Now that I’m running 6 days a week—thanks to habit pairing, a concept from Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, where you follow an established habit with one you’d like to form—I’ve found that running alone isn’t giving me the results I want. (I’m losing inches, but not building muscle in the right places.) So I started doing something I never expected: working out twice a day.
I know, right? Am I cray cray? Maybe. But hear me out.
After intense cardio, you’re tired (especially if you’ve upped your daily run from 1.5 miles to a 5K). The last thing you want is a round of Pilates to tone your muscles, especially if you can’t fit it in before work.
So I started doing it after work. (I have to shower by then anyway with the current weather, so I might as well.) Plus, Pilates well-rested is much more effective than Pilates exhausted. I actually have the energy to do 10 minutes on each area I want to work: arms, abs, obliques, butt and thighs. I also have the patience for a long stretch, which I don’t have just after a long run.
So if you’re already embracing two showers a day, you might want to get in two workouts, too. Because you might as well.
Just be sure to take at least one day off a week from exercise to rest your muscles, so you don’t overtrain and/or injure yourself. I also have a rule that I don’t work out on a day I wake up super sore. (A little sore, sure, but not super sore.) Instead, I’ll do a yoga routine that targets soreness and walk. Or I’ll do nothing, which is sometimes the best idea.
What about you, readers? How are you working out these days? And what works for you?