blastthru23
Moderator
I am a member of gym that gets quite busy during the time that I train, or at least 3 or 4 days per week it's quite busy. I used to get frustrated when a bench, machine, rack, or a set of dumbs weren't available, even within the range I was seeking to work (say between 30 and 40 lbs for example. No 30's no 35's nor 40's etc.).
For me, training while frustrated, well, is frustrating and ends up very ineffective. I decided to adapt to the situation I often faced by being creative and fluid, adding more exercises to stay warm, and of course pumped without pre-exhausting a muscle group.
The first step I take is to pre-plan my routine for any given body region being trained. While planning my workouts, I visualize the lay out of the floor, where what piece of equipment is in which location, and how that maps on to what I plan to accomplish. Then, I plan my workouts so that I can get as much done on one piece of equipment. For example, if I am planning to work back, I will do as many exercises with the pull down, wide grip lat pull drop sets, reverse grip pulls, narrow grip, and single arm pulls. Since the pull up bar is right there, I may super with chins. I've just accomplished 4-5 exercises without moving to another station.
Now, according to my planned routine, bent over rows are next, both over and under hand grip, with deads either preceding or coming after. I can do all of these at one station. However, all the racks are occupied. Well, damn, what do I do? Do I just sit there and wait? Hell no! Gotta keep going! I take a look around the area of the rack for something I could do to keep the flow of the training session, and take a look at my list of exercises seeing if any could come before the rows and deads. Hmmm, well, I suppose I could knock out single arm rows right quick and the dumbs are just steps away from the rack. If it appears that one of the racks might come free soon, I may choose to do lower weight than I have planned, just to stay active. Once the rack opens up, I snag it hella quick. As an aside, if someone is fucking around on their phone, I will respectfully ask how many sets they have remaining. 9 times out of 10, they are magically done. Cool, leave the bar racked, I'll handle it, thanks bro! My work out continues, and I'm warm and ready.
Another way I plan my routines is to do exercises where one piece of equipment is adjacent to the one I'm using. At my gym, the T-bar is next to chest supported row. I can bust out t-rows and simple throw my towel over to the next station when complete. If someone is diligently working at the CSR, then I can choose to do another set or two, or bust some more SARs while I wait for the CSR. The idea is to keep moving, adapting as I go instead of getting upset (especially when I'm running high dose of gear, can get a little aggressive, you know what I mean). Once I complete the two different grip positions on the CSR, I can move elegantly to a flat bench to do barbell pull-overs for controlled slow reps for 4-5 sets. This exercise is delicious due to the stretch at the beginning of the movement (since I have ridiculous shoulder mobility, I can get the weight all the way to the floor behind giving a tasty stretch for the lats).
By this time, the population on the floor has diminished greatly. The rest of the routine unfolds as the flower of a morning glory at first light of day. The finishing exercises are accomplished in a machine gun fashion, crushing each in rapid succession, sometimes leaving extra time for abs or some cardio. In addition, I've added some extra sets, extra exercises, and feel accomplished and in a great head space.
The upshot is plan routines in advance in way that you can use a station to its fullest extent to accomplish the task. Take into account the layout of the equipment in the gym so that you can move from one station to the other without having to wander from one end to the other to finish your routine. If a station is taken, do something else nearby to keep warm, to keep the pace and flow of the session, perhaps working an area or muscle that needs a little more attention, rear delts or the tibialis anterior are good ones for example.
And always remember: Prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance!