So this week I haven’t covered the most cerebral topics.
Monday was Kelly, who loves Jelly Bellys, and her diet book, Wednesday highlighted nut
milk delivery, which I’m pretty sure only happens in New York and today’s workout-related
topic isn't going to vastly change your life. I promise to comment on the latest obesity predictions next week; I take that back, I don’t because I like these fun topics.
The NYT ran a story on a current NYC fitness trend. I can’t
imagine why but six separate people emailed or tweeted me
the link with a version of “maybe you should blog about this.” The “this” is
the trend among women, the article stated it is a female phenomenon so I’m not
stereotyping, to scurry from one intense workout class to another. Whether it’s
barre, boot camp, spinning or running for many women one workout isn’t
enough. The Times distinguished “this is different than the elliptical and then
weights.” While that sounds somewhat elitist these exercise classes are each 45
to 60 minutes long and intense.
I consulted two of
my favorite fitness professionals for their two cents on this trend. Kate Albarelli is the creator of the brutal, yet beneficial, barre class Figure 4
and Riley Nickols is a running/triathlete coach and owner of Mind Body Endurance. It did occur to me that this leaves us taking advice from a ballerina (you know their work ethic) and a 5-time ironman (which is technically an octuple workout). They both said that they
many of their students or clients do double workouts but not every day. At
Foodtrainers, if a client has been doing the same daily workout for years I
will suggest one weekly “doubleheader” as we call it. This wouldn’t be
something for someone new to exercise. Riley, in exercise-physiology speak, said
“I do believe that adding in a double workout to your schedule can be a helpful
way to make fitness gains and break through a "plateau". The
body is amazing at adapting to the stress you place upon it, so switching
things up can have physiological and psychological benefits.”
There is also a
limit and more exercise is not always best. I asked about the prevalence of the
“triple threat” and Kate explained “I have seen 3 classes for sure, however at that
point, I start to wonder why. Not for everyone, but at a certain point, it
becomes less about fitness and more about obsession and that can be dangerous.”
It also becomes competitive, the article mentioned a woman who said “you
see other people doing it” and “it’s a type A New York thing.” I had a client come in who said “since when is
one workout not enough?” And Riley clarified "I would suggest double workouts only on a few conditions for the
recreational exerciser:
- The individual has the availability in their schedule (that does not take away from family/work responsibilities) and the resources to devote to double workouts and
- The individual views the double workouts as being enjoyable rather than an obligation.” We all know type A can be a nice way of saying neurotic.
I’ll often do a
run before Figure 4 or yoga. It’s hard to go all out, ether I’ll do a quick run
between dropping my children at school and class or I’ll do a good run and tack
on a barre class as an extra. You only have so much gas in the tank and I never
have as much to put into Figure 4 when I’ve pre-fatigued by legs. Kate
concurred “If the student is really
giving it all they have with one Figure 4, there is no need to do
another right after.” It may come down to a question of quantity versus
quality. And Riley mentioned the concept of periodizing workouts that he uses
with his athletes “similarly
to triathletes/runners, recreational exercises can also benefit from
periodizing their workouts incorporating periods of higher training volume
(e.g., double workouts) but also building in periods of rest and/or lower
volume training."
Many of
my friends and colleagues have their favorite doubles. Sam, from Mom at the Barre a great fitness blog mentioned she does a Physique57/Refine Method double
and also likes FlywheelSports/Physique. In her email about this she added “I met your
friend Shari at As 1effect today, she was wearing a Foodtrainers t-shirt.” It’s
a funny fitness world in NYC but nothing made me laugh more than this statement. A
few friends were emailing about the workout article while trying to
arrange meeting for a lunch or a workout. Everyone has busy schedules with
dental visits and meetings and one friend said “I was thinking 8:30
Soul Cycle and 9:30 Figure 4 this Tuesday...because I have 11:30 acupuncture
and 1:00 physical therapy. Holy cow, I take a lot of maintenance!”
So help
me here, is this a NYC thing only? Do you do doubleheader workouts? How much do
you think is too much? Any men want to confess to double?
