Squatting in morning = bad spine compression...Myth or Fact?

[claimjumper]

After having a child and having limited sleep and time availability, I have found that early morning workouts tend to be the easiest. I'd love to lift in the garage around 5pm or 6pm, but it's just not realistic at this point with watching the little one. I start work at 8am and have been getting up at 5:40am. I drink a glass of water with a scoop of protein, do some light mobility work, and then start hitting the weights around 5:55am.

I have read various stuff about spinal decompression and that our spines are superhydrated after we wake up in the morning. My concern is that I don't want to do myself any damage to my back or spine through squats. I weigh 195.

How much of a concern should I have regarding this issue? Any others out there who squat in the AM? Is it truly safe practice to wait it out later in the day? Rip...whatchu think? Thanks so much!

[Brodie Butland]

If you follow a standard linear progression template, what makes you think that you'll damage your spine?

My last triple squat was 340, which isn't that much for this forum. Sometimes I squat in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes in the evening. I've never had a spinal injury. Take that for what it's worth.

[claimjumper]

If you follow a standard linear progression template, what makes you think that you'll damage your spine?

My last triple squat was 340, which isn't that much for this forum. Sometimes I squat in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes in the evening. I've never had a spinal injury. Take that for what it's worth.

Thanks for the response. I guess I'm talking less about proper form or program specifics, but moreso if the spine itself would be negatively impacted by the sheer force of the barbell squat. I, too, have yet to have a back injury squatting up to 415 pounds, but I've never done that kind of weight training in the morning. Working out in the early hours is very new to me. So, I'm curious if squatting this early in the morning after laying horizontally for 7-8 straight hours is a bad choice. I don't know if there is any research or behind it or not. That's why I came to the forum for people to chime in Anyone else?

[medwards]

I worked out at 5 AM for a two month stretch before it got really cold in the winter. It took me that 2 months to build back up to weights I was doing in the afternoons. Lack of energy and really poor proprioception were the main problems. Never any back pain, though. I think Jordan recommends 20 g carbs, caffeine, and a liter of water before early morning workouts. That helped me.

[mrcosmic]

Stu McGill claims that the spine is most hydrated after waking and therefore does not tolerate flexion/extension as much as later on in the day. There's no way around this, except to train later on in the day. Sorry.

[hugenscrawny]

I think mcgill says to wait an hour after waking as all the extra water is mostly out of the discs by then.

[George Christiansen]

I used to train at 5:30 AM and I think it is just a matter of needing more warm up in general. I don't see how, if you were otherwise warming up properly, that your spine could somehow be immune to the process.

[RodChandler]

I think that sometimes we overthink things too damn much and want someone else to tell us either what we want to do is ok so we can be validated, or we want to be told no so we can be let off the hook without feeling like a puss. Truth is, I'm not in any way a medical professional nor a scientist, but I would imagine that with a proper warm-up and some trial and error, you can roll out of the rack and get into heavy squatting just fine. Now, that being said, is it something you will like or will it work for your body? Who knows, just try it and see. Use good form and warm-up thoroughly and you'll probably be fine from an injury standpoint, and performance wise it will be up to how you feel after doing it for a few weeks.

Can it make a difference between early morning or later in the day? From what I have gathered, maybe, maybe not, and quite possibly the only people it makes an appreciable difference in are most likely those operating on a much higher level than most of us and it is probably a slight difference at that. So, in short, experiment and see how it goes.

[vanslix]

I think that sometimes we overthink things too damn much and want someone else to tell us either what we want to do is ok so we can be validated, or we want to be told no so we can be let off the hook without feeling like a puss. Truth is, I'm not in any way a medical professional nor a scientist, but I would imagine that with a proper warm-up and some trial and error, you can roll out of the rack and get into heavy squatting just fine. Now, that being said, is it something you will like or will it work for your body? Who knows, just try it and see. Use good form and warm-up thoroughly and you'll probably be fine from an injury standpoint, and performance wise it will be up to how you feel after doing it for a few weeks.

Can it make a difference between early morning or later in the day? From what I have gathered, maybe, maybe not, and quite possibly the only people it makes an appreciable difference in are most likely those operating on a much higher level than most of us and it is probably a slight difference at that. So, in short, experiment and see how it goes.

This.

[bugbomb]

So flexion and extension are the problem?

Given the small degree of either that is involved in a properly executed lift - an arched bench being a possible exception - I don't think that some limitations at the extreme ends of mobility would be a concern. You shouldn't be pushing those limits anyways.