It is generally agreed that regular exercising has a universe of goodies and niceties to offer our bodies and minds. But the question that we all seek an answer to is “when is the best time for me to exercise?”. In the heat of the day, Sunrise, sunset or after dark are the various times available to us on earth crammed into 24 hours.
Despite all these hours, everyone has their jobs, academic work, families, partners, friends, household chores, errands, and nature’s call to heed (sleep). Considering these, finding a loop to squeeze in some minutes of exercise is a feat much more than getting the best time to do this.
Continue reading to find out the exercising times that will suit your kind of routine best and how beneficial the times are. All the times that will be looked at have their peaks and lows.
Edgy morning workouts
Exercising in the morning helps you tick off an important activity on your To-Do list before your day starts. Endorphins are feel-good hormones released into our body when you work out. How can you have a negative energy or feeling when you have exercised to release these hormones even before tackling other things. Moreover, you will not have to worry about finding the time in your busy schedule to squeeze in a quick workout (which can be close to not working out at all/ doing a shabby exercise).
Also, working out on an empty stomach in the mornings helps in burning more fat. Research conducted on how breakfast and exercise affect metabolism shows that people who work out on an empty stomach can burn almost 20%. This can be readily achieved in the morning before breakfast.
A morning exercise is essential for reducing stress as it improves mental wellbeing and efficiency throughout the day. A 2019 research work published in the Journal of Physiology established that working out at 7 am can move your body clock earlier. You will become more energetic during the day and tired in the evening, making your body prepared for rest and waking up early the next morning to work out again.
There are a few lows of morning workouts. You might feel hunger pangs as you work out. This happens mostly if you do not eat enough or at all the evening before. To address this, eat a heavy dinner or a protein-packed snack before bed. You can also take a carb-packed snack/smoothie before your morning workout.
Another demerit is, it will take you longer to warm up and zoom into working out. Your body temperature is low in the mornings, making you feel not so strong during such workouts. So, you will have to spend some more time getting your body to that “strong” level to avoid injuries. Your heart rate is also slower in the mornings, necessitating a longer warm-up session.
Hot afternoon sweats
Anthony Hackney, a professor in the exercise and sport science department at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, states that afternoon workouts give your exercising a boost since you’ll have grabbed a meal or two by the time you set out to exercise. He continued, “Any time you eat, your blood sugar levels rise. Sugar in the form of blood glucose is one of the things we need if we’re trying to work at a higher intensity.”
A study in the Journal of Physiology found that working out between 1 pm and 4 pm can move your body clock forward the same as an early morning workout. Taking a quick walk, too, can help you refocus and energize up. According to a new study published in 2018 about when the body burns the most calories, about 10% more calories are burned when you exercise in the late afternoon.
Your body becomes warmer for the afternoon sweats as the day goes by, so it’s easier to jump in the workout groove. Warm-up sessions can also take a few minutes since your core body temperature is already warm (this doesn’t rule out warm-ups, though). There is also a build of testosterone (a hormone for muscle building in men and women) during afternoon workouts in the mornings.
After dark pumps
People often believe that exercising a night makes you so hyper that it becomes a feat to fall asleep later. The Journal of Physiology is of the same suggestion that exercising between 7 pm and 10 pm delays the body clock, which results in late sleep time. Dr. Hackney is of a different view. He says that “Evidence suggests that, as long as you’re not exercising, showering and then immediately jumping in bed to go to sleep, it doesn’t interfere with your sleep pattern at all.” He also adds that yoga, a stress-relieving exercise, may help in sleeping well when done at night.
A 2019 research paper published in the Experimental Physiology journal shows evidence that after dark exercises do not disturb sleep and, when done for some time, it can reduce ghrelin levels (a hunger-stimulating hormone) could help in weight management or loss.
Researchers in the European Journal of Applied Physiology have also found high-intensity evening exercise not to disturb sleep but rather improve it. Another study in the Journal of Sleep Research shows that energetic exercise does not affect sleep quality.
For most of you, our faithful workout comrades, exercising should not solely be about striving to lose all those calories and gaining the puffed muscles; it should be more about how you feel after working out with Fitness 1 Gym and how the exercises fit into your daily routines without stressing you out.
The best time to exercise is whenever you can. Certainly, not everyone has the luxury of a schedule that allows for a 60–90-minute workout plan, fresh green smoothies, and a Thera gun for some tension relief session. If the only open time you get to exercise is at the crack of dawn, do it! If your tight schedule only allows for an afternoon/ evening squeeze, feel free!
Hold on, one last thing. The best time to exercise is the day that you can maintain for days, weeks, months, and even years. Consistency is key in finding the right time to exercise.
Get a gym membership from Fitness 1 Gym today and start your daily exercises in our state-of-the-art gym facility.
REFERENCES
Erin Kelly, What’s the Best Time of Day to Exercise, Healthline, April 3, 2018
https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/best-time-to-workout
Jamie Ducharme, This Is the Best Time of Day to Work Out, According to Science, Time, FEBRUARY 27, 2019
https://time.com/5533388/best-time-to-exercise/
Amanda Capritto, This is the best time of day to exercise, backed by science, CNET Health and Wellness, February 3, 2021
https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/the-best-time-of-day-to-work-out/
Paige Brooker Michael Leveritt, There is not one best time of the day to work out, Quartz, April 26, 2018
Kristin Canning, When Is The Best Time To Workout? Here’s What Science Says, Women’s Health, SEP 29, 2020
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a19913032/best-time-to-work-out/
Javier T Gonzalez et al. Br J Nutr, Breakfast and exercise contingently affect postprandial metabolism and energy balance in physically active males,2013 Aug.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23340006/
Shawn D Youngstedt, Jeffrey Elliot, Daniel Krikpe, Human circadian phase–response curves for exercise, February 19, 2019
https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/JP276943
Penelope Larsen et al., Evening high‐intensity interval exercise does not disrupt sleep or alter energy intake despite changes in acylated ghrelin in middle‐aged men, The Physiological Society, February 23, 2019
https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/EP087455
Heikki Rusko, Rikka Jakonen, Jukka Kaartinen, Effects of vigorous late-night exercise on sleep quality and cardiac autonomic activity, Academia, https://www.academia.edu/25612418/Effects_of_vigorous_late_night_exercise_on_sleep_quality_and_cardiac_autonomic_activity