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Old Forum Early morning training - dangers?

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Tommy84

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Hello Strongfirst-Community,

I am wondering if anyone experienced the same:

Due to tough time schedule, I tried to do my workouts early in the morning – maybe 10 min. after getting up and 20 min. after waking up (maybe this makes a difference), no breakfast before just one coffee.

My workouts are mainly swing/push-up or plank combos, sometimes swings and TGUs (S&S style, meaning max. 10 rep sets swings)

My problem is, I think I have very poor movement in the morning, meaning swings not crisp, little power regardless of the excercises – it just feels not right.

(my warm-up is some very basic joint mobility and the warm-up from S&S, exactly as written)

Therefore, I stopped the early morning workouts, because I don`t think it`s a good idea to load poor movement with weigth.

Has anyone discovered the same?

If someone does early morning workouts, is there any “special” warm up?

Another question, a little bit more medical. (English is not my native language, but I hope I can describe what I mean J)

In a newspaper I read recently that in the mornings after getting up, the intervertebral discs are full of some fluid (what is positive and should be), but for this they are softer and maybe a little bit more fragile due to this.

Therefore, risk of injury is supposed to be higher when performing excercises under load.

What do you think? Is there something true in this?

Due the above mentioned points, I stopped early morning kettlebell workouts and are just doing nothing or maybe a little bit joint mobility, stretching and kettlebells in the eventing if I can manage from my work schedule to do so.

Hope some comrades here have some tips or share their experience …

Stay strong,

Tommy84
 
For 25 years I had trained almost exclusively at night. But since last September I have started to train in the early mornings and can't say enough good about it.

I used to have a very difficult time feeling right and having good mobility, but the S&S warm up is perfect for KB days and I used my heavy bag as a warm up on non Swing days. Well, along with plenty of Metallica and Five Finger Death Punch.  ;-)

At first it was difficult to get moving and I had some aches and pains. But I did not push numbers for a while and just kept working through a few moves at a time. Now, I feel great and my morning mobility is much better, and over all is more improved during the day.

Basically, I did not start off with full power and rep workouts. Just shorter versions of what I would normally do. After about a month's time the mornings now feel great and I don't plan to ever go back to my old schedule.

FWIW
 
I spent almost all of high school and college practicing in the morning. For me it always took longer to get warmed up, and I did not feel as strong as if I'd been awake a little longer. That said, the body does a pretty awesome job adapting and while I still do not prefer training when it's still dark I have not had it get in the way of completing a session. On the plus side, by the end of the workout I normally feel pretty good, and getting it done first thing means I don't have a chance of missing it later.

I have heard the same thing about discs and fluid, and I am not qualified enough to comment on it one way or another.
 
I used to train after work in the late afternoon, later it had to be late evening after I put my children to bed, now it is early morning before anyone else in my family wakes up. It was tough at first training in the morning, but I quickly got used to it. I actually read that Bill Pearl started training in the morning so that he wouldn't miss any sessions, but most importantly, he felt that he was a nicer/better person towards others if he got it out of the way. That has been the case for me as well.
 
https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do%3Farticle%3D271spine2&sa=U&ei=WQMUU_jJGNHYoATFmIHgBQ&ved=0CAwQFjAD&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNEi4AdB4dJTcZBLz9fxLxx73q26wQ
 
I am a bit worried now after reading Dr McGills' interview. Been doing some  GTG barbell Clean and Press when I get out of bed.

 
 
My 'preferred' time to train is sometime between 11am - 1pm, but during the week I have to train as early as 530am. The spine (disk/fluid etc) is important to consider though. I probably wouldn't do any heavy squatting or deadlifting that early in the morning, but kettlebell style workouts I have never had an issue with.
 
Tommy, you are correct that the discs are more vulnerable in the AM.

You are smart not to load poor movement.  Try a longer joint mobility/recharge.  If it does not help, make time for training later in the day.
 
