Your Perfect Lunch Hour Workout
Including Tips for Getting Out of the Locker Room Fast and Looking Impossibly Fresh
My top tips from 15+ years of teaching and taking lunchtime classes for an efficient midday workout and how to get pretty afterward.
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Do you have trouble sticking to a consistent workout routine? The easiest way to make exercise a habit is to do it over your lunch hour.
This way you aren’t fighting your alarm in the morning (particularly if it is 6 AM in February, freezing, and pitch black), and you won’t skip the gym after work because you are starving or too tired.
I have been both teaching and taking Spin and barre classes during lunch since I was 22, and one of the most common exercise questions is “how can you do it during lunch??” I work in a traditional office so have a fairly structured day but always try to squeeze in a workout during the day. Of course, there are times when my schedule is too tight to allow for this, but more often than not it is a daily part of my schedule. There is a work benefit here as well since it recharges me for the afternoon (I actually do get some of my best ideas during cardio).
In this post I am combining the best tips I have developed over the past 15 years as both an instructor and a student to help you get the best midday workout possible.
I will discuss what to do both before and after your workout, including:
How to most efficiently and effectively use the time you can carve out.
How to fuel yourself before and after.
Tips for getting ready so that you can go back to your desk pretty and fresh.
As an added bonus, I am also including a link to my two favorite midday routines that provide full workouts yet still account for travel time to the gym and showering.So many people say they want to read more, and what better time than on a long flight?
Pre-workout, you are focused on preparation:
Block off time in your calendar.
Depending upon your company, position, and boss, this is optional, but many people find they are more likely to stick to a mid-day workout if they explicitly add it to their calendar like a meeting.
Time it right.
If you have flexibility, try to go at 11 or 1:30. Going before or after the lunch crush means you have more access to equipment, more space on the floor, and less of a chance for having to wait for a shower. Your time is much better spent working out than waiting for something.
Pack your lunch.
This way you can grab it on the way back from the gym. The less time you have to spend in line picking up food to go, the more time you have to dedicate to your workout. Also, you can also pack something specific for the type of workout you are doing. For instance, I tend to eat something lighter (like a hearty salad) after barre than after I teach a Spin class (definitely must involve carbs).
My go to is Proper Good for a meal that I can just throw into the microwave.
While most premade meals are loaded with sodium and preservatives, these are light in both and made with whole foods for a variety of eating styles (vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free) in hearty chilis, soups, oatmeal, and sides that will fill you up after a tough workout and keep you going all afternoon.
And right now, click here for 10% off your first order!
Stow your water bottle in the office refrigerator.
Put it in with your lunch. By the time you head to the gym, it will be nice and cold, which has been shown to give you a boost in powering through your workout. Tip: during the workout, if you’re sweating a lot, you can place the bottle against the back of your neck and inside your wrists for an instant refresher.
Bring the right gear.
This includes my essentials for expediting getting ready in the locker room and keeping your funky workout gear from contaminating everything else in your bag.
The bag. I absolutely adore the practicality of a gym bag that has a separate compartment forshoes and used workout clothes that are not springtime fresh (I LOVE the striped version of this but realize that I have…interesting…taste). This keeps them from defiling the rest of your stuff, and it’s easy enough to remove them and toss in the hamper when you get home. This is important particularly for shoes. I will not describe what my running shoes are like, but it is not a good situation. Another option is to get separate bag inserts for your clothes and shoes to throw dirty clothes in (both of these bags are machine-washable!). Finally, I like to throw these miracle-working deodorizers into my shoes before I stow them to keep them as fresh as possible as long as possible .
Waterproof mascara. This is key to preventing racoon eye. It needs 15 minutes to set to be waterproof, but if you put it on that morning, you are good to go. If you wear eyeliner, you are better off with waterproof as well. Random beauty tip: travel sized is the best size for mascara because it doesn’t dry out before you have used up the tube.
Hair ties. These are less likely to crease your hair if you don’t want the option of letting it down for the afternoon, and they make for cute bracelets for the rest of the day (with enough colors to match any gym outfit).
Headband or clips. I have and will always have bangs, and I clip them out of my face so that they don’t get too greasy. These are two of my favorites - the headbands are so cute, and the clips are so versatile!
Face wipes. I’ve been using Cetaphil since I was a teenage for my very sensitive skin, so I always have these wipes in my gym bag.
