Morning vs Evening: When should I exercise for optimal results?

Before we get started, it’s worth noting that whether you prefer to exercise in the morning, afternoon or evening - any regular exercise is good for your overall health and fitness. But not all exercise is created equal, so what is the best time to exercise? Ultimately, your goals will be the main factor in deciding whether to hit the gym in the evening or to get an early morning gym session in.

Morning exercise:

Starting off your morning with a rigorous gym session or a quick run, primes the body for all day fat-burning and promotes weight loss because the body has a greater percentage of fat to burn. By exercising in the morning, your body does not have the carbohydrates needed to fuel training and instead makes use of stored fat, this leads to increased energy in the mornings and throughout the day.

A 2010 article in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness showed that early morning walks and fasted training is more beneficial to energize the body and improve glucose tolerance in a fat-rich diet. An additional benefit of an early morning workout is that 30 minutes of activity, three times a week, leads to an overall decrease in blood pressure and stress levels during the day. Morning yoga sessions 2 – 3 times per week was shown to improve overall muscle tightness and further helps to alleviate stress.

The American Journal of Physiology saw that moderate physical activity in the morning resulted in increased parasympathetic nerve activity, meaning better sleep at night once the parasympathetic nerve system kicks in during sleep cycles. Additionally committing to a morning exercise routine or morning run led to increased concentration and alertness. There was, however one downside, the cortisol levels of early risers climbs by almost 75% in the morning and normalises at night.

Evening exercise:

Simply put, muscle size and performance. If you are looking to reach peak levels of performance nightly exercise will be your best option. By incorporating high intensity workouts into an afternoon or evening session, your body has the necessary energy to fuel rigorous and challenging workouts you would not be able to accomplish in the morning. Given the time of day - our joints, tendons and muscles are also all slightly more stretched and warmed up from the day, literally. Our bodies heat up throughout the day and results in you being able to get into your workout quicker and with less creaking and cracking.

If you’re into bodybuilding, you’re in luck - your body may naturally produce more testosterone later in the afternoon, supporting muscle protein synthesis as well as greater muscle and strength gains.

Rigorous training in the evening didn’t show any improvements in sleep over time, in fact some avid evening gymgoers experience a type of jittery energy after exercise. A result of this is struggling to sleep in the evening following intense sessions, and sleep is necessary for muscle gains. Making use of a sleep support supplement can aid this greatly such as Night Time Burn.

So, what’s the best choice for me?

For overall fat-loss and improved sleep, you want to look at an early morning gym session on an empty stomach to ensure you are exercising within a fast. For an extra boost of early morning energy, try our new Hydrade Sports Drink for improved energy and electrolyte replenishment, including a testosterone booster such as Turkesterone which regulates cortisol and will help offset possible increased cortisol levels. For an all-day energy supplement, try Amino Energy X Factor to fuel your body after a rigorous morning.

For overall increased muscle gains and performance-  a late afternoon or evening session will be for you, to increase overall weight capacity and muscular performance. If you’re still looking for that extra boost during training, try one of our Pre-workouts. (N.O Charge is definitely one of our favourites!!)

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References:

• Di Blasio A, Di Donato F, Mastrodicasa M, Fabrizio N, Di Renzo D, Napolitano G, Petrella V, Gallina S, Ripari P (2010), Effects of the time of day of walking on dietary behaviour, body composition and aerobic fitness in post-menopausal women, The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 50, (2): p.g. 196 – 201
• Yamanaka Y, Hashimoto S, Takasu N. N,  Tanahashi Y, Nishide S, Honma S, Honma K (2015); Morning and evening physical exercise differentially regulate the autonomic nervous system during nocturnal sleep in humans, American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology309 (9),  1112 – 1121
• https://mh.co.za/morning-or-evening-what-time-you-workout-could-impact-your-gains/
• https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/a755788/morning-vs-evening-workouts-which-is-better/