How to Adapt your gym Routine to the Current Restrictions

With the current restrictions that have been imposed on us all by the current Covid-19 crisis, you must now book your gym session in advance and each of those sessions can only last a maximum of 50 minutes. We also ask you to spend more time cleaning the equipment down after you’ve finished using it, taking up valuable work out time and interrupting your gym routine. Now, we know that many of you prefer to work out for significantly longer than this usually, so can you still make sure you get the most out of each 50 minute gym session?

Well, the answer, of course, is yes. With just a little bit of creativity and adding a touch of efficiency to your gym routine, you’ll be able to get just as much out of each gym session as you did pre-lockdown. Therefore, we’ve put together a guide to help you get the most out of each session you attend. Just follow these steps and you won’t miss a beat.

Adapting your gym Routine

There are a number of ways you can make sure you’re still getting the most out of your gym routine. Here, we’ve come up with a number of tips to help make sure you still get the same amount of benefit from a shorter gym session.

Use Just one Piece of kit

This could be anything. It could be the cable machine, two to three barbells of different weights, or maybe a selection of dumbbells. If you limit the amount of equipment you use for your workout, you will reduce the amount time you spend cleaning and moving around the gym. To get exercising, select your machine or barbell of choice, find a safe spot and begin.

• A seated row on a resistance machine is equivalent to a bent over row with dumbbells
• The leg press machine can be simulated by doing squats or lunges while holding barbells
• If you’d like to emulate the chest press machine using free weights, then you can do a laying barbell bench press
• The bicep curl machine is easily copied by just using doing some bicep curls using barbells instead
• Lastly, instead of doing a tricep rope pull, you can do laying tricep extension with dumbbells instead

Cardio gym Sessions

Rather than doing just one long cardio gym session, how about giving intervals a go? Don’t be put off by the word ‘interval’, however. This may often be linked to crazy, fast-paced killer workouts, but it can also be simply increasing the incline on the treadmill by 1.0 for a period of time, or increasing the effort level slightly or by upping your speed. You’ll get far more benefit from training like this and also allow you to fit everything into the time you have. Simple adaptations to your gym routine such as this can make the world of difference.

Types of Cardio gym Sessions

Remember, just because you’re in the gym doesn’t mean your cardio training has to be on a machine. If you’re doing interval training or other conditioning work, try doing some body weight cardio exercises. This will save time putting away kit and moving to new space and equipment which only needs to be cleaned again after using it.

Style of Training: Ditch the Rest!

Instead of moving from one piece of kit to another and sitting for ages between set try super sets or circuits.

• Super sets: try pairing muscle group so instead of resting between every exercise put two exercises together. This will reduce recovery time, keep the heart rate elevated, as well as increase calorie burn and general fitness.

You can be as creative as you like as long as you are working different muscle groups.

Circuits

Get some bits of equipment in a space and run though a selection of exercises. These should be based on the muscles you wish to target.

Go with a plan for your Gym Session

Always plan what you are going to do in your sessions as part of your gym routine. Don’t drift from one thing to another and commit to your workout.