I think much depends on individual physiology. I tend to get weaker and less coordinated as the day wears on and am near worthless after dark (reverse vampire syndrome!).  Many are just the opposite. Spending extra time warming up though could make a really big difference. I can perform in the evening if I spend the time and energy to "jack up my hormone levels" and get the motor going. Used to train martial arts in the evening and it was fine; combination of semi-strenuous warm-ups and a bit of fear dose wonders for alertness and crispness of movements.
 
I guess there's the optimal time to train and the time modern life allows you to train. Good thread, ill take heed in my 6am sessions.
 
Thanks for the valuable input, Matt thank you for posting the article.

I will follow Pavels advice and just try it with more joint mobility and maybe some OS resets. But if it doesn`t feel good, maybe it`s just not right for me.

Nevertheless, I hope my body gets used to early morning and it starts to feel good, but I don`t think one should force something.

Thanks all,

Tommy
 
I woke up 2 hours early to do stuff for the house and study. And then I did 2 sets of triple for my daily GTG Barbell strict press before I leave the house  :)
 
Tommy, in addition to the OS resets, you can somewhat help reduce this fluid pressure by doing movements like the "cat and camel" which will take your spine into very mild flexion and extension. This is a pretty common warmup for the spine and usually gentle enough to avoid causing problems. You can also get a jump on your mobility the night before you train by doing the Chief's "pump stretch" and hip flexor stretches. Do these every night for at least a week and you will most definitely get a jump start on your mobility for the morning. It's a real good protective thing to do for the spine if you have a desk job or just sit a lot.

 
 
I work a mixture of early, twilight and night shifts so train a mixture of morning afternoon and evening sessions and seem to perform better in the evening sessions and seem to recover better as well.
 
strongo, I saw them in ETK, but if what you saw looks like a wide-foot downward dog to upward dog (yoga poses), then that's the same one. Upward dog is also used in McKenzie therapy(not called by the yoga name) to counteract the damage too much flexion can have on the spine. The Chief is a smart man to demand that we lay on our stomach between movement practice during certs for this very reason.

The pump stretch is one of those moves that I love and recommend because it hits two good positions for spine health: lumbar extension w/some traction on one end and hamstring stretching combined with thoracic and shoulder extension on the other end. But I don't advocate going to the end of either position in the early morning because it's easy to overdo it. Even though I haven't read of problems with end range extension in the mornings, I know for myself it feels like I'm pinching something. To me, it's not worth the risk to do it in the morning when doing it at night helps to counteract the bad sitting posture from the rest of the day.
 
I have basically the same issues with early morning.A little still and tight up on waking.

I also do most of my training late morning early afternoon.Im usually at my best then.I always do some sort of mobility work before hand.As mentioned i to like the pump but also the camel/cat,hip circles,and the cobra.I feel light to moderate KB swings for reps also help quite a bit.These aren't hard style but just moving to get things warmed up especially the low back.

Sometimes life dictates your training times for you and you must adapt if you want to get a session in.Just be warmed and ready to go before hand.I would also recommend to be hydrated before you get moving.Not a bad thing to drink a couple glasses of water during your warm ups.
 
The few injuries I have experienced all occurred when I was tired & cold.  I generally feel these two components first thing in the morning so I combat this by doing Pavels Super Joints with a few personal added exercises added for joint mobility for old trouble spots such as my neck.  I have added Max Shank Dynamic neck rotations while stretching the chest & hands back (video posted on his site) which have completely eliminated further injuries & healed previous one's.  Having a coffee or BCAA's before hand with a recovery shake after helps as well.  Morning workouts feel the best as I feel a good T & HGH boost (as long as you aren't going to failure) from good quality perfect practice.
 
For what it's worth - I'd be up when it's dark, go for a walk (1hr ) then hit the gym.  No warm ups or stretching.  Did heavy deadlifts, heavy walkouts/partial squats - over 2xBW for both, 5x5.  Also did heavy weighted chins (and dips), and other stuff - back fragility was never a concern.
 
I train every morning, I started doing it around Christmas and it's worked very well for me so far. I'm not a "morning person" at all but a hundred swings with the 40kg is better than coffee.
 
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