Shannan’s Journey

We all work out at a time that’s most convenient for us. For many, that’s after the workday has ended. This means that you’ve been working for eight or nine hours, fought rush-hour traffic to get to the gym, then had to deal with an overcrowded facility.

Is it any wonder so many people just give up and stop training? The solution for many is as simple as a slight change in schedule. Instead of training in the late afternoon or early evening, have you ever thought about going to the gym in the morning? Anyone who trains in the AM is already familiar with the various benefits, but let me enlighten those of you who consider waking up at five A.M. to hit the gym the highest form of insanity. As you’ll soon see, you’re crazy not to work out in the morning, if your schedule allows for it.

More energy
The human body is a little bit like a rechargeable battery. When we awake from a good night’s sleep, we are refreshed, re-energized, and fully awake (after a cup of coffee, for many of us, that is). The whole day is in front of us. Then we commute to work, perhaps after feeding and dressing children and shuttling them off to school. After our allotted hours of work, it’s clear that we’re starting to lose steam. In fact, if most of us had the chance to take a nap at three or four o’clock, we would probably sleep like babies. If you train at five, six, or seven o’clock at night, I doubt you would have as much energy as you would like to devote to your workout. How could you? Your body clock is winding down toward sleep already!

Though it will initially be a shock to your system waking up earlier and getting to the gym, within a week or so your body will adapt. You’ll find you have a great deal more energy training early in the morning than you did later in the day, and the workout will also serve to make you more alert at your job.

All those sweet endorphins flowing through your body, plus the rewarding feeling of a tight muscle pump and honest sweat, are an awesome way to start your day.

Less crowds– Few things are as frustrating as walking into the gym at evening rush hour and seeing that the place is so jam-packed with people that there is a waiting line for virtually every piece of weight training and cardio equipment. At some gyms the windows are even fogged up from all the breathing, sweating bodies.

Not only does this mean your workout might take twice as long, but you’ll probably lose your pump and get cold while waiting to do your sets. Any gym on a Monday or Tuesday night from about five to eight PM is going to be a zoo. What do you expect? Most people don’t train on weekends, then feel obligated to work out after work on Monday and Tuesday.

Get to the gym at least 3 times a week and it doesn’t matter when you go…  JUST GO !!!!!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 1:04 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.