Early or late workouts ???

[FishChris]

First off, which do you do ?

Secondly, do you have a choice ?

I've been doing most of my workouts after work, which for me is variable, but usually between 5pm and 6pm.

I do enjoy my occasional early workouts, but it has to be a day when I neither work, nor fish.

The goofy thing is though, I tend to get up between 6-7am anyway, and I don't usuaslly have to be at work until 10-11am.....
So really, if I could get myself woke up fast enough....

Bottom line is.... or should I say, the $10K question is, do you think I would see much, if any difference in my gains ??? Of course that's the most important thing...

Fish

[drudixon]

First off, which do you do ?

Secondly, do you have a choice ?

I've been doing most of my workouts after work, which for me is variable, but usually between 5pm and 6pm.

I do enjoy my occasional early workouts, but it has to be a day when I neither work, nor fish.

The goofy thing is though, I tend to get up between 6-7am anyway, and I don't usuaslly have to be at work until 10-11am.....
So really, if I could get myself woke up fast enough....

Bottom line is.... or should I say, the $10K question is, do you think I would see much, if any difference in my gains ??? Of course that's the most important thing...

Fish

I work out at night. I do have a choice, but my workouts are always better after my biggest meal of the day, which is dinner.

[foster_tg]

I'm a mornng person, so therefore, I train first thing in the morning at 5:30 am. I'm also stronger in the morning, aggressive, and more focused. Additionally, if I would train in the evening, there are more groups of young guys that hog up benches, racks and machines.

T

[joejccva71]

I train in the morning simply because my Gold's is overcrowded in the evenings. So I get up at 5am, and get to the gym at 6am right off the subway station. Works good for me.

[jmborr]

In my gym I've observed there's a majority of women training in the morning, and a majority of men training in the evening.
Being a man who trains in the mornings, I must definitely be doing something wrong!

[Getsum]

Both. Depends on the day. I'd rather workout in the morning.

[Whiskeyjack]

Both. Depends on the day. I'd rather workout in the morning.

Me too. I work out 4x/week - Wed-Thur and Sat-Sun. The mid week workouts are after work and before supper, or starting at around 1630. The weekend workouts are mid morning, at around 1000. The mid week workouts are when I generally find things rushed, busy, hard to get equipment, and when I'm a bit more tired, so if I'm cycling I'll do a few less sets. The weekend workouts I have the luxury of time and space, and tend to do more sets. I much prefer the weekend scene, though both workout types take the same amount of time: about an hour.

[bigtallox]

First off, which do you do ?

Combination of both.

Secondly, do you have a choice ?

Sure if I want to train alone. But usually I'd rather train with the entire strongman crew so the times are basically set by the group.

do you think I would see much, if any difference in my gains ?

Doubtful ( based on the information provided ).

[SoulCatcher78]

Mornings for me unless something comes up (like losing my door key). I prefer the mornings because I can get in and out in a reasonable amount of time and don't normally have to worry about sharing equipment or space with other members.

I have used the gym in the evenings but there are more distractions (thinking about what I still need to do at work, etc).

Would you see more gains? From a time management standpoint you might but from a stregnth or size increase I have no idea.

[FatDean]

In the evening, unless on the weekends, then I go in the morning. No choice.

[KeithTheSnake]

Fish:

First, let me say how impressive your metamorphosis has been. Keep up the excellent work!

As to the topic of your thread, I train alone at home, and I do have a choice as to when I train. Still, over the last few weeks, I've been a real night owl. I've been beginning my session about 10:00 p.m. I don't, necessarily, have a good reason. Just stuff got in the way during a decent hour, and I sort of fell into that groove. Despite this, I've had real productive sessions -- even though I consider myself a morning person. I'm up and out to work about 7:30 or 8:00 every morning.

For me, there's no "best" time to train. I just gotta train consistently. If starting late at night is what I've got to do to get the session in, that's what I'll do.

Best regards,

Keith

[HoustonTXMuscle]

I generally train between 2:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon (as I'm retired) and do my cardio before 8 a.m. in morning simply because the gym is a mad-house in the evenings and over-crowded between 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. when the day care is open.

[Brackneyc]

4:00am, 4 days a week.

[Karl_Hungus]

Bottom line is.... or should I say, the $10K question is, do you think I would see much, if any difference in my gains ???

Doesn't make any difference .... work out when you have the most energy. For me, that is at night. My workouts would suck if I had to do them in the morning.

[chodan9]

I wake at 5 am
head out a 5:30
arrive at the gym at 6:00 am
strength train, cardio and clean up
8:00 am arrive at work ready to go.

this method allows me to get out of the house while my wife gets ready for work, and it doesn't detract from out quality time together in the evenings. This has kept my training obsession from becoming a "problem" like some of my other obsessions have

[jayluk4600]

I enjoy saying .. yo I get up at 5 am and train before work..

But sad truth is I cant get out of bed anymore to ever go before work so I go after work, between 4-9pm sometime. I have a pretty physical job so I need 1-2 hrs after work to refuel sometimes so the times always a little diff.

[muladesigns]

i like to train alone. I throw my headphones on and get in the gym between 5 and 6.
i prefer mornings. I seem to have my most energy at that time.
Also, if you are looking to loose body fat, you actually burn more fat with an AM cardio session on an empty stomach. Personally I cant train on an empty stomach. I need a small meal before, followed by a larger meal afterwords.

[jayluk4600]

I wake at 5 am
head out a 5:30
arrive at the gym at 6:00 am
strength train, cardio and clean up
8:00 am arrive at work ready to go.

this method allows me to get out of the house while my wife gets ready for work, and it doesn't detract from out quality time together in the evenings. This has kept my training obsession from becoming a "problem" like some of my other obsessions have

This is a smart man. Happy wife keeps life a bit easier.

My girl is a nurse so she works most afternoons so I kinda do the same in a way.

[IdidntDoIt]

Mornings. I do have a choice. I preffer doing in the morning. This way I don't take away any more time from my wife and daughter in the evenings.

I'm up at 4:30am, hit the gym at 5:00am Wed & Thurs, Saturday and Sunday I go after breakfast.

[-=FLEX=-]

I train in the morning for two reasons:

1) Most gyms are too crowded for my liking in the evening

2) I work in another city and frequently have to work late plus the commute home can sometimes be unpredictable. Training before work ensures I never have to skip a workout due to working late and also that I train at the same time every day.

[desslok]

I workout at night. I have waaaaaaay more strength at night. For me working out in the AM(within 3 hours of waking or so) is just a total waste. So it really just depends on you I suppose, whatever works better.

[alex2363]

last 3 months 10am......or late night 10 to 12am on occasions

[CocoaNoire]

4 am and I don't have a choice but I've been working out at this time for over a year now.

[ChimarraoMate]

I've done and do both. I do which ever does not interfere with sleep. If I need to wake up to work out at 4:00 a.m., then I need to get to bed by 8:00 p.m. Natural Test levels are highest between the 6-8 hour of sleep, and I think I read cell replication and repair is a 3x what it is when you are awake. I want my body resting and repairing when this happens.

[pacman6897]

I go to a gym that allows me 24/7 access but I more energy after eating all day verses morning when I haven't eaten anything all nite. Also there are less people after 10pm so I usually go after 11p I dont know if it matters or if I would gain more if I did earler in day but nites work best for my schedule.

[Epiphany43]

this method allows me to get out of the house while my wife gets ready for work, and it doesn't detract from out quality time together in the evenings. This has kept my training obsession from becoming a "problem" like some of my other obsessions have

Similar here.
6 days a week, up at 4:30am
gym by 5am
at work by 7-7:30am

This way I get my things done mostly before anyone else gets up at my house. It's a great way to start my day. I feel much more energetic after my morning workouts. I also get to spend quality evenings with my wife and son every night. The wife already thinks I'm obsessed, so this keeps it more "out of sight". I have become a morning person as I have gotten older and now wake up between 4 and 5 every morning (even on Sundays!) which kind of sucks. The flip side is that I'm toast by about 10pm.

[jnwaco]

Lift in the mornings ~ 6:15-7:00
Walk/Jog in the evenings

The last time I lost a lot of weight, I did it all in the evenings. One 6-month project at work wrecked my program because I didn't adjust and do it in the morning. Lesson learned this time and I'm having to start over. This time, I put the lifting in the morning, and no late work nights or business dinners interfere or give me an excuse to skip a day. Plus I feel good at work all day after the workout.

[jasnija]

I prefer after about 8pm. My performance is better later in the day. I have done afternoon or morning WOs and never feel as strong.

[stillfit]

I don't think it matters at all as long as you have enough recovery time inbetween sessions. I do think the body gets used to putting out the energy for training if you train the same time everyday and you may feel a little decrease in energy if you suddenly switch to a different time. I don't mean like an hour or two, I mean from morning to evening.