Some individuals prefer morning workouts to start a day because they find it more energetic after exercise, while others dread the thought of using that much energy before 8 am. But just because you don’t welcome your day with a nice, sweaty workout session doesn’t mean that you aren’t seeing great benefits.
Physical activity has many advantages including weight loss, improved mood, better health, longer life, and so much more. Thus, it shouldn’t matter what time do you do your workout, as long as you are staying active and consistent! Also, research has proven that body can adapt to your workout schedule to provide you with the highest performance and greatest results. So going to the gym every day at the same time will lead to higher performance regardless of the time of day.
Different types of exercises that you might consider include:
Aerobic exercises
Some researchers observe that endurance exercise capacity and heart rate is greater in the morning, and some suggest that exercises in the evening would have greater work capacity in a long run.
For example,
- Cycling
- Jogging
- Swimming
Resistance training
Some studies showed that anaerobic performance has more beneficial effects when resistance training is done in the morning, similarly we have noted that there are studies that showed muscle performance which determined by one repetition (1 RM) has better result when performed in the evening.
For example,
- Toning exercises (e.g., squats)
- Resistance band exercises
- Weight training exercises
There is no “best” time for exercise. it depends on you and your schedule. Morning workouts may leave you feeling drained and that you aren’t giving it your all because you are “still asleep”, whereas evening workouts may disrupt dinner time or your ability to fall asleep at night. With this in mind, morning and night workouts have their own benefits and downsides. Therefore, choose whatever time works best for you because it doesn’t matter as much about the time as it does the consistency!
Reference
Seo, D. Y., Lee, S., Kim, N., Ko, K. S., Rhee, B. D., Park, B. J., & Han, J. (2013). Morning and evening exercise. Integrative Medicine Research, 2(4), 139–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imr.2013.10.003
Prepared by
Brandon Wong
Your Physio Cheras