Exercising in the morning

Anchundan

Anchundan

Anchundan

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Joined
26 Feb 2004
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China (Qinhuangdao)
My Chinese new year's resolution is to loose a lot of weight. My favourite exercise is cycling (and swimming).

Because I live in China, but work for a UK company, I have to carry on working until 8pm, so we can exchange telephone calls, etc. so exercising in the evening is a little difficult. And it seems to make sense to exercise when I get up, or after I have had breakfast.

However, I have heard so many conflicting theories about exercising in the morning. Some say it's really bad to exercise in the morning, others say you should exercise before eating, others say exercise 30 minutes after eating a large breakfast (I usually only have a banana for breakfast), and if I don't, then the body will actually start to make me fatter.

So I'm confused - is there a definitive answer?
 
Thanks Clipsey, I should have searched a little longer! I think the link 'http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/m_588307/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#588307' was quite useful.

So the bottom line is, it doesn't really matter what time of day you exercise, and there might be an issue of whether you exercise before or after eating. HIIT you should probably exercise after eating something (but I'm a little unsure of how soon you can exercise after eating).

I think to start off with, I'll be exercising moderately before breakfast (30 minute cycle), and see how it goes. Think I'll also go for a long swim in the evening, after work, if I risk buring muscle as well as fat during my morning exercise.
 
If you begin to follow too rigid a schedule, before long you will begin to resent it and avoid doing it. Ultimately this will lead to a complete failure of your workout schedule. Hence, the best thing to do is what you feel comfortable with. Whatever is the easiest and suits your circumstances.

After you developed a stronger attitude towards exercise, then you can begin to fine tune it, as you will be ready for a more hardcore/rigid approach. People forget that exercise (specifically targeted to lose fat), is mentally taxing for most people and that most people quit exercising due to mental (motivational) reasons. If you are motivated, regardless of how and when you exercise, you WILL lose fat.

Good luck man.

PS. If you finish work at 8pm, what time do you start and what is it like to live in China?
 
Thanks for the tips!

I get up at 7am most mornings, but if not too busy I'll start work between 10am and 12:00. I'm contracting and paid by the hour for this particular job, so it's quite flexible.

China's great! First came here in 2002, and fell in love with the place! I live right at the start of the Great Wall, where it meets the sea on the east coast. I only need to cycle 14km out of the city I'm living in to see it. The scenery's great too, with mountains and beaches. The air could be a little cleaner, but it's something I've got used to now.
 
sunama said:
If you begin to follow too rigid a schedule, before long you will begin to resent it and avoid doing it. Ultimately this will lead to a complete failure of your workout schedule.
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Rubbish. Having a rigid schedule will not make you resent doing it. Giving up and lack of motivation is more than just a rigid schedule.
 
Pre-breakfast light cardio is very effective at shifting body fat. I've been doing it for around 3 months 2-4 times a week. Sometimes its a burden especially on cold wet mornings but once i'm out i'm buzzing, always feel great for the rest of the day too. Mind you, i do have a big incentive..a 4 week tropical beach holiday. The hotel has a big gym and massive pools too, and jogs along the length of the beach in the early morning sunshine is one of the best feelings in the world! Get in!!
 
There is a lot of debate as to the merits of doing cardio first thing on empty as opposed to after work etc. At the end of the day do it when you can as the amount of benefit received from each will be very close to each other. I can't imagine being able to work harder on a cold winter morning first thing with my body craving food than after a day of proper eating, however in terms of light 60-65% cardio there's not too much work anyway so it'll still burn some decent fat.

IMO just do it when you feel like it and when is convenient.
 
Morba said:
Rubbish. Having a rigid schedule will not make you resent doing it.
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Lets talk psychology.

Why do most people become overweight?
Lack of exercise and bad diet are the 2 major reasons.

So, if its so easy, why dont they just improve their diet and get heaps of exercise?
Laziness, perhaps? Or is down to the fact that exercise in itself (if you are not used to it), is mentally taxing and boring, for most. Diet improvement involves denying yourself the pleasures of unhealthy food and ultimately requires will power.

If these overweight people were set a rigid, grueling schedule that they hated with a passion, are they likely to follow it, long term?
Absolutely not.

If the same people are given a slightly easier, less rigid/hardcore schedule would they be more likely to stick to it?
Most likely.

Morba said:
Giving up and lack of motivation is more than just a rigid schedule.
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Indeed, there are other factors, but having a rigid schedule that becomes too taxing, mentally, is a big factor for losing will power and giving it all up.

Here's a question: Which schedule is an overweight person, who doesnt take exercise, more likely to follow:

Schedule 1:
30 mins hard running on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

OR

Schedule 2:
15-30 mins* relaxed jogging/running*, 3 or 4 times/week* (days chosen by the exerciser)
*chosen by the exerciser to be whatever they are comfortable with

?

