Should You Work Out in the Morning or Evening?
Get-Fit Guy discusses the 4 important considerations you must make when choosing the time of day for your exercise.
Ben Greenfield
by Ben Greenfield
I recently took an interesting free online exam that let me identify whether I’m a “morning person” or an “evening person.” While it was cool to learn which time of day I’m most productive, there are some other important considerations when it comes to choosing the time of day for your exercise:
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Body temperature. Your body temperature generally peaks in the afternoon, sometime between 2pm and 6pm. This means that hard workouts are going to be “easiest” around this time – so if you’re working out twice a day, do the easy workouts in the morning and the harder workouts in the afternoon or early evening.
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Protein synthesis. Your protein synthesis, or ability to use dietary proteins for muscle
repair, peaks in the early evening, between 5pm and 7pm. So if you’re finishing up a hard workout around that time of day, you’ll maximize recovery – meaning that once again, later afternoons or early evenings are the best times of day for more difficult workouts.
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Energy stores. When you wake up in the morning, your liver’s carbohydrate stores are relatively empty, and an easy walk, light jog, yoga class, or bout of cardio can help to spark fat burning, so the morning is a good time of day for “fasted cardio.”
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Logistics. Ultimately, the most important consideration is what time of day actually allows you to complete a workout. If your only window of time is the morning, or if you feel exhausted after a long day of work, then saving your hard workout for the end of the day simply doesn’t make sense, no matter what “protein synthesis” or “body temperature” is. So just set the alarm and get your workout in. And remember: a little something is always better than nothing!
repair, peaks in the early evening, between 5pm and 7pm. So if you’re finishing up a hard workout around that time of day, you’ll maximize recovery – meaning that once again, later afternoons or early evenings are the best times of day for more difficult workouts.
For the most part, I recommend that whenever possible, you do a light, easy bout of physical activity in the morning before breakfast, and then, time permitting, you include on 3-5 additional days of the week a hard, later afternoon or early evening workout with intense cardio and/or weight training.
If you have questions about working out in the morning vs. the evening, then ask away at the Get-Fit Guy Facebook page.
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Woman running image from Shutterstock.
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.