In relation to my last post, I wanted to extend it further to discuss how to be more time efficient when in the gym. This will allow you to get in and out in minimal time, all the while getting in a highly effective workout. When you streamline your training, will see the benefits in improved performance, results, and recovery. Even if you aren't someone who is strapped for time, implementing these rules will only serve to benefit your goals.
Eliminate excess exercises
Though I don't train at regular gyms anymore, when I did, whenever I'd go, I would see individuals performing countless sets of concentration curls, triceps kick backs, and leg extensions. Unfortunately I'll admit, I was once apart of this crowd, devoting an entire day of lifting towards arms. However, continuously implementing this exercises into your program, does more harm than good. They provide little carry over, if any at all, towards your bench, military press, squat, and deadlift and also serve to impair and delay your recovery. A good rule to follow when debating if you should be doing an exercise or not, is asking yourself if it makes you look lame or not, like the guy in the picture above.
Prioritize
In the same regards as the first tip, in order to reduce training time and amplify results, you need to learn to prioritize. Squats, deadlifts, presses, pull ups, jumps, and sprints need to be the foremost aim of your training. It should be noted that it can be argued that any exercises performed after your first 1-2 lifts, might not be worth your energy, and in relation to the first tip again, impair your recovery. Your effectiveness takes a dramatic drop off the cliff after sets of squats and Romanian deadlifts. Continuing on with more exercises with less than stellar form is a recipe for disaster. Yes assistance work is needed in order to correct imbalances and bring up weak points, but there training should never come at the expense of proper form and recovery for your main lifts. Your goals towards lifting should revolve around how much you can squat, not how much you can reverse lunge.
Also, prioritizing should take place in regards towards your running as well. Answer this, which is a better use of your time, 10-20 minutes of sprint intervals or 30 minutes to 1 hour of running on a treadmill? If you answered the treadmill, than clearly you have yet to learn anything from this post. While I won't go into the benefits of sprinting over long distance work today, as that topic is enough for another post in and of itself, it is important to recognize sprinting's benefits towards fat loss, flexibility, mobility, and strength and power gains.
Reduce Rest periods
This tip is pretty self-explanatory in regards to reducing your training time. Decrease rest periods and you'll get out of the gym faster. However, it is important to take notice that this rule shouldn't apply when training your main lift. Though I sound like a broken record, getting stronger on these is a priority, and training them with inadequate rest will only lead to poor strength results as well as injury. With these lifts keep rest periods around 2-4 minutes between sets.
When it comes to the rest of the workout however, perform the remaining exercises in a superset/circuit fashion and try to decrease the rest periods between rounds. Exact rest periods are determined by your conditioning levels and the amount of lifts performed, but anywhere from 90 seconds to Zero seconds rest should be used. Not only will this get you out of the gym faster, but it will ramp up your conditioning.
Use Body Weight exercises
When in a typical gym, you often are left to fight with other members over certain pieces of equipment. This battle can waste away a lot of crucial time in your workout. If this happens, perform the bodyweight version instead. In fact, bodyweight exercises should always have priority over any machine based exercises. Why? Well first off, bodyweight exercises are far more beneficial in carrying over towards daily life in the fact that daily life is all about moving your own bodyweight. Secondly, being able to perform multiple reps of one arm push ups is far more awesome than sitting down for 4 sets of 15 on the pec deck.
Avoid the Chit Chat
Finally, this last one should go without saying. You are at the gym to train, not small talk with any one who makes eye contact with you. You can socialize the rest of the 23 hours you're not in the gym. Your gym time should be just that, time for you.
No Nonsense Cutting of the Fat,
Kyle Bohannon, CSCS
Owner/Head Trainer
Strive Training
Cincinnati, OH
kyle@trainstrive.com
www.trainstrive.com
Presentations were given by Youngstown State's John Patrick and Willie Danzer, Joe Hashey of Synergy Athletics, Eastern Michigan's Head Strength Coach Blair Wagner, Jay Ashman of Invictus Strength and Conditioning, Tom Palumbo of Ohio State, Todd Hamer of Robert Morris, Travis Self from FITT Warehouse, Kate Rawlings of Coca Crossfit, and Mark Canella from Columbus Weightlifting. The Denison staff also gave a presentation as well as a tour of their facilities.
1C Bear Crawl 3x pick a distance
Your first priority should be addressing the areas which will be directly influencing your training goals for the day. Secondarily, you could spend time on other areas which you need more work on to bring them up to speed, regardless if they play that big of a role in the upcoming training or not. Some individuals, for example, may need to perform hip mobility drills everyday if that is a limiting factor in their training. Also to note, the exercises should progress from ground base drills to walking drills. 
Many studies have now shown that static stretching reduces power output. Because of this, an athlete shouldn't perform it before a workout, in most cases. Doing so will negatively affect performance in the workout session. However, there are also times when it is actually beneficial to the athlete. Before a squat session for example, it would be smart to statically stretch the hip flexors to allow for sitting back properly in the squat and thus achieving the proper depth, optimizing performance. Stretching of the chest and anterior deltoids could also be done. This would allow for the proper positioning of the arms on the bar. Outside of those circumstances however, I advise static stretching to be performed after the workout, preferably later on in the day of on an off day to reap the benefits of an improved range of motion.
ESPN did an interview with Anthony that they aired before his match about how he manages to succeed despite not having a right leg. One quote, which I can't recall exactly word for word what he said, was that he doesn't look and worry at what weaknesses he might have, instead, he looks at his strengths and how he can best use his strengths to ultimately win.
However, that isn't to say that higher reps are completely bad. If your goals at the time are to develop some aerobic metabolic properties in the muscular tissue, such as increased capillary and mitochondrial density, than higher reps are a useful tool. Also, as mentioned before, if your a bodybuilder prepping for a contest, the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (growth of non-contracting substance) given from higher reps can be of benefit as your contest grows closer. However, I'm gonna guess no one reading this is a bodybuilder.
During the drive home, the focus centered around how my experiences vary from other people's and how these lessons mold everyone's views and methods differently towards training and life. Often times we can get caught up in trying to perfect ourselves to the standards of others instead of perfecting ourselves to the abilities of ourselves, following our own personal owner's manual. If you focus solely on yourself, and how to maximize YOUR potential, you will reap the benefits of success.
In the same regards as the first tip, in order to reduce training time and amplify results, you need to learn to prioritize. Squats, deadlifts, presses, pull ups, jumps, and sprints need to be the foremost aim of your training. It should be noted that it can be argued that any exercises performed after your first 1-2 lifts, might not be worth your energy, and in relation to the first tip again, impair your recovery. Your effectiveness takes a dramatic drop off the cliff after sets of squats and Romanian deadlifts. Continuing on with more exercises with less than stellar form is a recipe for disaster. Yes assistance work is needed in order to correct imbalances and bring up weak points, but there training should never come at the expense of proper form and recovery for your main lifts. Your goals towards lifting should revolve around how much you can squat, not how much you can reverse lunge.
When in a typical gym, you often are left to fight with other members over certain pieces of equipment. This battle can waste away a lot of crucial time in your workout. If this happens, perform the bodyweight version instead. In fact, bodyweight exercises should always have priority over any machine based exercises. Why? Well first off, bodyweight exercises are far more beneficial in carrying over towards daily life in the fact that daily life is all about moving your own bodyweight. Secondly, being able to perform multiple reps of one arm push ups is far more awesome than sitting down for 4 sets of 15 on the pec deck.
