Lifting at Night vs day?
 

Well, I had today off and I was laying in bed yesterday at 11:30 and couldnt sleep so I went to lift weights until 1 AM lol, I then ate some chicken, stayed up for about 30 mins to let it digest then went to bed, heres the thing.

Normally when I wake up in the morning im never really hungry but I still eat a decent breakfast (eggs or chicken), I dont eat a huge dinner, most of the time Ill just eat a random fruit + chicken/tuna and that will last me until the next day. However, this morning when I woke up I was absolutely about to die of hunger, I have never woken up as hungry as I was, I beleive it was because of the weights and the muscle was rebuilding, however, the thing that I didnt understand was I did one of my most intense workouts Ive done in a while yet I was bearly even sore like I normally would have been, had I done the workout in the day.

So im curious, is working out before you go to bed more efficent then working out early in the morning or was it just a fluke?

well... the best time to workout is the time when you have the most energy. it's recommended that you work out in the morning for many reasons though, such as: burning more fat, feeling better about yourself w/ more confidence thru-out the day, watching what you eat for lunch and dinner, and you also get it out of the way. If you have a lot of energy at night and can make a routine out of it, go for it.

What works, works. As far as your lack of soreness, talk to me tomorrow. Bet it will have shown up by then.

Yep, i am a night person, normally :)

Although sometimes do a quick 15-20 minute session of high intensity stuff in the mornings :)

Generally, i guess, it'd depend on your body clock to where you get optimal benefits of working out.

Actually, I've heard from my father who used to work out in the morning until one day he strained something in his chest which felt like a heart attack, that his Dr. recommended doing it in the evening or before bed. He said that in the morning your muscles are just waking up and only, if anything, do light stretching. In the evening, your muscles have had time to work and also that excercise/weightlifting is good before bed because it helps your muscels and body relax for a good night's rest.

I work out in the noon/afternoon times. I'm just not a morning person, and as much as i'd like to, exercising just isn't appealing in the morning. My feet also feel cramped when I first wake up, so it would take longer to warm up anyway. I don't really like working out too late, because even though im wasted physically after a full workout, it definitley gives me energy, and makes it hard to sleep.

There's a popular view that says you should work out in the morning to maximize the impact on your metabolism throughout the rest of the day. It seems to make sense. I can't seem to do it on a regular basis so instead of feeling bad about not following the popular theory I still go to the gym in the evenings and work out like a demon when I'm there. I agree with Nimbletoe in that I wish I could do it first thing in the morning. The few times I've been able to do it it does have a good and uplifting impact through the day.

All that said do what works for you and what you feel you can do consistently. What's best for you may not be the popular view but if you stick with it that's what's important.

One more point on Nimbletoe's post ... I also struggle with sleep if I work out hard past 9pm.

Good luck!

P.S. Hey PLAN9 -- where do you stand on this one? :hmm:

I work out every morning at about 5:45am. It just works better for me. At the end of the day i have too much stuff going on. The only excuse I can make for not doing it at 5:45 is that I am tired, and then I just call myself a pussy and go to the gym. My workouts are not very long, so it is not bad and I can get to work by 8. I only workout an hour to an hour and 45 min at most.

I think it really depends on the person. Whatever works for you works for you.

During the week I work out after work. I am way too tired first thing in the morning and I seem to have the most energy / motivation in the evening.
On the weekends I will work out a couple hours after I wake up. I just need some time to get up to speed before I can head off to the gym. I love working out and being at the gym, but I personally just cant do it first thing in the morning.
However, I do find it hard to sleep for a couple hours after I work out so I always try to make sure that i'm done my workouts by 9pm at the latest.

I'd say just do what works best for you. Experiment a bit and find out what you like the best. Find out what fits in with your schedule. Go at a time when you are motivated to go. If you go at a time that you dont like then you will find yourself starting to skip workouts, whereas if you go at a time that is convenient and you like you will be much more likely to stick with a program and always make sure you go and get a good workout.

The gym is packed to hell at night, I workout in the morning.

Cardio in the morning, weights in the evening. Simple Sally.

I work out during the evening, but this is after school, work, back to school, and more work! By late afternoon, I'm weak, but I still make my self workout... Is this unhealthy? I recently started taking Hydroxycut - not so much for the fat burning, but mainly for energy...

To help you out with your hunger in the mornings, take a protein shake before you goto bed at night. It is a common misconception that you should take protein before and directly after your workout when in fact your body doesnt need anymore energy from protein rather it needs L-Glutimine to help with muscle recovery. When you take protein at night it slowly releases that protein into your body as you sleep, thus feeding you. Think of this way, you should be eating atleast 5-6 times a day or every 2-3 hours. When you goto sleep at night your going up to 8-10 hours without food, that is why your starving in the morning. If you drink the protein before you goto bed, its like eating while sleeping so you wont be as hungry in the morning as you will if you didnt drink the protein.

As for your soreness, be careful when your exercising and watch your technique. Its not about how much weight you can throw up but rather yoru form. Before I started with my trainer, I was squatting 435lbs for reps (im 6'8" 250lbs) but when I was showed proper form I can barely do 215 10 times now but I get sore as all hell afterwards. Just make sure your body is aligned and your using slow concise movements instead of fast jerky ones and you will be more sore than ever before. Also might want to try drop sets which are really fun. Just do a heavy weight say for example 80lbs on the leg extensions. Do them until you cant do anymore, then drop the weight to like 35lbs and burn out...you will never have thought 35lbs could be so heavy.

Try it out

I lift more weights during the night. I dont know why.

I mostly work out at night, around 7 or 8 and sometimes later. Yeah, it's packed, but my days are usually full, and I dont want to go immediately after I eat, so I wait a couple hours.. Anyway, I've heard working out in the morning is good, as well as about 5:30 being ideal, if you're not into the morning thing. I think just going is enough, though :)

i hear cardio in the morning is best since you haven't eaten anything for like 8hrs. The result is that you burn off your existing fat and not the calories that you ate during the day (whcih is what you would do if you were to work out in the evening).

I agree that cardio is best done in the AM. I don't know that it matters when you lift. I lift at night, because I am not a morning person and I can barely make it to work on time let alone get in a workout. Working out too close to bedtime isn't really the best idea because it will get your heart rate up and make falling asleep and getting a restfull sleep rough.

The best time to train is when you can
The body will hormonally peak if you have a regular routine
DOMS is NOT an indicator of quality
I repeat NOT an indicator of quality, a myth that really needs killing

i used to go at the mornin but my schedule just flipped so now i go at night and its not that bad

what happens when you work out after sleeping is that while you sleep, your body temp drops a few degrees. so when you wake up, if you exercise, you are more likely to pull/tear a muscle. to avoid this, just do a longer than normal warmup, say 10 minutes instead of 5. and make sure that for any exercise that involves intense muscular contractions that you have those muscles warmed up properly.

oh yeah, don't stretch cold muscles, that can injure them. warm-up, stretch, and then exercise.