There’s a lot of time wasted at the gym. When you arrive there after a long day at the office, it’s easy to lollygag as you mentally unwind from the workday. But we all know that fitness isn’t the only important matter you need to attend to. Family, friends, and cooking nutritious meals all take up what precious few moments you have left outside of work. So to help you shorten your workouts and maximize your time at the gym, we’ve come up with some simple tips.

Stop training individual muscle groups separately

While most gym goers like to exercise their biceps, legs, abs and other muscle groups separately, why not opt for a full body workout instead? Simply put, full body workouts save time. Yes, we know it’s more difficult and makes you sweat, but isn’t that the point of exercise? A few full body exercises you can add to your routine are burpees, mountain climbers, and compound lifts like squats and the deadlift that workout two or three different muscle groups at once.

Be aware of the time

If you haven’t clearly defined a time to leave the gym by, you’ll likely end up spending far longer there than necessary. So first decide what time you want to arrive and leave by. Once you’ve done that, then decide on the specific exercises you want to perform, and give yourself a reasonable amount of time to complete them. Then when you finally make it to the gym, make sure you stick to your plan. You can use a timer or simply watch the clock to ensure you are completing each exercise on (or at least close to) schedule.

Don’t get distracted

Whether you’re oogle-eyeing the local gym hottie, chatting with your buddies, playing on your phone or making excessive trips to the water fountain, distractions aboud at the gym. So to help you stay focused, we’ve come up with three rules you should follow.

1. Avoid any and all small talk
2. Fill up a water bottle in advance, so you can skip trips to the drinking fountain
3. Turn off your phone or, better yet, leave it in the car and use a music only player if you need to work out with tunes

When you combine these three tips with a focus on completing your workout in time, you’ll eliminate most distractions.

Shorten rest periods in between sets

Another key tactic to reduce workout time is to shorten the rest periods between your sets. Because let’s face it, most of us are probably guilty of taking longer rest periods than we should. So how long of a rest period is too long? For lower body exercises, rest for 90 seconds between sets. For your upper body, take 60.

Hold off on the donuts

We know you’re not likely chowing down on Doritos while you’re at the gym; it’s those other 162 hours in your week that we’re concerned about. So if you’re spending more time on the treadmill to offset all the calories you’re eating, then it makes sense to be more conscious of your diet. When you swap the pizza for salad or eat smaller portion sizes, you’ll quickly see for yourself how big of a role your diet plays in your waistline. So next time you’re flirting with a late night date with a tub of ice cream, skip it and you’ll soon be shortening your workouts in no time.