I ride in the morning as it tends to be the quietest time on the roads. The later I leave it, the busier it gets. Also love the fact that I’m home by 9-10am & have the rest of the day ahead of me.
This is it... and in the warmer parts of the country mid-afternoon rides would be seriously uncomfortable and increase the risk of sun damage. But I agree with Jesse in that morning rides are not inherently better for fitness and that getting a better sleep is more beneficial than setting the alarm for an early ride every day.
I’ve had to move some of my interval sessions to the afternoon/ evening due to the fatigue impacting my work. I’ve never experienced this with any sort of sport before - cycling is brutal!
I live in the tropics. Training in the morning allows people to avoid midday sun. Because of this, cycling roads/spots are crowded in the morning with cyclists. I train around 4:30pm because it ain't so hot anymore and the cycling crowd on my local hillclimb is small by that time.
Each to their own I think - afternoons really don't work for me for several reasons (1) work can run over so I would be more likely to miss sessions (2) my motivation to go ride after a tiring day at work is much lower (3) I have trouble sleeping if I workout late, and (4) there are more social things going on that you'd have to skip/miss, not so much at 5am ;-)
Great topic thanks Jesse. I have to agree with what you are saying in my experience. However, statistically the deadliest times on our roads are between 3-5pm Monday to Friday. We are very lucky to have somewhere like Centennial Park or Tempe velodrome for those afternoon sessions in Sydney. Cheers mate
I think it just be flexible and based on preference to be optimal. Sometimes I train in the morning, sometimes in the evening. I prefer the evening because it provides a nice mental break from work
Good day, Coach! Retiree here from Philippines, I usually start my training at around 8:30am to 9:00am till noontime during weekdays & extend it a little bit during weekends for my long rides. It's really very hot nowadays here in our country but still manageable for a good 2 to 3 hrs spinning. Thanks for sharing the good experience and enthusiasm for our chosen passion. Safe ride/vlogging! GOD Bless!
I tend to ride in the evenings, and afternoon/mornings on off-days. I work 6am-4pm, so I'm not going to be waking up at 3am to ride for an hour and a half and then rush getting ready for work. I *try* to wake up early on my off-days and get out in the AM, so that way I can have the rest of my day free.
Great points Jesse. I generally find it works for me also for many of the same reasons, but also in large part because of young kids that are up super early. Getting out for a ride is easier later in the day after they have been fed and tired out. Often means a trainer workout in the evening is the only option, but still, better than nothing.
Great video Jesse. 100% agree with everything. I ride late mornings during the work week due to work schedule, but often on weekends I ride during the middle of the day because I can perform better and get more quality out of the session. Plus, I get to bank some extra hours sleep on weekends
Totally agree. If I go out and do efforts then go to work i just want to eat all day and I also have a harder time focusing/being motivated to get a lot done.
Usually ride mid afternoon. Mostly dirt roads so cars not an issue. Hardly ever ride in the evening. But since races are most always in the morning I try to get in morning rides to simulate race days.
For me, I prefer cycling at night. There’s several reasons for that: 1. I stay in Singapore and it’s very hot & humid. Early mornings and nights are the only way to escape the heat. 2. Exercising at the end of the day makes me binge eat less since I exercise after dinner and then come home, shower and sleep. 3. My body recovers when I sleep. 4. I don’t have to eat as much on the bike as my body has mostly digested what I ate throughout the day.
Hard sessions in the morning and social rides or zone 1-2 in the afternoon works for me. I find high intensity stuff can wreck my sleep if I leave it too late in the day.
There was a good podcast done by Brad Beer (POGO Physio) about sleep. It really made me rethink training and how to get the most of out of each session and how to prioritise recovery (i.e. sleep). I love the mornings especially for a group ride or run, but if it's intervals then I prefer an afternoon.
To train in the afternoon I need to make sure I eat enough during the day and working a busy job sometimes it’s not possible so that’s why I usually train mornings to get the session done so if work gets busy then I know the training is done and I don’t have to worry about carbs or buses running late etc
I wish this was applicable to where I live in the PH. Riding in the afternoon is a sure way to get killed by either an angry motorist or else get a heat stroke 🥵 good points though, always nice to get a different perspective.
