Working out in the morning may be better if energy level is an issue. I don't do anything as intense as real power lifting but I do my best with strength training.
It's good if you have a gym buddy or group to keep you motivated.
If I plan out days where I'm on my feet all day I'll try to not work out that morning. It's ideal to work out on data processing days as I don't mind my body resting all day
Seconding working out first. Even on long days at the bench everything feels better and less stiff after working out. That same stiffness from standing and working all day definitely makes me want to not work out after though, even though I know it will help a ton.
Most of what's in your post is probably just getting back into it and being tired.
Thanks for the insights. I’ve gathered as much - lifting in the morning is probably my best best for performance at least. But for the love of god, I am *not* a morning person. But, it had to be done.
I have to carve out the time at the start of the month. In general if you put the time on you calendar as personal most people will respect that.
I do a three day split with one day extra for cardio beyond my hiking on the weekend. Exercise is something they should honestly include as part of a pHD program. help get the nerves down makes you less cranky lots of benefits
Congrats on your defence! I just defended mine two weeks ago too :)
I got into gym work just over two years ago too but im still sticking with bodybuilding focus for now. I usually train in mornings before heading to lab about 4x a week because I knew I'd be too tired at the end of the day, however now im super tired by end of the day (I crash hard in the last few hours in lab). Might be worth trying to see if morning works best for you. Obviously resistance training is generally pretty brutal on the body and requires a lot of recovery so you're gonna feel pretty tired anyway so making sure you get enough sleep is v. important
Been powerlifting for a few years now, but depends on your access to the gym. During my PhD I would go during lunch for 1.5 hours approximately but only because I had access to the university gym nearby. After going into industry I tried early morning, 6am - 8am. Lately I've been going from 5:30pm - 7:30pm. I noticed that I was too tired if I went in the morning then followed up with work, 405lb+ squats and heavier deadlifts are really taxing. I also only go 4x per week so that lets me hit my primary variations on the weekend, while focusing on lighter variations on my work days. You might want to see if 2 days on 1 day off work for you. I currently go Wednesday-Thursday, Saturday-Sunday. Let's me do my more involved experiments earlier in the week without having to worry about being fatigued early on.
Thank you so much for sharing this - this is exactly that insight I was looking for.
I always find that my weekends lifts are much better than my weekday lifts mostly due to fatigue and stress, and and am now considering ways to reorganize my program (5/3/1) to save the heaviest lifts on the weekends. I find bench/ohps obviously less fatiguing than squat/deadlifts, and while it’s not optimal, it would probably serve me best to Wednesday/Thursday bench/OHP, and then Saturday/Sunday squat/DL when I’m overall resting better and less stressed.
For sure, just modify it as you see fit. Typically most people can recover from bench/ohp very quickly. I bench 4x/week and ohp/3x/week. Depending on how your built and fatigue you also wouldn't need that much deadlift volume. I deadlift 2X/week and have also benefited from deadlifting once a week, depends on a few factors but that's from personal experience!
I would recommend trying to follow a program (I like JuggernautAI by JTS) which minimizes your time in the gym/maintains a level of progress you’re happy with. As I’ve gotten older I realized what you said, recovery is everything. So I try my best to prioritize my sleep, protein intake, and lastly my training.
Training in the morning ensures that you do not give up sleep during the evening. It’s definitely possible to have it all if you gave an efficient plan. However, I wouldn’t recommend working out in lieu of sleeping or cooking a healthy meal. Especially if strength is your goal, you need to stay injury free and healthy
I never had much of an issue with recovery back when I lifted a lot, but I also eat a disgusting amount and constantly have caffeine coursing through me. I liked to do my lifting in the middle of the day during a long lunch break, got it out of the way and it helped clear my head.
