If you hate going to the gym and struggle to stay consistent, I genuinely feel you.
And here’s the thing:
I love the gym.
I’ve been called a “gym addict” more times than I can count. But even I’ve gone through periods where I stopped looking forward to training and started skipping workouts.
The culprit?
Long, boring, overcomplicated workouts.
I love training, but I don’t want to spend all fucking day doing it. I want to walk into the gym, bust my ass, and get on with my life.
And strangely enough, I’ve found that spending less time in the gym makes me want to go more.
The Best Workout Is the One You’ll Actually Do
I’ve experimented with just about every kind of training program imaginable trying to find the “best” one.
Eventually, I came to the same conclusion I did with dieting:
The best program is the one you’ll actually stick to.
Someone could hand me the most scientifically optimized, secret-Russian-laboratory-built workout ever created, but if I hate doing it so much that I eventually stop showing up, what the hell is it worth?
I see beginners make this mistake all the time. They get excited, buy the clothes, fill up the Stanley cup, and start some massive training program.
Then they disappear.
Sometimes they’re lazy. Sure.
But sometimes they’ve made working out so time-consuming and miserable that there’s no way in hell they’re going to keep doing it.
I know because I’ve done the same thing.
I Don’t Want to Leave the Gym Hating the Gym
Once I’ve been training for much more than an hour, the fun starts disappearing. I’m tired. My performance starts slipping. I’m thinking less about the exercise I’m doing and more about getting the hell out of there.
Why would I purposely train that way?
I don’t need to crawl out of the gym. I don’t need to be sore for four days. And I definitely don’t need every workout to feel like I narrowly survived an assassination attempt.
Being destroyed after a workout doesn’t automatically mean you had a good workout.
These days, some of my favorite workouts last around 30–40 minutes.
I get in. Train hard. Then leave.
And the best part is that I actually want to come back.
Leave While the Party’s Still Good
Have you ever been to a great party and stayed three hours too long?
At first, everybody’s having fun. The music is good. You’re thinking, Damn, I’m glad I came.
Then it’s 3:00 in the morning. Somebody’s way too drunk. Two idiots are arguing. Some girl is crying in the bathroom.
What happened?
You stayed too long.
I’ve found the same thing happens to me in the gym.
Sometimes I’ll finish a workout, look at my stopwatch and think:
Damn, it’s only been half an hour. Maybe I should do more.
That’s exactly when I leave.
I’d rather walk out thinking “I could’ve done more” than “Thank God that’s finally over.”
Because if I leave wanting more, I’m excited to come back.
And if I’m excited to come back, staying consistent gets a whole lot easier.
Lee Haney had a great way of putting it:
“Stimulate, don’t annihilate.”
That pretty much sums up how I like to train.
My 35-Minute Workout
Here’s the routine I’ve been using. Nothing fancy. Just simple training performed with real effort.
MONDAY: Chest & Back
Chest
- Incline Bench Press — 3 × 8–12
- Pec Deck — 3 × 12–15
- Cable Flies — 2 × 15–20
Back
- Lat Pulldowns — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell Rows — 3 × 15
- Cable Pullovers — 2 × 15–20
TUESDAY: Biceps & Triceps
Biceps
- Barbell Curls — 3 × 8–12
- Hammer Curls — 3 × 10
- Reverse Curls — 2 × 15
Triceps
- Pushdowns — 3 × 8–12
- Overhead Extensions — 3 × 8–12
- Bench Dips — 2 × 15
THURSDAY: Shoulders & Calves
Shoulders
- Seated Dumbbell Press — 3 × 8–12
- Lateral Raises — 3 × 15–20
- Face Pulls — 2 × 15
Calves
- Calf Press on Leg Press — 3 × 15
- Seated Calf Raise — 3 × 12
- Single-Leg Calf Raises — 2 hard sets
FRIDAY: Thighs & Hamstrings
Quads
- Leg Press — 3 × 15
- Leg Extensions — 3 × 15
- Sissy Squats — 2 hard sets
Hamstrings
- Seated Leg Curl — 3 × 20
- Stiff-Legged Deadlifts — 3 × 15
- Good Mornings — 2 × 12
The formula is simple:
Two muscle groups. Six exercises. Eight working sets per muscle group. Short rest periods. Then go home.
I train hard, but I don’t treat every set like a suicide mission. Especially on heavier exercises, I’d rather stop when another clean rep isn’t there than keep going just so I can say I trained to failure.
I’m there to build muscle.
Not prove how much suffering I can tolerate.
You Should Want to Come Back
That’s really the whole point of this article.
If you’re constantly forcing yourself through workouts you hate, maybe you don’t need more discipline.
Maybe your workout just sucks.
Maybe it’s too long. Maybe it’s too complicated. Maybe you’re doing way more than you need to enjoy yourself and make progress.
Turning a 90-minute workout into a focused 35-minute one completely changed training for me.
I’d rather train hard for half an hour and keep doing it week after week than annihilate myself for two hours and start finding excuses not to go.
So if you’ve been struggling with consistency, try doing less.
Set a timer. Put your phone away. Train hard.
Then get the hell out of there.
You might actually start looking forward to coming back.
Until next time,
– Uncle Blayde