One of the most common reasons I hear for why people skip a workout, or don’t workout is lack of time. Well, you don’t need a lot of time to get a great workout. In fact, the most effective strength training workouts are short, intense, and efficient.
In this Efficient Strength Training 101 article series, I will highlight the key concepts you should know to get the most out of your strength training workouts. As I discussed in my free “Get Lean Guide” e-book, strength training ideally should form the foundation of your exercise program in your quest for a lean physique. While this article series is a bit technical, I think you’re going to get a lot out of it and take your workouts to a whole new level.
So in order to create the most efficient strength training workouts, we first need to know how to measure efficiency. I prefer using the work/rest ratio, which measures the amount of time you spend exercising vs. resting.
For example, when you go to the gym to lift weights, how long do you spend actually working out? Most guys I see in the gym do a set of bench press with poor form for 20 seconds, rest for 3 minutes while watching the gym TV, then do another set for 20 seconds. The work/rest ratio in this case is 1/9, which means these guys are only working out for about 6 minutes in a 60 minute session. Unless you are training to be a powerlifter, this is a very inefficient use of your time.
When I design my own workouts, or those for clients, I always try to keep the work/rest ratio as high as possible, given the clients fitness level. If you are busy and want the best results in the least amount of time, try to increase your work/rest ratio as high as possible, without significantly effecting your strength levels. That’s your optimal ratio.
Ideally, if you are in good shape, your work to rest ratio should be at least 1/1 (i.e. for the amount of time you are lifting, you rest for an equal amount of time). If you are in great shape, your work/rest ratio can be as high as 5/1.
For a 30 minute gym session with a 5/1 work/rest ratio, you are working out for 25 minutes. That’s more than 4x longer than the guy who’s in the gym for 60 minutes resting for 3 minutes between sets. FYI, this type of training with a high work/rest ratio is also known as high density training (HDT).
The amount of rest you need not only depends on your fitness level, but the amount of weight you use and the difficulty of each exercise. I’ve been lifting for years so I know what the right work/rest ratio feels like, but if you’re not that experienced, then tracking the intensity of your workouts with a heart rate monitor can help alert you to when it’s time to stop resting and start exercising again, or vice versa.
In Part2: How to Increase Your Efficiency, I teach you some methods to help increase your work/rest ratio to better optimize your time in the gym.
Good stuff! How should u gauge ure breaks? Is there a target heart rate? I just started a shorter rest period rest between 30 and 45 secs. I notice I tireout earlier in the workout and lift less weight then when I took longer breaks. As I’m done doing any powerliting, is the new rest period causing good or bad changes to my workout?
hmm…i never quite thought about the effect of resting in these terms. certainly food for thought and something to apply to this week’s new program now that this race is over!
Hey Ken,
I’m definitely going to put up a post about target heart rates, but the quick way is taking 220-your age, which gives you your max heart rate, then taking a percentage of that based on your exercise level. So, if you are in pretty good shape, you can hang around 70-80% of your max heart rate. This equation is not perfect for everyone, so ultimately you should wear a heart rate monitor to get a better feel of your heart rate ranges. That’s really the best way. So then you know if your heart rate is going down and your muscles feel recovered, it’s time to hit the weights again.
In the next part of this series, I going to give you some good ideas to increase the efficiency of your workout without reducing your strength levels. The delicate balance is finding the right amount of rest to maintain decent strength levels.
With my hectic schedule, a better workout in less time would really help me. I look forward to more posts.
Wow Marc this was really helpful!
For me, getting a heart rate monitor helped tremendously. I don’t really even pay attention to the time between exercises as much as I pay attention keeping my heart rate up. It also makes you realize which exercises are the ones that really burn calories and which exercises are the ones that are meant to sculpt muscles a little more. Keep posting!