Cardio Or Weights In The Morning?

f you’re getting up for an early morning workout session, you might wonder what you should do – cardio training or weight lifting.

Many people do prefer early morning workouts over those later on in the day because of the fact that if they get them done early, nothing will crowd them out of their schedule.

That said, if you don’t plan your early morning workout properly for your body, you may run into some problems.

Let’s look at what you should know.

Assess Your Natural Strength Levels

First, you need to assess whether you are naturally a morning person or not. Some people are strong first thing in the morning and have no problem doing their weight lifting. For others, this is not the case.

When they train first thing, they are weak, tired, and have very poor recovery afterward.

Granted, it can take a week or two for your body to adjust to lifting at this time, so give it an honest shot, but if after that, you are still seeing a decline in performance, accept that for you, it’s cardio-only first thing in the morning.

Look At Other Time Slots In Your Schedule

Next, you also need to assess the other time slots you have available in your schedule. Can you do cardio in the morning and strength training later in the day – either that same day or on another day altogether?

It’s important that you make strength training the top priority in your workout program because this is the most beneficial form of exercise out there.

So if you only have a limited amount of time to train for your workout, you want to be making sure that you are getting strength training in when you can, even if this means morning workouts.

Prepare Properly

Finally, if you are going to go ahead and do morning strength training, you must prepare properly. Since this form of exercise does require glucose as a fuel source, a light snack will be a necessity. Make sure that you get it in – protein and carbohydrates before you head off to the gym.

So there you have the quick facts to know about which type of exercise to do at your early morning workouts. Some people may not have a choice, but if you do, you need to look at how you individually feel at this time for strength training.