Early Morning Workout

iluvsparkles
iluvsparkles Posts: 1,730 Member
edited September 18 in Fitness and Exercise
Ok fitness gurus out there.

Ive been trying to get up daily and get a hike in before work.
I want to know just how much this is helping me, as opposed to doing it after work instead.

I know that the food still in my belly is the first source of energy used, and thats why doing it before breakfast breaks into the stored fat that we have ...

but I missed this morning and im feeling really guilty! Should I be this worried or it is less of a deal than i am understanding it to be?

Replies

  • iluvsparkles
    iluvsparkles Posts: 1,730 Member
    Ok fitness gurus out there.

    Ive been trying to get up daily and get a hike in before work.
    I want to know just how much this is helping me, as opposed to doing it after work instead.

    I know that the food still in my belly is the first source of energy used, and thats why doing it before breakfast breaks into the stored fat that we have ...

    but I missed this morning and im feeling really guilty! Should I be this worried or it is less of a deal than i am understanding it to be?
  • areay
    areay Posts: 463
    Don't worry about missing a morning workout. Just make sure that you do something later. Before you go on your hike, depending how far and the intensity, make sure you get something in your system. Even if it's a piece of toast, a piece of fruit, something small, so that you have energy to make it through the hike and try and push yourself.
    If you worried about when to workout, don't. Just do what you can do and listen to your body. I'm an early riser myself. I didn't get up today because I had to stay up late last night and work, I think my body enjoyed the extra sleep:smile:
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
    Nothing out there has proved to me that working out early is better for you than working out later. It's all about when you have time to do it, or when you prefer to do it. As long as you are working out you will reap the benefits :drinker:
  • B TOWN
    B TOWN Posts: 32
    I've never heard of there being a difference working out in the am vs. the pm... does anyone know anything more about this?
  • MontanaGirl
    MontanaGirl Posts: 1,251 Member
    There's lots of varying opinions out there on when you should work out - but I like what Bob on The Biggest Loser said last week on the trainer tips segment. "Whens the best time to work out? Whenever you can." You will reap benefits no matter when you do it, just do it (at the risk of sounding like a familiar commercial!!:laugh: )
  • cgallen916
    cgallen916 Posts: 23
    I have tried working out in the morning, but I find that my workouts aren't as good.... I get up at 4:30am as it is, and getting up any earlier is just too much for me. I work out right after work before doing anything else. That seems to work ok for me. I get a more productive workout from it.
  • AJCM
    AJCM Posts: 2,169 Member
    With all that said, according to Bill Phillips ("Body for Life") and Brad King of "Fat Wars (check that out - he is amazing) and research on this topic, if you exericse first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach you go straigh to burning body fat, as your glycogen stores are used up in the night (especially if you sleep on an empty stomach). Exercising later, while you still burn the same calories, you don't get that benefit of the direct body fat burn (you're first burning through your food).

    The second benefit is that studies have shown an increased metabolism for the rest of the day after exercise, so the idea is that if you exericse in the morning you reap those benefits for more hours of the day because you worked out so early (as opposed to say, working out at 5:00 p.m. with an increased metabolism for only 4 more hours until bed).

    Bottom line however, get it in wherever you can, but I think if given the choice, most recent fitness literature is pointing to some, if not significant, benefits of working out upon rising on an empty stomach.
    :smile:
  • Beccilynn
    Beccilynn Posts: 177
    Without doing any research my personal instict would say that a workout is a workout and food concumption is food consumption no matter what time it is ,, if you eat you eat and if you workout your burn off calories ..... right?:wink:
This discussion has been closed.

Categories