When do you exercise - first thing in the morning or after work?

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  • Chunkahlunkah
    Chunkahlunkah Posts: 373 Member
    edited April 2018
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    I want to exercise in the morning but, like some others here, that's when I do best with tackling cognitive work. I also feel weak in the mornings. A few years ago, I did manage to form the habit of exercising right after waking up. I was so weak though that my workouts were poor quality. I quit that after a few months. I've experimented with different breakfasts recently in an attempt to morph myself into a morning exerciser. Regardless of whether I eat or what I eat, my body isn't "workout ready" for at least 2 hours after I wake up. When my schedule allows, I exercise around midday. On other days, it's late afternoon - late at night.

    ETA: Psychologically, I also really like exercising after I've accomplished that day's work. The feeling reminds me of being a kid and playing outside with friends after school. It's my favorite way to transition from obligatory work to free time.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
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    Generally before work is the only chance I get. Sometimes I have a split schedule where I have to be at the first site earlier, but then leave earlier, and on those days, I can usually squeeze in most of a workout between sessions.
  • Kingsfan760
    Kingsfan760 Posts: 13 Member
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    I start work very early in the morning so I go to the gym at my lunchtime. Protein time when I return from the gym. Keeps my routine going M-F.
  • amlelas68
    amlelas68 Posts: 69 Member
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    Yes, i find myself in the exact position. So i bring work out clothes to work and change at work and go right after. I do 2 nights a week after work and then one Saturday morning and then the other 2 days i do a at home video. This way i am getting variety. My goal is to get more days in at the gym. But making progress is a start.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
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    Morning is for sleeping. I workout after work. In addition to not liking getting up in the middle of the night (and staying awake), I am old and tired and it takes me a LONG time to limber up enough to workout. I benefit from being up and about and moving around all day before trying to do a workout.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
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    I go after work, I drive right by the gym, so it's easy. I have tried working out before work, but that means getting out of bed before 5am and I am not a morning person and my workouts suffer...I just can't seem to left as much weight in the morning. The only workout that doesn't seem horrible in the morning is swimming. That causes a different problem and that is hunger. When I swim in the morning, all I want to do is eat all day!
  • busyPK
    busyPK Posts: 3,788 Member
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    I am naturally a morning person, however I workout after work. I have 3 young kids to get up, breakfast, dressed and out the door for school before I head to work myself. After work we talk about their day, get a snack then head to the gym. My kids go to the play area and I workout for about an hour. It works with my schedule.
  • walking4me2day
    walking4me2day Posts: 13 Member
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    I am also a morning person.
  • KickassAmazon76
    KickassAmazon76 Posts: 4,560 Member
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    Mornings and I are not on speaking terms. I am working through stronglifts... And fear the consequences of trying to ask my brain to lift anything heavy before its awake. Therefore, I'm an evening person primarily.

    I also go to a powerlifting gym class on Saturday mornings at 1030...that one is touch and go... But so far, no one has died. Haha
  • moserseanm
    moserseanm Posts: 2 Member
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    For the longest time I never thought of myself as a morning person so I used to try and workout during my lunch (I got 1 hour) but found that was inefficient. I would spend 20 of those minutes changing and showering and ending up with just 30-40 minutes worth of gym time and I like to get at least that in cardio.

    Sooooo, I bought a bike. Just a $200 6KU fixie bike to ride to work. So now I ride ~10 miles roundtrip each day totalling about 45-60 minutes of good cardio (Denver is hilly and I think the fixie is good because it forces me not to gear down for an easier ride) each day.

