Get the most out of your workout, even during your Club’s rush hour.
Primetime at the Club can feel as chaotic as an airport during the holidays. A free bench is a hot-ticket item, just like the last open seat in the boarding area. Afraid of someone else calling dibs, people dart to open machines, just like they dash from gate to gate during a short layover.
Even in these chaotic “rush hour” moments, when all you might have to use is a dumbbell and a five-by-five floorspace, your workout doesn’t have to be a hodgepodge of random exercises that have no strong payoff. Really, you can get in a productive, satisfying workout without much space.
Here, Timothy J. Park, a COACH X at Equinox Hudson Yards, shares his tips for maximizing any footprint.
Set Your Intention and Come Prepared.
Before you step foot in the Club, have an idea of what you want to accomplish in mind. Decide if you want to focus on training power, improving upper-body endurance, or building lower-body strength, for instance. Have a list of multiple exercises on your phone that can check off each of the boxes you’re looking to hit for the day. (Try talking with a Coach for ideas if you need.)
That way, when you show up to find a line at the leg extension machine you were planning to use and just a small open space on the floor, you won’t start to spiral — and waste time. Thanks to your game plan, you’ll be able to adjust on the fly (say, doing Bulgarian split squats to target your quads instead) instead of being overwhelmed with possibilities. “Knowing what you're trying to accomplish for that session will help guide what you can do when things aren’t going your way,” says Park.
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Make the Most of One Piece of Equipment.
It feels limiting when the squat racks are all being used or there’s not an open machine in sight. But in reality, “you could work every muscle group that you need to with just dumbbells, with just kettlebells, with just a barbell,” says Park. The key: being smart with your progressions.
Say you’re set on a full-body workout. The two 25-pound dumbbells you grabbed may be the perfect weight for your upper body, but they’re too light for your strong lower body. In this instance, you might change up your reps and sets to achieve the same total volume. If you normally do three sets of 10 reps of a 100-pound barbell back squat, you could instead do four sets of 15 reps with the 50 pounds of weight you have available to you, says Park.
Instead of switching up your reps and sets, you can also add a level of difficulty by slowing your tempo, increasing your range of motion, adding instability, or minimizing your rest time. “It’s about understanding what you're trying to accomplish for that session, and then you can play around with how to get to where you're trying to go,” says Park.
Ditch Weights Altogether.
Though it’s valuable to have a plan walking into your session, sometimes, it’s worth straying from it. If your prepared workout truly does not feel achievable with the crowd in the Club, there's no better time to use the time for mobility work — a training element that can reduce the risk of injury and improve sports performance.
“Think about using [your workout] as a mobility session, focusing on areas that you know are tight,” says Park. “I mean, for 90 percent of people, that's going to be their hips, their hamstrings. So figuring out movements that can start opening up those joints, I think would be a great use of that time. I think a lot of people do not get that in [regularly], even myself included.” Bodyweight movements and practices, such as Animal Flow, will do the trick, but you can also use tools like mobility sticks to unlock your full range of motion.
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Step Out of Your Comfort Zone.
Try viewing the small space available to you as a challenge to work on an element of your fitness you’ve let fall to the wayside, suggests Park. The Coach himself is admittedly power- and strength-driven, so he might use a crowded Club as an opportunity to focus on endurance or conditioning, such as with compact circuits. “Wherever you feel comfortable, maybe step out of that comfort zone and try something else,” he says.
Break Your Circuits Into Smaller Chunks.
A circuit workout with four to 10 exercises, using multiple pieces of equipment, isn’t possible in a congested Club (nor is it very considerate of other members when it’s a bit less packed). To reduce your footprint, Park suggests breaking your circuit into supersets to still reap the benefits. Unless you’re training for a serious competitive event like a decathlon, this switch isn’t going to impede your progress.
Pair two exercises together and do them back-to-back, taking minimal rest. Do three rounds. Recover, and then move on to your next superset. Plan around the equipment you’re using. Consider this: Instead of pairing the battle ropes with the SkiErg, taking up two machines that are in short supply, pair the battle ropes with a kettlebell exercise and the SkiErg with a bodyweight move, for instance.
Ask Questions.
It never hurts to ask another member to share a piece of equipment, doing your reps while they’re resting and vice versa, says Park. “In my experience, when I ask if I can work in with somebody when I'm with a client, they're more than happy to accommodate,” he says. “Just ask. What's the worst that's going to happen?”