Does the Time of Day Affect Your Workout?

No one would ever argue that skipping a workout routine is the preferred choice just because the time slot have you open isn’t the prime one, but for people will some schedule flexibility there are usually some options of when a workout takes place. Some people swear by an early morning one, others hit the gym on their lunch break, and others stick with an evening after work schedule. But is there an option that’s better? Here are some of the pros and cons of each.

The Morning Workout

For some people waking up in the morning is a bit tough and being on a schedule where literally running out the door for a morning job is a great motivation. Not to mention if you need to be at work by a certain time you’ll be aware of the time crunch and get your workout in quickly as opposed to dawdling with endless time. For some people have this scheduled is helpful since what’s it’s over the day can begin and you won’t have to think about it again. If you get a mood boost from it or feel more inspired to eat healthy throughout the day, even better.

On the flip side, for people who aren’t morning people a morning workout can be a sloppy nightmare and not a great use of time. The other thing to consider is whether you will working out from a fasting place or if you eat breakfast first, which can take some trial and error to get right for your body.

The Midday Workout

Hitting the gym on a lunch break can be good because your body is already fueled up and thinking about food isn’t much of an issue.  A midday workout can also help to wake you up and give you that energized pep that you were going to try and get from a cup of coffee anyway.

A midday workout can come with a bit of a time crunch though, and therefore you might be selling yourself short on accomplishing your fitness goals if you don’t work out at any other times of day. If your lunch break workout for example is a jog you might not be getting in enough strength training. It is also important to make sure that you can properly fuel up following a midday workout otherwise you’ll just get ravenous and be tempted by all the crazy snacks people bring into work.

The Evening Workout

For some people working out at night can help them get to sleep, but other people report that it keeps them awake tossing and turning. A lot of people have high energy levels in the evening however, so it can be a good time to blow off some stress and fidgety energy from the day.

The evening workout can take a little more commitment however if you tend to get tired at the end of the day or are tempted by things like happy hour. The bottom line is that the best time for working out is going to be the time that works for you, because we get the most benefits from fitness when are commitment to it is consistent.