9 Ways to Stop Wasting Workout Time

You’re probably reading this because you want to work out, but you don’t want to work out. I’ve been there. We all have. Getting fit sounds great in theory, yet miserable in practice.

Although there are no shortcuts to get the body you want, you can certainly exercise more efficiently. A workout session doesn’t have to suck hours out of your day. It should take as little as 30-45 minutes if you do it right.

Here are nine tips to maximize your time working out, whether you’re running, biking, weightlifting or doing flexibility work.

Forget Your Phone

Your phone is nothing but a distraction when you’re trying to work out. Leave it in your bag or locker. You can write down or print out your routine on paper and use a watch or wearable device as a timer. If you absolutely must have your phone with you in case you get lost, kidnapped, or thrown into an intergalactic wormhole (which has happened to me twice), keep it on airplane mode. Otherwise, no phones—no excuses. Your selfies will look better after your workout, anyway.

Map It Out

Your plan doesn’t have to be perfect, but you’ll want to have some sense of what you’ll be doing before you start. This plan should always include a main routine, plus your warmup and cool-down. Just remember the F.I.T.T. principle:  

•  Frequency
•  Intensity
•  Time
•  Type

If you’re doing cardio workouts, you should know how many days a week you’ll be running, walking, dancing, swimming or cycling (frequency). Know what mile pace you want to maintain (intensity). Plan what route you’re going to run, for instance, which will dictate how many minutes you’ll likely be running (time). And, determine what kind of cardio exercise you’re doing (type). If you’re running intervals, for example, plan them out (ex. two minutes of moderate intensity, one minute of low-intensity recovery; repeat for 20 minutes).

Likewise, if you’re doing resistance training, plan in advance which exercise you want to do, how heavy your weight will be, and how long your workout will be. It can be as simple as doing 10 sets of 10 bodyweight squats four times a week.

Set the Mise-en-Scène

Once your plan is in place, it’s time to set yourself up for success. In film and theater, mise-en-scène means the arrangement of everything in the frame or on stage, including the actors, costumes, lighting, and props. For exercise, this translates to all your necessities for complete your workout. You can save plenty of time by selecting your weights selected in advance and keeping them in close proximity for a weight training workout. If you’re doing pull-ups and overhead presses in the gym, you’d need to be next to the pull-up bar and have the appropriate dumbbells next to you.

Give It 100%

Your results will only be as good as the effort you put in. This is true for exercise and anything in life, if you want to get all philosophical about it.

You want to do every physical activity you do to the fullest. So, imagine you’re running through a brick wall when you cross the finish line of your jog. Try to move the earth beneath you on every pushup. Wrap the bar around your thighs on your deadlifts. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” That’s why athletes practice like they play. Having said that, doing something is always better than nothing at all. And even when you’re going “all out,” make sure you’re exercising properly to ensure you target the right parts of your body and reduce your risk of injury.

Respect the Technique

As mentioned above, you need to exercise correctly if you want to see results. Who cares that you can squat hundreds of pounds if you can’t do a squat properly once without any weight? You should control your movements so that you feel them only in the muscles you’re targeting. Swinging your body and using momentum to assist you isn’t doing you any good because if you cheat on your workouts, you’re only cheating yourself. You probably will need to use less weight if your form is suffering. Exercising the right way will always yield the best results. Ask a fitness professional for help or watch an instructional video or if you’re ever unsure about proper technique.

Gaining Starts with Losing the Ego

You’re not at the gym to impress people. You’re exercising to stay healthy and get into the best shape you can achieve. So, don’t let your ego get in the way of your success. Starting from ground zero and doing things the right way will give you the best bang for your buck. Nobody was ever the strongest, fastest, or most flexible from day one. Good things takes time, but you’ll amaze yourself by how much you build on your progress.

Finish Super Fast with Supersets

A superset is a term that typically applies to resistance training where you perform a set of one exercise immediately after a a set of different exercise with no rest in between. For example, you can do eight pushups followed by eight seated rows. This puts your workout on steroids (figuratively) in two ways: 1) you’ll be finished much quicker and 2) you’ll shred body fat by keeping your heart rate elevated throughout each exercise.

Buddy Up

Having a partner in wellness will likely make your workouts more enjoyable. You and your partner will be motivated by each other’s presence and may push each other to achieve more. Your buddy will also boost your accountability because you’ll be much more likely to exercise if someone else expects you to show up.

Sorry, But You Didn’t Just Burn 2,000 Calories

You just completed your workout. You’re excited—and I’m excited for you. You’re probably exhausted, too. And hungry, of course. But now is not the time to undue all your progress with an oversized meal full of garbage. People routinely overestimate how many calories they burn from exercising. This junk food-to-exercise infographic helps put things in perspective.

A negative energy balance and weight loss comes from burning more calories than you consume throughout a day, not merely a brief exercise session. Be smart and refuel your body with water and quality protein and carbohydrates within 45 minutes of your workout. Greek yogurt, fruit, whole grains, eggs, fish, or poultry are good options. Remember, exercise is something you should do to improve your health and have fun. It is not justification for eating poorly. If you’re trying to lose weight, logging what you eat and adjusting accordingly will likely have a greater impact than any exercise regimen.

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