line up a set of dumbbells. Do your first set (post warm-up) with the heaviest weight you’ll use for that movement that day. Do as many reps as you can with good form. Immediately drop the weight and do as many reps as you can with good form. Drop the weight again and go for it. You get the picture.
A single drop set is often all I need of a particular movement. It’s fast, and it’s effective.
3. “Work two muscle groups at once.”
This is about doing movements that involve more than one muscle group. I’m not a big fan of these exercises, but I do believe in supersetting nearby muscle groups–for example, performing a set of dumbbell front raises for the anterior deltoids, then immediately switching to bicep curls or hammer curls.
4. “Balance on one leg.”
I ought to be doing this, especially as we need exercise to maintain balance as we get older.
5. “Team up on one muscle.”
Supersets again, but this time doing multiple movements back to back for the same bodypart–say, leg presses followed by lunges.
Bottom line: by increasing intensity and refusing to waste time sitting on your duff, you can get the weight portion of your workout done in 30 to 45 minutes tops. Unless you’re a powerlifter or preparing for a bodybuilding or figure competition, you don’t need more time than that to increase strength and build muscle.
