Ten good reasons to work out after work rather than before
I don’t really need funding to carry on research to figure out that Australians prefer to do sport in the morning, before heading to the office, rather than in the evening, let’s say after work. On the other hand, since I regularly spend time in France, I realise that over there people rather prefer to do it after work; yet France produces champions in cycling, running, swimming, triathlon, athletics, boxing, fencing, etc . . . Can’t just be all wrong can it?
Recently I bumped into a web page listing down ten good reasons to do sport in the morning. Since it’s clearly not my choice, I started to put together my own ten reasons not to . . .
Recently I bumped into a web page listing down ten good reasons to do sport in the morning. Since it’s clearly not my choice, I started to put together my own ten reasons not to . . .
You’re not late to work
The only place that it is crucial not to be late to is commonly understood as being work. If you feel good that evening, there’s no limit, so to speak, for your session. Provided you made sure no child or elderly person will be waiting for your help at home.
You swallow your pride
You do not have to prove yourself by telling everyone around you how early you got up to train, hence you won’t think you’re superwoman or superman for that reason. Following this, you will quickly notice the positive feedback on your interpersonal relationships.
In my opinion, people who get up super early by choice are not particularly stronger. I find them rather weak in fact. Why? Because to get up early on a regular basis you’d have to go to bed early, and tired enough to find sleep quickly; meaning you may not have the strength to cope with the day behind you. The“over and done” with sentiment is also a poison that may reveal a kind of fear of facing a challenge once you get tired. Do you think all challenges before you in your life will text you before they come up?
Meal time consideration
Let’s suppose it’s now 6 pm, and you consider starting training. Last time you ate a good meal was lunch, about 5 or 6 hours ago. Last time you had a light snack was about 1 or 2 hours ago. Well, good news, this is exactly the setting that will position your glycemia and stomach content to the best configuration to endure physical efforts for a few hours.
If you train in the morning, let’s say at 6am, last time you had a good meal was about 12 hours ago. If you want a snack before you go that early, you must either limit it to a little piece of solid and fluid (otherwise running will quickly give you a stitch), or you must get up an hour earlier at least, or, third option, limit your session length. Isn’t it hard enough to get up early in the morning? "It’s not" I hear you say? Well . . . so why is it you are so proud of telling all your colleagues that you do it if it’s banal and easy?
Attention not to get too big a snack in the last hour before your training, or you might create an insulin peak that gives you a mega fatigue at the time of starting it. A small coffee and a fruit or a little sweet something taken 1:30 hours before your training is a good package.
No meeting time
Unless you do a heavy but short gym session, chances are you’ll need a couple of hours to train seriously (e.g. running, or cycling, including stretches) and up to 5 hours for a serious cycling session. Why get stressed about not having time to do a serious training session because you have to be at work in an hour, or need to take your kids to school at a particular time?
To lose weight, you have to tap in your lipids (fat). To do that, you need to train at moderate intensity for at least 3 hours, and ideally 5 or 6 (cycling, long active walk). Gym exercises do not burn fat, they demand other metabolic routes (alactic anaerobic) that do not need lipids to produce energy.
You don’t believe me? Compare a tour de France cyclist figure to shotputter’s . . .
You don’t believe me? Compare a tour de France cyclist figure to shotputter’s . . .
The environment is less hostile
The sun gets stronger as you go in the morning and with it temperature; so does traffic; so does your hunger since you had to have a tiny brekkie after a long fast. You’re getting more tired with time naturally, and the increasing factors stated before add to your pain. Do you really need that additional difficulty?
Stretches and liaising with family made easy
When you come back home, you can stretch while seeing and talking to your kids. You can sweat all you want, and even continue to sweat after your shower since your body is hot without having to wear that business attire over it. You can even stretch a second time before going to bed. Try to do proper stretches at work in the morning . . .
Less dense playground
Footpaths, bikeways, pools, fields, are usually pretty empty after work, since everyone else is having dinner. There are less dodging people with the masses getting out of their houses to take their place in the daily vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The risks of collision are naturally lower during the low density of the traffic in the evenings.
Stress relief at the best time
You realise how you sleep really well after a good training session followed by a good but not heavy dinner.
Sport is a well-known stress reliever. Filling up the stress tank then emptying it is a natural sequence isn’t it? Or would you prefer to relieve stress after a night of sleep, and get stressed for the rest of the day with your boss and customers, not allowing the tank to empty until the next morning. Keeping all your pressure inside of you at night . . .
Active prime time
You miss all the interesting programs on TV since you’re active at prime time. Well this is good news, that means you’ll spend more time training and less time in front of the TV. The best news and shows can anyway be seen on demand on your laptop while you’re having dinner anyway. At least it’s a controlled action, and not a passive one. You only watch what you need, and don’t just suck in while being a couch potato. This will increase your overall availability.
Quality time
Finally you can enjoy making love to your partner on Sunday morning, or whenever you’re both off. Maybe they have been waiting for this time long enough now? You can also play with your kids or take them somewhere in the morning, whereas in the evening they usually get to sleep early enough. Of course you’ll have to share kids tasks with your partner so that both of you can enjoy of the balance of doing sport in the evening or at night!