Comparing Morning vs. Evening Swim Practice: What’s Your Preference
By Mauro Pacsi, Swimming World College Intern
When it comes to swim practice times, there are two sides of the same coin. The fact of the matter is you are still practicing, but at what time? There is either morning practice or evening practice, and swimmers usually prefer one over the other. Some swimmers like to be up early and have practice start off their day. Other swimmers prefer to get through their day and head to practice later on. In order to debate this subject, here are a few comparisons swimmers might feel in the morning or evening.
Working Out On An Empty Stomach vs. Having Food Beforehand
Getting up early and getting ready for practice doesn’t leave you with much time to make a meal. Especially if it’s 5 a.m., there is no way that is happening. If you’re lucky, you might be able to grab a light snack and a glass of something to drink. However, that is still not much, and a lack of food means a lack of energy. Meanwhile in the evening, you might have already had one or two meals before practice comes around. This is great because you will have an excess amount of fuel and energy to swim with. Plus, after using all that energy up you will be hungry again and ready for a big dinner!
Tired From Waking Up vs. Tired From A Day’s Activities
If you don’t get enough sleep before morning swim practice you will wake up tired. There’s nothing that can change that and it could affect your whole performance. Trust me, feeling groggy with a headache from a lack of rest is never fun. On top of that, after practice you might not want to do anything but head straight back to bed. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but when you have a busy day you cannot afford to do so. In comparison, there is getting through your busy day and arriving at practice completely exhausted. Maybe you had a handful of errands, school, or work to do. By the time you get to the pool you are probably just hoping to survive the workout. In my opinion, being tired at the end of the day is probably worse than in the morning. That being because after doing so much in a day already, you may feel like you cannot handle the evening practice.
Cold Water In The Morning vs. Cold Water In The Evening
The hardest part of morning practice will always be jumping in the water, especially in the winter. Most swimmers, including Olympians, will stand on deck and just stare at the pool, dreading to get in. The cold shock from jumping in never gets easier to deal with. Every time it is a fresh blast of cold water enveloping your body without mercy. However, cold water during practice in the spring and summer is refreshing to jump into. Hot days out in the sun make everyone tired, but the cold water in a pool during a nice evening outdoor practice erases that problem. Whether you practice and see the sunrise or feel the midday heat, we all can agree that cold water is a double edge sword, so you might as well cannonball in!