Don’t Go to the Gym Without a Plan
You work hard for that hour in the gym; make sure it works hard for you.
A three-step plan.
I overheard a conversation in the gym this morning. Three heavily-muscled men, I hadn’t seen there before discussed the merits of high reps vs. heavy loads. All the while, they were making up their workouts on the fly.
It was the Monday following the Thanksgiving weekend, and I could appreciate that they came to the gym to work out and maybe burn some calories even if they didn’t have a plan or program in mind.
I see this a lot, especially among the younger men who come to the gym. They skip right past a proper warmup and move directly to the closest bench or machine to which they can attach at least one forty-five-pound plate and commence working some prime mover, taking long rest periods between sets, meanwhile contorting their spines as they scroll through screens on their phones.
In most cases, I assume that the exercise was taught to them by a strength coach they worked with when they participated in a sport while in high school or college. The training probably made sense when it was taught to them and was explicitly designed to maximally adapt a muscle that was a prime mover needed to excel at whatever sport they played.
The problem I often see with this approach to fitness is that the participant is now maybe ten or more years beyond their competitive sports days and might now participate casually in a club sport or a hobby like cycling or running. Still, for the most part, they are sedentary office workers whose most significant challenges have become holding off cardiovascular disease and the deleterious effects of gravity on their bodies.
That is why you want to go to the gym with a plan.
I know the typical middle-aged gym member pays a high price for their hour in the gym. I have been there. Some get to the gym at 5:30 in the morning to not cut into family time. Others escape from their workday for a brief respite, probably missing lunch. Yet others arrive in the evenings when they are already exhausted from the day’s activities.
Don’t get me wrong; just showing up requires dedication and commitment that, sadly, most people today do not possess. These precious opportunities for “me time” must be well planned in the scope of the day and executed flawlessly. One unexpected phone call or an impromptu meeting can dash the opportunity for gym time like a deadlifter dropping a three-hundred-pound bar to the floor.
Gym time is a precious commodity for most people, so why not make the most of it? Here is a three-step plan to get the most out of your gym time.
One, begin with realistic goals. Let’s face it most members of commercial gyms are no longer looking to throw a ninety mile an hour fastball or to break through the offensive line to sack a quarterback. Therefore building isolated maximal prime mover strength, size, and power serves little practical good to the typical gym member. Most should be looking at achieving realistic, functional, and more wholistic goals such as:
Lowering their risk for cardiovascular disease
Losing a few pounds of body fat
Combating the effects of gravity on their bodies ability to move properly
Two, develop a workout plan to achieve these goals. Be willing to accept that these workout plans will probably look much different from those taught by sports trainers to achieve goals unrelated to the practical ones outlined above. Do some research. It is easy to find quality integrated workouts online that include warmup stretching, balance, cardio, resistance training, and a cooldown; all neatly fit within an hour. Don’t rule out hiring a personal trainer if only for a few sessions to help you define realistic fitness goals and develop a plan to achieve them.
Three, arrive at the gym with a plan. Don’t ever show up at the gym without a workout plan or with a vague idea like leg-day. Write down your training plan, or use one of the many available apps to prompt and record your activity. Know what you want to achieve and how the program you have selected will help you get there. Make sure your program progresses loads and movement complexity at a reasonable pace and allows for proper rest. Most importantly, make it fun.
You work hard for that hour in the gym; make sure that hour works just as hard for you.
Still not sure an integrated fitness plan is right for you? Try this circuit workout.
Circuit training is an alternative to traditional cardiorespiratory exercise while producing the same results. Circuit-training programs consist of a series of strength-training exercises that clients perform consecutively with minimal rest This form of training provides strength and cardiorespiratory benefits.
■ Beginning Circuit Workout (Stabilization Level)
5–10 minutes Flexibility (foam rolling and static stretching)
5–10 minutes Stage I cardiorespiratory training (treadmill, bike, etc.)
15–20 minutes Circuit weight training (15-20 reps):
1. Ball dumbbell chest press
2. Ball dumbbell row
3. Single-leg scaption
4. Single-leg dumbbell curl
5. Single-leg triceps cable pressdowns
6. Step-up to balance
7. Rest
8. Repeat until time expires
5–10 minutes Stage I cardiorespiratory training
5–10 minutes Flexibility (foam rolling and static stretching
