If you’re chasing certain fitness results, you may be wondering if exercising twice a day will help you achieve them twice as fast. Once a relic of high school sports training, two-a-day workouts are now all over social media and even included in some popular lifestyle programs. But should twice a day be part of your exercise routine? Does exercising twice a day double the gain or double the risk?
Are there any benefits to exercising twice a day?
When it comes to the benefits of exercising twice a day, “there really aren’t any unless you’re an elite athlete,” says Trevor Thieme, CSCS. “If you have enough gas in the tank for two workouts a day, you’re probably not pushing hard enough in either one to optimize your progress toward your goals.”
To be clear, this doesn’t mean you should never exercise more than once a day. “If you’re too busy to complete the entire workout at once over a few days, feel free to split it up,” says Thieme.
You can also do some moderate-intensity cardio on the same day as your strength training, or vice versa — although you’d probably be better off doing them on separate days if you’re serious about building endurance and/or strength.
But divide and rule isn’t your only option when you’re pressed for time. “You should also consider doing a more intense, shorter training but longer divided into two parts,” suggests Thieme. “When you start working right away, the intensity of the exercise outweighs the duration of the exercise.”
What are the disadvantages of exercising twice a day?
Unless you’re splitting one workout into two to accommodate your schedule, working out twice a day is more likely to slow your progress than speed it up.
1. Increases the risk of overtraining
In order to adapt to the training stimuli provided by your exercise, your body needs sufficient time recover between them. “Exercising too often can put you on the fast track staleness“, warns Thieme. “It can not only bring you to training rutbut it also increases the risk of injury.”
2. It reduces physical performance
Burnout caused by overtraining will include a reducing your performance during training. Worse, the effects of overtraining can spill over into your daily life and include mood swings, insomnia and loss of appetite.
3. It negatively affects muscle growth
Building muscle mass is the process of creating micro-damage in your muscles, which triggers repair and adaptation processes that make you stronger and fitter than before. But overtraining inhibits muscle repair, recovery and growth. If you are not building muscle efficiently, it will be harder for you to reach your goals.
Should beginners exercise twice a day?
In general, beginners are not advised to exercise twice a day. “There’s almost no reason for two days,” says Thieme. “Plus, most people have trouble finding time to do one workout a day, let alone two.”
When you’re just starting out, focus on consistency, not overzealousness. Adding another workout to your day can actually hinder your goals.
Thieme explains that beginners are at the same risk of overtraining as everyone else. That’s because overtraining “happens when you push yourself too hard, too often for yourself fitness levelregardless of fitness level. Regardless of your fitness level, overtraining will slow your progress and increase your risk of injury.”
3 ways to reach your goals faster
“When it comes to fitness, more doesn’t necessarily mean better,” says Thieme. Instead of working out twice a day, consider the following training ideas so you can train smarter, not harder, to reach your goals faster.
1. Focus on the quality of exercise, not the duration
How a long time you exercise is far less important than how you exercise. “As long as your workouts are aligned with your fitness goals and you’re challenging yourself multiple times a week, you’ll reach your goals,” he says.
2. Prioritize rest
Rest days are just as important as your exercises and should be prioritized. Even if you’re already taking days off from the gym, you should watch for signs of overtraining such as increased fatigue, insomnia, decreased athletic performance, mood swings, and a drop in motivation.
If you notice any of these symptoms, it’s time to dial back the volume and intensity of your training and switch on recovery after training until your performance is back on track.
3. Increase your daily activity level
Daily exercise is not a counterweight to an otherwise sedentary lifestyle. That’s why it’s important to become more active in general.
“Focus on increasing yours non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)which is all the calories you burn during the day outside of exercise,” says Thieme. “If your goal is to lose weight or even just be healthier overall, you should give NEAT just as much attention as exercise.”
