5 Ways to Improve Your Workout Efficiency

One of the points that I keep harping on is being efficient in your training. Most of us have busy lives and can’t afford to spend all day wandering around the gym wasting precious time. We need to get into the gym, be productive, and get out.

Unfortunately that’s something you rarely see. Usually people come into the gym, start out on some sort of cardio machine, then sort of fool around for the next hour or two then wander back out. If this is you, then do you wonder why you’re not seeing the results that you want? Even if you do lift some solid weight chances are you’re spending way too much time in the gym.

By increasing your training efficiency you can gain extra time throughout your day, you’ll drop fat, and you’ll increase your work capacity. Whether you’re a competitive athlete or a weekend warrior those are all important improvements. Here are five tips that you can implement today that will speed your training and improve your workouts.


1. Plan your workout. How many times do I have to say this? Just plan out what you’re going to do before you go to the gym (or even program your weekly workouts… imagine!). If you go into the gym with a set plan, even if you need to deviate slightly, your wandering around will be cut in half. I guarantee it.

2. Superset or alternate opposite movements. Make use of your rest time between sets by performing a set of an opposite movement. Let’s say that you’re going to do Dumbbell Bench Presses and Dumbbell Rows. Rather than performing a set of presses, resting for a minute before performing another set of presses, and so on until you’re done, try alternating the exercises. Perform your set of presses, rest thirty seconds, and then perform a set of rows. Rest another thirty seconds and go back to the presses.

This alternating style of training works especially well on assistance exercises which tend to be a little higher rep and less taxing. You might be a little short of breath at first, but you’ll find within a session or two that you don’t miss a beat. Instead you’ll get your workout done in half the time and you’ll have a much higher work capacity.

As a note I don’t generally like to do this for your heavy, primary exercise of the day, especially if you’re a very strong lifter. If you’re coming in to work up to some big squat numbers, for example, then go ahead and rest a bit before your heavier sets. When you move on to your assistance work go ahead and alternate.

3. Choose “bang for your buck” exercises. An easy way to increase your efficiency is to stop messing around with a whole bunch of different exercises. Rather than coming in and hitting the usual frat boy chest workout: Barbell Flat Bench Press, Barbell Incline Bench Press, and Barbell Decline Bench Press, all for a bunch of sets followed by some sort of flye movement, come into the gym and get what you need to done. If your goal is big pecs (and really, who’s isn’t?), then pick the exercise that you feel maximizes your pec growth (Incline Dumbbell Press for me if I was worried about it), and pound that one exercise hard. You’ll get the same or better results in far less time.

Every athlete should have a “tool box” of exercises that they feel best benefit (notice I said not that they “like”) them. It may vary greatly between athletes, but as they gain experience they should be able to pick those exercises out and those are the exercises they should focus on.

4. Carry a water bottle with you. Stop walking back and forth to the water fountain. Sure, you can rest while you walk, but chances are you’re going to take far longer than you need to. Plus if you are constantly crossing back and forth in the gym that’s just inviting conversation, which can derail training efficiency like nothing else.

5. Train with a sense of urgency and stop being lazy. What’s the easiest way to be efficient? Just do it. I confess that at times this one is hard for me. I spend so much time in the gym (given that I work there) that when I’m training I can easily be distracted by members, paperwork, and everything else. Because I’m here all the time it doesn’t seem so urgent to train.

That’s some bullshit, to be honest. My best workouts are when I am (artificially or truly) pressed for time but have committed to getting all of the work I set for the day in. So to combat this I set time limits on myself and my workout. It’s this internal competition that keeps me motivated and focused.

Training should be an enjoyable activity but that doesn’t mean that it’s a lazy activity. Take up the challenge and find ways to increase your training efficiency. I’m willing to bet that not only will you enjoy the extra time but you’ll find that your training is better, too.