For those of you who stay at the gym past an hour....

Today was my first day staying at the gym longer than an hour.  My new work schedule only allows me to make it to the gym about 3 days a week & I want to take advantage of the time factor on the days I am able to go...

So what are your tips to keep you going?  Any advice is appreciated. :)

Sometimes I'm there for an hour and 30 min...but I also sometimes shower when I go with a friend so of course some of that time doesn't really count...well I usually kick my butt with weight lifting first, and since there are breaks it takes me 30-45 minutes to complete it. Then I do my cardio, for 30-40 minutes and then I do some abs depending on my mood. My male friend plays basketball games, lifts weights, and swims so thats why i end up staying so long since hes my gym buddy.

My tips are BREAKS, water breaks, going to the bathroom, and HAVING AN IPOD cause gym music usually sucks :/

:)

I second misspriss. I actually find it really hard to be there less than an hour unless all I'm doing is cardio. A typical gym routine for me looks like this:

• 30-60 minutes of cardio (sometimes all on one machine, sometimes split across three)
• 10 minutes of stretching post-cardio (I can't walk the next day if I don't)
• 15-20 minutes of abs (I use a variety of machines... and moving from equipment to equipment and having to adjust it can eat up a lot of time)
• 15-20 minutes of upper or lower body work (see above)
• 5-10 minutes in the sauna

I hope this helps!

since you only get three days a week- do some multi task weight stuff- like lunge and then curl... Womenshealthmag.com has some workout tips for things like that.

I usually do 30 min of cardio, some ab work and then wieghts and then stretching- 1hr 15- 1hr 30

I am usually at the gym for over an hour, 6-7 days/week.  I don't weight train on consecutive days, so I alternate weights (~45min) plus cardio (~45 min) with 1hr cardio.  On both days I stretch for about 10-15 minutes after. 

Honestly I don't notice the time that much, I tend to lose track of time and then I have to rush out of there because I'm going to be late for something.  On the occasion that I have a day when I feel really just tired and bored, I try to add more variety in, like instead of 60 minutes on just the elliptical, I'll also use the rowing machine, and maybe a stairclimber for a bit.  Actually I tend to throw variety in as often as possible, whether or not I'm bored.

Thanks so much for all the replies.  I think I am going to have to add variety to my routine....lately I have only been doing cardio & over an hour of it is just exhausting....weights here I come! lol

Well, I have a similar problem...

But today for the first time, I tried going to gym early in the morning before work. My work begins at 9am, so that allows me to be at the gym from 6:30 or 7:00am to 8:00am.  So, I get 1hr to 1hr 30mins to go through both weights and cardio.

And it felt great! I was energized the whole morning and still am now in the afternoon. The early session gave my body an energetic boost... no more of the sleepy mornings at the office.

This is my new fav time for workout, and it would work as long as I get to bed by 11:00pm at night. And it would solve all the problems I have about bringing work home, cause no one calls me that early in the morning anyways!