Is it true that those who begin their day with their workout tend to be more lively, energetic and feel much better in general throughout the day, than those who either wait until lunch or after work?? I'm trying to decide if I want to start getting up early and going to the gym and leaving from there to work!
Workout before the day begins?
- Thread starter hicarbon
- Start date
Everyone has different biological clocks. Personally, I have worked out at all times of the day and find that my best times are either first thing in the AM or mid afternoon.
Currently, I am in the gym at 5am and doing some serious training. I feel great all day long. I love coming to work and seeing people arrive who literally just rolled out of bed. It is a great feeling to know I already moved thousands of pounds worth of iron while the others were lazily trying to catch those last few minutes of sleep before the alarm clock screams at them.
Train when your schedule permits and when you feel the best. Experiment!
Currently, I am in the gym at 5am and doing some serious training. I feel great all day long. I love coming to work and seeing people arrive who literally just rolled out of bed. It is a great feeling to know I already moved thousands of pounds worth of iron while the others were lazily trying to catch those last few minutes of sleep before the alarm clock screams at them.
Train when your schedule permits and when you feel the best. Experiment!
Newf,
Great post. Glad you brought this up, I actually thought about saying something on this myself.
My take is this. When it comes to fitness and nutrition, I tend not to listen to "arm chair" experts much. Don't get me wrong, the medical community has done wonders in their research and practices, as well as made miracles happen. However, I have always found that true fitness experts and even bodybuilders have been ahead of the ball when it comes to good information and knowledge of how the body works and responds to training and nutrition opposed to the medical community.
Most of my training career I have opted to follow the paths of those who have "walked the walk" before me and did so with success.
HOWEVER, on this topic that you present regarding spinal health, I have done a fair amount of research as well, and have found that some qualified experts who do "walk the walk" in the weight room themselves came to the same conclusions as your "expert."
So when I decided to become the full-time manager of a financial advising firm while being a personal trainer, going back to school for my masters in exercise science, became engaged, buy a house and 2 new cars, I became very worried about being locked into a new schedule of lifting when the doors unlock at my gym!
Part of me was saying, "Dude, you will kill yourself if you screw up your back and therefore your training." The other part of me was saying, "I will be damned if I am going to let some "experts" tell that I shouldn't, ESPECIALLY when I have seen many do it with success before me. Who are they to keep me out of the gym!"
Having no choice, I did it but with extreme caution! I get to the gym and do 20 minutes of extremely light cardio. It really is not even cardio, just slow jogging on a treadmill to get the blood going. I then perform very light weight, high rep movements in the weight room mimicking what I am about to train.
Also, when I first moved to AM training, I dropped my weight considerably in all exercises compared to what I was lifting in the past afternoons. I figured I would take my time with babysteps and if I ever experienced pain, I would stop. That pain never came and I eventually blew right past my goals of strength and size, so I am very happy and content that I followed my intuition.
For those of you who are in the same boat as I, I def. recommend using caution when starting out. However, if you do not experience pain, and can maintain good back/spine health, I say go for it.
Thanks for bringing this up Newf.
Great post. Glad you brought this up, I actually thought about saying something on this myself.
My take is this. When it comes to fitness and nutrition, I tend not to listen to "arm chair" experts much. Don't get me wrong, the medical community has done wonders in their research and practices, as well as made miracles happen. However, I have always found that true fitness experts and even bodybuilders have been ahead of the ball when it comes to good information and knowledge of how the body works and responds to training and nutrition opposed to the medical community.
Most of my training career I have opted to follow the paths of those who have "walked the walk" before me and did so with success.
HOWEVER, on this topic that you present regarding spinal health, I have done a fair amount of research as well, and have found that some qualified experts who do "walk the walk" in the weight room themselves came to the same conclusions as your "expert."
So when I decided to become the full-time manager of a financial advising firm while being a personal trainer, going back to school for my masters in exercise science, became engaged, buy a house and 2 new cars, I became very worried about being locked into a new schedule of lifting when the doors unlock at my gym!
Part of me was saying, "Dude, you will kill yourself if you screw up your back and therefore your training." The other part of me was saying, "I will be damned if I am going to let some "experts" tell that I shouldn't, ESPECIALLY when I have seen many do it with success before me. Who are they to keep me out of the gym!"
