When Is The Best Time To Train?

When is the best time to train?

I get asked this a lot.

My answer: Whatever time allows you to train at your best.

There are many studies that show the benefits of training early in the morning from boosting metabolism, releasing mood-elevating endorphins, energising the body for the day, right up to increasing hormone levels.

Whoop di doo!

I cant train early in the morning. I’ve tried it several times over the years and the outcome is always the same: bad training.

My joints feel like concrete in the morning. My muscles feel tired and weak. My whole body feels depleted and empty. Trying to lift hundreds of kilos before the sun comes up just doesn’t work for me. I need several meals in me and even more hours of being awake before I can even contemplate moving any weight.

The best time I ever trained was many years ago when I would train around 10pm. I would work the day training clients until 8-9pm. Then I would sit down to eat a meal and 30-45 mins later I would start to train. I would be completely exhausted from the day but the moment I started training I would get a second wind and be full of energy and my training was awesome. When I finished I would go home and eat another meal and collapse into bed and sleep like the dead. It was wonderful!

It was during this period of time I made the most progress that I’ve ever made with my training.

So to sum it up, I don’t care about apparent hormonal increases or fat burning processes that happen early in the morning. In the real world, I train like shit in the morning which means I won't make any progress which means my body won't change in the way I want it to.

As with anything training or diet-related: try it, measure it and adjust if need be.

If you train better before the birds start chirping, then go nuts. Me? I’ll be at home in bed deep asleep. I’ll train at a more reasonable hour.