Workout time, metabolism and sleep.

1992Leigh1992

I have always tended toward running early in the morning. This is mostly because I am a morning perspm but also because I have always been told that you burn more energy the day if you excercise in the morning.

But I am also aware that performance is.better after sleep?

Anyway, while I got 4 hours sleep last night (this is not typical for me) and it is also pouring rain.
I can't do cardio in the house because we are on the top floor, but normally do weights and sit-ups after my run.

I find myself running at a slower pace on a treadmill. And so I guess I'm wondering, would I get the most out of my work-out by going to the gym in the morning, or having a nap, and doing an out-door run in the afternoon/as soon as it clears up for 30 minutes.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Mrsallen6_11

It really doesn't matter when you workout, or whether it's in a fasted state or not. I workout mornings and afternoons. I haven't heard anything about working out after sleep being better, I'm pretty sluggish during the first half of my morning workouts no matter how good of sleep I get the night before. It all depends on you and what works best for your lifestyle and your goals.

AllanMisner

I tend to look at things from an overall health perspective, but you’ll need to focus on what your goals are to hit the right balance.

For me, I value sleep quite high. I work in a high stress job (not fixing that anytime soon). So, rest and recovery are critical for me to maintain health.

What and how much I eat are my secondary focus. I try to eat real food (i.e., I can pick it, dig it up or kill it).

My third consideration is my workout/physical training. I want to address several health and fitness areas with my training (strength, muscle mass, mobility, cardiovascular, and endurance - pretty much in that order). So, I vary my training to meet those goals.

To directly address your questions:
1) I would sleep if I felt I needed more sleep. If not then, in your case, if it is raining, I’d either lift weights or work on mobility.
2) Everybody is different, but I really do prefer cardio in a fasted state, early in the day. I’ve read where it is better and I’ve read where it isn’t. So, personal preference wins. I’ll say that with one caveat, if you’re fat adapted (ketogenic diet), then morning cardio might be better than any other time. You’d already be in fat burning mode and would naturally go to your fat stores for energy to do your run (assuming you’ve used up most if not all of your glycogen stores overnight). But since you’re probably not keto adapted, again, personal preference.

myheartsabattleground

I workout later in the day (like 8-9pm) because I've always had trouble sleeping due to my AWESOME adhd.

Lounmoun

I'm not a runner but if it were me in your situation I would probably have the nap and run outside.
I tend to exercise in the evening because that is when I have time.

Kiku10

You can actually gain weight if you have too little sleep, poor quality sleep, or wildly erratic sleep patterns.

sofaking6

I'm worthless when I'm tired, so I would go for the nap 100% of the time even if it meant no workout that day.