Morning Workouts Before the Train

For building strength and changing body composition, the time of day matters much less than whether the session happens. Train in the morning or the evening and the result depends mostly on the total work you do and what you eat. So the real question for a commuter is which session is more likely to survive the week.

That is usually the morning. A 06:30 session at UNTIL Liverpool Street is finished before the day can interfere. An evening session has to start by about 18:30 to be worth doing before the 20:00 close, and it competes with late meetings, delays and the pull of the train home. The block therefore puts the heavier session in the morning and gives the evening one the work that can absorb being missed.

If you train within an hour of waking, a small, easily digested snack is usually enough: a banana, toast, a yoghurt or a milky coffee. If there is more time, or the train journey is long, a light breakfast with some protein and carbohydrate works well. Avoid a heavy meal in the hour before you lift, and drink some water, because most people wake up a little dehydrated.

Should I eat before a morning workout?

It depends on how you feel. Some people train well on an empty stomach early in the morning; others feel weak and light-headed. Neither is better for fat loss once the whole day’s food is accounted for, so eat whatever lets you train hard, and have a proper breakfast with protein after the session and before the office.

A typical coached morning session at UNTIL Liverpool Street runs 60 minutes and is built to be finished, changed and on the way to the office by about 07:45.

• 06:30: a warm-up aimed at the day’s lifts, because stiff joints after a train journey need a few minutes.
• 06:40: the main lift, a squat or hinge pattern, progressed from last week.
• 07:00: a push and a pull, paired to save time.
• 07:20: a carry or core exercise and a short conditioning finish.
• 07:30: change and go.

Your coach sets the exact exercises, loads and times at the first session, around the train you catch.

Early training starts the night before. Pack your kit and lay out your work clothes, set a consistent bedtime for the nights before training, and keep the morning simple: out of bed, a drink and a snack, and out of the door. Booking the session with a coach helps too, because an appointment is harder to skip than a plan.

If early mornings are genuinely wrecking your sleep, that matters more than the training slot. Tell your coach, and the block can be rebuilt around an evening session with shorter, more flexible work.

No. Training in the evening works, and some people sleep well after it while others find it harder to settle. For a commuter the problem with the evening is practical rather than physical: the club closes at 20:00 and the train home is fixed, so the session is the first thing to go when the day runs late. That is why the evening slot carries the work that can absorb being missed.

UNTIL Liverpool Street, 280 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4RB, opens at 06:00 Monday to Friday and is about 6 minutes on foot from the station, with changing rooms and a members lounge. Body Transformation Liverpool Street connects commuters with independent coaches who train clients there, and coaches who publish their rates charge about £100 to £130 a session.

Read how body transformation coaching around the train works, or ask about morning sessions and UNTIL Health Concierge will reply to arrange a first session.

The how many times a week should I work out page explains the two-session floor, and the weekend home workout plan covers the session at home. Every goal is on the goals page.