Another way to look at it, is when you take up exercise, its always better to start off nice and slow and gradually crank it up. This allows not only your body to physically adapt and adjust to the new stresses being placed upon it, but also for your mind to get used to the idea of doing exercise. In particular, if you are working towards a very hardcore/tough regime, its always best to do so gradually, mainly so that your mind can cope with it.
 
sunama said:
If these overweight people were set a rigid, grueling schedule that they hated with a passion, are they likely to follow it, long term?
Absolutely not.
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Sorry but no time for the rest of your post, so picking on one point for now.

rigid, gruelling schedule that is hated with a passion != rigid schedule.
you can follow a rigid schedule doing all else that you mentioned (building up slowly to the gruelling part.

So, my point stands, having a rigid schedule will not make you resent doing it. Infact, i would contest that it would do more for the person, by them knowing they are following a set routine which will be able to be monitored and benchmarked consistently, aiding the route to the persons goals.
 
Yes, measurability and comparability definitely improves motivation in my experience. Then you can reliably measure your improvement, and your efforts result in some tangible reward.
 
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Morba said:
So, my point stands, having a rigid schedule will not make you resent doing it.
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OK Morba. From what I know (correct me if I'm wrong), you are trying to reduce body fat. In which case, how about you set yourself a rigid hardcore fat loss schedule?

This would involve something along the lines of 1hr cardio at say 150-170 bpm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday? This will obviously be in addition to your weight training schedule.

In keeping with the rigid vibe, we can also take a look at your diet and keep that nice and rigid. How about 2000cals/day, eating every 3hrs with 8hrs sleep at night. Aim for a high percentage of cals from protein, which will basically leave out any and all comfort foods that most of us enjoy.

Do you think you can stick to that?
If yes, then why have you not reached your target bodyfat levels yet?
If no, then why not? Rigid works, right?

Sorry dude, but I dont mean to sound confrontational, but the best way to see if something works, is to try it out on yourself. For me, rigid doesnt work when you are new to regular exercise. Once you have mentally adapted to taking regular exercise, your training regime can move towards something rigid, brutal and hardcore.
 
What about those of us who cycle to work and do so on an empty stomach? I have a 12 mile cycle to work and can't help but hammer it (it's fun to go whizzing by cars and see the look on the drivers face). I don't normally get anything to eat until my teabreak at 10am (I leave the house at 6.30am) so am I doing myself any damage with this approach?
 
eddiemcgarrigle said:
What about those of us who cycle to work and do so on an empty stomach? I have a 12 mile cycle to work and can't help but hammer it (it's fun to go whizzing by cars and see the look on the drivers face). I don't normally get anything to eat until my teabreak at 10am (I leave the house at 6.30am) so am I doing myself any damage with this approach?
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You must be pretty fit and lean. Personally, i wouldn't go that long without food. Packing some healthy food up in a tupperware the night before is the answer mate. Have some of that after your cycle ride/before you start work :)
 
Thanks for the views above. I've found some good (fairly traffic free) rides near me, ranging from 10km to 28km (6 to 17 miles), which should be good to start with.

Leading on from this, what kind of food should I be eating after exercising?

I normally have just a banana for breakfast so would have this when I come back. Is this enough? I can't get the usual stuff I'd normally eat in UK like breakfast cereal, but there's a type of rice porrige I could eat instead.

What's good to eat, and what's not (target is weight loss)? Can anyone spec me a sort of example of the things I should be eating?
 
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sunama said:
OK Morba. From what I know (correct me if I'm wrong), you are trying to reduce body fat. In which case, how about you set yourself a rigid hardcore fat loss schedule?

This would involve something along the lines of 1hr cardio at say 150-170 bpm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday? This will obviously be in addition to your weight training schedule.

In keeping with the rigid vibe, we can also take a look at your diet and keep that nice and rigid. How about 2000cals/day, eating every 3hrs with 8hrs sleep at night. Aim for a high percentage of cals from protein, which will basically leave out any and all comfort foods that most of us enjoy.

Do you think you can stick to that?
If yes, then why have you not reached your target bodyfat levels yet?
If no, then why not? Rigid works, right?

Sorry dude, but I dont mean to sound confrontational, but the best way to see if something works, is to try it out on yourself. For me, rigid doesnt work when you are new to regular exercise. Once you have mentally adapted to taking regular exercise, your training regime can move towards something rigid, brutal and hardcore.
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Again you add brutal and hardcore to the equation. Rigid can mean slowly dropping calories per day over a 2 week period until you reach the level that you need to really start working.

And no, the last thing i am trying to do right now is lose fat, if it happens bonus, if not its not the worst thing in the world.

No, cardio for me would be 45-60mins at 130-140bpm, in the fat burn zone.

What you are describing is a very hardcore regime that you would need to want to do for the end goals. for 99% of people it doesnt need to be that hardcore. Rigid does not automatically mean brutal and hardcore.

rigid could mean working out that a person needs say 30000 calories over a week, break it down over days, allow more for weights days than no training days. 3 regular workouts in a set routine. all that for 4-6 weeks, being monitored for progression weekly and amended if needed.
 
sunama said:
I dont think anybody has said that a training regime shouldnt be measured/monitored.
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if it is random and has no rigidity, how can you really say that something is working and also, how can you say that something specifically is not working allowing you to amend it?
 
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