Losing Weight to Gain Muscle (Part 2): Don’t Waste Your Time in the Gym (A special guide for Noobs)

I see people committing this crime every day. Most of these people are newbie’s who don’t know how precious their time is. I’ve also seen people who, on their very first day, start giving advices to other people about doing specific exercises the specific way. It’s like WTF, why am I here then?

I know what you might be thinking, but that’s just a total waste of time, instead of sitting and watching at that ceiling fan or giving advices to people, you should be working hard to get that chest pumped up, shouldn’t you?

So here are some tips which everyone should remember once they step into the gym. It is mandatory for everyone to follow if they want to see results:

·       TAKING TOO MUCH BREAK BETWEEN 2 SETS:

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This is the most common thing. People just sit there for 5-6mins just staring at the ceiling fan (how can that even be possible?). Brian94 at the BodyBuilding forums has given a perfect example.

“The guy occupies the only incline-bench in the gym—has turned it FLAT while there are empty flat benches available—and is taking a 7 minute zone-out looking into the ceiling. You’re wasting your time.”

According to me, one should only take a break of about 30 seconds to 1 minute between each set (for cardiovascular exercises or endurance), for hypertrophy and strength, I allow people only 2 minutes to 3 minutes rest between each set.

Taking too much break between sets will only make you lazy to go for that next set and you’ll begin thinking twice about how many reps you will be doing in that next set. So make sure you don’t think anything before doing the next set because that will only stop you from sweating.

·       YOU’RE DOING THE SAME WORKOUT FOR OVER A YEAR BUT YOU HAVEN’T BROKE A SWEAT:

It’s the second most common thing. Many people seem to be working really hard, and if you watch them, their facial expressions and sounds they make while doing reps seems like they are the most serious person around. But have you ever noticed why aren’t they sweating if they are really working that hard?

It’s simple, their body is used to that kind of workouts and because of that, it has stopped sweating. Or another more dangerous reason might be that they’re doing something wrong. Many people say that you are doing something wrong if you are not sweating.

So here’s the thing, if you are not sweating, just ask the trainer to help you out with your workout. Ask him if you are doing something wrong OR maybe it’s time to change your workout routine. Changing your workout routine will make sure that your body is getting something different which will push it to its limits.

·       YOU’RE DOING LIGHT CARDIO FOR A LONG TIME WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS:

Shout out to all people who are doing this, keep doing this and you’ll never see a change in your body. Congratulations, you’ve been wasting your time.

If you are someone who is expecting huge losses of fat by doing only light intensive Cardio, then you will never see a difference. Why? Because you need to do some very intensive cardio like 15-20 minutes of sprinting and walking or slow-jogging. Doing this kind of cardio is known to burn more fat and calories than your 40 minute low intensity Cardio which only includes walking or a combination of walking and running.

You should include some light weight training along with your cardio. Do the weight training first and then hit the treadmill. This is the best for someone who is looking to lose weight and build muscles.

So the next time you go to the gym, make sure you do some weight training first and then start your Cardio.

·       BEING PERFECTLY NEAT:

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There’s no denying that there is at least one or two guys/girls in a gym who just grabs the tissues and wipes down all the equipment’s before using them. While that’s not something to notice about, when you forget to wipe down an equipment before using it, they just stare at you like you’re the most dirtiest person.

This is the biggest waste of time. I mean, everyone knows that if a gym is maintained, then there are people hired specifically to clean all the equipment’s every week.

Or if you just did Cardio and you’re all sweaty, you probably should wait for some time before starting your weight training, or you should just clean your hands before using that dumbbells. I hope I made this point very clear and the next time you enter the gym, you will remember what you just read. If not, then read it again. PLEASE.

·       CHATTING, GIVING ADVICE, TALKING NONSENSE:

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Gym is the second best place to get a date (the first is WWE). But have some common sense and think, did you pay for getting a date or working hard to get in shape? Your answer is obviously working hard, then why do you waste time talking to other people and hoping that they will like you and date with you?

I’m not saying that you should just keep quiet and not talk to anyone, I’m saying that you should chat with a couple people to get to know them and it’s perfectly fine. But do this only in your rest time and that is between 2 sets. In that way, you won’t waste your time talking with other people.

Update: If you haven't read the Part 1 of Losing Weight to Gain Muscle, make sure you do so or you'll regret it later.

Make sure that you remember all these things before going to the gym tomorrow and I wish you will waste less time. Also comment below about how you waste your time in the gym because I’m really interested in new strategies and techniques about wasting time in the gym.