Hate Wasting Time at the Gym? Here’s What Actually Works

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 03/05/21)

You like being at the gym, but you also like other things besides being at the gym, and people are often on a tight schedule, so if your workouts are taking longer than you would like (or can afford), we are going to give you two tactics to save time at the gym. These tactics both revolve around the warm-up, because the warm-up is the best place to save time when you train.

First, don’t rest between your warm-up sets. You need to change the weights as you warm-up, and the act of unloading and loading plates between warm-up sets will provide enough rest for the purpose of warming up. Remember, these are warm-up sets - they’re not terribly difficult - you don’t need a whole lot of rest. After your last warm-up set, you’ll want to rest a few minutes (perhaps 2-4 minutes) before performing your first work set, but if you’re resting 3-5 minutes between all of your warm-up sets and you’re wondering how to shorten your workout time, this is where you start.

Second, if you really need to speed things up, start warming up your next lift between the work sets of your current lift. Let’s say you’ve just done your first work set of squats, and bench press is your next lift - while you’re resting, go ahead and grab a barbell and do your empty bar warm-up for the bench (if it’s the press, you don’t even need a rack - you can just pick it up off the floor and press it). Then, sit down and rest until it’s time to squat again. After your second set of squats, go ahead and do your next bench warm-up set. You might still have some warming up to do on the bench press when you’re done squatting, but this method will certainly shave some time off the length of your training session.

Most importantly, don’t let this tactic tire you out for your current work sets. The squat/bench press example we’ve given here will not tire you out for squatting because the bench press warm-ups are light and because the bench press is unrelated to squatting, but warming up your deadlift between work sets of squats may not be the greatest idea.

Try these tactics the next time you train, and you’ll save yourself some valuable time. Of course, you could probably shorten those 15-minute-between-set-conversations you have with your lifting buddies as well.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

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You’re Probably Warming Up Wrong, and It’s Ruining Your Lifting

Warming up badly is inefficient, sometimes ridiculous, and it sets you up for poor results from your lifting. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers helps you warm-up effectively, efficiently, and simply and provides plenty of examples, tips, and mistakes to avoid.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Stretching is Dangerous?! (Why You Should NOT do Mobility Work)

Make no mistake - stretching is dangerous. However, it’s probably not for the reasons you’re imagining.

Is Stretching Ever a Good Thing?
Before we talk about why stretching is generally a bad idea, it’s useful to cover a few instances wherein stretching might actually be a smart move.

In general, if there is a position you cannot achieve without a typical warm-up - e.g., squatting is the warm-up for squatting - then you might benefit from some stretching. Using the squat as an example, if you can’t get the barbell into that nice, low bar position on your back due to tight shoulders, then you may benefit from simply stretching out your shoulders. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes each training session, and over time, your shoulder flexibility will improve. We’ve got a video below that covers the stretch to perform as well as the process, so be sure to check it out if you struggle to achieve the low bar position.

As an another example, if you perform cleans and front squats and the act of cleaning and front squatting is not sufficient to improve and maintain your front rack position (the position wherein the bar sits on your delts in front of your throat) - this could be due to inflexibility or long forearms - then you may need to spend some time actively stretching to improve this position. Again, this shouldn’t take a lot of time, and we also have a video that covers this process (see below).

How Do I Know if I Should Stretch?
The key in both of the aforementioned cases is that you are stretching because you can’t hit the positions you need to in order to successfully execute the lift (i.e., the squat, clean, or front squat).

With this in mind, if that situation describes you, then go ahead and stretch. However, if you can already achieve the proper positioning for a lift, then I would not recommend stretching.

But What About . . . ?
Some people might complain that they can’t hit proper squat depth when warming up with the empty bar. This is not a problem. The squat is an excellent warm-up and stretch for - not surprisingly - the squat, so it’s not unusual to squat a bit high for your first empty bar set, and then you squat a bit lower on each subsequent warm-up set so that you are achieving depth by the time your reach your work sets (and typically well before that point).

Squatting to depth isn’t an issue of flexibility - it’s simply an issue of sufficient strength and efficient technique.

Don’t complicate your training. In most cases, the lift you’re performing provides all the stretching you need to perform that lift, so your training already provides all the stretching you need for training.

