FITNESS

Centr Team

7 fitness hacks for busy athletes

5 minutes prepping Banana & Raspberry Overnight Oats before bed means fast morning fuel.

2. Train hard, recover harder

Consider this your bedtime lullaby from Luke: “Sleep well in order to recover properly so you can train harder the next day. A good saying my buddy uses is, ‘Train hard, but recover even harder’.”

If you invest time in achieving quality sleep, you’ll get better results from the workouts you do… which means you can do fewer workouts in the long run. Time saved!

Angie agrees, and says you should be aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

“Sleep helps with muscle recovery and performance, as well as maintaining optimal energy and hormone levels.”

3. Eggs are an excellent idea

Why does Angie recommend making a batch of hard-boiled eggs on the weekend?

“Eggs are such a versatile source of protein. You can eat them whole, as part of a snack paired with fresh produce like a piece of fruit or pre-cut vegetables.”

And when you finish training and you’re looking for a high-protein lunch? “Chop them up and toss them on top of a salad, or dice them to make egg salad sandwiches.”

Vegan? The Morrocan Spiced Chickpeas are quick fuel you can use as a standalone snack or crunchy salad topper during the week.

4. Cook once, eat twice!

You know you need to eat well to fuel your training, but when you get home late you just want the quickest option possible. That’s where batch cooking is a life saver! We’ll let Angie explain:

“Essentially, batch cooking means doubling or even tripling a recipe, enough to guarantee you’ll have leftovers to store in your fridge or freezer. If you’re going to take the time to prepare the meal once, you might as well make enough to get a second or third meal out of it.”

Why cook every night when you can cook once for the whole week? Try our favorite recipes for batch cooking.

5. Be selective

When you’re busy, you’ve got to make every minute of training count. Look for the workouts that are most likely to lead to your goal, and prioritize them. Don’t get distracted!

You may not want to give up things you enjoy, but as an example, could you do a shorter yoga class or stretching session?

Head to the Explore section on Centr and filter for ‘15 min & under’ workouts that will show you training doesn’t have to be long to be effective. By managing your available time better, you’ll be able to make space for the important stuff.

All you need is a set of dumbbells to activate full-body strength, sculpt every muscle and blast cardio fitness with Centr Ignite.

7. Train smarter, not longer

You don’t have all the time in the world to dedicate to your training. So what workouts should you do if you can only do three sessions per week? Luke says you can make great progress with the following split:

One Bodyweight HIIT workout: “HIIT is not just for fat loss, you can build lean muscle with this style of training. Get your heart pumping to burn fat and kickstart strength and toning with one of my no-equipment workouts on Centr, or Alexz’s epic Bodyweight HILIT: Heart Starter.”

One HIRT workout: “Increasing the load by adding dumbbells to your high-intensity workout will increase the stress and stimulus on your body. I’ll show you the way with my HIIT HIRT Strength: Full-body Fast Track session, or you can fire up the resistance with one of Ashley’s short ‘n’ strong HIIT Strength workouts.”

One pure strength workout: “You already know strength training is key to burning fat and building muscle. So let’s get it happening with my Muscle Building: Get it On workout on Centr.”