Love it when on holidays I can train in an afternoon but honestly An office role 8:30 -6 training early to get it done and not be selfish an mess up family by being gone all day and all night just to ride my bike Mornings it has to be Less traffic too
When you do excercises that don't deplete you yeah it's nice. But when you do something that lasts over an hour where you feel some type of way after then yeah it affects mental performance in a negative way. Most people just have never experienced depleting yourself with a workout and then trying to do mental work after. Like a normal gym session isn't depleting. But do an hour of sprint intervals and then a gym session that will be depleting. Or a 2 hour ride above zone 2. Very different meanings for normal people and endurance athletes.
I ride sometimes indoor, before work to have my workout done for the rest of the day. I can focus much better at worktasks after it. But......... this morning i had to do tempowork after a long heavy day on the bike yesterday. I felt ok in the morning but had problems to push the watts. As if zone 3 is almost zone 4. Could i have done the workout after an very easy start of the day and few hours later iam convinced my workout would have felt much easier.
Love my 7pm summer evening rides. Once the kids are all sorted and chilling. Don't feel like I am missing out of family time or ditching my wife to sort stuff out
I’m never fresh in the morning and my garmin always gives a poor performance condition the first 2 hours risky in the morning then it magically goes from negative to positive. I always feel like garbage Saturday mornings possibly after working all week.
good discussion, I've always said to people I've coached; the number one attribute of successful people is getting up early. Likewise I'm sure if you ran a report across strava you'd find most elites are knocking off their training early am. Reason? self-discipline which is a core component of success. It also teaches us the importance of sleep and rest which an early am session dictates. Of course you can train anytime but AM means you got your priorities right imho. Not to mention that most (all) competitions start early.
I don't think if you ran a report that most would be doing early rides. I bet hardly any do. Not a conclusive study or anything, but I just looked at pretty much every World Tour, pro-conti, and other wise serious rider that I follow on Strava and it looks like mid day the choice time to ride (between 10am-2pm). Pinot, Powless, Lucas, Bernal, Ganna, Williams, Naesen, Evenepoel, etc, etc, they all ride mid day. Even a strong amateur guy like Rowan Barrett who has KOMs absolutely everywhere across the globe and is a professor at a great uni - most of his rides look to be middle of the day. 100% agree with Jesse. Sure, out early in the morning for an easy z2 or fast group ride for an hour or hour and a half. But for serious work/training I like to work in the morning, then take a break in the afternoon for 2-4hrs to get a good session in. I've tried to keep volume up the other way, leave early, back around noon. The afternoon is never productive for me after that work wise.
I bet most ride early to get back to the family early and also to avoid cars on busy roads, i doubt it has anything to do with discipline and fitness reasons, imho.
This sounds correct but it definitely isn't lol. Top athletes don't have to glorify the grind and all the early morning sacrifice to be elite athletes, they just train when they feel and perform their best...which is much later in the day.
I would expect as part of that survey a follow up question to the strava athletes - do they ride early for the self-discipline/consistency or do they ride early simply because getting up at an unholy hour and cranking out their training before work and family commitments take over their attention is the only model for them. The latter doesn’t sound like it’s a choice other than that they must do it in morning and become disciplined with their sleeping patterns if they want to train at all. Workload permitting I like to train in the lunch time period. That’s when local races usually start in my area, traffic isn’t an issue, temps aren’t that crazy except maybe July, and if I feel tired I can sleep in a bit and get enough rest without being some monk who goes to bed at 8pm every night.
I appreciate the genuine comment, but this is the exact mentality I find unproductive and almost cult like. Just because I don't get up at 6am to train, doesn't make me any less disciplined to my work or training. In fact in my case it's the ability to train at any time of day that allows me to get the most out of both.
Interesting you didn't touch on any of the sleep profile research that's floating around out there. There's definitely a big genetic component to whether you are a morning person or more of a night owl, and I know personally that factors into my training in a big way. Great video, really refreshing to have a bit of a different perspective on this.
