Heyo,

Guess what? Kris is taking Amara to Spain today, which means I'll be alone for the first time in two years. It will be just me, myself, and the crushing realisation that I have no social life outside of being a dad.

Do you hear that? Exactly. That's the sweet, sweet sound of silence. By the time you read this, I'll probably be deep into catching up on all the anime I've been adding to my "one-day-I’ll-watch-these-when-I’m-not-too-busy-raising-a-small-human" list. Then I might spend the afternoon reading, and who knows, I might fuck around and even get some sleep.

AADAM ANSWERS
​Is morning training better than evening?

Q–Any science on training morning vs evening? According to data on circadian rhythm morning should be better?

It very likely doesn't make a difference.

A 2019 meta-analysis found evening training had a slight edge over morning training. However, the body adapts. If you switch from training in the evening to the morning, your strength tends to 'catch up'. The review also found no differences in muscle growth between morning and evening training. [1]

Another meta-analysis, this time from 2023, also arrived at similar conclusions. When they crunched the numbers, the only time-of-day effect that really stood out was for jump height (effect size = 0.71). For strength gains, the effect size was 0.22 (with a 95% confidence interval ranging from -0.15 to 0.59), which is basically science-speak for ‘meh, could go either way.’ [2]

Comparing congruent training (i.e., training and testing at the same time of day), there was a small-to-medium positive effect, but again, nothing to write home about. When they lined up morning vs evening training, strength gains showed a tiny lean towards evening (effect size 0.13, CI: -0.24 to 0.50), but these differences weren’t statistically significant.

In simpler terms, don't overthink this stuff. Train when it fits your life, and you'll be okay.

Got a question? I have answers, probably 👇

FIT BITES​
​How much training is needed to preserve muscle and strength gains?

We all know that regular training can help make you stronger, fitter, and healthier.

But life has this habit of throwing curveballs, and suddenly, sticking to your workout routine feels like trying to catch a greased pig.

So, what happens when you can’t train as much? Do you lose all your gains, or is there a way to keep most of it while doing the bare minimum? A recent study wanted to answer exactly that: Can you keep your strength, muscle, and endurance with just one session a week—or even one session every two weeks? And, more importantly, how long before everything starts going downhill when you stop training altogether?

The what: Mpampoulis and colleagues examined the impact of reduced concurrent training (i.e. cardio and weights) on lower body strength, power, and muscle mass in 34 healthy women. The participants trained for 12 weeks before being split into three groups: [3]

• Group 1: One training session every 7 days (G7)
• Group 2: One training session every 14 days (G14)
• Group 3: No training (GD)

The how: The participants followed a one-hour workout combining resistance training (leg press) and aerobic training (cycling). During the reduced training period, they continued the same workout but at different frequencies (once every 7 or 14 days). After that, they stopped training altogether for 12 weeks.

What happened?

• G7 (training every 7 days) maintained nearly all gains in strength, muscle mass, and aerobic power.
  ​
• G14 (training every 14 days) preserved about 90-95% of their gains.
  ​
• GD (no training) returned to baseline, losing most of their improvements.
  By the end of the study, all groups, including those who trained, returned to baseline once they completely stopped training.

Bottom line: It doesn't take that much to maintain muscle and strength. In this study, training once per week was enough to maintain lower body strength and size (specifically the quads) and aerobic power, while training once every two weeks could maintain ~95% of these outcomes.

It's also interesting to note that the group who stopped training completely (GD) after the initial training period still took 12 weeks to lose all the gains they'd made. This shows that if you have to take a few weeks off training, you aren't likely to lose that much muscle mass (if any), and training in some capacity, even if that means 1-2x/week, will be better than not training at all.

Related article:

• ​Minimalist training - make the most of doing less​

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–Aa

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