It’s been about 3 years since I’ve done any training in a traditional Gym setting. I’ve been a little sheltered so to speak by having a private training facility at my disposal.
Well, as you may now know, we’ve added a Fruita location in the Fruita Gym. It’s very exciting, and also a bit of a change.
I had forgotten about the gym atmosphere. People all around moving, working, and most of them hoping to change their physique.
Along with some other observations, I noticed a few that stood out in my mind as potential roadblocks as far as physical goals are concerned.
Observation #1: No one was logging their workout. Everyone would just move from one machine or area to the next, doing their exercises.
Observation #2: The overwhelming use of machines! I’d say that 90% of the people there to workout did so primarily on a machine.
Observation #3: The group of people on the cardio equipment nearly the entire time I was in there.
Observation #4: Lots of people doing isolation exercises such as bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, etc.
I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, I was just observing and thinking that maybe some of the people in there don’t realize that there’s a better, less mind numbing, more efficient way to train!
So, if you head to the gym on a regular basis but find yourself doing it out of obligation, or are just “stuck in a rut”, I have 4 tips for you.
Try making some changes in these areas, and see if you are back on track, and enjoying your time there as an added bonus!
1. Log your workouts. There’s a saying: “Random exercise produces random results”. So, if you have a goal and are working hard to get there, wouldn’t you like a tool to see your progress? And if you aren’t having any progress, you can use it to change what you’ve been doing. I don’t know about you, but I can hardly remember what I had for dinner last night, let alone what weight and how many reps I used on every exercise from my last workout. Write it down! Not only is it useful for helping you to remember what you’re doing, but so that you can try to get better each time. If you notice you’ve been using the same weight for a few weeks in a row, try using something a little heavier the next time you’re in working out.
2. Stay away from machines. Machines really give you a crutch. They allow you to perform an exercise while taking a lot of your body’s need to brace and balance out of it. Think about it, on a leg press machine, you’re lying down. Where is the core’s need to brace and stabilize in that movement? Exercises such as squats and deadlifts are so much more efficient for burning calories, creating core strength and stability, and working many muscle groups at a time. You get way more “bang for your buck” so to speak!
3. STOP doing aerobics to lose fat! If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you know where we stand on aerobic activity for fat loss. In case you haven’t, I’ll elaborate a little. Any activity where you have to pace yourself is great…in the beginning…you burn a lot of calories in your 30 minute run. The next time, you burn less calories and have to go a little longer to achieve the same caloric expenditure. Eventually you find that what kicked your butt now is routine and not so much work. Not only that, as soon as your body has recovered from the activity (about 20 minutes later), your increased caloric expenditure is over. Unlike interval and strength training, which has been shown to burn extra calories for up to 48 hours post workout!
Also, aerobic activity triggers your body to use fat for fuel…awesome right? Well yes, however your body is an amazingly efficient “machine”. It becomes more efficient at storing fat so that it can be used for fuel. This is one of the reasons that so many people that start out with the treadmill and aerobics classes have such great results in the beginning, but hit that inevitable wall somewhere down the road.
4. Do full body or combo exercises. Isolation exercises are so “last year”. That style of training is great if you have 8 hours a week or more to spend at the gym. You can get all of your fat burning work in and do specific work to tone and define specific muscles to shape your body. But what if you live in the “real world” and don’t live to be in the gym? Well, use your 30-60 minutes doing intervals and full body exercises. Things like Push Ups, Squats, Deadlifts, Lunges, etc. will work larger muscle groups, and stimulate your metabolism like crazy!
I hope this has been informative for you! I plan on doing lots of combo video posts that take 5-15 minutes to do. One of the biggest things I notice is that the amount of time to commit to working out has decreased. Gone are the days of hitting the gym for 2 hours a day. Nowadays, it’s “I need to get in and out in 30-45 minutes.” I still recommend being able to get at least 2 strength training sessions in a week, and add in 3-4 days of interval and combo training.
Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions!
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This acronym has been a recurring theme in my life lately.
next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.” 
sometimes there’s just a few things here and there that need to be “cleaned up”.
We’re always looking for great music to keep the juices flowing, so to speak.
“A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.” 
My motto is that Muscles Are Sexy! In fact, that’s my user name for many sites. MusclesAreSexy. I think women need to get past the old stigma that heavy weights are for men only. If you want a smokin’ hot body, you need to do more than treadmills, elipticals and pink weights…oh my!
