Words by Wilf
As a new month begins, we detail the best ways to balance the gym with the day job.
Balancing work and gym is one thing, and doing it within the strict confines of a 9-5 is a whole other messier thing. As a fellow 9-5er, I know and understand the challenges that come with trying to squeeze in enough time to eat, sleep, gym and repeat. If you’re office based, it’s an even harder task.
You may be one of the lucky ones with an on-site gym at your office. Even so, with a packed social schedule, emails and whatever else to attend to, fitting in a proper gym schedule is always a bit tricky. And so the dilemma goes on: how exactly do you achieve consistency at the gym with a 9-5?
Leverage your weekends
The quietest periods at your gym will be the weekends. From sports to hangover cures, there are endless reasons for the drop in attendance, making it your best chance to do some good work.
Instant access to weights and benches, and little to few distractions are just some of the obvious benefits of a quiet gym. It’s the best time to do some focused work. For extra points, get in early – giving you the rest of the day for whatever your heart desires.
Stalk your gym’s app
Your gym will have a downloadable app that delivers real-time updates on the number of people in the facility. Use it, stalk it, analyse it – it’s there for a reason, ya know?
Humans are creatures of habit, and you’ll soon find that not only are specific hours busier than others, but also specific days. This is handy information to have when structuring your training split.
Train off-beat
I can sense the confused – perhaps even sceptical – look on your face. Allow me to explain.
Training off-beat is a tactic I’ve perfected over the years; and it’s essentially why, for example, I’ve chosen to buck the seemingly global obsession with training chests on Mondays.
After a brief while at the gym, you’ll notice which muscle groups people like to train on certain days. From that, you’re likely to suss out which equipment will likely be free on any given day and free during peak hours. Then all you do is arrange your training split and exercise selection accordingly – simple stuff really when you break it down.
Longer doesn’t mean better
There’s a stigma in the gym industry that ‘real training’ requires you to spend hours in the gym hitting every machine possible to failure.
Gym folk have long romanticised spending hours in the gym – as if time spent is somehow indicative of progress. It’s all pure myth, of course, time spent means little if the quality of work done isn’t worthwhile. Be surgical, have a plan of action, execute it and get out of there to begin your recovery and complete the rest of your to-do list.
Having a set gym routine is ideal but if your lifestyle doesn’t allow for a consistent amount of time for you to set aside, adapt your session accordingly.
Be water, my friend
Working out doesn’t have to be a rigid, military-like system. You are allowed to chop and change it if your situation calls for it – what did Bruce Lee say? Be water, my friend.
The trick to gyming on a busy schedule is to plan accordingly. I can’t promise it will be easy, especially at the beginning – but I can promise that before you know it, it becomes second nature.
And I can promise that you won’t regret it.
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