Morning or Evening? When is the Best Time to Exercise

Carving time out of your day to exercise is a challenge. So, if you’ve got the choice, it pays to know whether you’re going to get more bang for your buck by exercising in the morning or the evening. In this article, we take a look at what the science and the practical applications say about the best time to exercise.

Why You Should Work Out in the Morning?

There are many practical benefits to working out first thing in the morning. The biggest is that it allows you to get your workout done before the business of your day kicks in. 

At 6:30 in the morning, there are not too many distractions. So you can focus on getting your exercise session in. Contrast that to the evening, when you’ve got all sorts of pressures pressing in on you. That’s why people who work out early in the morning are more likely to stick to their workout schedule.

After an early morning workout, your feel-good endorphins also kick in. This sets you up for the day. When you turn up at work after an awesome morning workout, you feel on top of the world.

Research also supports the benefits of early morning workouts. In one study women who worked out first thing in the morning were less likely to be distracted by unhealthy snack foods in the hours after the workout. That's a huge bonus if you’re trying to lose weight. 

Women who exercised in the morning also had a higher metabolism throughout the day and were more likely to do other types of exercise over the remainder of the day. 

Other research suggests that when you exercise in the evening, you are likely to upset your sleeping routine. In one study, people who exercised at 7 am had much better quality and quantity of sleep than those who worked out in the afternoon or early evening. 

A final benefit of working out first thing is that, if you train on an empty stomach, you may burn up to 20 percent more calories than if you had eaten before the workout. 

Why You Should Work Out in the Evening

At this point, it may seem like working out in the morning is a slam dunk. 

Well, not so fast.

There is some research to support evening workouts also. One study suggests that you will perform better in the gym later in the day. Our body temperature is at its highest between 2 pm and 6 pm. When the body temp peaks we are at our strongest. Oxygen uptake is also better later in the day. 

You will have better reaction time in the evening. This can make a difference if you are doing high intensity interval training (HIIT) and plyometrics. 

So, Which is Best?

As you can see a case can be made for working out at either end of the day. While the preponderance of evidence seems to weigh toward the early morning option, the reality is that you need to find the time that works best for you. Once you’ve got it locked in, keep it consistent and you will find the success you’re after.