Try Two-a-Days to Ramp Up For Summer!

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We are about a month away from the official launch of summer and with all this beautiful weather, everyone is starting to realize that they don’t have a lot of time before they are sporting minimal clothing and swim wear!

As a result, many people are ramping up their exercise programs and Two-a-Days are definitely one way to take your fitness to a whole new level and get in great shape right in time for summer.

So what are Two-a-Days? Just like it sounds, it’s basically working out twice in one 24-hour period. Here’s some rationale behind the approach and some tips for giving it a try for the next month.

Benefits of Two-a-Days:

• Increase caloric expenditure therefore helping to maximize fat loss
• Increase volume of training therefore stimulating muscle strength and endurance
• Ability to incorporate all fitness components including cardio, muscle strength and endurance, flexibility etc.
• Providing a new stimulus to your workout routine forcing your body to respond

Tips for incorporating Two-a-Days:

• Mix it up. If you do cardio in the morning, try muscle strength and conditioning or Yoga in the evening. If you do high intensity in the morning, go low intensity in the evening. If you do a high impact in the morning, go for a low impact activity in the evening. If you work your lower body in the morning, train your upper body in the evening.
• Timing. Try to give yourself at least 4-6 hours in between your two separate workouts to give your body some time to recover. And on average, keep your workouts shorter than 45 minutes to minimize exhaustion.
• Monitor your Body. If you notice yourself overly tired, lacking motivation, excessively fatigued and/or getting sick, reduce your overall training volume, give yourself more rest and back off on the Two-a-Days.
• Intense workouts first. If you find yourself struggling in your second workout of the day, schedule your more challenging workouts first and lighter workouts later in the day.
• Set up your lifestyle for success with Two-a-Days. When you are incorporating two workouts in one day, you will need to make sure you are getting enough sleep, hydration and great nutrition!
• Two-a-Day not Everyday – You don’t need to do Two-a-Days everyday. Maybe start with a couple on week one and build from there still allowing some days with only one workout or complete rest days.
• Don’t do it Forever – Two-a-Days are great for ramping things up and breaking through a plateau but it can lead to exhaustion and burnout if you do it all the time. Try it for two weeks,, then take a week off and then go for another two weeks.

As the days are getting longer and warmer, and you’re ready to ramp up your workout routine, try Two-a-Days as a very effective technique to stimulate some great results!

Yours in health & fitness,
Sherri McMillan

Note:  As an avid Columbian reader, you can redeem a 2 week pass at her world-class training studio to help get you started.  Contact 360.574.7292 for more details. 

Join us for…..
RUN TO REMEMBER WASHINGTON –Memorial Day Mile, 5k and 10k races!
THIS Saturday May 27th in Downtown Washougal, WA – just across the river from Portland Oregon.
Let us honor the brave men and women who have or are currently serving in our Armed Forces and remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our freedom. This Memorial Day Mile and 5k/10k running and walking event on Memorial Day weekend will benefit Battle Buddies, an organization that provides Service Dogs for our Veterans.