• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

People who workout and do cardio ...

purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
I'm about to get back into cardio after playing bball last week and realizing that my wind is gone. I used to run like 4/miles a day back in college and would like to get back to running pretty steadily for atleast 20 minutes at a nice pace like I used to.

I used to do it in the evening because of my schedule, but I always heard that running in the morning was the most effective. I am wondering if running in the PM is also effective. I could potentially get up before work and do it, but I just hate getting up early. Last week I ran 2 days and I did it around 11:30pm. It was good too because no one was in the small fitness center at my apartment.

I would like to continue to do it in the PM when it's empty in there so that I don't have to wait for anything. Also, since I am going to sleep pretty much an hour or so after I run, wouldn't it benefit in the sense that I will have a heartrate that will be a little higher than normal while sleeping, thus burning more calories?

Any input on what I'm right/wrong about is appreciated, as well as suggestions for the most effective time to do so.
 
Well I've never heard an argument made about having your heartrate up while sleeping, but I was always told that the advantage to cardio in the AM is having your heartrate and metabolism elevated throughout the day. Seems like it would make more difference while you're being active (plus feeling great all day) than in the evening.
 
I'm not health expert, but I always run in the evening. Frankly, in the morning I find it amazing if I can actually get out of bed on time to go to work. I say do it when you're feeling best/most loose. A calorie burned is a calorie burned and an elevated heartrate is all that matters, day or night.
 
Originally posted by: m1ldslide1
Well I've never heard an argument made about having your heartrate up while sleeping, but I was always told that the advantage to cardio in the AM is having your heartrate and metabolism elevated throughout the day. Seems like it would make more difference while you're being active (plus feeling great all day) than in the evening.
Click to expand...

Yah I agree. I've tried working out in the AM and man, I just don't have energy. I tend to have much better workouts when I go after work than I do on a weekend if I just go at like 2pm when I didn't have to get up for work.

I may just try to get int he habbit of getting up early and running in the AM. It is definitely true that you feel great after you finish a cardio session.
 
The most effective time is the one that you can make a habit out of.

/thread.

In all seriousness there may be some science behind "optimimal exercise times". But, in practical application our busy lives don't always jive with that. If you can make a consistent habit to do it in the PM, then do it in the PM.

That's when I've always done mine, and I'm in pretty damn good shape. Same goes for my wife.

 
I usually do weights and cardio, which takes at least an hour. Since I have to be at work by seven, no way am I getting up early enough to do that.
 
AM running is ideal for weightloss. If you're looking to up your stamina running later is fine. Running period would be good - whatever is the best time.
 
One drawback: cardio helps eliminate fatigue, so running in the evening may make it more difficult for you to get a good night's rest.
 
The idea is to have a cardio workout in the morning before breakfast because during the night the sugar/fuel in your bloodstream has been used by during sleeping. That will mean the second you start your cardio workout, your liver has to start pulling fuel from the fat cells in your body. Causing you to lose weight. If you run for an hour every morning before breakfast, you can lose up to 5 lbs of fat per week.

You can still do cardio at night, but you are just burning off your nightly meal, and nothing really from the fat cells. Unfortunately the body won't pull from fat cells during a resting state, as it goes into "starvation" mode. So its better to avoid your body going into starvation mode by keeping it fueled for the night shift, and doing the workout in the morning.

Will it be better than nothing? I'm sure it probably will be, but you will probably feel yourself struggling against it. Feeling more fatigued, tired, and worn out than you would be if you did it in the morning.
 
Originally posted by: Greyd
AM running is ideal for weightloss. If you're looking to up your stamina running later is fine. Running period would be good - whatever is the best time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the whole deal about running in the AM is that your body has been energy starved for 8+ hours. You've burned up all of your basic energy reserves and the theory is that you can get into fat burning mode quicker.

Some people think that a fat burning mode is a crock of crap, some don't.
 
I do mine after work 2-3 times a week depending on my schedule/weights workouts.

I tried mornings and it just about killed me. I hate mornings already and I despised them totally when I was doing cardio.
 
Originally posted by: brandonb
The idea is to have a cardio workout in the morning before breakfast because during the night the sugar/fuel in your bloodstream has been used by during sleeping. That will mean the second you start your cardio workout, your liver has to start pulling fuel from the fat cells in your body. Causing you to lose weight. If you run for an hour every morning before breakfast, you can lose up to 5 lbs of fat per week.

You can still do cardio at night, but you are just burning off your nightly meal, and nothing really from the fat cells. Unfortunately the body won't pull from fat cells during a resting state, as it goes into "starvation" mode. So its better to avoid your body going into starvation mode by keeping it fueled for the night shift, and doing the workout in the morning.

Will it be better than nothing? I'm sure it probably will be, but you will probably feel yourself struggling against it. Feeling more fatigued, tired, and worn out than you would be if you did it in the morning.
Click to expand...


Meh. I think most of the resistance is simply your brain telling your body that it's already put in an 8+ hour day and that it's time to sit back and crack a beer open. Not exercise.
 
Originally posted by: vi_edit
The most effective time is the one that you can make a habit out of.

/thread.

In all seriousness there may be some science behind "optimimal exercise times". But, in practical application our busy lives don't always jive with that. If you can make a consistent habit to do it in the PM, then do it in the PM.

