Your life is busy. That means it can get a little hard to make it to the gym. Once you’re there, however, you want to get the biggest bang for your buck possible. In this article, we’ll show you how to make the most of your gym time. 

Set Yourself Up For Success With A Good Pre-Workout 

This, of course, means you should use your favorite 5% pre-workout before your workouts. Some lifters cycle Kill It, Kill It Reloaded, and 5150. When it comes time to use 5150, be sure to stack it with Full As F*ck for optimal results. 

This also refers to nutrition. It’s important to eat a light meal consisting of fast-absorbing protein and fast to medium-absorbing carbs a few hours before you train. The key is to allow enough time for digestion. You don’t want to try to work out with a heavy stomach, and you don’t want to take your pre-workout until your food has completely digested. If you can’t make it to a meal, go with Real Carbs + Protein.

Make The Most Of Your Gym Time With An Intra-Workout

Intra-workouts are a somewhat newer sports nutrition entry and they changed everything. That’s because, for the first time, you can ingest a supplement that helps you stay in a positive metabolic state while you train. Until intra-workouts came along, training was catabolic. It still is, of course. The difference is, before intra-workouts, you had to wait until you were done training to do anything about it. Of course, the best choice for an outstanding intra-workout is 5% Nutrition’s ADYM. Do what Rich did, and let it sit in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then, enjoy your refreshingly cold and delicious ADYM between sets!

Focus On Rep Performance

If you haven’t already, check out our series “Let’s Talk About Rep Performance”. Performing your reps the right way is key to making the most of your gym time. Sure, you have to choose effective exercises and use challenging weights. Yet if you don’t let the muscles do all the work, you’re wasting your time. When you think about your set, you should focus on making it as effective as possible. That begins with rep performance. Try your next rep this way:

• Lift the weight explosively, taking about 2 seconds to reach the top. 
• Once at the top, don’t pause, but lower slowly, taking 4-6 seconds. 
• Stop at the fully stretched position and hold for 4-6 seconds. 
• Repeat for the entire set.

This approach targets the fundamental aspects of growth potential: muscle fiber damage, mTOR activation, and fatigue, which leads to lactate buildup and growth factor release. (1, 2)

Of course, as noted, use effective exercises, preferably compound movements. Also as noted, use a challenging weight. You aren't training hard enough if you can easily knock out 12 reps with little effort. If you train to failure, consider pushing past failure with intensity techniques. Should you prefer to stop just shy of failure, make sure you’re really that close. Finally, when you’re resting between sets, don’t use that time to text for 10 minutes. Put the phone down and mentally focus on your next set. Doing that helps set up an effective mind-muscle connection. 

Avoid The Crowds

To make the most of your gym time, try to go when the crowds haven’t gotten there yet. Nothing is worse than waiting to use your next piece of equipment. That’s even more true if the person using it is just wasting time. Go when it’s not crowded so you can complete your workout in the time and sequence you planned.

Start Recovery Right With A Post-Workout

Once your workout is over, you need to think about recovery. You got off to a good start using a 5% pre-workout and ADYM as an intra-workout. Now you need to consume either Real Carbs + Protein or Real Carbs and Shake Time. Do what Rich did, and have this shake right away, before leaving the gym. 

Next, wait an hour or two and eat! Finally, choose Knocked The F*ck Out or Drink Sleep Grow and get a restorative night’s sleep. 

Recap

Getting the most out of your time in the gym is more than merely choosing an uncrowded time to train. You’re in the gym to grow, therefore you have to perform your sets correctly. You also have to optimize the time frame before, during, and after training. That means the right meals and 5% Nutrition supplements. Make the most of your gym time with 5% Nutrition!

References: 

1. Cheng, J., & Du, J. (2007). Mechanical stretch simulates proliferation of venous smooth muscle cells through activation of the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 27(8), 1744–1751.
2. Oishi, Y., Tsukamoto, H., Yokokawa, T., Hirotsu, K., Shimazu, M., Uchida, K., Tomi, H., Higashida, K., Iwanaka, N., & Hashimoto, T. (2015). Mixed lactate and caffeine compound increases satellite cell activity and anabolic signals for muscle hypertrophy. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md.: 1985), 118(6), 742–749. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00054.2014