pebe

I have a question. My wife and I just joined a gym after years of procrastinating. Its about time we went and did it since we both need to lose some weight. We're both 25.

My question is, since we both work 9-5 jobs, we can only get to the gym at the earliest 6:30 every night. Does it matter when you exercise? Right now, we go and do 30-45 mins of treadmill, thats pretty much it for now until we get the hang of it. So we are in and out in an hour and by 7-7:30, we are eating a light dinner.

Does working out at night have any disadvantages? On weekends, we will be there bright and early so we dont waste the day, but I just want to make sure that exercising at night isnt as effective.

Thoughts?

Whiskers

I touched on this a few times.....

Abreece has said that it doesn't matter what time, and I agree. However, I found that exercising after dinner is the best because it stops you from snacking.

Right now, I go to the gym during my lunch hour at work.

pebe

So you think its better to eat first? Hmmm, maybe we will try that. Our gym is open until 11pm, so we dont have to rush. We have been trying to eat light dinners anyway, so we shouldn't feel too tired after eating to go.

Whiskers

It doesn't matter when you eat, but I would wait a little afterwards.

Whiskers

You should eat a light dinner and then after excercise have a small recovery (healthy) snack (popcorn, fruit, veggies)....

pebe

Cool. We'll experiment with both to see what works for us.

Another question I have is that there is a sign in the gym that says something to the effect of 'Weights first, cardio second'. We dont want to do any weight lifting right now until we get down in weight. All we wanna do is burn fat right now and build up our cardio and breathing. Why would this sign be there?


I'm such a gym

jacko74

Well well well... good thing you asked. Expect a long reply if you're not ready to read, just move on to the next one

The rule of thumb is: after you've had 3-4 meals, you're ready to train; we're talking bodybuilding. Considering you're only there for the cardio (and at that: only 30-45 mins), it's very preferable that you go in the morning, on an empty stomach - for more effects ie: weight loss.

Now taking note that you work 9-5, I usually suggest that people take 1 expresso shot (or 2?) around 4:30pm, and rush to the gym when they are done with work (DO NOT F*CKING GO HOME - go straight to the gym!!!). Also you might want to make sure your last meal was around 3pm. The reasonning behind that is quite simple: your testosterone levels are low as you end your day, considering you work 9-5 (been up since 7-8am?), going to the gym at 6:30-7:00pm... your body has been up and running for almost 12hrs.

When you inject caffeine directly in your body (you'll get a 30-45 mins boost of energy) which will give you just enough to make it to the gym, and, at the same time, you will replicate the early morning effect when your energy levels are full. It also acts as a fat burner (ie: you will feel hyper) and you will burn more.

Of course, after 2 weeks, you will come back to this thread and say "ok f*ck it, I can't do this anymore, always the same routine, it's boring, I don't see as many changes to my body as I used to when I started, I'm quiting!" .. this usually happens to 95% of the people who decide to 'start' training. The answer is: SWITCH IT UP! Eventually, that 30-45 mins of cardio just won't cut it for you, switch machines.. go with the 'stepper' or go with some bike? or just go walk/run outside if it's nice outside? The trick is to never get bored. Add 10-15 mins of weights or do some abs/lower back/etc. The more you switch it up and break the routine, the more results you'll see, and the more you'll get addicted. Eventually you can fix your diet up, you can then move on to changing what you buy when you do your groceries, etc etc ...

Here are a few quick motivationnal points for starters:
1) if you're going after work, bring your stuff with you, do not go home before hitting the gym.
2) increase your metabolism by eating more meals, but smaller portions (I have 7 meals/5 shakes a day! - I am a bodybuilder though)
3) what applies to bodybuilders also applies to people wanting to lose weight with cardio
4) regularity -> changing programs -> fixing diet -> changing the way you think and live.

Ok enough, hope this helps, I'm a personnal trainer, but I stopped training people after 3 years, it's just not worth my time (and it's really not about the money). The time and energy I spend on people, and then seeing them have ice cream just because it's "nice" outside; or because they look good now; I don't call that dedication But don't let me stop you, at least you made the first step which was to sign up to the gym!

Good luck!

Rodney

I would just add that its good to leave 3 hours between the end of your workout and the time you go to sleep. This is how long it takes your heart to be fully relaxed.

I go to the gym at night myself, usually from 8 to 9:30, then eat a huge dinner and crash around 12:30.

Doc.Booty

Go whenever works best for you.

pebe

Thanks for all the input:

Jacko: Thanks for the advice, very helpful. But like I said, we are out of shape and just starting all this and don't want to switch it up yet until we get the feel. Once we lose a little and get in the swing of it, we'll definitely be switching it up more often, but I understand what you mean about getting bored.

