Saving Time and Kicking Butt In The Gym-Part I

Alex Maroko

So, I just finished watching Entourage (great show and I seriously recommend it for anyone who doesn’t watch it by the way).

In this episode “Turtle” (a main character), was going through somewhat of a crisis.

It was his 30th birthday and as we all know, birthday’s can often make us do some soul-searching…Turtle was no different.

After 30 years of life, he looked back on what he had accomplished and didn’t like what he saw (mainly because he hadn’t accomplished anything). I would say that he felt like he had been wasting his time, not getting anything done, not making ANY moves.

Put it this way, the guy got a Ferrari -AND- a Porsche on this birthday, and still felt bad (the nerve, right?).

Now, I know one thing: I never want to feel like a time-waster. I am too motivated, too persistent and just too impatient to waste any of my time. I’m sure you feel the same way…our time is important, no question about it.

So when I or any of my athletes get in the gym for a training session, that’s one of our main focus: NOT wasting time.

We all have a million things going on in our lives: Family, friends, school, girlfriends, boyfriends, Seinfeld re-runs, etc.

The goal is always to get in, be efficient, get a ton of awesome, effective work in, then get the hell out of the gym ASAP so we can get back to the rest of our lives.

So, to make sure you’re being as efficient as possible in whatever your “gym endeavors” are, here is the first of 3 Tips To Saving Time and Kicking Butt in the gym:

1. Use Super-Sets

People lift weight in sets. 3 sets lof 10, 10 sets of 3, 10 sets of 10 (if you’re crazy and deranged), but always in sets. That’s all good and fine.

But, it becomes a problem when you spend all your time finishing all of your sets for the same exercise, before moving onto the next exercise. That’s not totally being efficient.

Did ya know you can actually get more -AND- better work done by super-setting.

A super-set just means that you do one set of one exercise, then move over to another exercise and do a set there. Then you repeat that efficient cycle for however many sets you’ve decided you need for those exercises to best progress.

By super-setting, you get more work done in less time, and you also get to reap the benefits of a little neurological trick called “reciprocal inhibition”.

All that unecessarily big word means is that when you work one muscle with one exercise, then go and work and opposing muscle in another exercise, that opposing muscle will actually be stronger because that original muscle you worked is now better able to relax (and antagonistic relaxation is BIG for beter agonist contractions).

Make sense?

Here’s an example:

1. Do tricep extensions for 10 reps

2. Do bicep curls for 10 reps.

3. Do tricep extensions for 10 reps.

Reciprocal inhibtion will have your triceps stronger in that second set of 10 reps than the first (as long as fatigue is managed).

So, when do you superset?

I always recommend to use it for all of your lifts, except your main lifts.

So for your first and heaviest lift of the day, focus only on that exercise. Get amped up for it, make progress with it, be absolutely sure you get stronger at it.

Then, for all of the other exercises following, use super-sets.

For exercise selection, try to pair exercises that work opposite muscle groups.

So, you’d super-set Cable Rows (horizontal pull) with Dumbbell Presses (horizontal push) and Lat Pulldowns (vertical pull) and Dips (vertical push).

And for rest periods, use anywhere between 30-60 seconds of rest betweens sets of each exercise, depending on what you’re target goal is (less rest for more fat loss, more rest for more strengthy/hypertrophy focus).

A sample upper body workout could look like:

(Start with a solid dynamic warm-up, followed by some effective speed/quickness work)

A. Bench Press 4 x 5

B1. Chin-Ups 3 x 8

(rest 60 seconds between each set)

B2. Dumbbell Overhead Press 3 x 10

C1. Barbell Curls 3 x 8

(rest 40 seconds between each set)

C2. Tricep Pressdowns 3 x 12

D. Plank 2 x 30 seconds (weighted if necessary)

(NOTE: When it says B1. and B2., those are just the 2 exercises you’ll be super-setting. Do a set of B1., then on to B2., then back to B1. and so on.)

That workout right there would be enormously efficient, take advantage of super-sets and make you so much stronger, as long as you stuck with it and were consistent. Simple. Efficient. Results.

This is what a lot of the workouts in the Platinum Athletic Coaching Program look like. Although I wish it were true, there’s nothing “magical” going on there. Just efficient, effective workouts based on you as an individual, that also take advantage of all the crazy training tricks, tips and secrets we now know about today, guaranteeing some terrific results.

I’ll be back on Wednesday with Part II of “Saving Time and Kicking Butt In The Gym”, but for NOW, I want to hear from YOU. Tell me what you are doing right now in your workouts to save time (and kick butt, of course).

Talk to you in the comments section.

-Alex