Are you Wasting your Gym Time?
With the normal response to “how often should I train?” being 3 times per week and 1 hour at a time, and a more recent response being 30 minutes everyday, it can be confusing to know what is really required to get the results you want.
Time Wasting
I have spent a lot of time in the gym (some would say too much – Beeble) and have seen how the majority of people use their allotted hour. On average I would say that about half an hour is wasted in most people’s training. Rest periods between exercises and sets are too long, socializing, whilst good, can distract from the job at hand and finally time is wasted by not giving the exercises you do 100% of your effort. All these can use up valuable gym time and result in you being at the gym for longer than necessary.
No Socializing
The gym should not be considered a social event; you should be in and out in a maximum of an hour. That is not including changing or showering. The mind knows how to make training easier and by socializing it knows it is saving you from the “torture” of training. However you should notice when this happens, take control of the situation, explain to your fellow excuse-finder that you must not cool down and need to press on with your training. If this feels too abrupt for you you can arrange to meet them afterwards to have a good catch up (don’t start getting the diary’s out though – Beeble). You see gym time should be 100% focus, that way you stand to gain maximum benefits from your training and really the most important part of training is to achieve the goals you set for yourself.
Reduce Rest Periods
Another way for your mind to cheat you from achieving your goals is to increase your rest periods from a reasonable length of time to a length where you have cooled down too much. You may not even realise that you are resting too much and may think that your rest time is just right. My advice is to make sure you have a stopwatch or timer on you to keep the rest periods to the right amount.
How Much Rest Time Should I Have?
Rest time all depends on your goals and very basically can be broken down into these 3 phases:
- Phase 1: Maximum Cardiovascular gains, Fat loss, Toning
- Phase 2: Muscle Gain, Average Cardiovascular gains
- Phase 3: Strength Gain, Specialized training
It should be noted that these phases cross into each other and you do get all the gains in every phase but the level of gain varies. The phases show where you get the maximum gains for that goal. Also there are very different training techniques for each phase but that is a whole other subject that I will have to cover another time. We are only concentrating on rest times at the moment.
Phase1: If you are training to lose weight and tone up then quite simply you are going to have the least amount of rest time than anyone. To maximise your gains you have to keep the heart rate up and so long rest periods are detrimental to this. Therefore between exercises and sets you should have no more than 30 seconds rest.
Phase 2: If you are trying to gain muscle mass and achieve the optimum results in your training then you will have more rest period than in phase 1 but not by much. The extra time will allow your muscles to recover ready for the next set, ready to give it their best, but not so much that you have cooled down completely. For phase 2 you need to give yourself between 30 seconds and 1 minute rest between sets and exercises.
Phase 3: If you are primarily trying to increase strength then you will be glad to know that you get most rest time. However the chances of reducing your body fat will be relatively small. You do this type of training because being strong in short burst is your primary goal. During this exercise style you will be moving very heavy weights with very few repetitions and to allow your muscles to fully recover before the next set you will need more than 2 minutes rest.
If you are a phase 1 exerciser then you should be able to greatly reduce your time in the gym and still complete your usual workout routine. This makes your time in the gym much more efficient. However there is on final point that we need to address and that is the amount of effort you put into your training whilst at the gym.
Effort
Phase 2 and 3 exercisers tend to be gym nuts and so their drive is not usually in question. This section is primarily directed at the most popular phase 1. If you have paid attention so far you will more than likely be reducing your rest time, but reduced rest time is no good if when you are exercising you are not putting in the right amount of effort to achieve your goals. This problem happens more and more and I witnessed it at one of the gyms I worked at. The person in question had come to the gym after work. He climbed aboard the reclined or recumbent bike with the evening newspaper. For the next hour or so he quite happily read his paper and peddled no faster than a tortoise could run a marathon with a cast on its leg. After this rather less than vigorous workout he got off had a shower and went home. Now this is one extreme but in my opinion his exercise was a complete waste of time.
How Hard Should I Push Myself?
There are several ways to measure this but I am going to cover 2 main ones that should be accessible to nearly everyone. The first is to buy a heart rate monitor, this allows you to make sure that you are putting the right amount of effort all the time. Heart rate monitors come in all shapes and sizes but the best ones come as a chest strap and watch combination (click here to see some examples – Beeble). Once you have got the chest strap in the right position and the watch is registering your heart rate then you need to work out what level you need.
Measure Your Heart Rate
Levels can vary for different goals and the heart rate monitor should come with explanations on heart rate levels. Basically, to make sure you are putting in enough effort to get the results you want you need to be training between 65 an 80 % of your maximum heart rate. To workout your maximum heart rate you need to take your age in years away from the number 220. The answer will give you the maximum rate at which your heart can beat (don’t try and train at this level it will hurt and could lead to an accident – Beeble). Now you need to calculate what is 65 to 80% of this. So multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.65 for 65% (great, maths class all over again – Beeble) and 0.80 for 80%. The whole calculation looks like this (220-your age) x (workout % / 100). Once you have this number you will know that if your heart rate drops below you will need to increase the intensity and if it goes above you will need to reduce the intensity.
It’s Free with PRE
The second way works using the same method but whilst heart rate monitors can cost money this way is completely free. It is called perceived rate of exertion (PRE). It uses a scale of 1 to 10 and is based on your own feelings of how hard you are pushing yourself. On the scale 1 is the equivalent of as close to nothing as you can possibly be whilst doing something. It basically feels very easy and you could do it all day. At the other extreme we have a 10 which will have you working out so hard and at such a high level that you will feel pain, a desperate need to throw up and possibly pass out (don’t worry, no-one should be able to exercise at this level – Beeble). So you need to be working out at the equivalent level of a 7 which should feel uncomfortable and create a shortness of breath and some sweating. The quick ones of you may have picked up that the 7 out of 10 is 70% which should feel the same as working out at 70% of you maximum heart rate.
Numbers Don’t Lie!
In my opinion, while the PRE way is good, I know that the body likes to cheat and so it can become tempting to trick yourself into believing that working out at a 5 is actually a 7 whereas with the heart rate monitor the numbers don’t lie! So if you can part with a small amount of money the heart rate monitor is a fantastic purchase.
….and a Warning
While you are training at these more intense levels it is important for you to reach your goals whatever they may be. However there are certain situations that whilst exercise can help, very intense exercise may cause more problems. For example high blood pressure will require you to workout with less intensity and any injuries may require you to rest or to exercise at a much lower intensity.
Be Safe
In my opinion life is precious and so always be cautious and check with your doctor what is the best intensity for your workout. Everyone has their own individual circumstances so although my advice is for Mr. and Mrs. Average it is very rare that they exist. So be safe and always get an individual opinion on your situation. If whilst using a heart rate monitor or using PRE you find that your heart rate shoots up very quickly, or you feel faint please be sensible and stop exercising and have a check up with your doctor.
Summary
Most of us are guilty of taking the easy option and sticking to the bits of equipment we like the most and keeping within our comfort zone and not pushing ourselves hard enough. Why not try reducing your rest periods and pushing yourself a little harder and I guarantee you will see quicker results. As a little side note why not tackle that piece of equipment that you hate or have been avoiding? You may be surprised to learn that you could reach your goals quicker by doing things that the body and mind find more difficult!
Good luck and above all be safe!
October 9th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
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