Great balanced video! I definitely prefer morning as it allows you to get fasted endurance rides done easily if that's your thing. Although I would like to try afternoon training at some point
I do a combination of what you and Jesse are talking about: any recovery/Z2 spin is fasted in the morning, holding the fast until lunch, any intensity is in the arvo 2hrs after the fast has broken. Best of both worlds, I find the fasted stuff seriously helps.
Doing hard exercise in the morning will cause your non-exercise-acticity-thermogenesis to be lower from fatigue. A lot of people will not notice it, but for the rest of the day, you'll be less metabolically active. If you could shift the training to say, 3pm, you have an extra 9h (approx) of regular N.E.A.T, which will help you maintain desirable weight. Tracking steps helps too.
For the majority of people who have real jobs its more convenient to get training out of the day early and focus on rest of the day, work, family, etc.
I train in the evening because unlike most people I actually get up at 5:30am to make money and build the economy. I always see these people riding after lunch. Must be an even more difficult session when you know you'll have no retirement money in the future.
Or these people have more flexible work arrangements or their own businesses and in fact work from the early morning and in the evenings and on weekends and simply manage to get out for a ride in the middle of the day… What’s your actual issue?
The biggest reason to ride in the morning is to avoid traffic.
Indoor
For me it is about avoiding getting lazy as the day goes on.
I ride in the morning as it tends to be the quietest time on the roads.
The later I leave it, the busier it gets.
Also love the fact that I’m home by 9-10am & have the rest of the day ahead of me.
This is it... and in the warmer parts of the country mid-afternoon rides would be seriously uncomfortable and increase the risk of sun damage. But I agree with Jesse in that morning rides are not inherently better for fitness and that getting a better sleep is more beneficial than setting the alarm for an early ride every day.
I’ve had to move some of my interval sessions to the afternoon/ evening due to the fatigue impacting my work. I’ve never experienced this with any sort of sport before - cycling is brutal!
Loads of reasons to do either. I’d say it was up to the athlete to evaluate what works best for them.
I live in the tropics. Training in the morning allows people to avoid midday sun. Because of this, cycling roads/spots are crowded in the morning with cyclists.
I train around 4:30pm because it ain't so hot anymore and the cycling crowd on my local hillclimb is small by that time.
Nice one Jesse, love the non mainstream view on this. Also can be helpful for parents. Keep up the good video’s!
Each to their own I think - afternoons really don't work for me for several reasons (1) work can run over so I would be more likely to miss sessions (2) my motivation to go ride after a tiring day at work is much lower (3) I have trouble sleeping if I workout late, and (4) there are more social things going on that you'd have to skip/miss, not so much at 5am ;-)
Great topic thanks Jesse. I have to agree with what you are saying in my experience. However, statistically the deadliest times on our roads are between 3-5pm Monday to Friday. We are very lucky to have somewhere like Centennial Park or Tempe velodrome for those afternoon sessions in Sydney. Cheers mate
I think it just be flexible and based on preference to be optimal. Sometimes I train in the morning, sometimes in the evening. I prefer the evening because it provides a nice mental break from work
Good day, Coach! Retiree here from Philippines, I usually start my training at around 8:30am to 9:00am till noontime during weekdays & extend it a little bit during weekends for my long rides. It's really very hot nowadays here in our country but still manageable for a good 2 to 3 hrs spinning. Thanks for sharing the good experience and enthusiasm for our chosen passion. Safe ride/vlogging! GOD Bless!
I tend to ride in the evenings, and afternoon/mornings on off-days. I work 6am-4pm, so I'm not going to be waking up at 3am to ride for an hour and a half and then rush getting ready for work. I *try* to wake up early on my off-days and get out in the AM, so that way I can have the rest of my day free.
Good video. Thanks Jesse! 👍
Great points Jesse. I generally find it works for me also for many of the same reasons, but also in large part because of young kids that are up super early. Getting out for a ride is easier later in the day after they have been fed and tired out. Often means a trainer workout in the evening is the only option, but still, better than nothing.
Great video Jesse. 100% agree with everything.
I ride late mornings during the work week due to work schedule, but often on weekends I ride during the middle of the day because I can perform better and get more quality out of the session. Plus, I get to bank some extra hours sleep on weekends
Totally agree. If I go out and do efforts then go to work i just want to eat all day and I also have a harder time focusing/being motivated to get a lot done.
