Most people have extremely busy lifestyles and spending a ton of time in the gym isn’t something that is reasonable for most. Over the years I have been working on developing a workout structure that shortens my own gym time while providing fantastic results. Helping others do the same is one aspect of my business and I wanted to share my top 5 ways to get real results while spending less time working out.
1. The right workout structure is key. A combination of resistance training and cardiovascular exercise is extremely efficient if followed correctly. When a person only does cardio, they don’t get any of the advantages that come with doing resistance training. By adding in a consistent resistance training routine you can significantly decrease the amount of time spent working out.
2. Mixing your cardio up and implementing a combination of both steady state cardio and interval training can be very effective. Personally, I never spend more than 20 minutes doing cardio and I don’t ask my clients to do so either. Interval training can be quite taxing on the body similarly to resistance training, so I generally recommended doing interval training 2–3 times per week. In many cases this is plenty of cardio for someone looking to get fit as long as they are also implementing resistance training into their routine.
3. Constantly challenging your body and stepping outside your comfort zone is also very important. I’m in and out of the gym in under an hour but I’m very focused while I’m there. In order to get in and out this quickly while still getting in a solid workout you just maximize your time while there. This includes remaining laser focused on pushing yourself while avoiding the act of simply going through the motions during your workouts.
4. When you implement a routine of lifting fairly heavy weights you don’t need to spend more than 20–25 minutes in the weight room. I generally do 5–6 exercises with each workout and then I always do my cardio afterwards. This has been shown to provide a better overall fat burn and keeps my workouts short. Most people do cardio first, but because resistance training empties glycogen stores (our body’s first source of fuel) more efficiently, you spend more time in fat burning mode when you do your resistance training first.
5. Interval training and resistance training both result in an after-burn effect which increases a person’s metabolism and allows them to burn more calories at rest. When the workout structure is set up to emphasize this there is no reason to spend hours and hours in the gym.
Ultimately most of us want to spend less time working out. We live in an extremely busy world and in order to get healthy and stay healthy we must make a commitment to our health and fitness. But when we go about it intelligently and follow the right workout structure, it eliminates the need to spend a ton of extra time in the gym and allows us to allocate that precious time elsewhere.