How to Workout in a Busy Gym

By Shawn Horwood On December 16, 2009 Under General Fitness, Muscle Building

Busy gyms always suck. People stand in the way, talking or doing useless exercises. This space they’re wasting could be used by you to do your valuable exercises. These gyms are a big problem and here is a workout that will help you find an effective way to work your fat away without having to worry about people wasting your space.

This workout enables you to keep your space between exercises by using exercises tat can be done with the same bench and same weights. You get to stay in one spot and do your exercise, get lean and lose fat without having the problem of people getting in your way and slowing you down.

With this workout you will be alternating between A and B with 1 day rest between sessions giving you 3 days a week to workout.

Week 1- A, B, A schedule

Week 2- aB, A ,B schedule

Week 3- A, B, A schedule

Week 4- aB, A, B

With each pair of exercises you will do a set of the first exercise immediately followed by the next. It will look like this- 1A, 1B, 1 minute rest, 1A, 1B, 1 minute rest, 1A, 1B We will refer to each set of 1A, 1B a superset. Each superset will need to be repeated a total of three sets of each pair before you move on to the next pair.

When lifting each weight, take 2 seconds to lower the weight, take a small break less than a second, take 1 second to lift the weight. This is a 2-0-1

After each workout stretch but only stretch the muscle groups that are tight.

Warm-Up

- 10 repetitions of bodyweight squats or step-ups

-20 seconds for the plank

-8 repetitions of kneeling pushups of regular pushups

-10 repetitions of inverted bodyweight rowing exercise or band pull

Do this circuit 2 times using a 2-0-1 tempo.

For each exercise in the superset, do 2 warm-up sets. 1 set of 8 repetitions with 50 % of the weight that you plan to use in the actual workout set. The second warm-up set use 75% of the weight you plan to use in the actual workout set.

If you are pressed for time you can reduce the sets in the workout but be sure to ALWAYS perform the whole warm-up to avoid injury.

Interval Training Guidelines

This form of working out has been shown to be a very effective way to lose fat. It is a good idea to use a stationary bike because it make the transitions between the workout and recovery easy.

Beginner Interval Workout:

- Warm-up for 5- minutes

- 1 interval lasting 30 seconds at 7/10 intensity. Something like fast walking is good for this part.

- 90 seconds at a slow pace with 3/10 intensity. Slow walking works well for this “rest period”

-Repeat for 3-6 interval repetitions finishing it with 5-10 minutes at 4/10 intensity. This is a moderate intensity for a cool down.

Advanced interval Workout

-Warm up for 5-10 minutes

-1 interval lasting 30 seconds at 9/10 intensity.

-60 seconds at a slow pace at 3/10 intensity.

-Repeat for 3-6 interval repetitions finishing with 5-10 minutes at 4/10 intensity.

Workout A

1A) Low-Incline DB Chest Press (8 reps)

-Set the incline to one notch above the flat-bench position.

1B) DB or Barbell Romanian Deadlift ( 8 reps)

-Keep your lower back naturally arched for the entire movement.

-Rest 1 minute and then go back to 1A.

-Do this superset 3 times and then move on to the next superset.

2A) DB close-grip chest press (8 reps)

-Push the dumbbells straight up, not together.

2B) DB rear-deltoid lateral raise (8 reps)

-Keep a tight arch in lower back and lean forward as far as possible.

-Perform this exercise extra slowly so that you don’t use momentum.

-Rest 1 minute and then go back to 2A

-Do this superset 3 times and then move to the next superset.

3A) Elevated Push-up (12 reps per side)

-Place on hand on a 4-inch step or box and lower your body as far as possible.

3B) Stability ball rollout (15 reps)

-Keep your body in a straight line at all times, don’t allow your back to round or bend backwards.

 As a quick disclaimer, I didn’t come up with this myself. I sort of “stole” this from Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training program.

If you want to get a lot more information like this & more in-depth explanations of this kind of thing, then I highly recommend his Turbulence Training program.

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Shawn Horwood