Is There a Best Time to Workout?

amberlynwellbeing
Feb 8, 2023
3 min read

Are you a morning workout person or an evening person? Do you try to fit in your workout on your lunch break? Are wondering if there is a ‘right’ time to workout? I’ve been all of the above. Each have their benefits.

The consensus is that what time your workout is, is less important than how often you do. There are many factors that contribute to a ‘successful’ exercise program. For my purposes I am going to define a successful workout program as one that can be stuck to, done consistently. Consistency is one of the strongest links to achieving positive results.

So, what is the best time for you to workout?

Morning Workouts:

Exercising in the morning is often associated with lower blood pressure, better sleep and greater weight loss, but why is that? If you workout in a fasted state, (you don't eat before) you can get into a rapid fat burning. I personally like to eat before I workout, otherwise I feel like I am going to pass out. Working out in the morning can help improve your mood for the day. We know that aerobic exercise helps reduce stress hormones and boost endorphins. Once you workout out in the morning you don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day.

Morning workouts aren't great if you aren’t a morning person. Getting up early to workout just isn't something you want to do. You can possibly be at a higher risk of injury only if you don't warm up. A reduced exercise performance is possible due to stiff joints.

Afternoon Workouts:

Afternoon and evening workouts are associated with peaks in body temperature and flexibility. Working out later in the day can help improve your aerobic performance and strength. If you go to the gym to workout, middle of the day is generally a pretty slow time. It can help you avoid the mid-afternoon slump by giving you an energy boost. You get your mornings to sleep in and because it’s later in the day your muscles should be all warmed up.

Afternoon workouts can be difficult to commit to, due to unpredictability of your day. Things may come up and your motivations can wane. If you use your lunch break as a time to workout that may not provide you enough time to do that and eat.

Evening workouts:

Evening workouts can be great for longer workouts, after you have everything else done for the day you can focus entirely on the workout. You are likely more hydrated than other times of the day, if you drink water throughout the day. Evening workouts have been shown to help increase muscular strength, power and endurance.

Similar to afternoon workouts, things can pop up, or you are able to talk yourself out of a workout by the end of the day. It's possible if you workout close to the time you go to sleep it can disrupt your sleeping schedule by making it more difficult to fall asleep.

Each of these times have worked for different times in my life. Right now I am a morning workout person. It’s the time that I have the energy and motivated to get my workout in. Your energy and motivation levels can be the most important factors for determining a time to workout. There will pros and cons for anything, determine which one works best for you, for now.