If you’re a regular gym member then you must know by now how easily a workout can slip away from your hands. One phone call or a problem from work that just can’t leave your mind is enough for you to lose the motivation and forget why you came to the gym in the first place.
Some of these distractions cannot be avoided, no matter how much we tried or wanted them to go away. Not only that but also we have to face the obvious fact that our attention span is very limited in this era of abundant information, bombarding you from left and right. It’s no easy task minding your own business when there’s so much going on anywhere you look. Instagram feed, TV shows, people throwing dumbbells, grunting… you name it.
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Luckily, there are ways in which you can stay sharp at the gym and we’re here to share them with you. All of the tricks we’re about mention here will simply remind you of why you came to the gym and what your current job is.
Now, we don’t wanna kill the mood by cutting off all the workout liberty from your disposal. If 3-hour workouts are what rows your boat then by all means, go for it. All we want to do is give some insight on the things you can do if you feel like the workouts are taking too long or if you feel like you’re easily distracted. These tips will suit anyone trying to fit a workout inside of a busy schedule, for example.
You don’t need to follow all of them to find success. Even if you develop a liking towards just one of these methods it will be sufficient to keep your focus on the workout and not the vast universe of all the distractions. We’ll speak on the topics of time management, workout tracking, and goal orientation. These are important elements of a mind focused on one thing – getting the workout done.
Keeping track of time
One of the ways you can make sure not to waste too much time in the gym is simply being mindful of the clock. Get your phone out for the right reason this time and turn that stopwatch on. If you’re of the old-school type then get your watch or just count the seconds in your head. Whatever you opt for, count the time you spend resting.
We usually don’t have a hard time focusing on the “working” part and the actual performance of sets. What comes as a problem is that time spent in between sets when we recover and get some rest. As soon as the resting time is up you go at it again, and again. Don’t let the rest period be the majority of the time you spend in the gym.
Form a habit
Working out at the same time of the day will help out if you want to stay ultra-sharp during your workouts. Not only will your body be prepared every time you get to the gym, but you will also get a sense of how long your workout ought to last. Use this hack to your advantage.
Now, the downside of this method is that a lot of people cannot afford to go to the gym at the same time every single day. Our schedules vary more often than not. However, if you have the luxury to do so then it will greatly help you out. Don’t worry if you can’t make it every single day. Even just a couple of days a week at the same time will make a difference.
After having spent so much time doing the same thing over and over again, you will spontaneously feel when it’s time to get on with the workout or call it a day.
Goal-oriented work
What this basically means is counting the weight, reps, and sets. Before any type of workout, you want to set yourself a goal. Tell yourself “Today I’m going to do X amount of this exercise” or “I’m going to jog for 15 minutes”. Whatever the goal is you follow it. Once you accomplish your goal feel free to spend the rest of your time any way you want. You got what you came for.
Be mindful of the goals you’re setting yourself. If you set the bar too low then you simply won’t squeeze the most out of your workout and it won’t come as a challenge nor will it be satisfying. On the other hand, you don’t want to be disappointed in yourself so don’t go on thinking you’ll lift the whole gym up. Try to be realistic and settle for something attainable.
If you had a long day at work don’t expect your productivity to be off the charts. The same goes if you didn’t sleep well last night. Take these micro-elements into account when forming your daily goals at the gym.
Conclusion
Just telling yourself “don’t talk to others” or “don’t watch that show now” isn’t always gonna help you out. It’s more like self-sabotage than self-help, really. Sometimes our conscious effort which comes by instinct can only drag us further away from what we want.
What you want to do when a workout starts slipping away from you is quite simple but we tend to neglect the simplest of things. Start counting the time you spend in between your sets, think of how many reps you have left to finish the exercises you chose. Focus on these details to keep your mind focused.
These hacks do remind us a little bit of meditation. That is not without a reason. Meditation revolves around repetition, it’s just that in our case we repeat numbers and not something else (i.e. sentences). That’s one of the few things we can do if we want to center our line of thought which is otherwise wild and chaotic.
As always, thank you for your time.