Rodney: I kinda figured that after last night. We went to the gym at 8:30 and got home after 9. Took a shower, had a snack and laid down, but could not fall asleep until about 11:30, which is ok, but I thought I would fall right out. I guess my heart is still adjusting to the workout.

Abreece: As for now, the evening is more convenient, so I think we will be sticking to that during the week. We both need to be out of the house for work by 6:30, so getting up at 4:30-5 am to get to the gym isnt in the cards right now.

Any other tips are appreciated as this will be a regular thing, I am not going to quit on this. I actually feel a little better and I've only been to the gym 3 times this week, so I cannot wait to start seeing the long term results

ric

I suspect that, more than the time of your exercise regimen is the regularity of it. Three times a week is a decent standard to set, alternating every other day with a two-day gap for the body to rest.

Rodney is right; a workout gets the body systems pumping, including adrenaline - and going to sleep after a workout is usually not a feasible thing.

I wouldn't hesitate to begin to enrich your workout regimen now with some muscle-toning stuff, and as you develop a more comprehensive workout regimen, remember to vary/enrich it about every six-eight weeks - changing it just about the time the body becomes complacent about the workout tempo.

My own work schedule is such that my weekday workouts are anywhere from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm, and my weekend workout is at 7:00 AM on Saturday. Works for me.

pebe

My doctor diagnosed me with having excess adrenaline, but he said it could be fixed with exercise, so hopefully that helps.

Your workout schedule is what mine will look like, late weekdays early weekends. My gym opens at 5 am, but thats not gonna happen with us right now

Right now I'm just watching my food since my diet isnt the greatest to begin with, but one step at a time. I just want to make sure what I am doing is effective.

mantis23

I exercise at roughly the same time.

It works for me cause it fits my schedule.

Stick with it!

jacko74

Just a side note for all you guys.

Apparently, it was discovered not too long ago (in Sweden or some EU country) that humans have a 'gene' or I guess a variation in their genes which makes them more performant in the day time or night time.

You know how some people work better at night, and how they hate the 9-5 thing. Well this partially explains it.

How does this relate to working out? It doesn't really... , but I thought about the 'above' when I was debating about trading in 2 mins of my favorite tv show to post the following: 95% people are more effective at cardio in the morning and bodybuilding/training later in the pm-evening; it works out better to do cardio in the morning since you're running on an empty stomach, as for the working out part, it's preferable to go in the pm (between 1-5pm) compared to late-nights - referring to testosterone levels of course.

But hey, it's better to go late-night than not go at all

speedzer

correct me if i'm wrong but for a person that wants to build muscle, working out in the evening is not beneficiary. Reason being is that you want to feed you body of nutrients after a hard workout. So for instance, after a workout, you have a PWO shake. Wait 2 hours and have a good, nutritious meal to feed those muscles. I suppose after that you can hit the sack.

subinf

I heard that its best to eat after your work out because of an increase in the bodys metabolism. I know pretty much nothing about nutrition/exersize, etc. and wonder i this is true?

Doc.Booty

Yes that's true, but in reality the difference it makes is minimal. Some days I'll have my post-workout protein shake and a nice big meal within the span of 15-20 minutes.

Worry about simply eating right and exercising before you get bogged down with these minute details

jacko74

It's not because of your body's metabolism, but simply because of your body's state after a workout. Your body has been training for anywhere between 30 to 120 minutes, and it's in a very high rate of burning calories (and "should" be low on fuel - notice the " ", if you don't break a sweat, this barely applies to you). Hence why they suggest a protein shake right after your workout, 1) nothing goes into your blood stream quicker than water or liquids, 2) this will keep fueling your body, slow the burning rate enough to get you to a good meal.

To the people still starting, I suggest you go with the protein shake for post-workout. Whether you get your meal within the next 15-20 or don't. At least it will keep your body from reaching a catabolic state. You mind wonder, isolate protein or concentrate protein... If you have gas problems after using concentrate, switch to isolate. If you don't see a difference, stick to concentrate for starters. Focus on the workouts, nutrition will come later.

Abreece said it clearly, just focus on getting things done (in the gym) and being regular, you can work on adjusting minute-details later.

subinf

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I havent really developed a routine yet...I try to bike or run every day and have a protein shake afterwards (mainly because I dont eat much meat and try to make up for loss of protein) I usually wind up not eating much after I'm done with my activity and only get hungry right before I go to bed.