This is part 2B of helpful tips and methods on “defeating the Itis” pertaining to the daily fitness routines that many go through.

Cons to going to the Gym on the late late night:

The first con is an obvious one and that of course is being “out late on a school night.” It is perfectly fine to go out on the weekend. Hoot and holler until your lungs and adrenaline give out around 3 AM because you have the ability to sleep it out the next day and restore your REM sleep cycle back on track. But coming out of the gym any time between 12AM-3AM for an optional workout routine doesn’t necessarily work for the huddled masses that get up at 6:30 AM in the morning to go to work.  I am one of those people and let me tell you it took me a couple weeks of adjusting my sleep and nap habits to work around this schedule, which was a rather tiresome endeavor at first. But for many people they do not want to schedule their day around a gym routine. Instead they want to  schedule their gym routine around what ever else they have planned for the day. This plays on the another downfall which is:  if you don’t get a grip on juggling this routine with sleep, meal times, and personal time, then it is even quicker progress to the “itis” than just trying to go to the gym after work.

First, if you are not getting proper sleep and it comes 10 PM at night, guess what, the first thing to go is going to be that trip to the gym.

Second, if you are a person that is greatly affected by their nutrition cycles in regards to balance of periods in which you ingest your nutrients, needs to be somewhat strict, this will definitely throw you off. You can eat your three meals a day, but more often or not you are going to take a nap if you are a 9-5er so that you are not a complete train wreck. When you do this, even if it is only a two hour nap, you run the risk of working up another appetite after you complete your workout. And it is a well know fact that it is not good to eat right before you go to sleep. If you read my blog then you know that I never claim to be an expert and to tell you the truth I have done no scientific research on this. But I will tell you one thing, what I just mentioned is something that I battled personally for about a week and half to two weeks when trying to find my groove in this cycle. In fact I was flat out miserable until I found my “late night gym chi” and was able to finally center myself.

Another downfall stems from one of the benefits of going so late at night, and that is all of the janitorial work that goes on late at night. Because there are so few people there at that time, it is the perfect opportunity to thoroughly clean the gym without interrupting a lot of people at once. Of course anyone who is cleaning does their best to not disturb you while you are working but at the same time when no one else is there it can be quite disturbing to have someone going to town with the cleaning duties. The crazy loud vacuum that is used is definitely enough to throw you off. During the day there are a million other people and it doesn’t really bother you if someone asked you to move so that they can clean real quick, because you feel a little bad because this person is trying to do their job with all these people everywhere which is almost impossible. But when no one else is there you feel like “really,” all this open space to clean and you have to ask me to move from this tiny little area?” I am being more than a borderline ass by saying this because obviously the gym has to be cleaned but I know I am not the only one who is thinking it. To tell you the truth though this is not even close to being a big deal to me but I have noticed that some of the few people there that late at night are really kind of put off by the fact.

Obviously, this plan is not for everyone. But honestly I believe that if you are dedicated to the fitness lifestyle the pros out weigh the cons 7:3 – in my opinion. This route definitely takes some dietary and sleep adjustments but after about a week or so you should properly adjust and it then it should just becomes like clock work for you. If this option isn’t for you either, then hopefully this last one will be. Once again these are simply the opinions of a guy has opinions about anything and everything, take it or leave it as you will.