As with most things in the fitness industry, everyone has their own opinion. Some people even seem to convince themselves that they have a degree in everything health and fitness related, if the argument gets heated enough.
There are a few things to cover off about when exactly you should train, with time being one of them.
Some people find it easy to hop out of bed and go and the best session of their life, whilst others reach for the snooze button and prefer a successful workout later in the day. The good news is that it’s completely individual as to when you should go workout. It's all down to your own personal preference, as well as a little physiology. We all know that the body is an incredibly smart piece of kit. If you are used to training after work at 17:30, your body knows this, and you are much more likely to perform at your best when you train at this time, compared to training earlier in a one-off session.
What most people don’t consider is their body temperature. We all know the importance of a warmup, but did you know that our body’s core temperature is higher later on in the afternoon? This means that our muscles feel less stiff, they are more efficient, and we are less likely to injure ourselves. Not only this, but our bodies have had time to wake up, we feel more alert and our blood pressure is at its lowest.
Furthermore, we all know how important testosterone is in the building of muscle and strength gains. Did you know that our testosterone levels are raised more in an afternoon training session, than one in the morning? As well as this, cortisol (a stress hormone), is at its highest concentration in the morning and decreases as the day goes on.
As well as time, other factors you shouldn’t ignore before you head off for a training session are sleep, food and hydration.
We have all had a training session booked in for the next day, only to have a terrible night’s sleep and wake up feeling lethargic. The athlete in us doesn’t want to skip the session, but how do you know when you should? It really depends on how much sleep you had. It's also quite personal, only you will know. Start off by going through your usual routine on a morning and assessing how you feel. If you can get to the gym that’s great, start off with a bit of an extended warm up and gradually build up to your planned session. If you start to come around then you might be able to fly through your session as normal, the body is a remarkable machine. If you still aren’t feeling right, there’s nothing wrong with either cooling down and taking a rest day, or just having a deload session. Remember, one extra rest day isn’t going to affect things in the long run.
For optimal performance, you should always be looking at how much food you have consumed and if you are adequately hydrated for your session.
Without going into too much scientific detail, our muscles need energy to perform. Do you know what our muscles love to use for energy? Carbohydrates. It's been proven time after time that we perform better when our bodies are filled with carbs. Some of the advantages of training with carbs are;
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Training at a higher intensity
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Faster recovery in-between sets
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Faster recovery between workouts
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Provide anti catabolic effects
Muscles are made up of approximately 75% water. Even a 3% drop in hydration levels can affect the efficiency of your muscles and your concentration. Hydrated muscles produce more power, can perform for longer and are fuelled better by nutrients.
Hopefully this has given you more of an insight into when is best for you to train. For me, I prefer to train in an evening, fully hydrated and full of food. However, that’s just what I’m used to. There would be no reason why I couldn’t train in the morning, with enough hydration and food in me.
In my opinion, it would be more beneficial to train in the morning, with a good night's sleep and plenty of food and water in you, than on an evening with no sleep, your hydration levels suboptimal and no food in your belly.
If you nail the core variables, sleep, hydration and food. The time of day you train should have a minimal effect on your output.
