How you can master the midday lunch workout

February 7, 2017 Ashley 0 Comments

We’ve discussed all the advantages of morning or evening workouts before.

But what about having lunges and crunches for lunch?

What about breaking from the grind for gains?

See, according to this recent study done over at the University of North Texas, it’s said that our body-power peaks circa the center of our day. Why? Well, it’s hypothesized that a higher body temp is most probably the cause. The idea’s that we’ve been up and about for a little bit, so our body meat’s a bit warmer, more malleable, and ready to move. More so than the second the vexing alarm jangles you awake – and more so after that daily, exhausting body ‘n mind marathon that is your job. But by now, you’ve probably already got a list of “how’s” surrounding the notion of a midday workout. How will you manage the time? How will you make it worthwhile? How could I be so ridiculous to suggest sacrificing your sacred break time?

How?

Well, let’s attempt to address each…

First: “How am I going to go to back to work without an onion musk covering me?” Easy. By keeping a bag in your car with the sweat and post sweat essentials: workout gear, deodorant, shower goodies, the works. And, as for the hair? I myself like to keep a bit of dry shampoo on hand, seeing I’ve got about as much time as Sweet Brown exiting her flame consumed domicile to wash and dry my coif before my noon hour snack curfew’s up.

Okay, well, “How can I make it worth my time? When I only have half an hour? What can I possibly accomplish?”

A lot more than you think. Actually, you can accomplish a lot more than you could do in a half hour to an entire hour, for that matter – if you put your mind to it. Do you know you can burn over 15 cal per minute doing an HIIT routine? Or that you can burn up to 200 calories skipping rope for just 15 minutes? There’s a whole fountain of fat blasting activities you can get in, in half the time of a long distance run… and for more burn-age than one, too.

Alright… but “How will I fit in lunch?”

Simple. Split, don’t binge your middle meal. If you snack on the carby part before hitting the gym, it’ll give you a good fuel for your workout without stuffing your tummy. (Which’s counterproductive for a good cardio sesh anyway.) And if you save the protein packed portion for after, it’s a good way to rebuild your brawny body parts – and also stay feeling full for the day’s remainder.

(Plus, if you’re a foodie like me, it’s something to look forward to after lunch is done.)

But, aside from feeling full, you’ll also feel fulfilled.

Because exercise generously doles out endorphins (your body pharmacy’s free drugs) for you. And that means you come back to your work with a clearer, re-framed, more oxygenated brain state. This is great because it means you can badazz through your tasks with alacrity and more enjoyment, making what might be an otherwise drudgerous time fly by. Compare that to your usual, stressful rest of the day (and – remember – stress causes fat inducing cortisol hormones to be released), and there’s no question. That, is “how” I can so audaciously suggest that you sacrifice your only time away from work to do a workout – because it’s better than you probably feel when you typically return from lunch with all your brain blood stuck in your gullet. So if you haven’t got the time at either morning or night, try the midday weight whittling work out instead.

And the only question you’ll be asking is…

“How have I not thought to do this all along?”