The Crowded-Gym Survival Guide
For about a month at the beginning of each year, everybody is a hardcore gym rat. I'm talking about the hundreds of New Year's resolution-aries who invade your gym, determined to meet their newly set goals even if it means sidetracking you from yours. Not only are they a distraction-working out in polo shirts and doing curls in the squat rack-they're an outright danger, poaching the equipment you need and blocking your path. (Picture holding 70-pound dumbbells and hurrying back to your bench, only to find some dude stretching on it.)
Of course, in about a month, most of them will be gone and the gym will once again be the dungeon of sweat and solitude you know and love-and you can resume your routine without further interruption. But you shouldn't have to wait for that. That's why we designed the ultimate plan for avoiding gym crowds while still getting in the workouts you need to add slabs of muscle.
Stake Your Claim
All you have to do is wait for one piece of equipment to open up and then grab it. Throw your towel over it and you're set for the duration of your workout. For example, the first workout is called Squat Rack Day because everything you'll do will revolve around that apparatus. Some exercises will involve the rack specifically-such as the squat and inverted row-while others, such as the pushup and single-leg squat, can simply be done in the same space. (Note: The last exercise on that day is a hanging leg raise, so look for a squat rack that has a chinning bar built into it-otherwise, you may have to wait for one to open up elsewhere.) Aside from changing weights, you barely have to move your feet the whole routine.
The second workout is Bench Day. Find an adjustable bench and set up camp. (Again, you'll have to go to the dumbbell rack and back a few times to change weights, so make sure your gym towel holds your spot.)
The third workout is the simplest of all: floor Day-just find a spot on the floor. Aside from changing dumbbells again, there's no equipment necessary.
