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I know it is important to get a good nights rest for recovery.
But does waking up early have any effect?
Should you wake up so many hours before your workout?

i LOVE training as soon as i wake up.. i like training and doing cardio on an empty stomach with bcaa..
 
i know its  not the best idea but I make sure to eat a good post workout meal
 
This is when I feel my best and most energized and motivated.. everyone is different..
 
I know i cant take alot of breaks because i have to get to work so i dont mess around or talk.. i stay focused and keep my workouts fast and intense..
 
 
what about  you.. what are your thoughts.. your goals are different then mine so i am sure you have to get lots of carbs and protein in..

rob i like to give myself some time to wkae up before i train, i also found that training sessions in the morning are not as good as when i go at night. So i like to use my morning training sessions to wake up and then go after it hard in the afternoon training sessions. I know that alot of lifters prefer this style of training, i can recall a lifter telling me one time that his all time best cj was 180 kilos. So in the morning he was at a fairly routine wieght of 155kilos, which suprisingly was heavy to him in the morning. Then at night in the afternoon training session he went on to easily clean and jerk 17o kilos, so the difference from the morning and afternoon sessions is very drastic and there is no need to panic when not hitting numbers that are what you would call good.  

Cardio and/or general strength training is just fine right away in the morning. Well, I would allow about 2 hours after waking up to do actual weight training. But, for weightlifting purposes it is best to be awake for a few hours prior to lifting. Let your body loosen up a bit and get everything warm. It can help wonders. However, you also wanna make sure you are getting enough sleep at night!

Ya for me personally if i wake up and go straight to training its hared to get going. I usually end up stiff and tight. IF i give my self a little more time to wake up it makes a huge difference because i can get started right away without that stiff feeling.

Lifting in the morning is best for me… i HATE lifting after work… My body is so stiff from sitting down all day and i hate training on a full stomach… i DO wish i had at least an hour in the morning to wake up fully but i just don’t have that time…
 
In your case “Olympic lifting or muscle building” would really benefit you to give your self some time to loosen up and get some food/energy in your system…
 
For me… diet is the most important thing where as weight training is your biggest priority due to your goals…
 
Sitting at a desk all day is brutal on my body! I remember Pete saying that you shouldn’t  dead lift, do good mornings, or other intense exercises that involve your lower back due to stiffness and lack of lubrication in your joints first thing in the morning…
 

Yeah I am a before the crack of dawn person. I would like a bit more time to wake but I love having my workouts over with. When I was younger all I did was worry and wonder when I was going to get in …yeah a bit whacked, ocd…!Lifting and running in the morning allows me to enjoy the rest of my day especially running kids around, meetings and what ever else seems to throw wrenches into peoples workout schedules.I don’t miss workouts. Coffee with a bit of protein and half a banana and I am off.

same here!! i never have to worry abotu missing a workout andi LOVE just getting it done.. when i have to train after work even though its an hour session it take up my entire night.. i feel like i have no time for ANYTHING!! now that i train in the morning i have more time to run errands and have some what of a social life even if it is just getting coffee with freinds, seeing my family or spending time with my husband….

rob one thing you might want to try is coffee while working out, this I found really helps put me in gear for when I start my training. I jsut started training with this method and I am finding great results during my morning workouts as well as my afternoon workouts as well. This is good for me because I can get maximal results for both workouts instead of just using hte morning workout for a warm-up. I can now use both workouts for hard training and this I feel is the way to get double the results for the price of one coffee.

Wierd! While i drink my coffee i get really sleepy and relaxed.. it does not give me energy..
 
The only thing is if i drink coffee later inthe day (around 6 pm) i have trouble falling alseep a few hours later..
Coffee makes me tired for about 2 hours but i think i feel the effects later?

I do not drink coffee. I dont like the taste. I dont think this is a good method for training. I can understand doing it once in awhile but not for every training. If you constantly take in caffiene all the time your body will build up a tolerance for it and it will not have the same effect that it did when you first start which means you will have to take more and more for it to stay effective. I think if you take it once a week on your big days then it will keep its effects and allow you to put up big wieghts on those days. If you can put up big weights when you dont have coffee then you do that much better with it on days you actually need it.

to late!! i am addicted!! lol i need my coffee.. but not for training.. i need it first thing in the morning

I can understand taking it in the morning to wake up. But When your talking about drinkining it when you wake up. Then drinkin one or two every training season. Thats a lot of coffee in a day. And that constant abuse can have side effects.

