Do I Have Enough Time To Work-Out?

The phrase "I don't have enough time" is a common excuse that many people use. Let's stop lying to ourselves. The average person watches over four hours and 15 min. of TV per day. We have enough time. But the question is where are your priorities? With the promise of all the latest technology simplifying and perfecting our life, I just don't see it. With computers, high speed internet, e-mail, Blackberries, Palm Pilots, microwaves, meal replacements, and all the latest and greatest innovations, we seem to be more stressed; less fit, and have less time than ever. But the good news is that you do have enough time for an effective work-out routine when you utilize a well thought out proven system.

The playing field is precisely even for everyone, we all have 1,440 minutes in a day. Whether you are black, white, yellow, rich, poor, healthy or sick, it's the same for every-one. What is not the same is our perception of time, which everyone has a different view or focus on. How much time you perceive that you have is dependent on what you focus on.

Let's take two people, A and B. A is stuck in a major traffic jam and is over 30 minutes late for an incredibly important business meeting. Ten minutes seems like 14 hours. B, who loves to gamble, has not gambled for a long time (because he's been too busy) and is at the craps table with his friends. He hits a lucky streak. Before you know it, 14 hours go by, but he's having so much fun that it seemed like 30 minutes. How is it that A and B's perception of time was different? We all have plenty of time to take care of ourselves, our family and friends, and our businesses. Maybe if we can focus on things optimistically and have fun and be outrageous occasionally, we will find that time will stand still and we can get more accomplished. Try this approach and see if you don't get more done in your 1,440 minutes.

Time is the most precious resource that we have. Most consistent gym members are wasting their time with their work-outs. The #1 reason is because the do not have a precise plan.

The above mental strategies and the following exercise information will allow you to become incredibly efficient with your work-out routine. An effective routine when done properly should only take 3-4 one hour work-outs per week.

SPECIFICS ON TRAINING DAYS

Have a sense of urgency!! Go to the gym with your specific workout written down. Warm your body and your mind up for 5-10 minutes on low-intensity cardio. Hit the weights hard for 55-60 minutes, implementing stretching and lengthening target muscles in between sets for the last 30 minutes of the workout.

The training system that has evolved through training myself for the last 21 years, and over 60 client hours a week for the last four years, is centered around getting the best workout of your life in the shortest amount of time. Have a specific plan of action, a routine. Take pictures, body-comp and measurements for a starting point. Stay consistent with the routine for a designated amount of time, then retest. This is the only way you will ever be able to decide what works and what does not work.

SPLITS (WHAT BODY PARTS ON WHAT DAYS)

1. Entry Level - No weight training experience.

2. Intermediate Level - Weight training for six months.

3. Advanced Level - Weight training for 12 months or more.

4. Body-building Level - Training for a competition, option A.

5. Body-building Level-Training for a competition, option B

Choose the above category that applies to you and follow the corresponding routine below for 12 weeks. If you feel a split is getting stale, move up to the next group.

For time efficiency, instead of doing 2-5 sets of the same exercise and resting between each set, we do one set for each muscle group until we are through all the muscles in that workout, with only as much time between sets as it takes to get to the next station.

1. You have one workout that is full-body. Use basic compound movements and keep sequence of exercise such that you use different muscle groups than the last movement.

2. You have two workouts. First workout is chest and back and second workout is legs and shoulders.

3. You have three workouts. First workout is chest and biceps, second workout is back and triceps and third workout is legs and shoulders.

4. You have four workouts. First workout is chest and shoulder lateral, second workout is back and traps, third workout is arms and fourth workout is legs and shoulder press.

5. You have five workouts. First is chest, second is back, third is legs, fourth is
shoulders, fifth is arms.

In groups four and five, when you have fewer body-parts per workout, utilize abdominal exercises and stretching between sets.

Always stay with rotation and do the workout that is the freshest. Use circuit style workout (no rest between sets).

The sequence of exercises is such that we take advantage of the push/pull working opposing muscles mindset. Example: chest/back, biceps/triceps, quads/hams, chest press/shoulder lateral, etc.

The above splits were designed taking advantage of the contract/relax phenomenon. I have proven to myself and several clients that we can almost immediately see improvement in flexibility and range of motion, especially hamstrings, when we aggressively contract a muscle (neurologically forcing the opposing muscle to relax) for 5-7 seconds then relax and increase range of motion. This is exciting, taking in to account that extensive progress was noted in six weeks versus two and three years of no progress with traditional-type stretching.

SETS AND REPS

For groups 1-3, do two or three sets, 12-15 reps per set. Groups four and five can do three or four sets per body part, 8-10 reps per set. I believe that we tend to get ourselves into some negative habits when we count reps and sets. True, we do need a general guide-line, but I would rather you try to find the last quality repetition with perfect form, then end the set with a slow, six-second negative. Our motto in the gym is don't count the reps, just find the perfect last three. I tell my clients that anyone can do the first ¾ of the set, but it takes some guts, intensity and focus to get the last 1/4. If you want your body to change, the last ¼ of the set is the only portion of the set that matters. Try to master the art of going to absolute failure with perfect form.

UNIQUE TECHNIQUES

Forcing your body to gain muscle and lose fat is more about giving the muscles different stresses utilizing unique techniques from a variety of angles than it is about pushing heavier weight with the same movements.

For a majority of my exercises (3/4 of the time), I use a "slow go" mentality on repetition tempo: a three-second eccentric (negative), with a two-second isometric squeeze in the contracted position, followed by a three-second concentric (positive).

The touch technique is one in which your trainer or partner physically touches you in the targeted muscle group, allowing you to feel and squeeze the muscle more. While using this technique, try to relax all other muscle groups while focusing on contracting and squeezing near their fingers. If you have no partner, use a mirror and visualize squeezing water out of a sponge during each contraction. This technique works very well for calves and biceps.

Use a minimum range of motion. Staying in top ½, bottom ½, or midrange of motion never lets the muscle relax

Do six quick pulses in a limited range of motion at the end of set.

Use a drop set after a 10 second rest on the last set.

Most of the unique techniques I have developed come from that "I can run through a brick wall mentality" athletic mindset. The goal is to try and get some different feeling in the focus muscle at the end of each set. If it feels good, do it!! If it does not, trash it and try something else.

High reps, low reps. High carbs, low carbs. Fast pace, slow pace. Weight training three times a week, weight training six times a week. High intensity interval cardio, low intensity long duration, no cardio. Are you confused? Here is a hint: The common thread with all the super-achievers in the drug-free for life body building world is not physical, it's mental.

To sum it all up, passion, persistence and intense desire are the words that come to mind when trying to pick traits that are necessary to radically transform your body. Stay open-minded long enough to gather different ideas from successful sources, and close-minded long enough to focus like a laser for a 12 week stretch utilizing one specific strategy at a time.

It is possible to become more fit, lean, energetic and healthy with a well thought out, time efficient work-out routine. Three to five hours per week is all it should take with this plan.

With all the technology and the speed of information, today is the most stressed and the most unfit mankind has ever been. It seems that the more things we acquire, the more unhappy and unhealthy we become. It is possible to become more fit, lean, energetic and healthy with a well thought out, time efficient work-out routine.

Author About:
Darin Steen, the "Trainers Trainer" is America's Top Fat loss, Healthy Lifestyle Coach. A best selling Author, drug-free for life professional Bodybuilder, Personal trainer, Motivational Speaker, and family man, he is an expert on fat loss, fitness, gaining muscle, and aging gracefully.

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