Lifting in morning not good for building muscle?

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philsaigon

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I was down at the gym on Tuesday at 6am to get my lifting in early. A woman who works at the gym said that lifting in the morning is not good for building muscle, that you should lift in the afternoon, and that mornings should be for doing cardio/concentrating on fat-loss.

I was in the middle of my workout, and didn't want to lose my momentum, so I didn't stick around to ask for her explanations, but this sounds like total HOO-HA to me, no?
 
There are a few that are proponants of the morning cardio idea. In its basic form (as an example only): One sleeps for approximated 8 yours, thus your in a fast for 8 hours approximently. This in returns results in your body being somewhat malnourished or in depleted state of immediate and necessary nutrients when cardio is done in the morning, and they say it taps into the fat stores because sugar is low (carb stores throughout the body), in addition to the benefit of burning calories----I put this in simplicity form.

I dont like the idea, personally. One could argue canabalism pretty fairly, especially WITH the addition of a deficit diet in 24 hours.

I like the idea of the afternoon or late morning WO. If you sleep for 8 hours, One is probably the weakest in the morning (Lack of water, lack of food, low blood sugar, possibly,, and many other negatives). But if you eat right in the morning (and have the night before), and then wait a few hours for digestion to take place and then ingest some water, etc. Then Morning WO would be okay in this sense, but not emmediately in the morning.

Just some brief Info.

Best regards,


Chillen
 
philsaigon said:
Canabalism? That could lead to some serious fat-gain chillen! Better eat some skinny dude!! :eek:
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This meant: If your deficit dieting, and doing cardio in the morning in a depleted state, one could argue (dependent on intensity level), the cannabolism of MUSCLE as a source of fuel, and we dont want this do we.

Think about this: Your deficit dieting in the first place, and in a depleted state. Where is the source fuel going to come from? Its not "necessarily" from fat stores. In truth it doesnt matter when cardio is done. However, eating before and after WO is. Its really the law of energy balances during a 24 hour period that matters. I was just putting forth the "other side" of the arguement, and I dont agree with it.

:)
 
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For a short time I was an early morning (6 AM-ish) lifter.
I didn't like it. Your muscles are cold, body is depleted of energy (unless you manage to eat something quick before your workout).

Just my 2 cents.
 
Lifting is good for muscle. You can make arguments for this hormone at X time tends to be in higher concentrations in serum blood levels, or that another hormone at Y time is less abundant in the blood, but seriously, it's splitting hairs. Lift when you're able to and when you have the most energy. Make sure that you eat beforehand as well as after, lift hard, and you'll be fine.

I used to lift at 8am, now I lift at 7pm. Guess what: no stinkin difference! :rolleyes:
 
I read somewhere (perhaps in NROL? maybe not, maybe someone posted it here) that you should lift 60 minutes after you wake up because your spine fills up with fluid at night and it takes about an hour for it to go away. This fluid supposedly increasing pressure on the spine or whatever.

I hope I didn't just imagine that or something. I dont' have any article backing it up though, but I imagine someone can either confirm or deny it.
 
Just given' ya sh*t Chillen - the term is catablism, not cannabolism(people eating people). Yeah, it's might be a concern with cardio. This woman was talking about lifting though.
 
I may need to start lifting at 6:30am on one of my days when October rolls around (When Uni starts again).

If I am up at 5am and eat immediately a good pre workoutmeal etc will this be fine for my spine etc. As somebody said I have also heard of your discs in your back and spine being filled or covered in fluid in the morning and that it is unsafe to lift until you have been up a certain amount of time.

I am not really concerned with how much energy I will have as I thnk good eating right away will sort this, but the aspect of damaging my spine or other parts of the back etc are what could possibly worry me...
 
bipennate said:
Lifting is good for muscle. You can make arguments for this hormone at X time tends to be in higher concentrations in serum blood levels, or that another hormone at Y time is less abundant in the blood, but seriously, it's splitting hairs. Lift when you're able to and when you have the most energy. Make sure that you eat beforehand as well as after, lift hard, and you'll be fine.

I used to lift at 8am, now I lift at 7pm. Guess what: no stinkin difference! :rolleyes:
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Gold prize for best reply IMO, some people get too wrapped up with the tiny little variables and give them more significance than they're worth
 
I have been lifting first thing in the morning for the last 10 years or so. Before that I lifted in the afternoon. I notice no difference. Once you get used to it, you are not any stronger or weaker. I have tried eating before, but that did not seem to make a big difference either. By the time I get up, shave, morning constitutional, dress, drive to the gym, probably 45 minutes have passed, so I don't know about the spine thing. I drink at least 2 16 ounce glasses of water before I get to the gym, usually one as soon as I wake up and another 30 minutes later just before i leave the house. After my workout, I usually drink another 16 ounce glass of water and eat a half a grapefruit (better than an electrolyte replenishment drink like Gatoraide in my opinion), followed by a good breakfast: oatmeal with blueberries and cinnamon and 2 hours later another meal of a fruit and a protien/fat source like a banana and nuts.

