About a week ago, I came home from work and exchanged the normal, "How was your day?" with the husband. His response that day was, "Today, I pulled a Jillian!" After a few incorrect guesses (you forgot where you put something? you fell asleep on the train? you were just all-around awesome?), he had to tell me that "pulling a Jillian" meant working out twice in one day. I'm not sure exactly how or why it started, but I've developed a habit of working out twice/day on some days. I guess I'm sort of a "habit" kind of girl - I like getting up at the same time every day. I also prefer to workout in the morning. So, on days where I'm teaching in the afternoon, I still get up at the dreaded hour of 5:00am (no, it never gets easier) and get my workout fix. When I was marathon training, this meant a lot of treadmill running, but now it can be running, yoga, stretching, Insanity, P90x and soon to be Focus T25. It's not always a long workout (these days if I'm running, it's only for 30 minutes), but it feels great to start my day with some good old fashioned sweat-action!
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A friend recently shared article with me from Greatist about the safety of working out twice in one day: Is It Safe to Work Out Twice in One Day? I thought it offered some great tips for anyone who is interested in adopting this habit, but I wanted to offer my own. Just remember - listen to your body and don't overdo it!
Hi, my name is Jillian, and I am a gym rat!
| 1. Prioritize Chances are that one of your workouts will be cardio-based and the other will involve some sort of resistance training. On days when you're working out twice, pick a workout that will be your main focus of the day - one where you know you're going to to really push and challenge yourself. If you have a training run on your schedule, and it's an "easy" day, hit it hard with the weights and really challenge yourself. If you're not doing any heavy lifting, maybe taking a pilates or yoga class for some resistance training, challenge yourself with some heavy cardio. |  |
| 2. Know the "why" behind your double workout day There are so many reasons why you might want to squeeze in two workouts in one day. For me, it's about getting up at the same time every day, but also about getting in some "me" time. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my group fitness classes, but at the same time, I also benefit mentally from when it's just me and my workout (and sometimes Matt O'Donnell on the 6abc news). For some of you, you might be training for a specific race or really trying to kick start some serious weight loss. Or maybe your schedule fits better with two shorter workouts rather than one long session. Know this ahead of time and it will really help you structure your workouts. |  |
| 3. Plan ahead If you're serious about getting in two workouts, it will require A LOT of planning. You'll likely need to schedule WHEN you'll be doing your workouts, but you'll also need to make sure you get enough sleep the night before and you're fueling your body properly - not just before your workouts, but during and after too! The Greatist article offers some fabulous advice for this - read it! |  |
Do you ever workout twice in one day?
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