This post by Inigo Mujika came up on my RSS feed last week and wanted to share it with you. Dr. Mujika primarily works with endurance athletes, but he has extensive experience in team sports such as football (soccer).
Although the post concerns night games per se, the issues raised would be true with any form of strenuous exercise performed late in the day, and so is relevant to the general public and amatuer / semi professional athletes who work during the day (and therefore may train at night). For these populations, the notes on the problems of post-workout nutrition strategies in the evening is particularly important. If you are THAT guy getting kicked out of the gym 5 min after closing time then maybe it is time you thought about morning workouts, or getting in straight after work at least.
Dr. Mujika's blog is an excellent source of both articles and abstracts for scientific studies that he has been involved in. Check it out. Also, I reviewed his book, Tapering and Peaking for Optimal Performance
, in February here.
Hi Howard,
ReplyDeleteI was just wondering if the early morning (7-8am) is a good time to work out. I've been trying to do this recently and I find it makes me feel energised for the rest of the day. What are your thoughts on this?\
Sam
Great question Sam, and probably one that other people may be wondering!
ReplyDeleteMy initial instinct says yes, 7am sounds like it will be good for you, however there are a few things "at play" here.
Dr. Mujika talks about circadian rhythms, and that the mid afternoon is best for performance. Performance for a footballer is sprinting faster, jumping higher, etc., but how about for a regular gym goer? Well performance for you may mean that you have you "best workout" at this time - ie. run a faster pace, lift heavier weights or perform more repetitions, etc.
In an ideal world, the mid afternoon workout is probably best for you because you may get more a little more out of it, however, this increase may only be quite small. For an elite athlete - small increases (2 or 5 %) is massive, but for you, it would not be worth rearranging your whole day for it.
Does this make sense?
Also everyone is different. It sounds like for you, 7 am works. The feeling of being "energised" may be a physical thing (such as an increase in your resting metabolic rate), and/or may be a mental thing. Either way you are getting a benefit from it.
For everyday people, how you feel is everything so I suggest you stick with the morning workout. What I would like to get across here is how bad the mid to late evening is. Not only will working out late negatively impact your workout itself, it will also knock you off your sleep and nutrition patterns.
One more tangent:
Lots of people who work out first thing skip breakfast. This is disastrous for all of your goals and certainly won't make you feel better. Obviously eating a huge brekkie right before hitting the gym isn't a good idea, but a light breakfast will help fuel a great session. A small bowl of cereal with low fat milk, or a natural yogurt with fruit (as they include both carbohydrate and protein, and of course plenty of water would work. Then grab another meal/snack/shake after your workout to help your body recover and keep your metabolism kicking. For everyone - it is better to consume the bulk of your calories early in the day rather than late on.
A very long answer to an initially simple question! Sounds like you are doing some of the right things. Feel free to send any more questions my way.
Howard
Thanks for all that explanation Howard! I'm glad to hear that I've at least been getting some of it right. I am however guilty of sometimes skipping breakfast and heading straight to the gym. I suppose this bad habit needs to be kicked. I have one more question about cardio...I usually workout in 30 min sessions (usu. on the cross-trainer). I heard somewhere that it's more beneficial to keep changing the pace of your workout to keep your body guessing, rather than keeping a steady pace throughout. What are your thoughts on this?
ReplyDeleteBlog disclaimer: as a principle, I don't believe one should give specific fitness programs online. Instead I look to present general guidelines and ideas on this blog to help people make better decisions themselves.
ReplyDeleteThat communicated:
We call steady pace - LSD (Long Slow Distance - not a recreational drug).
LSD training has its uses - but has become so popular amongst fitness enthusiasts primarily through it's convenience, and through science being misinterpreted. I won't get too much into that though as that is beyond the scope of this post.
My advice is to go with some form of interval training most of the time. There is no point in me making up workouts here for you because everyone is different. Also as you are just getting into this, transition gently into interval training as it is, by nature, more intense that LSD.
You can, and should mix up the length of your intervals. A general rule is that the longer the work interval - the lower intensity you can maintain, and vice versa.
For example:
Monday - 5 min hard, 2 min gentle, repeat 4 times
Wednesday - 1 min v. hard, 3 min moderate, repeat 8 times
Friday - 30 min LSD (fairly gentle)
(LSD isn't the best but still may have a place late in the week when very intense training should be avoided)
We have talked all about cardio here and machines. Don't underestimate the role of weight training on health and fitness for everyone, whether you are male or female, young or old, and athlete or new to training. It is harder to "prescribe" weight training to people however as there is more technique, finer details involved.
Good luck and let me know how it goes,
Howard