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Early Bird Gets Most Buffed?

© Matt Danielson

We all have different preferences when it comes to working out in the morning- while someone might be happier to get up at 5 am and "get things over with", others prefer to snooze until 9 am or longer. I'm definitely in the latter category. My natural biorythm is to sleep between 1 am to 9 am, which interestingly enough makes me more rested and energized than If I had slept, say from 10 pm to 7 am - in spite of actually getting a full hour more of sleep!
The reasons for this are unclear, but it is definitely not something to ignore.

Hormone balance
Your biorythm is highly affected by hormones. If you have a ton of hormones in your system that wants to put you to sleep, odds are slim you're in shape to drive off to the gym and do any record squats. In other words, it's the flip side of the coin that makes it hard to relax and fall asleep during the day, when you'd normally be up and doing other things. Your body don't like to change things around too much.

With this in mind, I hope it's obvious why there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution. However, there are a couple of general rules that applies across the board.

Objectives
As you strive towards your fitness goals, there are a few prime objectives that has to be observed at all times. It's tempting to "forget" this when things get inconvenient, but the joke is on you - No one but yourself suffers if you waste a pound of hard-earned muscle mass by dropping the ball.
1. Keep the muscle you have!
2. Stay fueled to get the most out of your workouts!
3. Be in tune with your biorythm!
...In plain English, this means: Eat properly before attempting morning training (depending on the type of training you plan to do - more about this later), and not to fight your body's natural peaks and lows, strength-wise. Not only will you be less energized if you try to do some heavy lifting when in a "low" state, but you'll also be more likely to injure yourself.

Morning Cardio
Ok, so you've decided to take the advice about doing some morning cardio to get rid of the lovehandles and look really buffed and awesome for the beach in June... Or perhaps you just don't like the way the jelly rolls bounce when you run without a shirt on. Either way, this is THE time to get some fat burn going. As you haven't had any major meals for several hours, there's very little carbs floating around in your system that can be used as fuel instead of bodyfat. Bad news is, as there's little carbs around, the body doesn't mind cannibalizing some muscle mass along with the bodyfat. Yikes! Frontal assault on Objective One!

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