Do any of you guys lift early in the morning?

[muslhed1971]

I was thinking of training at say 6a.m. so I could have more free time when I get home from work. Right now I'm working 12-14 hours a day for the next week so its a chore just getting out of bed. Plus I'm not getting home till around 930 at night and my gym is closed. After this week I should be good to go and be home around 530pm every night but I was thinking how nice it would be to be able to relax instead of hitting the gym every night at 630 or 7. Plus, I'm usually ramped up after my workouts and I end up having problems unwinding. I guess the down side is training so early w/o eating all day like I usually do may make me weaker and not being "up" for awhile may hinder my performance.
What do you guys think?

 

[Grizzly]

Man, you've got a shitty gym. Those are horseshit hours. Anyway...

At first you may have difficulties training in the morning. You'll get used to it and "should" be able to retrain your body to come to peak performance at that time.

I'd also think that if 225 if heavy at 6am, then it will work your body just as well even if 275 is light at 6 pm. This may not be the case, but I would bet that the huge change in workout times would more than make up for it by imposing a different set of demands than the body is used to.

But who knows? I could be waaayyy off on this one. I can't train in the morning for shit.

 

[monsoon]

I do, and my wife works out at 4am. I have much better workouts in the morning because I'm not worn out from the day. It dose take some getting used to though.

 

[G-Head]

As much as Grizz and I differ, I tend to agree with him on this one with the "transition" period.

I can't do a.m. workouts either but it sounds like in your situation with work, the shitty hrs. of the gym, etc. this may be the most advantageous for the demands of your day. Ensure ample sleep is achieved to help in the transition by trying to get to bed earlier than your normal day. Just my .02

 

[Desibaba]

But who knows? I could be waaayyy off on this one. I can't train in the morning for shit.

You actually work out??? How come you dont do something about that big gut of yours????

 

[Grizzly]

Excuse me?

 

[muslhed1971]

Yeah I may give the morning workouts a go. Even if my gym was open past 930pm I would go cause I'd never get to sleep. Plus I'll be coming off in about 3 weeks and losing a little size would be easier for my ego when the gym is not as busy

 

[Desibaba]

Excuse me?

Just kidding.Dont take it personally

 

[Ramstein II]

morning train

I workout in the morning probably 70% of the time now. I get sick of it or get off schedule and workout after work for a while. THen I see how much of a drag it is to workout after work when I want to hang out with my wife, drink a beer etc... At first you'll feel hungry/crappy in the morning. You might even slam a shake before your workout and then need to crap during the middle of your workout. I did all that. Now, I am used to early workouts. I have a cup of black coffee, some water, and hit it. Early morning workouts work well with lower volume training. The plus of these workouts is that you feel great at work and can relax after work. You don't have to worry about timing that afternoon snack right to feel good in the gym after work. I also use the weekends to train. THat gives me 2 days where I can take my time and even kill a little time in gym. Try it out for about 2 weeks. You have to get over that initial break in period where you feel groggy. After that, its pretty awesome to get it out of the way.

I was thinking of training at say 6a.m. so I could have more free time when I get home from work. Right now I'm working 12-14 hours a day for the next week so its a chore just getting out of bed. Plus I'm not getting home till around 930 at night and my gym is closed. After this week I should be good to go and be home around 530pm every night but I was thinking how nice it would be to be able to relax instead of hitting the gym every night at 630 or 7. Plus, I'm usually ramped up after my workouts and I end up having problems unwinding. I guess the down side is training so early w/o eating all day like I usually do may make me weaker and not being "up" for awhile may hinder my performance.
What do you guys think?

 

[Dizzy26]

I can't motivate myself to lift heavy that early in the morning. Usually after work I have a crazy amount of energy so I go between 4 and 6pm.

 

[jdawg50]

I love it in the morning. There is no one there. I go at 6:30 every morning I can, unless the wife is working.

 

[mrc0703]

Because of me and my partners work schedule we go at 6 in the morning now...took about a month to get use to but now running on all cylinders...the only thing i don't do in morning is squats and deadlifts ...cause then i feel shot for the rest of the day and very unmotivated at work....i usually save them for later at night or weekends

 

[t-money]

I used to work out at 5:30 am every morning. I feel like I always was struggling to get my body to wake the ****up instead of trying to move weight. Since switching to late afternoon my workouts are much better. If you gotta train in the early A.M. or not at all, train early A.M. Eventually your body will get better at it, but IMO workouts are better after you have been awake and had time to eat and circulate blood for a while.

T

 

[Kal-El]

I train every morning at 5am, and on the weekends I'm there at 7am. I feel that my body is working best at that time. The one thing that I really make sure, is to get atleast eight hours of sleep. That makes for an early night. In bed by 8pm during the week, and 10pm on the weekends. My body is completely used to it, and my workouts are great. I feel like this is the best way to start my day off, hitting the gym. The rest of the day is recovering at work, sitting in my chair. I workout in the morning, because I just don't think that I would be motivated enough to go after work. Spending all day being bothered by ignorant people would hinder my workouts, and I don't won't let anything keep me from reaching my goals. Remember, you have to be in it mentally also.

 

[Kal-El]

Oh yeah, this is for t-money. GO DUCKS!!!!!

 

[Shockrock3]

Never in the A.M...ludicrious in my view. You have no energy, no fuel, nothing inside your body....no meals, no protein, no carbs, nada. Your tendons, connective tissue, etc. is tight from your sleep and haven't been warmed up hence it could lead to tears, tendon strains, etc. I'm sorry, I'd rather have 3 or 4 meals in me, have my body warmed up from the day, etc. if I'm going to be lifting heavy weights. Again just my .02

Shock

 

[computertech]

i love am workouts. My head feels so clear and focused once I leave the gym and continues throughout the day. I feel it is fantastic.

 

[HeavyLiftr]

I love training in the morning and it's the only time I train. If I can't get to the gym by 5:30a, I don't go, because I don't feel like dealing with bad spotters who like to "help me" get that 12th rep on the bench press .. but my rant is misplaced.

For those that say it is "ludicrous" please do some research - after a long nights sleep your Growth Hormone levels are through the roof - as is cortisol - but with a protein shake and some oatmeal, wait 45 minutes to an hour - and you're ready to go. If you're training on an empty STOMACH, that's ludicrous no matter what time of day you train, period.

All this BS about focus and your head not being right is just that - BS. It's difficult, but you acclimate quickly if you stick to it, like anything in this life.

 

[Chip Bronson]

i have a big-assed protein drink (70% of it is whey isolate) with a little bit of maltodextrin & dextrose in the mix plus one xenadrine (for the caffeine boost) at 6am and i workout at 7am. it's just a matter of getting through the first set or two; the rest is cake.