When is the best time to train? Pros and cons.
What is happening Gym N Japan fam! There is the age old debate of when is better to train, morning or night? The answer to this is a long and complex one which can be influenced by many scientific factors which ultimately comes down to personal choice. We know that a lot of people (Haydon) absolutely hates getting up in the mornings so will train in the afternoon for no reason other than sleeping just a bit longer. Other people just love waking up before the sun has come up and smash out a workout before their day at work.
This isn’t going to be a massive post about which is actually the best but it’ll list the pros and cons of each followed by our personal preferences. Maybe another time we can do a post about tips for better workouts in the mornings or mornings etc.
Night VS. Morning
Mornings
Pros:
You don’t have to do anything after work yay!
Makes you feel superior at work because you can brag that you have your life together and work out before work.
You can take pre-workout - KING!
Good if you have kids and can sneak away before they even wake up (maybe don’t leave a baby unattended in a house though).
Cons:
Takes longer to get into your workout because you are a bit cold and stiff from sleeping.
Crashing/tiredness while at work or throughout the day (each person is different and can depend on how many hours of sleep you had the night before).
Going to bed earlier.
Less strength compared to midday or evening training
Extended warm ups to ensure you are ready to train
Less food in the body - unless you’re crazy and wake up before gym which is before work…to eat
Evenings
Pros:
You don’t have to wake up early.
You generally feel a little stronger in the afternoon due to being more awake and also having food in the body to fuel the workout.
Most of your slack ass mates train in the afternoon.
Feel less rushed because you aren’t training to a deadline like the morning
Cons:
You CBF after a big day at work.
Having a pre workout is risky because it can keep you awake all night.
Soooo many people in the gym so it makes it difficult to get the main machines.
You may end up eating dinner late and getting home late
Personal preferences:
Haydon:
I can agree with the pros of working out in the morning… Anyone who knows me will know how much I hate waking up in the morning. Gym is no exception to this and I am too lazy/ tired in the morning. Personal preference outweighs all of the pros of training in the morning. If I’m awake and feel good in the morning I wouldn’t be against it but won’t go out of my way for it. Maybe when I get older I’ll start liking mornings more? Who knows? Anything before 10am is a bit rough.. Currently I work shift work so I get a good mixture of both midday and evening sessions and couldn’t even commit to the same time every day. Obviously after a day of work it is quite difficult to get motivated and sometimes I lack energy but I still manage to get it done! I’ve started to really like pre-workouts but it isn’t wise to be having it for a late arvo session because I know that I’ll be awake all night. When I am working night times/ evenings I really enjoy a midday session because I miss the whole morning when sleeping (without the guilt) plus being able to load up on pre workout so I feel so good while working out and the icing on the cake is that no one else trains at this time so you have your choice of equipment.
Evening workouts for the win!
Jake:
As we all know, the KING time of training is literally anytime between 10am - 2pm. No one is at the gym, you are full of energy, you may or may not take pre-workout without consequences and you will typically hit PR’s during this time. For me and as I am sure for all you reading this, morning times are probably the best time to go, but do we want to be up before the crack of dawn to go to gym, not really. It is hard to find the energy to go in the morning and you typically feel weaker in the gym. Late or evenings can be the same after work. You have had a big day of work and now you have to drag your sorry ass to the gym to get in the workout. But if I had to pick between the two I would go evenings. Purely because I have fuelled my body with food for the day and am usually stronger at this time compared to the morning.
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