It's Monday and unlike most people I know, I really don't mind Mondays. Yeah, it means my husband is back to work after the weekend, but for me, there are no weekends. And Monday means a gym day for me, with the help of my mother-in-law of course, who so graciously watches my two girls so I can get a few hours away.
That being said, I have to make the most of the time I do have in the gym since it's really not as much time as I'd like it to be. I remember the days when I could go to the gym whenever I wanted and spend upwards of two hours there. I would leave feeling totally spend and go home and probably take a nap. Gone are those days.
So instead of plugging away for hours at the gym, I have to make the most of the time I do have there. With the exception of the two hour-long spinning classes I take during the week, here is what I do to get the most out of my workouts:
1). Superset, superset, superset. Nearly every exercise I perform at the gym is done in combination with another exercise, a superset, or two, called a tri-set. By putting two exercises together, you eliminate a rest period and tax your muscles longer. Long story short, you burn more calories and get more work done in less time. Yeah, supersets and tri-sets are harder, but you get the added benefit of an elevated heart rate and less time spent in the gym. Example: on chest and back day I'll do a superset of pull-ups and some sort of push-ups--yesterday it was plyo push-ups on the BOSU... OUCH!
2). Go ahead and jump! Rope that is. I warm-up with 5-10 minutes of jumping rope and not just an easy, breezy skip. I jump, single-leg jump, double jump and pretty much run the floor all while jumping rope. You can burn upwards of 100 calories in just 10 minutes of jumping rope depending on your size and intensity. I even throw in a minute or so of jumping rope in between sets of weights to keep the calorie burn up there--every second your heart is pumping harder counts! And even through a jump rope is inexpensive and easy to carry anywhere, that doesn't have to be your only means for a short burst of cardio. Try plyometric moves like jump squats, tuck jumps, mountain climbers or any other exercise you can find on Shaun T.'s INSANITY (available here: beachbodycoach.com/jhaus33 and only if you can handle it!)
3). Save the conversation for the coffee shop. So it's nice to chat with friends at the gym or make new ones there, but sometimes people get carried away. I try to ignore people as often as possible when I'm working out. That may make me sound like a b****, but hey, I don't have time for idle chit-chat or to explain why I'm working out so hard. I'm not going to talk to you, and I'm working my a** of because I don't have a lot of time and I value what little time I do have in the gym. You start a conversation with someone and before you know it, bam--15 minutes are gone and you could have gotten through 3 supersets. Seems like a waste to me. So, if you're serious about getting your workouts in and want to make the most of the time you have, politely decline conversation with that strange dude by the leg press machine, turn on your iPod and put on your best stone-cold b**** face. Works for me every time.
4). Get some class. That's spinning class for me. I take two hour-long classes a week at the gym and in my last two classes I've burned over 800 calories in just an hour (according to my heart rate monitor). Who's to say the HRM is completely accurate, but it can't be that far off. Point is, taking a cardio class will whoop your bootie if you put in the work. The instructor plans everything for you so there's no thinking involved on your end. You just get on the bike and go. Well, it's not that easy. It's actually hard work, but if you do put in the work, the results will come. And you're not limited to just spinning. Try out whatever your gym has to offer. Odds are it's something you've never done before and wouldn't do on your own. Therefore, you're bound to burn more calories and maybe even have more fun, all usually in the space of one hour.
Moral of the story: take advantage of the time you have. Don't make the excuse, "I only have an hour." You can get so much done in an hour. You'd be surprised. Just get up and go. Don't let Monday get in your way.