Having no choice, I did it but with extreme caution! I get to the gym and do 20 minutes of extremely light cardio. It really is not even cardio, just slow jogging on a treadmill to get the blood going. I then perform very light weight, high rep movements in the weight room mimicking what I am about to train.
Also, when I first moved to AM training, I dropped my weight considerably in all exercises compared to what I was lifting in the past afternoons. I figured I would take my time with babysteps and if I ever experienced pain, I would stop. That pain never came and I eventually blew right past my goals of strength and size, so I am very happy and content that I followed my intuition.
For those of you who are in the same boat as I, I def. recommend using caution when starting out. However, if you do not experience pain, and can maintain good back/spine health, I say go for it.
Thanks for bringing this up Newf.
stroutman81 said:
I'm not really up on McGill but he's very much respected by the likes of John Berardi, Eric Cressey etc I "assume" he's in the trenchs.
McGill is not saying you can't train in the AM so much has he's saying bending of the spine is probably not a good idea. So bench presses, cable rows, pullups etc are all fair game, i'd stay anyway from heavy lower back/hip work like power cleans, deadlifts, good mornings, even squat - PERSONALLY
Oh I am familiar with him and respect him. Was not downing his study, nor anyone elses on the subject matter, sorry if I came across as that.
However, there are no PM hours available to me in my life right now for training. I am not going to exclude the best exercises for buidling, squats and deads, so I hope my luck stays with me!
Thanks again.
However, there are no PM hours available to me in my life right now for training. I am not going to exclude the best exercises for buidling, squats and deads, so I hope my luck stays with me!
Thanks again.
Wow, I had no clue about the whole spinal thing. I'm glad that I know now. Maybe I should move my weight training to later in the day. But I'll keep my cardio in the morning. It really gets my day going. Thanks newf.
Stroutman81, would that still be an effective workout, if I split it up like that?
Stroutman81, would that still be an effective workout, if I split it up like that?
without reading all the other posts heavy am training isn't the best as the spine needs some warming up before hand but basically the best time to train is when YOU want to train...there's also higher testerone levels in males in the morn but probably not a lot higher so as to induce superhuman growth or anything...as for the energetic thing i woodn't rely on morning workouts to increase it more so than actually having a good solid nites sleep and consistent diet which shood give u all the energy u need but it's all individual
newf said:I'm not
Stuart is not just an expert of the spine, he is THE expert of the back and spine in my opinion. He relates a lot of his knowledge to high performance's impact on the spine. He has worked with such world renown trainers such as Charles Poliquin. He also does consulting around the world, working with atheletes at the top of their game in proffesional sports. The guy really knows his stuff! I would recommend his books for a good read.
works for me!!!!!!!!!!! see my diary on this site.
buzz said:have you got any more info on him does he have a site
I don't think he has a site. He is a professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. He also does amazing, interactive seminars. I read his book, "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance," which was a very educational read. The guy is ahead of his time.
Wow, I definitely didn't expect THIS much good feedback! Thank you all greatly for your input and advice.
As for the spinal problems with heavy lifting in the morning. Plainly put, I am a weakling right now! LOL. So for now, it will mainly be cardio, with some light weight training on odd days that way I can eventually build myself up. Right now my main goal is just to get my lungs back to where they were as far as running goes and get my diet in check so that I can start seeing results when I work out! But just out of curiosity, you say that it's not good within the first hour of waking up to do any heavy lifting or extreme bends/twists that focus mainly on the back and hips area, would it be ok to do so if you're able to put around 2hrs. between when you first wake up and when you start lifting, etc.??
As for the spinal problems with heavy lifting in the morning. Plainly put, I am a weakling right now! LOL. So for now, it will mainly be cardio, with some light weight training on odd days that way I can eventually build myself up. Right now my main goal is just to get my lungs back to where they were as far as running goes and get my diet in check so that I can start seeing results when I work out! But just out of curiosity, you say that it's not good within the first hour of waking up to do any heavy lifting or extreme bends/twists that focus mainly on the back and hips area, would it be ok to do so if you're able to put around 2hrs. between when you first wake up and when you start lifting, etc.??