This article is from the WebMD Feature Archive
Top 10 Fitness Time-Wasters
We've all done it. We give ourselves an hour to get in a workout, then end up wasting nearly half of it -- running an errand or two, getting dressed at the gym, chatting with acquaintances we bump into along the way. Even with the best intentions, you can sidetrack your progress if you don't make good use of your time. Think you might be frittering away precious fitness time? Check out what three fitness experts identified as the top 10 fitness time-wasters, and see where you can improve.
Health Tip: Exercise to Beat the Blues
Whether you've got the blues or major depression, the sweating and heart pounding from exercise can have real benefits. An exercise program can produce a real decline in depression similar to that seen in antidepressant medications, Irving Kirsch, PhD, tells WebMD. It's no replacement for treatment prescribed by your doctor, but it just might help. And the side effects -- more energy, better health, and looking good -- can't hurt.
Read the Health Tip: Exercise to Beat the Blues article > >
1. Spinning Your Wheels. When it comes to strength
training, doing too many repetitions with lighter weights equals wasting
time.
"When we're trying to build strength and build
muscles, we want to attack as many muscle fibers as possible," explains
sports conditioning coach Fiona Lockhart.
That means upping the weight and decreasing the reps: "Fifty biceps curls
might build muscular endurance but you're not going to build the strength
you're looking for," Lockhart says.
Of course, it also takes a lot more time to do 50 reps with light weights than
10 to 15 reps with more weight.
A good rule of thumb: If you're able to do more than 15 repetitions of an
exercise, it's time to increase the weight, Lockhart says.
The same is true of cardiovascular exercise. It's easy to hop on the treadmill
and type in the same speed, incline, and time every single time. But your body
gets used to it.
"If you're trying to maximize time at the gym, work at a higher intensity
for a shorter time," says Teri Trese, MS, a fitness trainer at Pritikin
Longevity Center & Spa. "If you can get and stay near 85% of your
target heart rate, you'll accomplish more for your total
fitness."
2. Failing to Plan. If you haven't been this person, you've seen her
-- wandering from machine to machine with the 100-yard stare of someone whose
mind is elsewhere.
It happens all the time, says Lockhart. You get to the
weight room and float around until you find an open machine. Then your time is
over, and you've only gotten through three or four exercises.
"Think about what you're going to do in advance, then stick with it,"
says Lockhart. "If it's cardio, then get on the treadmill or bike and
focus. Throw in some two-minute intervals."
For weight training, if you're not working with a trainer, become your
own.
"Write a list of six or eight exercises (for different muscle groups) that
you are going to accomplish in the given time," Lockhart says. "When
you have tasks, you get a better workout."
Have an alternate exercise machine in mind in case the one you want is being
used, suggests Debi Pillarella, MEd, exercise program manager for the Community
Hospital Fitness Pointe in Munster, Ind.
"You keep your metabolism stoked by keeping your body moving,"
Pillarella says. "You shouldn't rest for more than 90 seconds or your body
will go back to the pre-exercise state and you increase the risk of
injury."
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