I just find my muscles feel more suplex in the afternoon. And hard hill efforts feel easier.
Usually ride mid afternoon. Mostly dirt roads so cars not an issue. Hardly ever ride in the evening. But since races are most always in the morning I try to get in morning rides to simulate race days.
Bring your honest brilliant videos back
For me, I prefer cycling at night. There’s several reasons for that:
1. I stay in Singapore and it’s very hot & humid. Early mornings and nights are the only way to escape the heat.
2. Exercising at the end of the day makes me binge eat less since I exercise after dinner and then come home, shower and sleep.
3. My body recovers when I sleep.
4. I don’t have to eat as much on the bike as my body has mostly digested what I ate throughout the day.
Thanks for the video. My most productive business work gets done in the morning.
Hard sessions in the morning and social rides or zone 1-2 in the afternoon works for me. I find high intensity stuff can wreck my sleep if I leave it too late in the day.
There was a good podcast done by Brad Beer (POGO Physio) about sleep. It really made me rethink training and how to get the most of out of each session and how to prioritise recovery (i.e. sleep). I love the mornings especially for a group ride or run, but if it's intervals then I prefer an afternoon.
To train in the afternoon I need to make sure I eat enough during the day and working a busy job sometimes it’s not possible so that’s why I usually train mornings to get the session done so if work gets busy then I know the training is done and I don’t have to worry about carbs or buses running late etc
I wish this was applicable to where I live in the PH. Riding in the afternoon is a sure way to get killed by either an angry motorist or else get a heat stroke 🥵 good points though, always nice to get a different perspective.
So on the topic
Same day : morning failed my over unders 10 minutes in
Evening did the entire sesson 10w higher than goal
Love it when on holidays I can train in an afternoon but honestly
An office role 8:30 -6 training early to get it done and not be selfish an mess up family by being gone all day and all night just to ride my bike
Mornings it has to be
Less traffic too
When you do excercises that don't deplete you yeah it's nice. But when you do something that lasts over an hour where you feel some type of way after then yeah it affects mental performance in a negative way. Most people just have never experienced depleting yourself with a workout and then trying to do mental work after. Like a normal gym session isn't depleting. But do an hour of sprint intervals and then a gym session that will be depleting. Or a 2 hour ride above zone 2. Very different meanings for normal people and endurance athletes.
Office worker here, ride in the morning to avoid traffic, one coffee a week ( on a Friday morning), feel a ton more productive
I ride sometimes indoor, before work to have my workout done for the rest of the day. I can focus much better at worktasks after it. But......... this morning i had to do tempowork after a long heavy day on the bike yesterday. I felt ok in the morning but had problems to push the watts. As if zone 3 is almost zone 4. Could i have done the workout after an very easy start of the day and few hours later iam convinced my workout would have felt much easier.
Love my 7pm summer evening rides. Once the kids are all sorted and chilling. Don't feel like I am missing out of family time or ditching my wife to sort stuff out
So true! And when you do your training in the evening I sleep much better
Completely agree on this. If I ride in the morning, I cannot focus at work until noon and then I feel hungry all day and tend to overeat.
I’m never fresh in the morning and my garmin always gives a poor performance condition the first 2 hours risky in the morning then it magically goes from negative to positive. I always feel like garbage Saturday mornings possibly after working all week.
good discussion, I've always said to people I've coached; the number one attribute of successful people is getting up early. Likewise I'm sure if you ran a report across strava you'd find most elites are knocking off their training early am. Reason? self-discipline which is a core component of success. It also teaches us the importance of sleep and rest which an early am session dictates. Of course you can train anytime but AM means you got your priorities right imho. Not to mention that most (all) competitions start early.
I don't think if you ran a report that most would be doing early rides. I bet hardly any do. Not a conclusive study or anything, but I just looked at pretty much every World Tour, pro-conti, and other wise serious rider that I follow on Strava and it looks like mid day the choice time to ride (between 10am-2pm). Pinot, Powless, Lucas, Bernal, Ganna, Williams, Naesen, Evenepoel, etc, etc, they all ride mid day. Even a strong amateur guy like Rowan Barrett who has KOMs absolutely everywhere across the globe and is a professor at a great uni - most of his rides look to be middle of the day.
