When Is The Best Time To Exercise

When is the best time to exercise is a hotly debated topic and something many of my clients ask. Like many topics related to training and fitness, there are many factors to consider when choosing the right time for you as well as the latest, most robust research (of course). 

We all lead busy lives in one way or another, be that work, social life, family demands or a mix of them all… I’m exhausted just thinking about it. Trying to fulfil all your life responsibilities whilst simultaneously finding time to eat well, exercise and perhaps even finding a little time for yourself, can be very tough. But, if you can find that training sweet spot each day, that maximises our goals and makes it easier for you to train consistently, you’ll be able to reap the rewards of training without having to completely rearrange your world. Training should enrich your life, not take over it!

My latest article talks you through the research regarding optimal training times and, very importantly, other important factors for you to consider in order to help you find the best time to workout for you, your goals and your lifestyle.

Best Time To Exercise Research 

Depending on your lifestyle, there are logistical benefits to both morning and afternoon/evening training sessions, but what does the research tell us too?

Morning Exercise

What better feeling is there than to get your workout done and dusted at the start of the day? It’s ticked off your to-do list, you feel that rush of endorphins to set you up for the day ahead and you know that whatever happens to derail your day (a bad day in the office can easily lead to pizza and Netflix rather than the gym and optimum nutrition) you won’t end up skipping your resistance session. 

Morning training also leaves you more time in the evenings, for socialising, hobbies, family or just a bit of extra chill time and if you can get up early enough, you may even fit in the session and a coffee before the kids even wake up — now that’s the dream, right?

If you’re a morning person, like me, then morning training may just be the logical choice for you, but what does the science say?

A Study by The Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise totally backed up a theory that I, and many of my clients, have experienced. They assessed neural responses to pictures of food after exercise in both normal weight and obese women and found that those who exercised before seeing the pictures had a lesser neural response to the food. Put simply, they were less motivated by the food they saw. 

Many of my clients find they can control their food motivation to a greater extent when they have trained, some even say that they need their training and nutrition to be hand in hand in order to truly adhere to a programme — this anecdotal observation was given weight by the study above and is a very effective benefit of morning training.

A further Study by Vascular Health and Risk Management assessing the sleep quality of groups who exercised at 7am versus 7pm found that those who exercised in the morning invoked greater time in deep sleep.

So, morning training may lead you to be less motivated by food and have greater deep sleep, two very good reasons to train first thing in the morning — above and beyond building a damn fine physique.

Let’s look at the other end of the scale...

Working Out At Night

For you night owls, working out at night might be your ticket to consistency. Try as they might, some individuals just aren’t morning people and the thought of losing an hour of their precious morning sleep in order to pump some serious iron doesn’t bear thinking about.

The morning training benefits certainly don’t make afternoon training obsolete, the science is about to tell us why.

Increased body temperature is believed to have a passive warm up effect, improving muscle contraction which results in greater force, power and performance. This theory was tested in a  Study by The Scandanavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports who found that there was a slight difference between the impact of morning and afternoon training sessions in a neutral heat environment, in favour of the latter, but did also find that training in a hot environment later in the day has the opposite effect. So, if you are a late in the day gym bunny, maybe switch this up on those hot summer evenings.

Another Study by The Journal of Catholic Education assessed the time of day effect on human performance and found that reaction times are fastest later in the day, which will of course benefit those performing Olympic lifts, HIIT or taking part in group sports. 

So, there is an absolutely solid list of pros for the afternoon training camp too which makes choosing your training time no easier...but take heed, I’m about to give you a very, very good piece of advice that will make the decision a bit easier for you.

What Time of Day Should YOU Exercise

It’s clear that there are powerful research-based cases supporting both morning and afternoon/evening training but as with many training related decisions, you and your lifestyle need to be factored into the decision making process. One approach may be the overall more optimal approach, which will primarily be dedicated by how well you, as an individual, train at that time of the day, but if training at the time of the day can’t be successfully integrated into your life and your habits then it’ll fail. 

Want to hear my advice to clients?

Train at a time that suits you and your lifestyle. Choose a time where you feel strong, motivated and can get the most out of your workouts, and ideally, at the same time each day so you are habit-forming (but this isn’t an absolute prerequisite).

What really matters is that you train, and you train consistently, so trying to fit your workouts in at a time that makes training, or life, a bit harder is the wrong approach.

Training is important and has a wealth of benefits, regardless of the time of day you train.

If you are ready to transform your body by taking that leap into training and are looking for unrivalled support with nutrition and training plans that are 100% bespoke to your needs, goals and lifestyle, check out my Online Personal Training Service and sign up today!