Why You Shouldn’t Stretch
Remember, you stretch to increase your range of motion (ROM), and if you already have sufficient flexibility to go through your daily activities as well as your training, then you certainly don’t need to stretch.

If you enjoy stretching, feel free to do so, but since stretching is not necessary, I recommend avoiding it sheerly because it is a time suck on your life. For most people, stretching is a waste of time.

Most people need to get into the gym, train, and then get out of the gym in a reasonable amount of time because they have other things that they either need to do or they want to do. If you have all the time in the world to train, more power to you, but you are a unicorn. Additionally, even if you do have a lot of time, there are other things to do in life far more interesting and enjoyable than barbell training (remember - this is coming from a guy who promotes barbell training), so let’s be efficient.

Stretching is dangerous (I’ll cop to using that word liberally) because it wastes precious training time, so ditch the time suck that stretching represents, warm-up using the lift itself (gradually and progressively loaded), train hard, and then get out of the gym and move on with your life.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The Best Way to Warm Up for Lifting (do not do this...)

Never use 2.5 lb plates . . .

Specifically, never use 2.5 lb plates in your warm-ups . . . mostly . . . kind of.

using 2.5 lb plates in your warm-up? Let’s not be crazy here, folks.

Some elaboration is warranted here, but we’ll keep this short and quick.

The Three Criteria for a Good Warm-up
Remember that there are three criteria for a good warm-up. First, the warm-up needs to prepare you for your work sets, so the weight needs to get heavier throughout the warm-up, and this will typically be done in roughly equal increments.

Second, the warm-up should not exhaust you by the time you get to your work weight, so you’re typically going to taper your warm-up reps from one set to the next. Once you’ve put weight on the bar, something like 5-3-2-1 works pretty well as you’ll see in the example below (with 225 lb as the work weight):

45 lb x 5 x 2 (empty barbell)
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 3
185 lb x 2
205 lb x 1
—————
225 lb x 5 x 3 (work sets)

Could Julie do 90b for a warm-up? sure, but it takes two 10 lb plates and one 2.5 lb plate per side. 95 lb (i.e., one 25 lb plate per side) is far simpler.

Third - and this is what we’re talking about today with the absence of 2.5 lb plates - the warm-up should bow to convenience whenever it’s possible and reasonable to do so. It’s very convenient to choose your warm-up weights so that they end with the number five, e.g., 85 lb, 95 lb, 105 lb, etc., and if you do this, you don’t need to use 2.5 lb plates when warming up (if you use 2.5 lb plates, your weight selection will end with a zero such as 90 lb, 100 lb, 110 lb, etc.).

“Are You Sure This is OK?”
This works well because, in general, you don’t need to be nitpicky with your warm-up weight selections, and by avoiding 2.5 lb plates, we’ve now simplified the process by reasonably reducing the options we choose from when warming up.

Two Exceptions
This is a general recommendation, and as such, there are some exceptions.

First, you might want to be slightly more picky with your last warm-up set, and if that’s the case, you might choose to use 2.5 lb plates so that your last warm-up weight can end with a zero.

Second, if your work weight is less than 100 lb, you might need to use 2.5 lb plates in some of your warm-ups. For example, if you’re pressing 87.5 lb for the work weight, your warm-up might contain some weights ending in the number zero such as 70 lb or 80 lb, and you’ll need 2.5 lb plates to load those weights. However, if your work weight is 100 lb or more, most or all of your warm-up weights can end with a five, and thus you can skip the 2.5 lb plates.

Keep it simple, ditch the 2.5 lb plates in your warm-ups (with an exception here and there), and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better . . . and train more efficiently.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Shorter Workouts! | More Gains in Less Time

You want to get strong, but you don't have all day to spend in the gym. What do you do? Starting Strength Phil Meggers explains.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.

3 Reasons to STOP Using Percentages (or apps) for Your Warm-ups!

Warm-up percentage charts and warm-up apps are the diapers of the lifting world. You're better than that. You're a big kid now - it's time to move on to pull-ups. Phil explains why life is better without percentages and apps and shows you how to construct your own warm-ups quickly and easily.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 06/04/22)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.