Working Out in the Morning - FAQ

Here i am sitting in Singapore once again and typing out a post. i am back here in Singapore for work for one whole week. It seems like just not too long ago i was doing this. Anyway i am staying in the Concorde and i went to check out their gym earlier tpday. Pretty good. They actually have a squat rack, bench press & even a chin up bar. Yes, i should be able to get in all my usual exercises. But 1 thing that did piss me off was that their sign says the operating hours are 7am to 8pm. So i decided to ask the front desk if they could open at 6:30 for me as i need to head off for my training. When i called, they said their operating hours are 6am to 10pm. WTF? So i marched down there just now just to check and sure enough... the sign says 7am to 8pm... and typical of hotels, there was no one at the front desk. So i asked one guy who was working out and he told me it opens at 6am. so which one is which? well i guess we will see tomorrow.

Anyway enough about that. Just wanted to share that with someone and didn't know who i could share it with... so i thought this would be the best place. This week i am re-visiting the topic on working out in the morning which i wrote 2 weeks back, as I got many calls and sms-es about that post and lots of friends asking me how to go about it. wow... i didn't think that post would actually motivate a lot of people... but it did and i am happy. So i thought for the benefit of all, let me post up the questions i received and the answers i gave. Hope this helps all of you who are thinking about working out in the morning.

Should i eat anything before i work out?

Well i usually just gulp down a glass of soya and i am out the door. There was once when i forgot to drink my soya and felt lightheaded half way through my workout. The thing is you do want some sugar in your system but if you eat a proper meal, you have to wait an hour to an hour and a half before you work out. So unless you are prepared to wake up at 4:30am, i recommend just sticking to liquids. Something small like crackers or some cereal is OK... but avoid eating too much.

What should i eat after that?

well what do you normally consume after your workout? you can consume the same thing here. I am currently taking Nutrilite Protein mixed with V-Soy right after my workout. Before this i used to make Tuna sandwiches and take them with me. I still take the tuna sandwiches and eat it in between... remember, best nutrition plan to have is to eat every 3 hours... so i save my sandwiches for those odd moments when i cannot go out to get something to eat.

I feel really drowsy and sleepy after lunch.

Well to solve this, try sleeping earlier. i am usually in bed by 11pm most days and occasionally at 11:30pm. Plus you must understand that this gets some getting used to. The more you do it, the more your body will adapt...so the only way to overcome this is to sleep earlier and keep doing it till you get used to it. also try eating a lighter lunch. Sometimes mid day drowsiness is caused by a heavy meal.

I still feel sleepy when i reach the gym.

Try doing some cardio before your lift. Maybe a quick 10 or 15 minute jog. This helps to get blood pumping around. I usually do 3 to 4 warm up sets (start with lighter weights and gradually go up to your max) and that really helps to prep my body for the heavy lift. If you have consumed some sugar upon waking up, and do some light warm ups or cardio, i guarantee your body will be wide awake and ready to go.

How often should i do this?

Well how often do you workout? I do it 5 times a week and each time i go in, i train different muscle parts... enabling my body to recover. So it really depends on your routine

I don't have enough time in the gym coz my work starts early

Well there are 3 thinngs you can do.

1) split up your workout to more times a week, meaning doing less for each workout but more frequently over the week - so total work is the same, but you have to go more often to make up for the cut offs.

2) doing your exercises in super sets -this saves huge amount of time

3) lastly, maybe working out in the morning isn't going to work for you. So if you can't manage it, don't worry. This isn't for everyone.

OK. I hope i managed to get all the questions in here. If you do have any other questions, do post it up here and i will answer them. Till then good luck with the morning workouts. remember, it just gets some getting used to and it is not impossible. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

PS: The damn poll is working again. So please do take a moment to vote. Thanks guys