That's when I've always done mine, and I'm in pretty damn good shape. Same goes for my wife.
Click to expand...

It's also more optimal to train 2x a day and have shorter sessions so you can rest inbetween your sessoins...you do what you can.

Btw if you want to have better fitness for Bball your better off with court sprints 😀, run to each quarter and then back to the start, repeat until you finish off the whole court :thumbsup:. Bball is not about sustained levels of speed. It is short spurts of sprints. The more you practice this the better your able to recover from it.

BUT there is a time and place for low level cv to keep your all around fitness 'okay'. But there are better methods to improve your Bball fitness. But of course if you want a fast 20minute run then go for that 🙂

Koing
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I actually learned why AM running is optimal from this thread 🙂

Well my goal isn't to necessarily be able to play bball more efficiently, as I only will start playing like 2 times a month, if that. It's just that over the winter months I was bulking up and putting on pounds, and now I'm trying to take my cut cycle as summer approaches pretty seriously.

I lift weights at night after work mon,tues,thurs, and then saturday I do legs whenever I can. I also don't lift and do cardio in the same session, as I just hate being at the gym for longer than an hour. I would prefer to do cardio session seperate from my lifting, which I plan on doing. Having a treadmill below me in the basement of the apartment also helps a lot in the fact that I could do cardio at any time of the day/night.

I'm going to try and get up 30 mins early and do cardio for 20/mins in the morning this week and we'll see how it goes. I will probably start wednesday though because tonight after 24 I'm going to run, and I don't feel like gettin up early tomorrow 😛

My main goal is to both gain stamina in general and to be able to run for 30 mins at a decent pace (around 7mph or so) like I used to in college when I was really REALLY cut. I want to get cut up again. Back then though I was only like 150lbs, whereas now I've gained a lot of mass and am about 195lbs. I still have my abs and can feel them under my little layer of stomach blubber that I would like to rid of before summer time. I know a lot of this is diet as well, and I plan on changing that up as well.

Thanks for the pointers 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Koing
Btw if you want to have better fitness for Bball your better off with court sprints 😀, run to each quarter and then back to the start, repeat until you finish off the whole court :thumbsup:. Bball is not about sustained levels of speed. It is short spurts of sprints. The more you practice this the better your able to recover from it.
Click to expand...

Heh when I played bball in highschool, I was by FAR the #1 person on the team at doing suicides. That had to be when I was in the best cardiovascular shape of my life, and since I have asthma, having good cardio is really healthy for me.
 
Personally I go at lunch time from work:

20min cardio
45min weights
x4 days per week
+ surf at least once on the weekend

Seems to work well for me...
 
Originally posted by: brandonb
The idea is to have a cardio workout in the morning before breakfast because during the night the sugar/fuel in your bloodstream has been used by during sleeping. That will mean the second you start your cardio workout, your liver has to start pulling fuel from the fat cells in your body. Causing you to lose weight. If you run for an hour every morning before breakfast, you can lose up to 5 lbs of fat per week.
Click to expand...

That's not true. The average person has enough glycogen stored in their muscles and liver that it would take nearly 72 hours of fasting before glycogen stores are depleted. 8 hours of sleeping doesn't even come close to depleting your carbohydrate (glycogen) stores. Also, You can lose 5lbs of water in a few hours with vigerous exercise or the use of diuretics but you would need to be in a caloric deficit of 17,500 calories to lose 5lbs of body fat in one week.

 
Heck, I've run 10 miles starting at 10 in the evening; it doesn't hurt ya any.

Also, the fat-burning thing is true for sure; you can't run more than an hour or two before you're running mostly on fat. If you go less than that... who knows; if you're in shape, you'll be burning a higher percentage of fat than otherwise.
 
Run in the morning before eating if you wish to maximize caloric expenditure.

Run in the evening or after eating if you wish to build speed.
 
Originally posted by: Astaroth33
Due to scheduling, I do it in the evening. It's better than nothing...
Click to expand...

I was just gonna post this. If your current routine includes no running at all, adding some at anytime can only show positive results. Do what you think you can handle in terms of sleep and scheduling, once you stick with it for a few months then start to experiment with maximizing results.
 
Originally posted by: Rickten
Originally posted by: Astaroth33
Due to scheduling, I do it in the evening. It's better than nothing...
Click to expand...

I was just gonna post this. If your current routine includes no running at all, adding some at anytime can only show positive results. Do what you think you can handle in terms of sleep and scheduling, once you stick with it for a few months then start to experiment with maximizing results.
Click to expand...

Well yah I know that doing any is better than nothing 😛 The thing is, if it is pretty much a known fact that it's more efficient to run in the morning first thing, then I will push myself to get up 30 mins early and hop on the treadmill in the basement below.

I am in good shape and have a good physiq, but since I've been bulking I've put on a lot of mass but with that comes unwanted fats naturally. I want to get rid of those fats in the next 3 months or so.
 
evening (well, night - right around 8pm) running has worked out well for me. I've definitely gained a lot of endurance and can run a lot more and faster than i could before. Ive also lost some weight... and im not really watching what i eat. I also run at night due to scheduling (the campus fieldhouse opens at 7 for general usage), otherwise im sure id be running earlier like I will once it warms up outside.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top