    My current routine: I get up at 5:40am, do 100 pushups/situps and I leave my house by 6am each day, I get to the gym at my office at 6:20-6:30, and fill in the rest of the time how I see fit. I'm not a huge weights guy but don't want to neglect them. This gives me plenty of time to shower and get ready at the office and be upstairs around 7am.
  • MrsPinterest34
    MrsPinterest34 Posts: 342 Member
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    Technically both morning and after work and also during work( lunch break). I don't go to the gym I walk ( jog or march in place) and count steps. I try to get 2000 steps before I leave my home for work. I get to work 30-40 minutes early. So I walk an additional 3000-3500 steps before I start working. Then during my 1 hour lunch break I walk an additional 3000-5000 steps( I take a 15 minute lunch break). By the time I get home I have on average 14,000 steps. I eat dinner and then I walk ( or march in place if its cold outside) another 2,000 steps to reach 16,000 steps and if I'm feeling ambitious I walk until I reach 20,000 steps. I've been doing this everyday 5 days a week since Jan 2, 2017 and on weekend I walk 12,000 steps. I only walk 20,000 steps 7 days straight when I'm trying to break through a "plateau" ( I'm still losing fat but not seeing changes on the scale for 4-6 weeks).
  • Daddy78230
    Daddy78230 Posts: 125 Member
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    Best thing is to experiment, try combinations for a while, and then weigh the pros and cons of each. You can split your workouts in the morning and evening (i.e. cardio in the morning and lifting during the evening or vice versa).

    I'm not much of a morning person but did find doing intense exercises in the morning helped wake me up and the gym equipment was more accessible (less people hogging up equipment). However, I kept cutting my workouts short or rushed through routines to make it to work on time, so I settled on doing my workouts right after work and weekends.
  • Katzedernacht
    Katzedernacht Posts: 266 Member
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    I do some light cardio after my breakfast and hit the gym for reals in the evening/night. Works best for me
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
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    I am not a morning person. My brain wakes up last in the mornings, and by then I already had two coffees.

    That being said, I did try to work out in the wee hours for a month. Wake up, go to the gym, get 1:15 hrs there, go back, shower, dress up, go to work and punch the 9 AM clock. The level of happy-sleepy-depleted I felt afterwards for the whole day was debilitating. I could not work except when really nudged by someone else or in full panic, when the *kitten* was hitting the fan.

    So what I do is wake up and walk briskly to work, which makes ca. 5 km. I hitch the subway part of the way back, so I'm about 9-10k of walking at the end of the day, extra lunchtime walk-around and after-hours shopping/errands included. Walking has minimal impact on sleepiness and it works in waking up the brain / energizing.

    I am getting the more intense workouts in the evening (sadly not much lately) - but as late as I push them sometimes, they don't have any negative effect on sleep. It really boils down to how each feels best, and we're all different.
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
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    I am not a morning person. I find it very difficult to convince myself it's a good idea to get up and work out in leu of getting an extra hour of sleep. So I try to get my work outs in the evening after dinner has settled. On the weekends I'll workout in the mornings, provided I've had my coffee first! lol.
  • LiminalAscendance
    LiminalAscendance Posts: 489 Member
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    I workout first thing in the morning. By around 6 am, I'm leaving the gym (showered and all), and this is when the non-negotiable aspects of my life start. On that subject, however...

    As someone mentioned upthread, you can "talk yourself out of" exercising regardless of when you schedule it. People always seem to make time for things they want to do. Stop thinking about fitness as optional.
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
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    I typically work out at lunch time or in the evening. That's just what works best with my schedule.
  • gabsbatist
    gabsbatist Posts: 2 Member
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    I've been doing 5am swimming for about 6 years and I wouldn't change it. Really sets me up for the rest of the day. There's no excuse of something coming up during the day and messing up with my workout. And by 7:30am I'm ready for work with a lot of time for a nice breakfast.

    The only thing I'm "giving" up is sleeping, though going to bed around 9:30pm gets me enough sleep.
  • nicnz
    nicnz Posts: 159 Member
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    If there were no time restraints/work commitments - would definitely be the morning! but no, it's usually in the evening straight after work. I teach evening group fitness classes a couple weekdays each week on top of that so not a lot of choice there ;)
    Weekends/hols are a different story - earlier the better, and then have the whole day free afterwards :)
  • anyWendy
    anyWendy Posts: 97 Member
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    I now love working out on my way home from work. Especially satisfying if I've had a rough day, as it gives me a constructive way to release stress and let the worries of the day go. Having a good snack in the afternoon is important to my success in the gym, then I come home to a lighter dinner.

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