Balancing is difficult. Work, family, friends, chores… It’s not always possible to do everything, and sometimes our time to do certain tasks is very limited. So, when we’re motivated to go to the gym or practice our favorite sport, what we lack is time. These are the keys to keep in mind to make the most of our time at the gym.
Work, family, friends, chores… It’s not always possible to do everything, and sometimes our time to do certain tasks is very limited. So, when we’re motivated to go to the gym or practice our favorite sport but are short on time, Gympass trainer Martín Ezequiel del Horno gives us the keys to keep in mind to make the most of our time at the gym.
1. Make a weekly calendar and reserve time for exercise
Regardless of whether your routine changes every week or not, it can be very helpful to try to organize your time a few days in advance and identify the times when you’ll have the most free time to exercise. Also, try to define what activity you’ll do at each of those times so you’re prepared and don’t waste time once you get to the gym. “A routine can do a lot to instill healthy habits; it helps us internalize them.”
2. Focus on the moment
“If you don’t have much time to exercise, make sure you focus your attention on it when you do. That means concentrating on every movement and every repetition, both in the eccentric and concentric phases.” Practicing sports isn’t just about physical activity. “Mentally, we need to focus on it; the results and our performance won’t be the same if we’re looking at Instagram or chatting with friends while we exercise.”
3. Eat and drink something before going to the gym
Starting a workout on an empty stomach is a bad idea. Besides being contraindicated, we likely won’t get the most out of our session, regardless of whether it’s weight training or cardio. Therefore, before training, don’t forget to snack on something rich in carbohydrates and protein. That way, your brain, not just your muscles, will be able to perform better in the gym. Hydration is even more important; make sure you hydrate before, during, and after exercise.
4. Full-body workouts to stay in shape
If you’re looking to get and stay in shape, workouts that focus on targeting major muscle groups in a single session are a great option when you’re short on time: “To make the most of each session, it’s very important to manage the intensity according to the duration of the workout. That is, the shorter the duration, the higher the intensity. This can be achieved through high-intensity intermittent interval training (HIIT), achieving good results in a short amount of time.” They range from just 30 minutes to 90 minutes for the most experienced. With these circuits, you’ll primarily perform compound exercises, which cover large areas of the body and tone multiple muscles at once.
5. Exercise at home
A pair of dumbbells, a mat, and a little motivation—that’s all it takes. These days, the idea of exercising at home shouldn’t be surprising, especially considering that bodyweight-based training is a great ally for staying in shape. Add a good training app or an online class to guide you, and you can maintain your active lifestyle from the comfort of your own home. “When we exercise at home, it’s important to realize that the space where we’re going to do the session is no longer the same space where we relax. For the duration of the workout, we put on our fitness chip, and that place will become a gym for us.”
6. Don’t forget to warm up
Rushing can sometimes backfire. “We can’t expect to automatically go from 0 to 100, as we risk injury.” That’s why our trainer recommends a short, five-minute warm-up focused on the muscle groups we’re going to train. And if we’re looking to do cardio or yoga, it’s a good idea to do some general stretching to warm up the joints. “During the warm-up, it’s good to visualize the reasons that drive us to train, and with this in mind, prepare for the sport. Then, we can increase that motivation with motivating music during the exercise.”
7. Keep rest periods at bay
Just as we should limit distractions, we shouldn’t forget to regulate rest periods between exercises. Sometimes we spend more time huffing and puffing at the gym than actually exercising, which, if we’re short on time, isn’t ideal. You should never eliminate rest periods, as they’re necessary to maintain energy. Ideally, take between 30 and 60 seconds to catch your breath. Beyond that, however, we can return both our heart rate and body temperature to their normal resting levels: “It’s important to focus; this will ensure you don’t waste time taking excessive breaks or getting distracted, for example, by lying down between sets or reaching for your phone, because these behaviors will lead to a drop in performance during our training.
