Lately I’ve seen quite a few more people hauling themselves into the gym for an early shift before work.
In light of this, I thought I would share my 5 top tips for early morning training as quite often when people make the switch from “normal” training times they don’t take into consideration how different it will feel!
Use these tips to have you setting personal bests at the crack of dawn:
1) Drop your training weights by 10-20%.
When you train early, you’ll likely feel very weak at first until you get used to it. You’ll probably still feel half asleep as your nervous system won’t be firing on all cylinders so you might have to drop weights by 10-20% and gradually progress from there. Be assured that this will just be a short term set back though!
2) Be aware of lifts that heavily load your spine.
I’m talking about things like squats, deadlifts, overhead presses etc. This is because overnight your spinal discs become very hydrated, placing a ton of stress on the ligaments and other structures that surround the spine. Add some stress to this via lifting heavy weights and you might be in for an injury!
I’m not saying don’t do them at all, just make sure you’re sufficiently warmed up before you try them.
A brief warm up of light cardio for 5-15 minutes (even walking etc.) OR even just making sure you’re out of bed and moving about for about an hour before training will help as you just need gravity to do its work to drain the fluid away.
3) Experiment with your nutrition.
Play about with your nutrition a bit to see what you prefer first thing in the morning. Some people like just a cup of coffee/some caffeine pre training, some a fully empty stomach, some can’t train at all without at least a small meal in them… just experiment to see what you prefer.
I truly don’t think there’s any particular benefit in one approach or another, it’s just down to personal preference.
For me personally, when training in the early AM I like a quick sugar hit + 1/2 scoop of whey protein + 200mg caffeine pre workout.
I usually get the sugar hit from a very small bag of Haribo (~15g)/small banana.
4) Get those ZZZs.
Sounds obvious, but make sure you get enough sleep the night before.
You can’t just wake up a few hours earlier than usual, having gone to bed at your normal time and expect to be at your best!
No quicker way to sabotage your efforts in getting to the gym early if you wake up and feel like total crap just because you haven’t had enough shuteye.
5) Be hydrated.
Wake up and make sure that you leave enough time to at least get 300-500ml water in you and “digested” after such a long period overnight without water.
Remember that electrolyte balance (and therefore hydration) is so important in lifting performance so don’t go into the gym dehydrated!
