# Time to work out



## granfire (Aug 22, 2021)

Finding myself supremely unfit, with 2020 2.0 not helping any endeavors to change that and messing with any type of regular schedules. 
I started to wonder. 

Now, I have never been an early riser by choice, but 30 years of catering to family who had to, I find myself unable to sleep in most days, 
BUT, I am not one to be sleepy early in the evening. 
So not being able to fall asleep, and getting up way too early, I find myself tired all the time. 
So. 
I drag butt and get nothing done, then drag more butt and go to bed late
Rinse, repeat. 

I have an exercise bike (AKA the clothes rack.)

And I should hop on there, and do a few rounds. What is in your experience the best time to pedal: Earlier in the day, or in the evening, closer to bedtime?
I do understand my experience might vary from yours/ 

And seeing that I am in such sorry shape, should I plan on several short 'sprints'?


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## JowGaWolf (Aug 22, 2021)

Find people with similar goals and use them to help create your drive. 

My goal is to lose 20 lbs.  I don't have a time table on when this will happen.  I just know that if I keep doing what I'm doing now, that it will eventually happen.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 22, 2021)

granfire said:


> Finding myself supremely unfit, with 2020 2.0 not helping any endeavors to change that and messing with any type of regular schedules.
> I started to wonder.
> 
> Now, I have never been an early riser by choice, but 30 years of catering to family who had to, I find myself unable to sleep in most days,
> ...


In general, that depends kind of what your goal is. From my understanding, for weight loss purposes working out in the morning will help the most (if that's your goal). 

In terms of tiredness though-working out in the morning helps most people "wake up" fully, and actually increases their energy level afterwards (the tricky part is getting yourself to work out in the morning, at least for me). There's also a theory out there, backed by some science although I don't know how definitive it is, that working out about 2-3 hours before bedtime actually helps you fall asleep earlier. The idea is that it forces a rise in your body temperature at time of working out, which slowly lowers over the course of the next few hours. And your body naturally wants to lower your body temperature when it's time for bed, so the two work together and make you able to sleep better. Work out less than 2 hours before bedtime though, and you won't have cooled off enough so you'll still get stuck awake. It's also supposed to improve the actual quality of your sleep as well, although your mileage may vary.


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## JowGaWolf (Aug 22, 2021)

Monkey Turned Wolf said:


> There's also a theory out there, backed by some science although I don't know how definitive it is, that working out about 2-3 hours before bedtime actually helps you fall asleep earlier.


This works.  It also helps with weight loss as well.  The "experts" say that it gets the body in the action mode.  So by working out 2-3 hours before going to bed, the body is expecting to need more fuel and as a result will continue to burn resources, calories, fat conversion, etc.  while we sleep.  As for helping someone one to go to sleep.  I'm usually tired and exhausted.  I've been up all day and then did extra physical activity towards the end of the day.  I've never had any problems falling asleep.  I'm always out like a light.  My rest is better and I have less desire to try to stay awake for stuff.  

Working out in the morning gives energy for me as well, I think that's because I'm on a full tank of sleep.  I  work out right after dinner  (maybe 20 - 30 minutes after eating.)  This prevents me from over eating.  I haven't had any digestion issues in the 2 or 3 months I've been doing.  My blood sugar and my blood pressure seems to benefit from it as well.   Medical theory is that it slows the absorption of food in my stomach so I'm not getting a rush of nutrients as my body is using more available resources for energy.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 22, 2021)

JowGaWolf said:


> This works.  It also helps with weight loss as well.  The "experts" say that it gets the body in the action mode.  So by working out 2-3 hours before going to bed, the body is expecting to need more fuel and as a result will continue to burn resources, calories, fat conversion, etc.  while we sleep.  As for helping someone one to go to sleep.  I'm usually tired and exhausted.  I've been up all day and then did extra physical activity towards the end of the day.  I've never had any problems falling asleep.  I'm always out like a light.  My rest is better and I have less desire to try to stay awake for stuff.


I thought this might be the case regarding weight loss 2-3 hours before bed, but wasn't sure. The exercise 2-3 hours before bed almost always works for me and the science is behind it. I also started working out around that time recently, and based on my fitbit, where I used to wake up 3-4 times in the middle of the night, I'm only waking up maybe once, and that's normally close to the actual time I should wake.


