Normally if I have time I will go to the gym with the idea of overworking just a single part of my body or just one or two. Other days, normally the days where I don't have a lot of time or don't really feel like going to the gym at all, I will hit the gym and just work almost everything on lighter weights than I would normally use on a "power lift" day. This is only because my head is not in the fitness game that day, or so I think, and because I need to get in, get it done, and get out.
I just want to remind my body that it isn't getting a break, and the muscles are still going to have to work that day.
This can be accomplished in almost any gym and it works perfectly for the rather small and ill-equipped gym that exists in my building. It's actually kind of perfect for it because I just have to go up a few floors and there is almost never anyone in there. Given the not-so-great state of my building's gym, I think that most people should be able to find this stuff in any gym, especially if they have one of those "universal machines" that so many gyms tend to have.
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Normally, because I am a man, I will start on a flat bench doing about 70% of my max. I don't have a number of reps in my mind when I lie down but mostly I just aim for doing as many as I can. This is much safer on a machine because since my workouts of this sort are normally done on my own, I can bail out at any time and not get trapped under a bar. If your gym doesn't have a bench, I would steer away from doing dumb-bell press ups because injury is far more prevalent using that method and you really should have a spotter if you are going to do this effectively. Just do pushups (PROPERLY) if you don't have the machine.
Moving on the biceps are really easy to do provided that your gym has a range of weights and in these fast-forward sessions I like to do drop sets using one set that is at about 80% my max, then the two smaller weights after that.
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I, and any trainer worth their salt, agree that doing these in a seated and slightly leaned-back position is he best way to do this because it will engage the entire bicep area and it also reduces the amount of cheating using back and shoulders that tends to happen when someone is doing standing curls. If you don't have a seat in your gym, try to focus on keeping your elbow in the same place. If you have to "cheat" in order to get the weight into the top position - you are probably attempting to lift too much. In a drop-set, you do as many as you can of the heaviest weight, then without a long break immediately switch to the next lower weight until you can't do more of those, then you move on to the last and lightest weight. It might surprise you how difficult the light weights are when you get to them. For me, it is hard! And this is the idea.
You don't have to do a ton of these sets. Some days when I am pressed for time I only do one set.
For shoulders do lateral raises. There are stories out there about how the cable machines are better at enforcing proper movement, but small gyms tend to not have these machines so just use the brain technique when you are doing this exercise.
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If you are focused on technique, and you should be, you shouldn't be jump lifting the weights to the top position. In an effective lift you will be able to slowly lift the weights to the top position and perhaps even hold them there for a few seconds before dropping the weights back to your side. If you are "jumping" the weights up there is a very good chance you are engaging other muscle groups including and especially your lower back. This is something you should try to avoid. I always say that form is much more important that weight, so try to focus on this if you can. 3 sets of this is enough for the pressed-for-time weightlifter.
Next we move to back and this can be tough if your gym doesn't have a lateral pull down or row apparatus of some sort. For the sake of this article I'll just presume your gym does have it because it is one of the most common types of machines in all gyms. I prefer rows and this isn't for any particular reason other than the fact that it doesn't involve the shoulders in the motion, which we already did with the lateral raises.
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When doing rows you should always try to keep your back straight. A little bit of lean-back is expected and hard to avoid, but just be conscious of this and avoid it as much as possible. Even if you are young it is important to keep our lower back out of the equation as much as possible. Trust me on this young-bloods, you do NOT want to have lower back problems later in life. Once again there is no number of sets in mind or even number of reps. I will normally load the machine at 70-80% and just do as many as I can. If I am doing too many, since I am pressed for time here, I will step the weight up for the next set. There is no magic number in reps but most people aim for 8-12 since this is an established number on how you can be most effective with minimal chance of injury.
To round out my around 30-minute quick workout I will normally finish with triceps. If your gym has a lat-pulldown machine you are in luck because that is also the same movement we are looking for with tricep pulldowns. Let's just not try to be a hero and use the same weight stack we were using for our rows.
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If you are lucky, your gym will have a rope attachment of some sort but if they do not, just use the bar. Sure the rope is considerably more effective but we can't use something we don't have. My gym does not have a rope attachment for the machine so I just use the lat bar. Once again it is important that we focus on the body part that we are actually meant to be exercising so keep your back straight and focus on ONLY moving your arms during the movement. Like almost any exercise, if you find yourself needing to jump through certain parts of the motion or compensate with other muscle groups, you are attempting to lift too much. Just step it back, this isn't a competition.
You will notice that I have nothing in there for legs and no, I am not a guy that skips leg day. I just realize that most small gyms if they are going to skip anything for the sake of saving money, it is going to be the leg machines. All of these machines are incredibly expensive so the first thing to go is going to be leg-oriented machines or equipment. Maybe just do some squats in front of the TV later on that day or go for a short run if you have time.
This is the sort of gym session I do on days where I "don't have time" or I am not feeling like going to the gym at all. Even though it is a weak session, it is still infinitely better than not going to the gym at all. We all have 30 minutes to sweat in a day, right?
I made a lot of mistakes in my life in regards to fitness, but I turned it around in my 40's, lost 50 lbs, and am stronger now than I have ever been before. I believe that if I can do it, that tons of other people out there can as well