Home
Articles
Training
Training Troubleshooting: Get Fit in Less Time

Training Troubleshooting: Get Fit in Less Time

Not enough hours in your day to train? Don't skip your workout. Just do it more efficiently with these time-saving simple strategies.

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated November 29, 2018

In a perfect world, you’d be able to train any and all days of the week, you’d have ample time to train on each of those days, and you’d have a fully equipped, uncrowded gym at your disposal.

But fitness doesn’t always happen in a “perfect world” scenario. Some days you only have 30 minutes to train. Some weeks you can only get to the gym a few days because you’re busy with work or family. Other days and weeks you can’t to the gym at all because you’re traveling or stuck at home.

That’s life. S--- happens. And when it does, you need to be able to think on your feet and make the tweaks and adjustments necessary to still get your workouts in and not lose momentum. Let’s face it, some days you have no choice but to skip your workout, but try to keep those days to a minimum, because consistency is the key to results.

Fortunately, none of my programs or workouts here on JimStoppani.com are carved in stone – you don’t have to do them all exactly as written. In many circumstances (like when you have limited equipment available), it may be literally impossible to do a given routine as I wrote it. But that doesn’t mean you need to skip that workout.

You need to be able to troubleshoot and be flexible when your daily circumstances are less than ideal. In this series of articles, I’m going to help you do just that by highlighting common “problems” and offering specific solutions for overcoming them and still getting in your workouts so you can see continued results in size, strength and fat-burning. That said, here’s the first unfortunate situation and how to fix it…

The Problem: You're Pressed For Time on a Given Day

For example, you’re in the middle of Super Shredded 8 or Fitter, Faster, Leaner. You want to get your workout in for the day, but you only have, say, 45 minutes to complete a workout that you figure will take at least an hour.

The Solution: Shorten Your Workout While Still Reaping Benefits

Shortening the prescribed workout is much better than skipping it altogether. There are several ways to do this, a few of which I cover in the below video.

Option #1 – Slash your rest periods. If the program calls for two minutes between sets, cut that down to one minute or 90 seconds. To hit the prescribed rep counts with less rest may require you to go lighter than normal, but that’s okay; reduce the load and get your sets in. This may not be the best method for increasing pure strength, but if your primary goals are gaining muscle and dropping body fat (ie, looking better naked), a lighter weight will be no problem.

Option #2 – Do fewer sets. Again, my workouts and programs don’t have to be followed exactly as written. This is your workout; tweak it as needed. So, if a workout calls for 4 sets per exercise but you’re short on time, do 3 sets per move instead. If it calls for 3 sets, do 2. This is a better strategy than keeping the sets the same but not doing all the exercises.

Yes, I design programs with a certain amount of volume (total sets performed) for a reason. But generally speaking, you’ll still get most of the results from a program by doing three-quarters or two-thirds of the volume. And just to reiterate: Doing an abbreviated version of one of my workouts is far better than doing nothing.

If you find you have enough time to do the full number of sets on some exercises but not all, take sets away from isolation movements (ie, flyes for chest, lateral raises for shoulders, squats and lunges for legs) and do all listed sets for compound moves (ie, presses for chest and shoulders, leg extensions for legs).

Option #3 – Break the workout up into more days. In some cases, you’re short on time on a daily basis but you’re not short on days you can train. For example, some people are only able to get to the gym four days a week, but on those days they have plenty of time to train; others are able to train 5-7 days per week, but they’re limited on time on those days. If you belong to the latter camp, break up your workouts into more days.

For instance, if you’re doing one of my four-days-per-week programs, you can easily make it a five- or six-days-per-week program by rearranging muscle groups. So, if a program calls for chest, shoulders and triceps on Day 1 and back, biceps and abs on Day 2, change that to chest and shoulders on Day 1, back only on Day 2, and then do triceps, biceps and abs on a separate day. (Legs may fall on Day 3 or Day 4; you can do the arms and abs routine either the day before or after that.)

Option #4 – Substitute a "one-off" workout and get back on the program the next day. So let's say you're in the middle of Down and Up Mass or MED Training but you're short on time on a given day and you'd rather not to try to shorten the day's workout. In this case, squeeze in a short HIIT cardio workout that day, then get back to the regularly scheduled workout in the program the next day. One short workout you can do is my 15-Minute Power HIIT routine. Or, come up with your own complementary workout, even if it's just going for a 20-30-minute run or jumping rope in your garage.

Bottom line: A short workout is better than no workout. Get your training in for the day, whatever it takes, and go the full length the next time you're able to.

Keep your eye out for more troubleshooting articles like this on JimStoppani.com. I have several more "problems" to help you find solutions for.