Double entendre intended. There are a number of ways to make the most of your mileage and sweat. For me, at my age, I turn up my metabolism by running first thing in the morning. I don’t jump out of bed and pound the pavement but after an hour of reading, writing and catching up I get out the door. I have read studies that suggest that I can boost my metabolism for 14 hours by kick starting it with forty minutes of exercise.
I have learned the hard way that if I am combining weights and cardio I need to do the circuit training first. Lifting with tired muscles can lead to injury and reduce calorie burn and muscle building.
I am not sure if this hack is real or hype but since I believe everything has a placebo or nocebo effect I continue to have a chocolate protein shake within 30 minutes of a workout because a race director told me “that my body would use the protein for muscle regeneration and it was like it was almost calorie free.”
The best workout hack I have discovered is the mental gymnastics of pushing through the excuse wall. For the first 12 minutes, my brain is saying ” it is too cold/too hot” “My leg hurts” ” I ran hard yesterday” and an array of excuses trying to prompt surrender and just go home. But knowing that at 12 minutes my brain gives up and the next 30-40 minutes are refreshing and re-energizing until the excuse cycle starts again. The hack is therefore ‘just getting through the wall’, I don’t need to run an hour, I just need to run through the twelve minutes (my brother in law says his wall is at 7).
Get out there and start hacking your workout,
B
