I love the January rush in the gym, for 1 main reason = more people doing good things for their health. However, I know how frustrating it is when you rock up to do your program, anddd you can’t get on a single piece of kit you had planned.
Here are a few tips of mine to help you get in and out of your busy gym in January without the stress, or having to skip your workout altogether!
ASK the person using the piece of equipment you need to use next to see how long they have left, or whether they wouldn’t mind sharing while they rest. Most people won’t mind (I don’t!) & if they do…#permissiontogivethemevils
ADAPT your program around what’s available. If you’ve got Deadlifts up first but can’t get onto a platform, move onto the next exercise and go back to it later.
CHERRY PICK your program a bit. While you might not be able to do all of the exercises set on your plan, you might be able to pick exercises from other workouts to do. While this might be frustrating as it’s not what you planned to do, it’s better than nothing. However, I do not encourage cherry-picking as a long term solution! It would help if you tried to stick to your training plan as best as possible, as consistency and progressive overload enable you to progress.
CONDENSE your workout. Let’s say you’ve got 3 exercises, all single sets, for example: 3 x 8 squats rest 60secs in between sets 3 x 5-10 press-ups rest 60secs in between sets 3 x 12 bicep curls rest 60secs. You could pair all 3 exercises together and perform a tri-set. For example: 1 x 8 reps of squats, 5-10 press-ups, 12 bicep curls -> rest 90secs then repeat x 2 You are doing the same amount of work, but you are condensing the time spent.
SWITCH UP the equipment you use. Let’s say you need a barbell, but you can’t your hands on one; instead of a barbell back squat, you could do a dumbbell goblet squat instead. If you can’t get the pair of 5kg dumbbells you need for bicep curls; you could do cable curls instead. While this takes a bit of experience and confidence, it’s a great way to learn how to do the same exercises on different pieces of kit!
CHANGE YOUR MODALITY! Ok, I appreciate entirely sometimes the thought of all of the above is all too much. You get to the gym, it’s packed, and the idea of not being able to do what you set out to do makes you feel anxious and mentally exhausted? It might help to change your modality to buy you some time! Let’s say you set out to do your strength training program, and the free weights area is just too busy even to attempt to start, let alone finish. However, the cardio area is quiet, head there instead. Perhaps make your workout a cardio-based session instead. It might not be the session you planned to do, but at least you’ve done ‘something’ rather than nothing.
DON’T WORRY! It’s so easy to work yourself up, stress yourself out, and end up in a negative downward spiral of thoughts. The gym will not always be this busy (trust me, I’ve worked in the industry for 9 years now, it will get quieter). Take a moment to look around, smile at the new faces, embrace the motivating energy in the room, and remind yourself that you were once a newbie too. Remember, it takes a while to find your feet in the gym, be courteous of those who haven’t found there’s yet!
I hope this helps!
A happy new year and happy training in 2020!! ? Love, Angi ?x
Ps. If you’re looking for a new training program to follow this year, take a look at my program only membership peach club ?
