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Maxing out first thing in the morning

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T

TechBoyJK

Lifer
I have a set of dumbells that I will do basic exercises with.

Curls, triceps, etc.

I usually have about ten minutes to spare in the morning (on a week day), so I've been thinking about taking that time to knock out some sets before I go to work.

I'm about to enter into a bulking routine. For the past 3 months I've been running a caloric deficit (the right way). I'm running about 4 miles every night (4-5 nights a week) and doing a basic circuit on the weights. On the weights, I've been going to exhaustion after about 12 reps.

I've lost about 20 pounds in the past 3 months without losing strength.

Since I'm going to start bulking up now, I'm trying to take a better look at what I can do and how I can do it efficiently.

Is there an advantage to doing biceps, maxing out after 3-5 reps, first thing in the morning? And then drinking a protein shake right after? And the next day doing tricepts, etc?

I'd still be going to the gym after work, and focusing on the other parts of my routine.
 
Well, it's beneficial if you're lifting heavier, but there's no difference in doing that in the morning as opposed to later in the day. Do you do squatting of any kind? How about deadlifting? If you're honestly trying to bulk, those movements are essential, as they shift the hormone secretion of the body toward anabolism.

Also, keep in mind that drinking a protein shake right after the workout is far less useful than drinking that shake an hour after the workout. The body isn't in a great state to absorb the amino acids right after a workout and protein synthesis is improved if you wait, as compared to if you drink it right after.
 
SociallyChallenged said:
Well, it's beneficial if you're lifting heavier, but there's no difference in doing that in the morning as opposed to later in the day. Do you do squatting of any kind? How about deadlifting? If you're honestly trying to bulk, those movements are essential, as they shift the hormone secretion of the body toward anabolism.

Also, keep in mind that drinking a protein shake right after the workout is far less useful than drinking that shake an hour after the workout. The body isn't in a great state to absorb the amino acids right after a workout and protein synthesis is improved if you wait, as compared to if you drink it right after.
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Thanks for the reply.

I was thinking about doing some squats as well, where I just hold the dumbells to my side, and squat down.

I was going to try and alternate something each morning.. Monday (biceps), Tuesday (triceps), etc.

The reason I mentioned the shake first thing right after is because I try to eat something, like a banana, or a carnation instant breakfast, and at minimum a glass of water, as soon as I get up or at least before I leave for work (about 25 minutes after I rise). I was under the impression that doing so helps keep my metabolism from dipping. I figured I could just replace the morning meal with a post lift protein shake.

However, I could just drink the shake when I get to work, which would be about 45 minutes after I'd do the lifting.

I'll do other exercises/lifts in the gym when I get off work, but I figured I could knock out biceps/triceps in the morning and leave the gym time to other stuff.
 
Hey tech, I am in that exact boat. I am down 50 and decided to bulk for a month. Definitely do the squats and deads. They work a huge amount of muscle in 1 movement. Certainly the isolating wont hurt, but you would get better benefit from bent over rows and bench presses.
 
another option if you really want to involve lots of muscles is to hold the dumbbells overhead and do squats. keep shoulders active (pull them into your ears). if you really, really want to hit exhaustion you could do 10 minutes of jump rope. you'll definitely feel the burn in your arms and shoulders which i admit is counterintuitive. if you want to max that out even more try doing double-unders (two rope swings per jump).

however, i don't know how good an idea it is to do anything without at least doing a little warmup like a 400m jog or something. that should add at most 2 minutes.
 
SociallyChallenged said:
Also, keep in mind that drinking a protein shake right after the workout is far less useful than drinking that shake an hour after the workout. The body isn't in a great state to absorb the amino acids right after a workout and protein synthesis is improved if you wait, as compared to if you drink it right after.
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Do you have a source for the above? I haven't heard this.
 
JL514 said:
Do you have a source for the above? I haven't heard this.
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Not that I just accept everything blindingly, but SC has posted so much correct info that I typically take what he says at face value suspecting he's done the research and isn't talking out of his ass.
 
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply he was talking out of his ass. I wasn't trying to say "hey, show your work" I was genuinely interested. There has been a lot of debate about the "metabolic / anabolic window" after a workout, with most people saying get proteins and simple carbs asap!

I agree with SC in that you're not in a fantastic 'absorbing' state but proteins typically require a certain amount of digestion prior to being absorbed anyway. So I would think having a shake right after a workout wouldn't be any worse (if not better) than having a shake an hour later.
 
JL514 said:
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply he was talking out of his ass. I wasn't trying to say "hey, show your work" I was genuinely interested. There has been a lot of debate about the "metabolic / anabolic window" after a workout, with most people saying get proteins and simple carbs asap!

I agree with SC in that you're not in a fantastic 'absorbing' state but proteins typically require a certain amount of digestion prior to being absorbed anyway. So I would think having a shake right after a workout wouldn't be any worse (if not better) than having a shake an hour later.
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Gotcha! Understand. It's an interesting thing. I've always thought the same time too. Just after is the best time if any. Only lately, after following some body builders on facebook/twitter have I thought differently.
 
I'd be interrested to hear more also. It definitely doesn't hurt right after the workout though. Keeping everything else the same, after I started drinking protein shakes a couple of years ago post-workout, I noticed much better muscle growth than before; so my body was definitely making use of the protein. How efficiently it was doing so, I can't speak to. The protein shakes also meant a decent amount of extra protein per day for me, so I should probably not assume anything special about the timing of consumption.
 
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