Working out in the morning vs. working out in the afternoon
Replies
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Do you. Compliance and (relative) enjoyment of your workout are more important than the theoretical advantages of some particular schedule, especially if it's a schedule you don't personally seemed to be wired for. If you want to give the 4AM concept a fair try, commit to it for maybe a month, see what you think at the end.
Me, morning is not my time. I've long worked out later in the day, and now that I'm retired and my friends want us to row in the morning, we're normally getting to the river at 8:30ish, not break of dawn because I won't do break of dawn, beautiful though conditions may be at that time.
To me, 4AM is not a time in the morning, it's a time at night. I will be asleep, thankyouverymuch.
My workouts are more of a struggle if I do them early, less pleasant, feel harder. If I do them fasted, that makes all of that even worse. If I try to do things in an unnecessarily unpleasant-to-me way, realistically I'll skip them more often, because I'm weak that way. I'm at least working out after breakfast, if I have my druthers . . . and later in the day, if I can.
In the Winter (river frozen), I'm often doing workouts (at home) after 8PM, occasionally as late as midnight. I have limited problems sleeping soon after a workout, but I do try to leave a couple of hours for wind-down before bed for best results . . . but that's just me, based on my own experimentation.
Warning, prejudicial rant coming:
It seems to me that some early birds feel all virtuous about getting up early and being all perky and productive early, like that was some sign of good character. Meh. If I get stuff done, it doesn't seem to matter to me virtue-wise whether I'm cleaning the living room (or whatever) at 6AM vs. midnight, as long as my overall life is productive and happy.
Maybe your co-worker is one of those perky morning people.
You can figure out what works best for you, experimenting as much as you like to get there. It'll be fine.
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The one problem I can see is it will set you up to be really hungry all day long...0
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The one problem I can see is it will set you up to be really hungry all day long...
From reading lots of posts here, seems like exercise spikes some people's appetite, suppresses other people's. Even the type or intensity of exercise can make a difference. I used to get really crave-y after strength training, but not after rowing or spin classes. (Changing around some food timing solved the weight training appetite spike.)1 -
AnnieH_4512 wrote: »I'm a first thing in the morning exerciser. Mainly because I don't want to give myself time to talk myself out of going to the gym. I literally wake up, go to the bathroom, get dressed and leave.
Is this during the week, before work? I wish I had your discipline! On weekdays I workout immediately after work (so around 4pm), but on weekends I jump out of bed, get dressed, and get going!
Yup, during the week before work. I work 1230-830 so I'm generally getting up at 630am to work out0 -
5-6x the burn for me, usually, since I'm a cardio bunny (
) and tend to short-change strength training (to my detriment, I know).
This is all only tangentially related to the OP, but I do think exercise type, exercise timing, and food choices are interwoven in sometimes-complicated ways, so I'd encourage the OP to pay attention to how he feels in that respect with morning vs. late-day workouts, and adjust if necessary to fine-tune energy level or satiation on different workout schedules.
I found that I needed a few more carbs in my breakfast before on-water rowing, could get away with fewer in breakfast before spin classes, though I didn't estimate the calorie burn dramatically differently between the two. When I took back-to-back classes at the Y - usually spin followed by something like kettlebell or swimming - I did much better in the 2nd class (and the rest of the day) if I had a small quick snack between the two classes. Just one of those no-sugar applesauce packets, or a small shelf-stable chocolate milk or something seemed to make a difference.
It might be wholly or partly psychological, but I don't care. The psychological is real, too.🤷♀️0 -
I find that I’m not a morning person at all! And usually I don’t end up having enough food prior to a morning workout to fuel me, so I end up feeling really fatigued! I guess it doesn’t really matter what time of day you train, a workout is a workout … best thing to do is train at a time that suits you best (plus I find gyms typically quieter at random times like 2pm)1
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I am NOT a morning person, I prefer to communicate entirely in grunts before 9 AM, but I work out first thing in the morning. Roll out of bed, let dogs out, feed dogs and head downstairs to the home gym. Then I shower and go to work. Weather/season permitting I'll do a 3+ mile walk at lunch.
For me, morning is the only time I can't come up with 5000 other more important things to do, like I did when I tried to work out in the evenings. I also have a lot more energy. By the end of a workday I can be pretty burned out.
But, like other posters have already said, time your workouts when they work best FOR YOU.0 -
The best exercise is the exercise you'll do, and working out at 4AM would be the quickest road to not working out at all for me.
If your evening workouts suit you, why change?
Just choose the time that suits your schedule and preferences.
I agree!
I exercise in the morning. It is what works for me. But I do not start at 4am — in my world that is the middle of the night.
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refactored wrote: »I sit at a desk all day and my body is calling out for movement at the end of the day. I am probably unusual in that I typically exercise about 1 hour after an early dinner. I find I don't get hungry afterwards.
This was a great schedule for me when I lived alone and my boyfriend came over 4 nights per week. I went to the gym the other three nights. I'm more likely to get something done if I have a shorter window in which to do it
When I moved in with him I switched to the lunch time workout.0
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