I just had a short talk with my friend today about going to the gym. Last night, we both went to the gym separately. I went alone and spent an hour doing an initial 10-minute cardio and the rest doing legs. It was short but efficient. My friend on the other hand spent ~2+ hours doing swimming, some light "workouts" and a mile run. Initially, a person can probably argue that my friend's workout was brutal and probably better than what I did. On another thought, is a 2-hour workout actually better than my 1 hour workout?
Now today, I asked the same friend if he's going to the gym and his immediate response was, "no, I'm too tired". I mentioned to him that I'm going to the gym prior our discussion. This brought up his argument that doctors recommends that your body needs rest in between workouts. I immediately argued that 1-hour per day for 3 days then 1 day rest (then restart) is better than 2+ hour workout on 1 day then 3 days rest and so forth. He insisted that his goal is not to "bulk up", yet he mentioned a week earlier that his goal was to be defined, get bigger chest and arms. It's quite contradicting if you ask me but it's the norm.
I'm not here to bash my friend or others who adheres to the same methodology of being in shape and working out. Things works differently for each individuals and that's part of human nature whether it's a routine, or studying for an exam. If it works for him or you then by all means, stick to it and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. If you're comfortable enough to defend your position and can argue that your ways works great for you (and you're not in denial), then stick to it. Don't be one of those people who thinks they know it all, and egotistically driven about their ways even if their methods stinks.
I've been consistently going to the gym for the past 7+ years and have seen a lot of individuals days in-and-out who looks the same from the first time I've seen them. Two things comes into my mind. It's either 1.) they're inconsistent with their workouts or 2.) their diets doesn't work. First off, everyone's goal is different and if not for that "goal", a person wouldn't take the initiative to set foot in the gym to begin with. Everyone has goals and there is no question about it. The problem for failure are lack of dedication, proper education, discipline and organization. There's probably more components that comes into play but the 4 things I just mentioned are the top most important (at least from my experience).
Realizing a goal means to sacrifice and in turn requires dedication. Dedication comes purely from your heart and if you want to achieve something such as a goal, you'll pour your hearts into it to in order to make it a reality. Secondly, proper education is also important because you'll have to do the necessary research in order to find the best ways to make your effort as efficient as possible. Next is discipline which can go hand in hand with dedication simply means that you're disciplined enough to keep away from surrounding temptations and distractions. While having a heart is a good thing, having the will to say "no" to temptations means that you're on track towards reaching your goals. And lastly, organization is a vital piece since a lot of excuses that people make these days is that they don't have enough time or they're too tired. The issue here is not about having enough time but rather time is not wisely being managed or organized. Once you have organized your time wisely, everything that you define in your schedule is immediately part of your routine. Without organization, life would seem to be hectic and/or chaotic and even little tasks seems to be daunting.
The types of gym-goers:
I believe that there are 3 types of gym-goers or fitness enthusiasts and they are the 1.)average, 2.)occasional and the 3.)gym rats. These 3 types are apart from what I mentioned above and only exemplifies individual attitudes towards working out.
The average is any person who has a goal and likes to workout but yet easily distracted by its surroundings. This person is intensely into his/her workout and has a proper mind set and can go months at a time into the "workout mode". The thing is, this person is also easily distracted and can also go for a week or even a month without working out. An average person is that type of person that sees progress once in a while.
The second type is the occasional gym-goer. This type of person is the one of those people that you'll see on the threadmill in early January but also occasionally comes to the gym here and there because they're with their friends. Usually, this type of person complains that he/she is not seeing the results that they want yet only exerts minimal efforts. Hmm..
The third type is pretty obvious and has no need for long explanations. Simply, if you're one of those people who nods at the next person because you see each other in the gym all the time, you belong in this. And also, if the front desk knows you by your first name, then you probably fall in this category.