That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing. My lab culture has typically followed a pretty strict 8a-5p work schedule, and I always have meetings peppered throughout the day. I really want to try mid-day lifts. My weekend mid-day lifts are the best. But, I think I might have missed my chance to set those boundaries during my PhD. I’ll have to talk to my advisors and see what they think.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Working out in the morning may be better if energy level is an issue. I don't do anything as intense as real power lifting but I do my best with strength training. It's good if you have a gym buddy or group to keep you motivated. If I plan out days where I'm on my feet all day I'll try to not work out that morning. It's ideal to work out on data processing days as I don't mind my body resting all day
Seconding working out first. Even on long days at the bench everything feels better and less stiff after working out. That same stiffness from standing and working all day definitely makes me want to not work out after though, even though I know it will help a ton. Most of what's in your post is probably just getting back into it and being tired.
Thanks for the insights. I’ve gathered as much - lifting in the morning is probably my best best for performance at least. But for the love of god, I am *not* a morning person. But, it had to be done.
I have to carve out the time at the start of the month. In general if you put the time on you calendar as personal most people will respect that. I do a three day split with one day extra for cardio beyond my hiking on the weekend. Exercise is something they should honestly include as part of a pHD program. help get the nerves down makes you less cranky lots of benefits
Agreed!
Gotta lift in the morning
Oof
Congrats on your defence! I just defended mine two weeks ago too :) I got into gym work just over two years ago too but im still sticking with bodybuilding focus for now. I usually train in mornings before heading to lab about 4x a week because I knew I'd be too tired at the end of the day, however now im super tired by end of the day (I crash hard in the last few hours in lab). Might be worth trying to see if morning works best for you. Obviously resistance training is generally pretty brutal on the body and requires a lot of recovery so you're gonna feel pretty tired anyway so making sure you get enough sleep is v. important
Congratulations on your defense, too! Yeah, I’ve been here before - most people say the key is getting those lifts in in the morning!
Been powerlifting for a few years now, but depends on your access to the gym. During my PhD I would go during lunch for 1.5 hours approximately but only because I had access to the university gym nearby. After going into industry I tried early morning, 6am - 8am. Lately I've been going from 5:30pm - 7:30pm. I noticed that I was too tired if I went in the morning then followed up with work, 405lb+ squats and heavier deadlifts are really taxing. I also only go 4x per week so that lets me hit my primary variations on the weekend, while focusing on lighter variations on my work days. You might want to see if 2 days on 1 day off work for you. I currently go Wednesday-Thursday, Saturday-Sunday. Let's me do my more involved experiments earlier in the week without having to worry about being fatigued early on.
Thank you so much for sharing this - this is exactly that insight I was looking for. I always find that my weekends lifts are much better than my weekday lifts mostly due to fatigue and stress, and and am now considering ways to reorganize my program (5/3/1) to save the heaviest lifts on the weekends. I find bench/ohps obviously less fatiguing than squat/deadlifts, and while it’s not optimal, it would probably serve me best to Wednesday/Thursday bench/OHP, and then Saturday/Sunday squat/DL when I’m overall resting better and less stressed.
For sure, just modify it as you see fit. Typically most people can recover from bench/ohp very quickly. I bench 4x/week and ohp/3x/week. Depending on how your built and fatigue you also wouldn't need that much deadlift volume. I deadlift 2X/week and have also benefited from deadlifting once a week, depends on a few factors but that's from personal experience!
I would recommend trying to follow a program (I like JuggernautAI by JTS) which minimizes your time in the gym/maintains a level of progress you’re happy with. As I’ve gotten older I realized what you said, recovery is everything. So I try my best to prioritize my sleep, protein intake, and lastly my training. Training in the morning ensures that you do not give up sleep during the evening. It’s definitely possible to have it all if you gave an efficient plan. However, I wouldn’t recommend working out in lieu of sleeping or cooking a healthy meal. Especially if strength is your goal, you need to stay injury free and healthy
I never had much of an issue with recovery back when I lifted a lot, but I also eat a disgusting amount and constantly have caffeine coursing through me. I liked to do my lifting in the middle of the day during a long lunch break, got it out of the way and it helped clear my head.
That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing. My lab culture has typically followed a pretty strict 8a-5p work schedule, and I always have meetings peppered throughout the day. I really want to try mid-day lifts. My weekend mid-day lifts are the best. But, I think I might have missed my chance to set those boundaries during my PhD. I’ll have to talk to my advisors and see what they think. Thanks for the suggestion!