Coffee before  I go out is more habit than helpful. Once at the gym I am awake even just after a few minutes of warm-up. No matter how tired I feel when I first wake, if I hit the tread even for a light walk in a few minutes I feel ready to go.

  
I am the same way.. but i have coffee after my 5am workout session with breakfast.. i dont drink it first thing in the morning because that means i would  have to wake up even earlier to go to the gym.. NOT HAPPENING!
 
I actaully HATE drinking HOT coffee right before my workout.. it dehydrates me and makes me feel to hot..
 
i just really enjoy my coffee after my workout.. its relaxing and taste great.. i now you shoudl not drink coffee after your workout cause you dont want to increase cortisol levels (which is does) but i dont care!  its one thing i really look forward to and enjoy

there are a lot of factors that go into working out in the morning:

cortisol - the stress hormone is highest in the morning time due to our biological clock system. exercising increases cortisol even further, but it’s not like you’ll fry yourself out if you work out in the morning. many people find that working out is a good way to wake themselves up.

back exercises - back expert, Dr. Stuart McGill, recommends that you don’t do loaded back exercises right after waking up due to the fact that your vertaebral discs are still loaded with fluid, kinda like a water balloon. if you are doing heavy, loaded lifts that put a lot of pressure on your back in the morning, it is much much more likely that you’ll pop a disc in your back, which can put your training on hold indefinitely and turn into a chronic problem.

wakefulness - some people just aren’t morning people (me) and aren’t able to get juiced in the morning for a workout. caffeine pills, energy drinks and/or coffee can all help, but you shouldn’t need to rely on those things to get up, so it can lead to bad habits.

fat-loss - we had an article earlier about how training in the morning, while your body is still in fat-burning mode (sleep is a low intensity activity, and your body burns fat for energy during low intensity activities), can lead to greater fat loss. low intensity activity in the morning, before you eat any carbs and switch your body over into carb/amino acid-burning mode, can really help to shed some fat. 

my recommendations: keep your morning workouts low intensity and preferably energy systems/cardio based, avoiding too much resistance. do your resistance training later in the day, or several hours after waking after your body has had plenty of time to drain the fluid out of your vertaebral discs, which will make it far less likely that you’ll throw your back out.

All great points Pete… thanks for giving adding more info about the dangers of training back heavy in the morning…
 
I agree with your tips however i am a morning person so i will stick to my morning training sessions which includes a mix of heavy weight training, whole body workouts, circuits, hiit (3 days a wk) and steady state cardio (once a wk)..
 
I do however train legs at night.  I do a double session on Monday (cardio steady state in the am and legs crushing in the pm…) yeay buddy lol!!
 
You have to do what works for you and your schedule
 

Pete so how early would be safe to lift?
How long should you wait until you lift?

Rob I would have to disagree and say that coffee has stimulants in them and that allows your body to become more focused and give your body more ability to put efforts into weights. I have to say that coffee has been very good to me over the years of my career and I especially like moster energy drinks becasue they taste great.

HEY..  if the coffee helps give you a kick ass workout go for it..  the only problem would be if your body gets use to it and you have to increase doses.. maybe you can cycle it?
 
i am not really sure what the right answer is though

Lori what I try to do is to choose the days that i need it wisely, kinda like a reserve type deal. This way my body doesnt get to dependent on it and allows me to get the same effect everytime without having to up the dosage so to speak. Another element I like to try is energy drinks such as monsters as well as other drinks that are currently on the market, however, I use those to the same effect that I use my coffee.

I LOOOOVE me some monster energy drinks first thing in the morning (good call Max). Ya gotta go with the low carb blue monsters.

what is blue monster?? are the ingredients healthy?? isnt it better to just stick with coffee??

Blue monster is the monster in the blue can, it has less sugar then the green monster. I think it taste like a monster that has gone flat and Id prefer a green monster over anything. If I cannot have a monster Id like a redbull or a coffee.

how long does the energy last for..is it liek super pump or other pre workout supplements.. do you get that jittery feelings?

I dont really feel any jettiery feelings, I feel more alert and I donlt really feel a crash. I will say sometimes my stomach gets a little upset but I think if I take water in with my monsters that happens less often then other times.

whats the difference between monster and red bull?

um I would say the amount of sugar, but I could be wrong. I think monster taste better in my own opinoin

yeah.. i am not a fan of read bull.. i dont think it taste that great.. i guess i will try this monster low sugar one.. they sell it everywere

bleh, i’m not an energy drink fan. my girlfriend drinks rockstars instead of coffee though. she doesn’t like either monster or red bull. and she drinks it out of a straw. what do you guys think of rockstar?