Are you ready for two-a-days?
By Pauline DiGiorgio
It took me a couple of years to understand this concept.
I thought to myself at first, why in the world would one want to work out twice in one day?
But it’s all how you look at it, my friend.
There are three key reasons to enjoy the benefits of doing your cardio and strength training separately.
The first reason is your workouts will be shorter because you will be doing them at separate times, meaning it will reduce your risk of overtraining in a single session.
I know when it comes to myself and many others, you get pretty beat up after an intense 40 to 45 minutes, so then to top off with cardio work is a no go.
I don’t give my cardio the same intensity, or worse just skip it. So if I shorten my workout in the morning to 20 minutes and a 10-minute yoga stretch and then return later, I’m more revved, especially after that afternoon pre-workout or cup of coffee. It’s then time to meet a workout buddy or go to that boot camp weight training class.
I like to do high intensity interval training, or HIIT, in the morning because I feel like it wakes me up.
That leads to my second key reason for two-a-days.
Kick up metabolism
By doing HIIT training early, you can enjoy the “after burn” as your metabolism works on overdrive throughout the day.
The third reason is my personal favorite. As any day goes, it’s pretty natural to have ups and downs. Daily stressors seem to always melt away after I pop in my headphones with earbuds that are small and get into a workout later in the day.
I look forward to turning off the phone, the computer and having a nice end to my day.
Lastly, there is no pressure to get my second workout done — no meetings to run to or work to get to.
I recommend you start slow and perhaps choose one day a week. If you enjoy it, work it into your routine two to three times per week.
For fat loss, two to three cardio sessions are ideal, so I schedule my two-a-days on Monday and Thursday.
Shock that body! It’s a new year! Your body will thank you!
• Pauline DiGiorgio is a fitness ambassador and Group X instructor at Retro Fitness gyms. Questions? Email her at ptlifts@gmail.com.