Focus: one quality that’s a must have in your workout program

When I see people working out, sometimes I can’t believe what I see.  I have to give them a round of applause for meaning well with getting their workouts in for the day, but to be honest, sometimes their workouts really aren’t doing much.  I sometimes have to fight the urge to run up to some people and ask them why they’re doing what they’re doing.  Consider this to be my attempt at running up to them and getting them on the right path.

Focus, it’s something every successful exerciser has.  Too many times I see exercisers turn their workouts into social hours.  For some, going to the gym or exercise class is nothing more than another way to stay in touch with friends.  This is why I feel some of the gyms and exercise classes out there really aren’t all that effective.  My feeling is, why not spend the money on something else if you’re going to spend $50 a month on sitting on a machine and talking for 5 minutes about how your weekend went?

When I used to work at a local gym, sometime the other trainers and I would stand in amazement over members’ exercise routines.  We’d see a woman attempting to exercise on an elliptical while talking on the phone, or we’d see a guy perform an exercise and then walk around for 5 minutes checking himself out in the mirror.  Here’s my first bit of advice, if you’re able to talk on a cell phone while you’re “exercising”, that’s a pretty good indicator that you’re not getting much of a workout.  My second bit of advice, if you’re more worried about impressing your reflection, then you’re cheating yourself out of even better results.

Too many times, exercisers dread working out because they feel it requires hours a day to achieve the body or health they’ve always wanted.  Well here’s the secret … it doesn’t.  For some, if they’d just make their workouts more intense, they’d achieve success.  Some people need help figuring out what to do for a great workout, but some already know what it takes to have a great workout; they just don’t do the workout intensely enough.

One thing that gets on my nerves is when others come up to me during my workouts and try to start up a conversation; it’s not because I’m a very unfriendly person, it’s because when I’m in the middle of a workout, I’m a very focused person.  I like to start my workout, get everything in, and be done with it.  Plus, the less time I spend talking with others, the more intense my workout is, and the faster I’ll get results.

Ask anyone on my college track and field team, I wasn’t the greatest person to be around during track meets.  After meets, I’d laugh and goof off with the best of ‘em, but during meets, I was in a zone all meet long until my events were over.  Like I said, it wasn’t because I was a scrooge; it was because I wanted to keep my mind and body revved up to perform in my events.

If you take the time to stop and talk to others during your workout, not only are you cheating yourself out of results, you’re also creating a dangerous situation with your workout.  Taking too much time in between exercises can cause your body to cool down too much to where you’re not able to maintain the intensity that you had at the start of your workout.  On top of that, if you allow your body to cool down too much and then jump right back into an intense exercise, you can risk issues such as tearing a muscle or blacking out.

To separate yourself from the exercisers who slave away with working out and be successful with getting the results you want, make it a goal that when you start your workout, you’ll stay on task until you’re done with it.  If you can keep the intensity up for your entire workout, instead of continually taking breaks to chitchat, not only will you get better success from your workout, you’ll also be able to spend less time exercising.

Stay focused.  If you think that working out with friends is going to be a distraction, then don’t exercise with them; you’ll have plenty of other times to talk with them.  If you think you’re going to have the urge to talk on your cell phone while working out, then don’t have your cell phone with you when you exercise.  Your workout time is your time; don’t cheat yourself out of time that’s used to better yourself.

By staying focused, you can turn an hour workout into a quality, 30 to 45-minute workout.  That means faster results and less time doing something you dread.  So keep the intensity up, the talk time down, and your focus to succeed will help lead you to reaching your fitness goals.