A reader asked if I thought resistance training in the evening was also effective (compared to evening aerobic training) for weight loss.
I think it is. A few years ago I got on this kick of lifting at 9 pm at night every other day or so. I remember losing weight over a couple weeks, but the routine seemed too crazy to stick with. Lifting at night – blasphemy!
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve brought back the late night lifting a few times. Generally, I will stop eating at 6 pm and then lift around 9 pm or so. Then I don’t eat again until the next morning around 10 am.
I don’t encounter any negative effects from this, and in fact, it is usually a positive experience. It doesn’t disrupt sleep – in fact, it usually enhances it. I also wake up feeling less hungry than usual.
Now this is relatively light weights we’re talking about. If you do a set of max squats late in the evening, then yes, this will probably disrupt things. But moderate weights seem to be fine, and the process also seems beneficial for weight loss.