So the short answer is, from my experience, once you get accustomed to it, it makes NO difference first thing in the morning and eating or not, before.
 
I would probably get up at about 5am anyway so would have been up for an hour and a half before working.

Does anybody know anything else about working out in the mornings and if it can badly affect the spine etc??

I am glad to hear soembody here has done it for so long with no problems though :-D
 
In end of things, it doesnt matter whether lifting and/or doing cardio in the am when you first get up works for another or not (whether done 20 years with good results), what does matter, however, is whether it works for the person wanting to do it. Bodily effects are obviously different from one person to the next, and opinions are a close kin.

Just see if it works for you, if not, then try a different time. In the end THIS is what matters. If am works out for you, then you are on the correct path, if not, choose another.
 
I think the original concern with weight lifting in the morning is that your body is in a period of mild fasting and dehydration. When you work out you want to be able to lift at your peak, hence not in the morning. But i guess its up to you.
 
Only reason for me to lift in the morning is it will be the only way for me to fit my workouts in when I start back at Uni. I guess I will try getting up at 5, eating and drinking plenty upon waking and keep drinking right after working out too.

I will see how it goes and may give it a try tomorrow, just so if I feel crap and perform crap I can try and think of an alternative in plenty of time.
 
About the spine and intervertebral discs

Your intervertebral discs (the nucleus pulposus specifically) are designed to be shock absorbers. They are filled with a number of different biological materials and metabolites (collagen fibers in a mucoprotein gel with polysaccharides and water) that can absorb compressive forces transmitted through the spine during daily activities. Like all of the structures in our bodies, water is absorbed and released throughout the course of the day, in this case due to the consistent compressive forces that we experience from walking upright. When we sleep, we are lying flat and there is no compressive force on the discs, allowing them to absorb water and materials without compression causing a subsequent loss of fluids. When you wake up, you're actually slightly taller than at the end of the day because of this. However, because of the increased height of the discs, your spine is less stable than when your discs have naturally been weighed down from the weight of your spine (less surface area actually making contact to the vertebrae above and below the disc). This isn't an issue...unless you're planning on performing exercise which substantially increased the forces onto the spine and intervertebral discs, in which case there is an increased risk of injury. Typically the recommendation is to wait 30-45 minutes until engaging in exercise from the time that you wake, which is naturally the minimum amount of time required to digest the morning's breakfast/pre-workout meal anyway, so again this typically isn't an issue unless a person is mistakingly engaging in fasted exercise...

So there you go... :cool:
 
bipennate said:
Your intervertebral discs (the nucleus pulposus specifically) are designed to be shock absorbers. They are filled with a number of different biological materials and metabolites (collagen fibers in a mucoprotein gel with polysaccharides and water) that can absorb compressive forces transmitted through the spine during daily activities. Like all of the structures in our bodies, water is absorbed and released throughout the course of the day, in this case due to the consistent compressive forces that we experience from walking upright. When we sleep, we are lying flat and there is no compressive force on the discs, allowing them to absorb water and materials without compression causing a subsequent loss of fluids. When you wake up, you're actually slightly taller than at the end of the day because of this. However, because of the increased height of the discs, your spine is less stable than when your discs have naturally been weighed down from the weight of your spine (less surface area actually making contact to the vertebrae above and below the disc). This isn't an issue...unless you're planning on performing exercise which substantially increased the forces onto the spine and intervertebral discs, in which case there is an increased risk of injury. Typically the recommendation is to wait 30-45 minutes until engaging in exercise from the time that you wake, which is naturally the minimum amount of time required to digest the morning's breakfast/pre-workout meal anyway, so again this typically isn't an issue unless a person is mistakingly engaging in fasted exercise...

So there you go... :cool:
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Great Post :D +rep

So......you are saying I shouldn't have a problem if I am up for 1.5 hours before working out :confused: lol.
 
both BIPS posts are spot on there.
it doesnt matter when you train AM or PM as long as you pre fuel.i actually feel stronger AM because i have been in bed all night:rolleyes:

if you dont eat then you might have a problem with some muscle wastage.

as far as the spine here is a tip from a back specialist but as BIP said by the time you get to the gym after feeding your good to go.
and i think he is refering more to stretching type exercise rather than lifting.

Today's training tip comes from Stuart McGill:

Not a Good Morning

Full spine bending first thing in the morning is a great way to damage your back. You're taller when you wake up in the morning than when you go to bed at night. This is because the discs suck up water while you sleep. After rising, just walking around and using the muscles during the day compress your spine and the fluid is squeezed out, decreasing the anular tensions in the disc. So, when you wake up the extra height in the discs are analogous to a water balloon ready to burst. If you bend, you build up much higher stresses in the disc. In fact, the stresses are three times higher than when you perform the same bend two or three hours later. So, heavy bending exercises, good mornings or sit-ups for example, performed first thing in the morning is not a good idea.
 
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