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Workout HR morning versus evening
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Hi All,

Doing the same workout, my heart rates are roughly +10BPM higher in the morning versus in the evening. It happens with both low and high intensity workouts and both with running as well as on the bike.

In the morning, I wake up one hour before the workout to eat and drink coffee (nothing else). During workout I do drink water (when on the bike).

In the evening, I also eat something one hour before but obviously have been eating other meals and drank a lot as well during the day.

Is this common? If not, what could be the reason for this? More people have this? If this is common, should I adjust the intensity of the workout so my HR stays around the same level or should I just do the workout normal but with higher HRs?

Would be great to share knowledge and experience here! Thanks.
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [Laurens4790] [ In reply to ]
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Yes indeed same here, particularly with running, biking less so particularly with really low intensity. Run pace is correspondingly adjusted in the morning/evening.

Best,

F
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [Laurens4790] [ In reply to ]
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Same here. Also perceived exertion is higher in the morning for me. Predisposition probably. Guess it takes some getting used to. For a lot of people, also when reading online about it, HR is lower in the morning so no worries.. that's not a 100% the case
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [Laurens4790] [ In reply to ]
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I have notice the same, and a friend mentioned that it was from dehydration.
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [Laurens4790] [ In reply to ]
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I have seen something similar. I always just thought it was a combination of dehydration from the night before and your first cup of coffee hitting your system.
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [re-fresh] [ In reply to ]
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re-fresh wrote:
I have notice the same, and a friend mentioned that it was from dehydration.

This would make sense as I do not drink a lot before morning workouts. Would be interesting to test drinking, say, a litre of water hour before the workout and see if this has any impact.
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [Laurens4790] [ In reply to ]
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Interesting.... I always assumed it was generally the opposite, which is my personal experience-- that HR is lower in morning workouts.
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [Laurens4790] [ In reply to ]
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Perfectly normal. You can probably google heart rate circadian rhythm if you want to dive deeper into it. It's another reason why heart rate is not a super accurate measure of exertion as it's influenced by other factors.
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [MTM] [ In reply to ]
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one other thing that appears to be different between morning and evening routines is caffeine intake. I believe that caffeine can lead to this sort of increased heart rate. Why not try skipping the coffee before the morning workout for a few days and report back?
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [Laurens4790] [ In reply to ]
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This is promising because I only workout in the early morning :)

I haven't noticed any changes with me specifically morning vs. afternoon/evening. I sometimes notice evening activities' perceived effort is higher but could also be because of the "harder" efforts.
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Re: Workout HR morning versus evening [re-fresh] [ In reply to ]
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re-fresh wrote:
I have notice the same, and a friend mentioned that it was from dehydration.

This is true for me. My weight will fluctuate as much as 8lbs during the day due to intermittent fasting, low carb intake and amount of activity. The higher my weight, the better hydrated I am and the higher my effective circulating volume. Subsequently, the lower my heart rate and vice versa. +/- 8lbs, +/- 12bpm.
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