What Time of the Day Is Best for Exercising?

If you have recently taken up going to the gym, you may not have everything figured out just yet. In fact, a lot of people who go to the gym regularly and have been doing so for a long time don’t have everything about the gym figured out.

For instance, what time of the day is best for exercising? Most of us don’t have the luxury of choosing any part of the day, largely because we have to go to work, which means that you have likely picked one of the two periods – early morning, or later in the day.

So, here are some advantages and disadvantages of either of these two choices, so you can make a more informed decision.

Morning Workout

Scheduling your workout in the morning makes a lot more sense since it is that much easier to keep that appointment.

Not only do you typically don’t have any other obligations or plans in the morning, but your willpower is a lot stronger at the beginning of the day than it is towards the end of it, especially if it was a hard day.

What’s more, it may actually be a lot better for your sleep. Exercising in the evening increases your body temperature and adrenaline levels, which doesn’t bode well for your sleep habits.

On the other hand, an early morning exercise will give you the adrenaline boost right at the start of the day, when you need it the most.

Finally, if you are looking to lose some weight, early morning is the best time to do it. Not only will exercising in the morning curb your appetite, you are also much more likely to burn fat when exercising on an empty stomach.

Afternoon Workout

If you are not a morning person, and simply cannot muster the strength and willpower to go to the gym before work, don’t worry, working out in the afternoon or evening has its advantages as well.

In fact, if you are able to keep regular appointments at the gym at a certain time, your body will adapt to the new regimen and you will become as successful at that time as you would be at any other time of the day.

In order to exercise properly, you need to warm up, your muscles operate best when they are warmer than the regular bodily temperature.

That’s why every personal trainer will tell you that warmup exercises like cardio need to be an essential part of your workout. Well, your body temperature naturally rises throughout the day, which means that you will need to spend less time doing a warmup and more time focusing on the important parts of your workout, those which produce results.

What’s more, your heart rate and breathing slow towards the late afternoon, which means that an after-work workout combines the two important factors to make your session as effective as possible.

Just like your core temperature, the level of testosterone rises over the course of the day, peaking in the late afternoon. If you know a bit about exercising, you know that testosterone is one of the contributing factors to muscle building and strength, in both men and women.

So, Which Is Better

As you can see, there are merits for either of the two times of the day. However, if you look more closely, there is a pattern.

If you are looking to lose some weight, you may be better off exercising in the morning, whereas muscle building and strength exercises seem to be easier to attain in the afternoon.