Reduce Training Time For Weightlifting Without Reducing Workload
We’re all busy but no one wants to cut down their training load to save time in the gym, so here are a few ways you can get through your sessions faster without reducing the work.
First… get off your f!@&%ing phone!
This alone is going to trim more time out of your session than you’ll want to admit once you see it. All those quick little things you’re doing between sets aren’t quick—and they create mental and physical transition time that adds up.
Next, don’t sit down. Once you start training, your ass should never touch anything but fresh air with obvious exceptions. You’ll naturally keep your pace quicker, rest less between sets and exercises, and stay more focused on what you’re doing.
Tell people to f!@&% off when you’re training. Don’t do it literally, unless you really want to, but make it very clear with your behavior and your demeanor that you’re there to train, not hang out.
Make sure the exercise flow in the session is smooth to minimize transition time. For example, doing snatch pulls after snatches means you can move straight into them with essentially no warm-up time or much if any mental transition. If instead you snatch, then squat, then pull, you’re adding time unnecessarily with equipment shuffling and re-warming things that were already warm before.
Along these lines, start prepping for your next exercise any way you can between sets of the current one. For example, go get that squat rack between pull sets. Get your knee sleeves on around your shins. Grab your belt.
Finally, superset what you can. This can apply even to your warm-up and prep work. For example, if you’re squatting or similar first, why not do your shoulder prehab between sets? You don’t need to have your shoulders completely ready to hold a bar on your back. If you have muscle snatches, finish up your leg and hip prep between sets.
Accessory work can nearly always be done in a circuit with little to no rest between sets and exercises. That alone cuts down a ton of time.
With other training, combine non-interfering exercises when you can—that is, add an accessory exercise between sets that won’t affect your ability to do that primary exercise well and safely. For example, don’t do your weighted back extensions between sets of pulls, but you can do your pull-ups or dumbbell presses between squat sets.
Stay focused on what you’re doing, set a timer if you need to, and get creative.
First… get off your f!@&%ing phone!
This alone is going to trim more time out of your session than you’ll want to admit once you see it. All those quick little things you’re doing between sets aren’t quick—and they create mental and physical transition time that adds up.
Next, don’t sit down. Once you start training, your ass should never touch anything but fresh air with obvious exceptions. You’ll naturally keep your pace quicker, rest less between sets and exercises, and stay more focused on what you’re doing.
Tell people to f!@&% off when you’re training. Don’t do it literally, unless you really want to, but make it very clear with your behavior and your demeanor that you’re there to train, not hang out.
Make sure the exercise flow in the session is smooth to minimize transition time. For example, doing snatch pulls after snatches means you can move straight into them with essentially no warm-up time or much if any mental transition. If instead you snatch, then squat, then pull, you’re adding time unnecessarily with equipment shuffling and re-warming things that were already warm before.
Along these lines, start prepping for your next exercise any way you can between sets of the current one. For example, go get that squat rack between pull sets. Get your knee sleeves on around your shins. Grab your belt.
Finally, superset what you can. This can apply even to your warm-up and prep work. For example, if you’re squatting or similar first, why not do your shoulder prehab between sets? You don’t need to have your shoulders completely ready to hold a bar on your back. If you have muscle snatches, finish up your leg and hip prep between sets.
Accessory work can nearly always be done in a circuit with little to no rest between sets and exercises. That alone cuts down a ton of time.
With other training, combine non-interfering exercises when you can—that is, add an accessory exercise between sets that won’t affect your ability to do that primary exercise well and safely. For example, don’t do your weighted back extensions between sets of pulls, but you can do your pull-ups or dumbbell presses between squat sets.
Stay focused on what you’re doing, set a timer if you need to, and get creative.
