Personal Training Answers

If you talk to almost anyone who goes to the gym to Work Out and ask them how long a good workout usually takes, they will often answer an hour to two hours, otherwise they feel that they have not pushed themselves enough.

Based on these kinds of typical responses, you can imagine how surprised many of these same people appear to be when I tell them that I only workout for 30 minutes a day, yet still get the kind of results that they do! Sometimes they will not believe a word I say.

However 30 minutes is all the time that many people have when their busy lives leave little time for work outs. One cannot describe this as being lazy but some people really do not have the time in the day to spend an hour or two in the gym.

But how can 30 minutes of exercise really give you the same results you would see if you worked for an hour or more?

To start with, make sure you have a plan for each day. Write down each exercise you will do and the weigh that you will use for each. So that you stay on track you should also write down the number of repetitions and sets you will be doing. If you use road bikes to get to work then count this towards your cardio exercise as your heart rate will be increased.

Make sure you split which parts of your body are worked each time. For example, on Monday and Thursday, do legs, arms and abs, and on Tuesday and Friday, do chest, back and shoulders. So you are doing half the exercises at a more intense level, making a shorter work out time more effective.

Try not socialising too much at the gym. You should not be rude or unfriendly but you will be distracted when talking to other gym goers. Remember, you only have so much time and 5 minutes spent talking rather than exercising is 5 minutes wasted. You can explain to people that you do not have time to talk or use headphones then people will know that you are not up for talking.

Do not mix a weights work out with cardio. On days you are not doing Weight Training, you can spend 30 minutes on the treadmill or on road bikes. This way you can do a full workout in 30 minutes. Combining the two only means you will have to spend more time in the gym and time spent in the gym is what you are trying to cut down on.