Working out during my lunch break for a week had a huge impact on my productivity

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Twitter cofounder Evan Williams works out during the day too.

Let’s face it: There never seems to be a right time to go to the gym. 

If I go in the morning I sacrifice an hour of sleep, but when I try and go at night I can never muster up the energy after a long day at work. So when I heard the uber-productive Twitter, Blogger and Medium cofounder Evan Williams takes a break in the middle of his day to go to the gym, I felt compelled to try it for myself. 

According to the Lift, Williams says he’s most productive in the morning, so he chooses to get to work immediately before his energy dips. Midday, he heads to the gym and comes back feeling energized for the other half of the workday. 

Williams told the site, “It feels weird (at first) to leave the office in the middle of the day, but total time spent is nearly the same with higher energy and focus across the board.”

I felt like this was the best solution for me in so many ways: I would get to the office earlier, immediately use my energy towards work, my workout would also count as a break, and I would be re-energized for the rest of my day and not have to take frequent coffee breaks. So I decided to try it for an entire work week and see if it increased my productivity and my energy levels. 

The experiment

I usually go to the gym in the morning

I have both a gym membership and a ClassPass membership. I usually wake up at 5 a.m. to go for a run and do some light strength training at the gym about three to four times a week. The rest of the days, I’ll take a class immediately after work.

I get to work around 9 a.m. and work until 12 p.m., which is when I usually take a lunch break. If I bring food, I typically just sit at my desk and continue to work. If not, I’ll run out and grab something but head straight back to work. Then I work until about 5:30 p.m., but I take a few coffee breaks between lunch and the end of the day to get my out of what I call my “post-lunch slump.” 

For this experiment, I’d only go mid-day

I planned to take a class or go to the gym every day around noon. I didn’t sign up for classes that were more than 45 minutes and I made sure the classes were all within a block or two radius from my office. 

Leaving work for 45 minutes didn’t seem like a big deal, but knowing that there was a possibility I would be drenched in sweat, I took the extra time I need to shower into account. I figured my breaks would be an hour and a half, so I planned to arrive at work an hour earlier and leave a half hour later to make up the time. I made sure all the studios I signed up for had showers. I also decided to bring lunch from home for the entire week to maximize time.

Though I expected to feel good physically from following this new routine, I also anticipated that I would feel anxious about being away from the office for too long. Though I got the OK to follow this experiment from my editor, I couldn’t help but wonder if my coworkers would think I was slacking by being gone for almost two hours or if some random work emergency would come up and I wouldn’t be able to fix it in time. 

Monday: Off to a strong start

I woke up an hour later than usual (6 a.m.). I don’t know if I jumped out of bed because I was excited to do this experiment or I actually had more energy from the extra hour of sleep. I packed my gym bag to prepare myself for what I might need for the middle of the day. Then I showered, got dressed, ate breakfast and was out the door in a half hour.

I was also really conscious of what I was going to wear this week, too. I made sure to wear outfits that were easy to put on, seeing as I would be changing in locker rooms. Today I decided to wear a simple dress and sandals. 

I arrived at work at 8 a.m. and, because not many people were in the office yet, I was able to focus and immediately started working away. By the time 10 a.m. rolled around, I noticed I was starting to yawn but my energy wasn’t completely low. I was also surprised by the amount of work I was able to get done. By getting so much work done in two hours, I felt as if my day had flown by but it was still just starting!

The workout: cycling

By 11 a.m. I was getting excited to head out the door. I didn’t feel too sluggish, which was good because I still had some energy leftover for my workout. At 12:30 p.m. I arrived to my first class at cycling studio Swerve. It was high energy and the interval training made me sweat a ton. I decided to duck out mid-stretch so I would be the first to grab a shower.

I showered quickly. As I got out of the shower, I noticed a lot of women coming in and getting ready to head back to work as well. I realized that maybe the lunchtime workout wasn’t as taboo as I thought. It was a little tough navigating around the small locker room, but I still managed to shower, get dressed, blow dry my hair, and make it back to work by 1:45.

Back at my desk, I felt like I was bursting with energy. My face was still flushed and my heart rate was up, but I immediately got back to work. Since I ate right after my workout, I didn’t take my typical snack break but I did go for a coffee around 3:30 p.m — which I fully admit was only for the craving, not the energy. 

I finished all my work before 5 p.m., but since I had intended to stay an extra half hour, I felt focused and energized to go back and check everything over.

Tuesday: Still going strong

When I used to wake up at 5 a.m. I would constantly wake up and fall back asleep because I was anticipating my alarm clock to go off. Monday night, I slept through the night and woke up at 6:15 a.m. with no problem. Since I washed my hair at the gym the day before, took a quick body shower and threw on another dress. 

The one thing that bugged me was my gym bag being a lot heavier than usual because I packed a towel and extra toiletries like shampoo and conditioner. It made my commute a little difficult because I kept hitting people with my big, bulky gym bag.

I arrived at work at 8 a.m. and noticed my energy wasn’t as high as it was the prior day. I’m surprised how much my energy dipped even though I was getting extra sleep. I wasn’t as productive as yesterday, but luckily, by 10:30 a.m. my energy improved. I was also getting anxious for my workout because I knew it would perk me up.

The workout: boxing

I arrived at my next workout at 12:30 p.m. I decided to try a class at Shadowbox, around the corner from my office. It was another high-energy workout and super intense. By the time the class started stretching, I was soaked with sweat and ran to the locker room yet again to beat the lines. 

By the time I got out of the shower the locker room was so packed, I didn’t have time to dry my hair. I slicked it back in a high bun just so I wouldn’t go back to work looking like I have a wet mop on top of my head. 

