If you plan to begin working out at a gym to get in shape and improve your health, then you may think that you must devote many hours to your workout routine every week to begin seeing results quickly. However, the truth is that you can tailor your workout to conform to your individual time constraints while still getting into shape quickly when you plan your workout in advance wisely.
Read on to learn three ways to spend less time in the gym without sacrificing your fitness results.
1. Perform Supersets When Strength Training
Every fitness routine should include not just cardiovascular exercise, but also strength training. However, many people do not feel like they have time to include strength training in their workout routines, because they think that the use of free weights and weight machines would lead to them spending too much time in the gym.
One way to complete strength training relatively quickly is to skip your usual rest time between exercise sets and instead perform supersets. To perform a weightlifting superset, perform one strength training exercise that works out one muscle or muscle group. Then, instead of resting before performing another set of repetitions, work another muscle or muscle group immediately.
By performing supersets instead of resting after every set of strength training repetitions, you can potentially shave hours off your gym time every week.
2. Work in Compound Movements When Possible
Another way to cut down on strength training time in the gym is to perform compound movements when possible. Compound movement, also called a compound exercise, involves performing two compatible exercises at once to work several muscle groups at the same time instead of separately. For example, instead of performing a set of bicep curls and then a set of lunges, you can instead perform both the bicep curls and the lunges at the same time in the form of a compound movement.
3. Opt for Interval Training
You can also save time at the gym by changing how you perform your cardiovascular exercise. While you can shorten your cardiovascular workout time without sacrificing cardiovascular health by simply exercising more intensely for a shorter period of time, some people struggle to maintain an increase in exercise intensity, especially if they are not in optimal health.
For this reason, you should consider performing interval training when you want to cut down the length of your cardio workouts without having to maintain a high-intensity workout pace for an extended period of time. One study performed revealed that 90 minutes of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can potentially improve cardiovascular fitness as much as 5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise can.
If you enjoy working out to stay in good health, but dislike spending hours in the gym, then try one or more of these three tips to reduce the time you spend in the gym without sacrificing fitness results.
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