The Best Time of Day to Exercise Is…
By now, you all know that exercising is the key to living a longer, healthier life. Working out provides so many positive health benefits, such as preventing obesity, sarcopenia, and cardiovascular disease. Since exercise is so important, you have to make the time for it. But what is the best time of day to exercise?
Is it first thing in the morning? During your lunch break? How about after work? There are 24 hours in the day, so is there a best hour to get your workout in? These questions are all important to ask, but the person you need to direct the questions to is… you.
You move you. There is no one-size-fits-all exercise program. Your exercise regimen should be individualized for you, based on sound principles, and incorporated into your current activity. Once you realize the capacity of your own body, you will be able to develop a fitness routine that fits within your lifestyle and abilities.
At your center, you are designed to move. From the tips of your toes to the top of your head, every part of you becomes more healthy, vital and active when you move. This includes your brain and your sense of happiness. When you are getting started, it is important to keep it simple. Do not make an elaborate plan with multi-level goals. Go for a walk, run, swim, or row—anything that is logistically practical for you. Being strategic in your planning is also very important. You strategically plan every day in business, your finances, and your social activities. Why not apply the same discipline that works in other parts of your life to caring for your body?
The Best Time for You
The American Heart Association reports “The best time of the day is when you will do it most consistently, because the benefits of physical activity are tightly linked to the amount you do on a consistent basis.” This breaks down to the best time for you because you are the most important factor to consider when designating time to exercise.
How do you know when’s the best time for you? Consider these factors:
- Time of day
- Type of physical activity
- Social setting, among others
The time, type, and company you consider will help you stay consistent in your workout. While consistency is what makes or breaks fitness routines, can working out in the morning vs. afternoon vs. night be more beneficial for your overall health? If you only have 30 minutes a day to exercise, you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of it. So if getting up and at ‘em in the morning will be better for you than an after-work workout, then you would want to know, right? Let’s look at the different breakdowns and benefits.
The Early Bird Gets the Worm?
The morning people. They love mornings, they’re more productive in the mornings, and they avoid distractions in the morning while other family members are still sleeping. The US News completed a study on the best time of day to exercise and found that in the mornings your pain tolerance is higher. These “studies have found that people are less sensitive to induced pain in the early morning than later in the day.” This comes in handy for those with a low pain tolerance or people looking to optimize their workout before their body is too sore from the day.
But then again, if you are not a morning person, finding the motivation to work out in the morning is counterintuitive. Exercise must be a personal choice based on knowing yourself.
Afternoon Workouts Can Break up Your Day
If you have a 9-5 job, it might seem impossible to find time to exercise during the day. However, if you can find time for a 30-minute workout in the middle of your day, it may be what you need to break up your day and develop a consistent time to work out.
In the afternoon, the US News reports that you have an enhanced glucose metabolism, “which is what mental strength – attention, focus and the like – is all about.” When your body is more alert, you’ll have better performance while you exercise.
Work Out Like a Night Owl
While what’s best for your body depends largely on your personal preference, there are studies that show when your “body temperature is higher, you’ll have greater lung capacity, blood flow to muscles and flexibility.”
Between the hours of 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. your body temperature is higher, you have more stamina, your hand-eye coordination and reflex reaction time are better. This means that you might be able to push yourself more when it’s later in the day.
Exercise Offers Equal Reliability in AM and PM
By now, you know your body. And you know how your body is strong and can be pushed. Push yourself to make exercise a priority whether it’s in the AM or the PM. Studies in the Journal of Applied Physiology show that you can assess your metabolic and hormonal responses to “short-term, high-intensity exercise” equally in the morning and evening. The differences are not great enough to warrant one time of the day better than the other.
In addition, even though at some times during the day your body temperature is higher than the other and you’re able to push yourself more, your muscle performance can adapt to the changes you make in the speed at which you work out. Additional studies show that your muscles adapt more to the speed of your work out than the segment of the day in which you work. So if you’re pushing yourself in the morning at the same speed you would push yourself in the afternoon or the evening, choose the time you will stick with.
Training can be practiced at any point in the day that you have the most time to complete it consistently. Consistency is the key to a routine and an exercise routine will help you accomplish your goals of incorporating exercise into everyday life.
As you can see, there’s really no “bad” time to exercise because the most important thing is that you are exercising. You need to stay fit to survive and live a long, happy, healthy, and prosperous life.