JowGaWolf said:


> Working out in the morning gives energy for me as well, I think that's because I'm on a full tank of sleep.  I  work out right after dinner  (maybe 20 - 30 minutes after eating.)  This prevents me from over eating.  I haven't had any digestion issues in the 2 or 3 months I've been doing.  My blood sugar and my blood pressure seems to benefit from it as well.   Medical theory is that it slows the absorption of food in my stomach so I'm not getting a rush of nutrients as my body is using more available resources for energy.


Stopping overeating is interesting. I've noticed that if I distract myself in some way after my first "helping" of whatever I'm eating for about a half hour, I'm no longer hungry for that second helping. Not sure if it requires exercise or just any sort of distraction to help though.


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## Xue Sheng (Aug 22, 2021)

granfire said:


> Finding myself supremely unfit, with 2020 2.0 not helping any endeavors to change that and messing with any type of regular schedules.
> I started to wonder.
> 
> Now, I have never been an early riser by choice, but 30 years of catering to family who had to, I find myself unable to sleep in most days,
> ...



Start small and build. If you start by over doing it, likely you will not maintain it.


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## _Simon_ (Aug 23, 2021)

Good on ya!

Great answers thus far, and yeah honestly whatever time is easiest for you and when you have the most energy, I'd start there. And like Xue said, start small and with simple stuff, much easier to remain consistent. Work up to sprints at some stage, but get all the muscles used to riding with consistent speed for a little while I reckon.

All my life I've been a late afternoon trainer, 5pm-ish, right before dinner. I seem to perform much better, have more energy and feel much fresher strangely. Morning is mobility and stretching stuff.

But the last couple of months I've actively been trying to do morning training, just to see how it feels and if I can make the switch haha. It's working well! Was really hard initially and found myself tired come midday, but that didn't last.

Point is, whatever works for you and makes training an easy habit


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## granfire (Aug 23, 2021)

Some great points! 
Yeah, I definitely do not to elevate my body temp before bed. Hotflashes are already a thing, don't need more. 

Weightloss is not the main concern, but after quitting a physically demanding job in 18 I have put on a few pounds I would not mind to shed along the way. Fitness and energy is my main concern though. 
I don't think I will do more than 5 minutes on the hamster wheel though. 
Perhaps 2 or 3 times a day if I remember to not forget.


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## krowe (Aug 24, 2021)

granfire said:


> Finding myself supremely unfit, with 2020 2.0 not helping any endeavors to change that and messing with any type of regular schedules.
> I started to wonder.
> 
> Now, I have never been an early riser by choice, but 30 years of catering to family who had to, I find myself unable to sleep in most days,
> ...


 If your body is out of shape I would avoid sprinting because you are likely to injure yourself if your lower body has not been properly conditioned beforehand. Start with basics, do some bike machine and light jogging, do some squats, or half squats if you need to work your way up to full squat flexibility, etc. Do some planks and cobras if your core is weak. Fon't spend 2 hours doing it in one clump, just do one 30 min workout or two 15 minute workouts every other day to start and see gow you feel. Its more about working out consistantly than working out hard. Working out hard when your out of shape or not used to an exercise will just get you injured. Just scale it up slowly.


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## granfire (Aug 24, 2021)

krowe said:


> If your body is out of shape I would avoid sprinting because you are likely to injure yourself if your lower body has not been properly conditioned beforehand. Start with basics, do some bike machine and light jogging, do some squats, or half squats if you need to work your way up to full squat flexibility, etc. Do some planks and cobras if your core is weak. Fon't spend 2 hours doing it in one clump, just do one 30 min workout or two 15 minute workouts every other day to start and see gow you feel. Its more about working out consistantly than working out hard. Working out hard when your out of shape or not used to an exercise will just get you injured. Just scale it up slowly.


Sprint was a figure of speech. 
Short intervals of activity vs long sessions. 
Probably on the lowest possible setting of the bike as well. 
And definitely no running. 
Just 'mall warks' at the store - which I actually try to avoid.


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