I got back to the office at 1:45 p.m. and felt really good and sore. I immediately had to go to a training, so I didn’t get to have my lunch right after my workout and my energy felt a little low during the meeting. After I had my lunch at 3 p.m., my energy spiked and I worked until 5:30 p.m. without stopping. Even though I was a little more tired than yesterday, I felt I was still more productive than this time last week.

Wednesday: Sore but still energetic

I slept through the night and actually ended up waking up 15 minutes before my alarm went off. I didn’t feel tired, but I did feel super sore from my workout the day before. I decided I would just go to the gym for a light workout today to give my body a little bit of a break.

I was dressed, ready and out the door in a half hour. If there is one thing I loved about this experiment, it’s how easy and quick it is to get ready in the morning. 

I plowed away through my work all morning and was so productive, I didn’t want to break away to head to the gym. I had to go at 12 p.m. because I had a meeting in the afternoon and if I waited, I wouldn’t make it back in time for the meeting. 

The workout: light treadmill and weights

I kept my workout light. I jogged on the treadmill for a half-hour then went to do some light strength training. I felt I wasn’t so focused on my workouts as I usually am because I was really concerned with getting back to work. I cut my strength training short to head into the shower. 

When I got back to the locker room, I noticed a ton of women in business attire. This was the third day and I was still shocked to see so many getting ready to head to work. I never expected to see the gym so busy during the day. 

I got back to work by 1:30 p.m. and was happy to start cranking away again. I got through the rest of the workday without grabbing snacks and didn’t feel dead tired when I left the office at 6 p.m.

Thursday: Getting a little tired

I woke up at 6:10 a.m., feeling the best I’ve felt all week. I noticed the bags under my eyes were less prominent and I looked less tired. I began to notice that my morning routine really sets the tone for my workday.

Since I was calmer in the mornings because I wasn’t rushing to get ready, it was easier for me to get started on my work when I arrived at 8 a.m. Before I would need extra time to settle myself in at the office and maybe a cup or two of coffee before I really started to get things done. I noticed with this routine, my coffee intake was a lot less. 

The workout: Bootcamp

At 11:30 a.m., I was starting to dread going to the gym again because I was so productive and didn’t want to break my groove. But at 12 p.m., I left to head to a bootcamp class at the gym. It was a strength training class and I had to lift a lot of heavy weights. I feared that I would leave the class leaving more fatigued than energized. 

Since the class ran a little overtime, I rushed back to the locker room to getting ready. I didn’t get to blow dry my hair yet again and when I got back to work, I felt really uncomfortable and cold since the office’s air conditioning was on full blast. 

At about 4 p.m. my energy dipped drastically. I think I felt more exhausted from the workout than energized. The day still felt like it went by really quick and I left work at 5:30 p.m. to head to my French class.

Friday: Operating in slow motion

I woke up at 6:15 a.m. and felt a little under the weather. I already knew that when I got to work, I wouldn’t be as productive as I was all week. I got to the office at 8 a.m. but I was so fatigued, I felt like I was going in slow motion the entire morning. At around 10:30 a.m., I found myself actually itching to get to the gym because I became accustomed to the spike in energy I felt after my afternoon workouts. 

The workout: Strength training

I left for my final workout at 12:30 p.m. I went to Uplift Studios, a women-only gym, to take a class. The theme of the class was “progression” and it mixed strength training with HIIT exercises. The class was really hard but I left feeling really good. I was relieved I didn’t feel the same exhaustion the prior day. 

When I got to the locker room, I was greeted with a line of women waiting to use the shower. I felt a bit of panic because I wanted to get back to work and feared it would take too long to shower and get ready. Luckily, the line went quick. I got back to the office by 1:30 p.m and plowed through the rest of my day with ease. 

It’s not that my editor would be upset I took to long or I that had anywhere to be, but I just felt obligated to be at work. I also didn’t want to have to stay at the office later because I notice regardless of what time I work out, when the evening starts to roll around, my desire to work goes out the window.

What I learned after a week of mid-day workouts

How I start the morning affects the rest of my day

Since I pre-packed my gym bag at night, I had what I was going to wear in mind, and could take shorter showers because I didn’t have to wash my hair, my mornings were a lot calmer. Because of that, when I arrived at work I didn’t feel as frazzled as I usually do and needed less time to organize myself before I started working. 

I’m most productive in the morning 

Sure, having an hour of quiet before my coworkers arrived made it easier to concentrate and really dive into my work. But, I benefited from having that extra hour added to my morning. All my energy went right into my work and even when it did begin to dip, it was either right before my workout or right before I left work.

I needed fewer breaks

Having one long break in the middle of my day actually worked a lot better than the short little breaks I usually take throughout the day. The hour and a half to actually step away from the office allowed me to disconnect for a short period of time. When I got back to the office, I felt like I was starting a whole new work day.

I drank less coffee

I can put back three to four cups of a coffee a day, easy. Since I wasn’t taking breaks I also wasn’t drinking coffee. Also, I was so productive and in the zone most days, I didn’t feel I needed coffee the way I typically do. If I drank it, it was either for social purposes or for the taste. 

Different workouts affect my mood in different ways

I realized I felt more energized and productive after I did the cardio exercises like spinning or boxing. The strength training classes, though still upping my productivity, made me feel slightly exhausted and sore. 

What doesn’t work for me might work for someone else

Though working out during the day did help me focus, there was I constant nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I needed to be back at work. It’s possible that wouldn’t be much of a concern to them. Though I thought going to the gym during the day was a little weird, I saw a lot of other people who did the same thing.

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