Cooling moisturizer. This is one of my favorite face products and cools my skin down. It is key to rehydrate your skin after you rinse the sweat off.
Highlighter. Please note I am not suggesting anything dramatic or something you would wear to a black tie party! This one is nourishing to your skin and flattering as it catches the light but won’t make you look like you’re going clubbing when you were 22.
8. Cute cosmetics bag. This one isn’t a necessity of course, but when you have cute accessories, it makes going to the gym so much more fun! It’s a nice little way to treat yourself for taking care of your body.
Fuel yourself pre-workout.
Have a snack an hour before with complex carbs and some protein if needed. This is all contingent on what time you are working out. For instance, if you are hitting the gym at 11:00, you might still be satisfied from breakfast, whereas after 1:00 you’ll need a more substantial snack. Listen to your body, but don’t go to the gym famished (or stuffed, for that matter). You need just enough to give you the energy to get through it. Try half a protein bar, a banana with peanut butter, or an orange with a piece of string cheese. A key here is to have some protein in the snack – if you eat a candy bar, for instance, your blood sugar will crash, which will ruin your workout. Also, skip cruciferous veggies like broccoli or anything overloaded with fiber because it will be heavy in your stomach.
Caffeinate yourself.
Have a cup of coffee (6-8 ounces) about a half hour before you start your workout. This amount of caffeine will give you a nice kick to help you go harder in your workout but won’t leave you jittery.
Go prepared with a plan.
Efficiency is key to packing as much into a short time period as possible, so have your reps, intervals, circuits, etc. planned before you even walk in.
Have a playlist.
If I am doing cardio, I need music. However, during Pilates or strength training, I like listening to podcasts. Whatever motivates you, go with that, but you’ll likely want to tailor that to the type of workout you are doing.
Walk briskly to the gym.
Here you’re doing double duty with your time by getting a warm up in. You will still want to do a bit of a warm up after you change your clothes as you start to actually get into your workout, but your muscles will already be decently prepped for exercise.
Stretch afterward.
But save your deep stretching and foam rolling for another time.
This might sound obvious, but make sure you have a plan for when you get to the gym! I.e. are you doing strength, cardio, or both? Circuit training, Pilates, or training for a race? If you are looking to switch things up, sign up for my FREE mix-and-match lunch hour workouts below. It includes an interval-based cardio routine and a barre-based strength routine. Do one or both - together they clock in at just under an hour!
After your workout, be efficient in getting ready to go back to work:
Deodorize yourself.
Jump in the shower for 15 – 30 seconds just to rinse off the sweat. This is actually beneficial for your skin because you aren’t stripping it of oils but just rinsing off the grime. Before you get out, turn the water to a cooler temperature, and try to get it on the following parts: inner wrists, back of your neck, armpits, and inner thighs. This will bring your body temperature down.
If you didn’t do cardio, you probably don’t need to shower (unless you want to, of course). In that case, I love Bliss body wipes (they smell amazing) if you want a refresh.
Reinforce the decrease in body temperature.
When you get out of the shower, if needed, reinforce the cool shower water by running your wrists under very cold water in the sink, then splash cold water on your neck. These two things always bring me back to a normal temperature even if I ran out of a Spin class and into the shower.
Fix your hair.
Turn a hair dryer (usually available in the locker room) to cool and aim it at the roots of your hair around your forehead, through the crown, then to the nape of your neck. to your roots. Spend extra time at the nape of your neck for the added bonus of bringing down your body temperature. It is good to have a post-workout hairstyle on hand for days when your hair just isn’t cooperating (a sleek pony, a bun, half back, whatever you love and works for you). A lot of women go for dry shampoo, but my hair always feels dirtier after it, so I skip it.
Reduce facial redness.
Your face will be red (I tend to not sweat a lot and as a result perpetually look like I just had a cardiac event). Run a face wipe over your skin, apply calming moisturizer, add a touch of makeup if you like, then dust with a non-disco-y highlighter. You will cool your skin down, so the redness will subside, but the highlighter compliments the glowiness you have right now (which you should embrace, because you look your dang healthiest now).
And now you’re ready to go back to work! You should be brimming with energy and ready to tackle things you may have been stuck on when you walked away from your desk.
Grab your lunch from the fridge (even better if it’ s in a cute lunch bag!) on the way back to your desk.
Now pat yourself on the back for spending your lunch hour on you.
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