Most people go to the gym, 2 to 3 times a week, going through the motions of some program they read about in the latest Shape Magazine or simply making sure they get the treadmill that has the t.v. screen on it so they can watch Oprah while they walk at 3.4 mph.  Or maybe they like to catch up on all the latest gossip with their friends, taking 5 minutes between each set to find out who was out with who last night, or how many poopy diapers their child had yesterday, or how irritating the new boss is.
Yes, there’s a time for catching up with friends, but I’m here to tell you that your precious, all too hard to find, time-at-the-gym is not that time!  Why?  Because it takes away from your workout intensity!  And that’s why your workout is failing you. You’ve got to make the most of the time you’re in the gym.  Work quickly, work hard, and get out and on with the rest of  your life!  Ladies, a weight is not heavy if you can do 20 repetitions of it!   It’s heavy if you struggle to do 8 repetitions!  And that’s the weight you need to be working at if you want to have those pretty toned arms.  I promise you (please hear me on this) that you will not end up with arms like Popeye by lifting heavy!  You have to sweat and maybe even grunt just a tiny, tiny bit to get those last reps out!  Then you wait no more than a minute and do another set – or better yet, don’t wait at all and do another set of a different exercise.  The point is to remain focused on working as hard as you can while you’re exercising; simply going through the motions will not give you the results you’re after.  So next time you’re in the gym, smile and wave at your friends, but keep moving on to your next exercise – they’ll understand after a few workouts, that you’ve got a new focus at they gym these days…..YOU!

For the perfect strength training workout, sign up as a Premium Member and receive a downloadable workout log, along with videos to describe how to do each exercise.  And as always, email me with any questions or comments you have!