By Katie Rosenbrock
TheActiveTimes.com

No one ever said it was easy to find time for exercise. Fitting a daily gym session into a busy schedule is probably one of the biggest obstacles that gets in the way of incorporating fitness into a healthy lifestyle. That’s why when it comes to working out, it’s important to make the most of your time.

Time spent exercising (no matter how you choose to workout) is never time wasted. But you've got lofty fitness goals and only a certain amount of time you can spend in the gym each day, which means you’ll need to invest in every moment carefully. Success requires focus and drive. It means more time spent working out wisely and less spent on all the little things, like actually getting to the gym or picking the next song on your playlist.

Like I said, exercise is never a waste of time, but there are definitely ways you can waste your time while at the gym, and if any happen to be habits of yours it could be the reason you’re struggling to see progress or results. Don’t get down about it though. For every way you could potentially be wasting time, there’s a way to turn it around and make your workout more effective.

Ways You Waste Time At Gym Slideshow

 

Paying Too Much Attention To Your Phone

Texting and talking on the phone may be obvious time wasters and are both habits you should avoid at the gym, but since most phones double as music players these days the device has turned into a time-wasting triple threat. How many of your gym sessions become unnecessarily extended because you have to find the perfect song before finishing your last set of squats? Save time by putting together a premade workout playlist and stick to it through your entire workout.

 

Steady State Workouts

Ultimately, your workout strategy all depends on your goals. If you want to run a marathon, your program will probably incorporate more running and endurance training. But if you're prepping for a bikini contest, you'll probably place a bigger focus on weight lifting and muscle building. However, for the average gym-goer looking to get the most bang for their buck in terms of time spent at the gym, the best plan will revolve around getting your heart rate higher. The higher your heart rate, the more calories you burn. Instead of spending 40 minutes on the treadmill running at the same pace, reduce your total workout time to 25 or 30 minutes, but incorporate challenging intervals that will get your heart working harder. Not only will you likely burn the same amount of calories or more, but your strength, speed, and overall fitness will improve, too.

 

Socializing

Sure, the gym is a social space, but if you tend to spend more time blabbing than sweating it could be a reason why you're struggling to accomplish your goals. That's not to say that you can’t say hi to friends, there's no need to be unfriendly. But if you're serious about your goals and you only have a certain amount of time to get your workout done, kindly let your buddies know you mean business and that you’ll catch up with them another time.

 

Lack of Exercise Education

One of the most important parts of making the most of your time at the gym is going in with a plan, but what if you're not sure how to make one? At the end of the day, no type of exercise is a "waste of time," but performing the same workout every day is a common reason why many exercisers fail to achieve the results they’re aiming for. Maybe you only feel comfortable with one piece of equipment or you're unsure about weight-lifting exercises. Learning new exercises and workouts (whether that be through working with a personal trainer or taking a few new exercise classes) is one of the best investments you can make towards making the most of your time at the gym.

 

Spot

Unless you're a body builder, it doesn't make sense to spend a huge amount of time focusing on one muscle group or body part during a single workout. If you're aiming to sculpt a defined six pack your exercise routine will need to go way beyond abdominal exercises. Sure, performing lots of crunches, planks, and bicycles will strengthen and build your ab muscles, but you probably won’t see muscle definition there until your overall body fat percentage is reduced. Your body decides where it wants to lose fat first. So just because you do tons of sit ups every day doesn't mean any extra fat around your stomach will be the first to go. This means it's much more effective to challenge all of your muscles by incorporating a wide variety of exercises in your routine.

 

Waiting for Equipment

So you made your plan, you got to the gym on time and your workout is on a roll, when suddenly it comes to a halt because another member is using the equipment needed for your next exercise. This isn't an excuse to put your workout on pause while you wait for them to finish, though. Instead of waiting around try to figure out an alternative for the exercise, or move on to the next part of your plan and return to what you skipped later on. This is a good example of a time where having knowledge of different exercise variations would come in handy, too.

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For the complete list of the Ways You're Wasting Time At The Gym, go to TheActiveTimes.com.

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