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Fitness in real life - 4 top tips to ensure you make the best use of your time this January

Set your goals and don’t waste time in the gym.

LIFE IS BECOMING increasingly difficult as the years go on.

People work more, get paid less and 24 hours just doesn’t seem to be enough to live a normal life.

So, I consistently hear the same thing in my gym: “I don’t have time to workout.” Of course, time is limited and with that in mind here are four tips to ensure you get your gym session in.

1) Always be prepared

You might have a very busy day planned out. But out of nowhere, a meeting gets cancelled, or your mother-in-law calls over and says she can take the kids for a while and now you have this window of opportunity to hit the gym.

Lucky for you, you’ve already packed a bag and left it in the car with everything you need. You’re ready for any workout with no time wasted thinking about what you might need to pack and contemplating whether to go or not.

2) Have a workout journal

Plan your sessions in advance, so you know what you’re doing when you get there. This will save you from messing around for two and half hours on random machines. For people who are stuck for time, I always recommend 3-4 workouts per week not going over 60 minutes in any one session. Hit a full body workout and eat correctly.

3) The goal is the goal is the goal

Remember what you’re in the gym for. If you are there to get stronger, prioritise your strength work if that’s all you have time for. If you are there for aesthetics focus more on getting the reps in and watch your diet a little bit more.

Always think to yourself, is what you’re doing in the gym right now, getting you closer to what you want to achieve? Focus driven workouts will yield the biggest results!

4) Stay consistent

Everybody wants to have the killer body or be lifting the biggest weight but what you don’t see at these highlighted moments is the amount of hard work that person put in to get the abs and killer pecs.

Stay consistent, lift a little more each week or run a little bit more if that’s what you’re focusing on. Progressively get a bit better at your skill every single week in every single session. Focus on performance and health and reap the benefits of a good body.

By Gar Benn of CityGym Limerick and Ciaran O’Regan of Quarrelsome Athletics. Read their weekly fitness column on The42 every Friday. 

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