Focus: How to Get More From Your Training

Do you get distracted?

Do you make time to train, only to realise you've spent half of it looking at your phone?

Do your 90-second rest periods mysteriously become six minutes because you started talking to somebody?

Showing up matters enormously.

Finding time to train around work, family and everything else going on in your life is an achievement in itself.

But once you've created that opportunity, there's another question:

What are you going to do with it?

That's where focus comes in.

What Does Focus Mean in Training?

Focus doesn't mean staring angrily at a barbell while refusing to speak to another human being.

It simply means being able to direct your attention towards the thing you're trying to accomplish.

When you're training:

Train.

When you're working:

Work.

When you're relaxing:

Relax.

You don't have to optimise every second of your existence.

But if you've deliberately created an hour to train, it makes sense to use that hour reasonably well.

Your Time Is Valuable

This becomes particularly important if you're busy.

If you have three hours available to train each week, spending half of them scrolling through your phone isn't ideal.

That doesn't mean every second needs to be physically demanding.

Rest is part of training.

If your programme says to rest three minutes between heavy sets, taking those three minutes isn't wasting time.

It's there for a reason.

The problem is when three minutes becomes eight because you've completely forgotten what you're supposed to be doing.

A focused session doesn't necessarily mean a faster session.

It means a deliberate one.

You Don't Need to Suffer for a Workout to Count

This is something I'd change from the way I used to describe focus.

The difficult option isn't automatically the productive option.

You don't need every set to:

Burn.

Destroy you.

Leave you exhausted.

Sometimes the correct thing to do is attack a difficult set.

Sometimes it's to perform relatively easy technique work.

Sometimes it's to rest properly before another heavy effort.

Sometimes it's to deliberately back off because you're fatigued.

Focus means doing what the programme requires—not simply doing whatever feels hardest.

1. Know the Purpose of the Session

Before you start, know what you're trying to accomplish.

Maybe today you're trying to:

Add weight to a lift.

Complete a particular number of quality repetitions.

Practise a skill.

Accumulate some training volume.

Improve your conditioning.

Simply complete the session within the time you have available.

Your goal doesn't need to be spectacular.

In fact, I'd remove the suggestion from the original article that you might try to “hit a personal best on every exercise.”

That's rarely necessary or desirable.

A successful training session might contain no personal bests whatsoever.

It just needs to do its job within the wider plan.

2. Anticipate Your Distractions

You probably already know what distracts you.

Your phone.

Work emails.

Social media.

Conversations.

Turning a two-minute rest into an impromptu committee meeting on the other side of the gym.

So make those distractions slightly harder to access.

If your rest periods regularly get away from you:

Set a timer.

If notifications constantly grab your attention:

Use Do Not Disturb.

If you instinctively open social media between every set:

Don't.

You don't necessarily need aeroplane mode because your phone can also be a genuinely useful training tool—for your programme, timer, music, videos and training log.

The objective isn't to eliminate technology.

It's to use it deliberately rather than automatically.

3. Have Your Workout Ready Before You Start

This connects directly to planning.

If you walk into the gym and spend the first fifteen minutes deciding what you fancy doing, you've already created an opportunity to drift.

Know roughly:

What exercises you're doing.

How many sets and reps.

Approximately what loads you're using.

How long you're resting.

How long you have available.

You don't need every detail carved into stone.

Plans can change.

But having a starting point removes a lot of unnecessary decisions.

4. Use Rest Periods Properly

Rest periods aren't dead time.

They're part of the programme.

Shorter rest periods can be appropriate for some forms of training.

Longer rests are often useful when strength and performance are the priority.

So don't assume:

“Less rest = more focused.”

If you're supposed to rest three minutes, rest three minutes.

Have a drink.

Record your set.

Get your equipment ready.

Take a few breaths.

Then go again.

The important thing is that you decide when the next set starts rather than Instagram deciding for you.

5. Give Yourself a Time Limit When Necessary

Some people have unlimited time to train.

Most don't.

If you have 60 minutes, knowing that beforehand can actually improve your session.

You can prioritise the important work.

Maybe you don't need six exercises.

Perhaps four done properly is enough.

Maybe some smaller exercises can be paired together.

Maybe the optional finisher is exactly that:

Optional.

A good programme should be able to accommodate real life.

6. Focus on the Rep You're Actually Doing

Focus also matters within the exercise itself.

You don't need to spend every repetition attempting to consciously activate seventeen different muscles.

But pay attention to what you're doing.

Your position.

Your balance.

Your breathing.

Your technique.

The load.

How the movement feels.

Whether the rep looked like the one before it.

Particularly when you're learning something new, attention is part of practice.

7. Schedule Your Downtime Too

Focus isn't just about getting more work done.

It's also about allowing yourself to stop.

If you've decided you're going to play a game, watch television, go to the pub or spend time with your family:

Do that.

You don't need to spend the entire time feeling guilty because you could theoretically be doing something more productive.

Rest and enjoyment aren't failures of discipline.

Having some separation between work, training and downtime can make it easier to give each one your attention when you're actually doing it.

8. Remember That You're Human

You will get distracted.

Everyone does.

You don't need to turn one distracted workout into evidence that you lack discipline.

Notice what's happened.

Then return your attention to what you're doing.

That's the skill.

Focus isn't never becoming distracted.

It's becoming better at recognising distraction and returning to the task.

The BearWolf Approach

This fits into a few of the principles that run throughout my coaching.

Planning gives your training direction.

Adherence gets you through the door.

Focus helps you execute.

Recovery allows you to do it again.

None of them need to be perfect.

They just need to be good enough, often enough, for progress to accumulate.

The Bottom Line

Your time matters.

If you've created an opportunity to train, use it deliberately.

Know what you're trying to accomplish.

Have a plan.

Control the distractions you can control.

Rest when you're supposed to rest.

Pay attention to what you're doing.

Then go home and get on with the rest of your life.

You don't need to become an antisocial gym robot.

You just need to know when it's time to work—and when it isn't.