100% agree with Jesse. Sure, out early in the morning for an easy z2 or fast group ride for an hour or hour and a half. But for serious work/training I like to work in the morning, then take a break in the afternoon for 2-4hrs to get a good session in. I've tried to keep volume up the other way, leave early, back around noon. The afternoon is never productive for me after that work wise.
I bet most ride early to get back to the family early and also to avoid cars on busy roads, i doubt it has anything to do with discipline and fitness reasons, imho.
This sounds correct but it definitely isn't lol. Top athletes don't have to glorify the grind and all the early morning sacrifice to be elite athletes, they just train when they feel and perform their best...which is much later in the day.
I would expect as part of that survey a follow up question to the strava athletes - do they ride early for the self-discipline/consistency or do they ride early simply because getting up at an unholy hour and cranking out their training before work and family commitments take over their attention is the only model for them.
The latter doesn’t sound like it’s a choice other than that they must do it in morning and become disciplined with their sleeping patterns if they want to train at all.
Workload permitting I like to train in the lunch time period. That’s when local races usually start in my area, traffic isn’t an issue, temps aren’t that crazy except maybe July, and if I feel tired I can sleep in a bit and get enough rest without being some monk who goes to bed at 8pm every night.
I appreciate the genuine comment, but this is the exact mentality I find unproductive and almost cult like. Just because I don't get up at 6am to train, doesn't make me any less disciplined to my work or training. In fact in my case it's the ability to train at any time of day that allows me to get the most out of both.
Interesting you didn't touch on any of the sleep profile research that's floating around out there. There's definitely a big genetic component to whether you are a morning person or more of a night owl, and I know personally that factors into my training in a big way. Great video, really refreshing to have a bit of a different perspective on this.
I don’t even feel awake until noon so afternoon training is best for me as well.
Masterbation raises cortisol, so no knocking myself off before sleeping?
Just as I wouldn’t recommend having 4 coffees throughout the day to stay energised, the same principles applies if you’re correct….
Great balanced video! I definitely prefer morning as it allows you to get fasted endurance rides done easily if that's your thing. Although I would like to try afternoon training at some point
I do a combination of what you and Jesse are talking about: any recovery/Z2 spin is fasted in the morning, holding the fast until lunch, any intensity is in the arvo 2hrs after the fast has broken. Best of both worlds, I find the fasted stuff seriously helps.
Your argument is sound. Evening rides are the best IMO. After sunset the city is mine.
Yea this is good stuff. I gym in the morning only.
Agree 💯
Riding Centennial Park during afternoon hours may have a bigger chance to be charged for ....... speeding
Types of fatigue?? Next video?
agree, I prefer afternoon for sure. morning is such a grind and feel like shit. I rather sleep in and at least feel half decent
Doing hard exercise in the morning will cause your non-exercise-acticity-thermogenesis to be lower from fatigue. A lot of people will not notice it, but for the rest of the day, you'll be less metabolically active. If you could shift the training to say, 3pm, you have an extra 9h (approx) of regular N.E.A.T, which will help you maintain desirable weight. Tracking steps helps too.
Technically you should train morning + late afternoon to improve your volume & maintain quality. Here you just show you train less than good athletes.
I just skip the training when is already 3pm hahaha thats why i need to wakeup in the morning
For the majority of people who have real jobs its more convenient to get training out of the day early and focus on rest of the day, work, family, etc.
Crazy people are all around in the afternoon. They drive like monsters.
I train in the evening because unlike most people I actually get up at 5:30am to make money and build the economy. I always see these people riding after lunch. Must be an even more difficult session when you know you'll have no retirement money in the future.
Or these people have more flexible work arrangements or their own businesses and in fact work from the early morning and in the evenings and on weekends and simply manage to get out for a ride in the middle of the day… What’s your actual issue?
incredibly fixed and outdated viewpoint
At least we've finished in the prize money before, lol the most boomer take ever