Getting through a day in the gym is often more than just showing up, moving some iron, and then calling it a day. Here are some tips for completing every task that is actually involved in a full gym day. Print this checklist and follow it every time you enter the gym, until the minute you leave for home.

Enter the gym

This is often the toughest part of your lifting day – just making it to the gym. Schedule your five days in the gym, and don’t miss them – no matter what. Even if your schedule becomes crunched and you end up staying late, show up in the gym and train late, or in an abbreviated manner.

Place items in locker

You don’t need a lot of distractions on your person when training. Leave any non-essential items in your locker so you can focus upon your training. I-phones, that includes you!

Warm Up

This item is often commonly overlooked by anxious trainers who are excited to run to the nearest open bench. Instead, hop on the nearest treadmill and plot out your workout while walking at a brief pace for five minutes. This will increase your blood flow and lead to a better, safer, more efficient workout day.

Stretch a little

Spend about two minutes stretching the muscle group being trained. Don’t fully stress the muscle group or you may end up risking injury by compromising full muscle group integrity.

Lift by the clock

Now that you’ve taken care of the precautions involved actually getting to the gym and limiting your chance of injury, it’s time to actually lift some weights! If you count sets and reps, you may find yourself saving energy so you have something left in the tank for later sets. Instead of using this practice, why not just not count anything at all? Set your cell phone alarm clock or stopwatch for 60 minutes, and just hit the weights. Don’t count sets or reps or exercises or anything else. If it’s chest day, then just throw pressing and flye movements at your muscles for 60 minutes. When the alarm goes off, you’re done. If the clock hasn’t yet rung, you’re still training!

Stretch a lot

Following your workout, devote a full five minutes to stretching the body part you just trained. At this point in your workout, it’s okay to risk breaking structural integrity of a muscle group by stretching it to the absolute maximum.

Shower

Clean skin is imperative for presentation in the very visual sport known as bodybuilding. Instead of wearing your own sweat for 30 minutes on the ride home and during that post-workout drink, shower immediately. Finish your last set, stretch, and then hop in the shower at the gym.

Drink whey shake

After your shower, have a pre-filled shaker cup with 2 scoops of whey (approximately 40 grams of protein) waiting in your gym locker. Mix with 2 cups of water and drink in the locker room immediately after your shower.

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