Top 5 Tips for Pain Cave Workouts

This week's top 5 training hacks & tips are all about making your indoor training easier so you can push harder and get more fitness gains.

1) Boost the electrolytes of your Hydration when Indoors.

If you are sticking with your regular hydration, the biggest mistake we see is people putting in the recommended serving size for a 16oz bottle when their bottle is actually 22oz of 26oz. For example, with Skratch, you would want to be using 1.5 scoops or 1.5 single servings packets.

Or you can go super Salty with LMNT (pronounced Element). I've been using this in my indoor training, and I'm a big fan. I find the extra salt makes me drink much more frequently and keeps me on top of my hydration. I'm easily drinking a 26oz bottle per hour.

• Using your regular hydration, make sure you have the correct ratio for your bottle size.
• Try out higher sodium hydration like LMNT
• Aim for at least 26oz of hydration per hour when training indoors.

2) Maurten CAF Gel every hour you are indoors.

I've been experimenting with taking a Maurten CAF 100 GEL at the start of my indoor workouts, then again every hour. If you do this, be sure to combine this with my #3 tip below so you don't have a sugar crash.

• Take a Maurten CAF Gel when you start getting ready to train, usually 15 minutes before.
• Then take another one after 45 minutes of training (1 hour later). Keep taking one every 60 minutes.
• Be sure to combine with the tip below on chews.

3) Chews are your indoor training friend.

I never eat when training indoors, but I've started taking one chew every 15 minutes, and I'm never going back. I've noticed a big difference in my ability to get past 60 minutes of indoor training, and now I'm easily finishing two-hour indoor workouts, where before I would always quit early.

The other advantage is the chews create mini-milestones in your workout and break up the monotony every 15 minutes.

• Take one chew every 15 minutes (I like Clif Bloks in Salted Watermelon)
• It is like a mini-milestone reward to break up the monotony of indoor training.
• I've found it makes going over 60 minutes of indoor training much easier.

4) Boost your Nitric Oxide levels.

I'm seeing more and more athletes take advantage of this easy and safe performance booster. If I'm training less than 60 minutes indoors, I'll take Sur Alt Red about 30 minutes before my workout. If I'm going longer than 60 minutes, I'll use six capsules of SwissRX Nitric Oxide 30 minutes before training as it lasts longer than the Sur Alt Red.

• Make your indoor workouts, especially intervals, just that little bit easier by boosting Nitric Oxide levels.
• Workouts under 60 minutes. Take Sur AltRed 30 minutes before your start training.
• Workouts over 60 minutes. Take six SwissRX Nitric Oxide capsules 30 minutes before you start training.

5) If you are training first thing in the morning, try this hack to get out of bed.

On the days when I have to wake up and train to get it in before a busy workday, I've started mixing up a pre-workout drink of SFH Push or Nuun Prime the night before and putting it beside my bed. As soon as I wake up, I start sipping it, and in the 15 mins it takes to begin training, it has me focused and ready to go.

• Mix your Pre-Workout before bed and keep it beside your bed.
• Wake up and start sipping it.
• Pro Hack: Dissolve a Sur Alt Red to also start boosting your Nitric Oxide as soon as you wake up.

Enjoy your pain cave workouts!