You may wonder if there are any benefits from exercising during early morning hours for weigh-loss or muscle building instead of the evening after work for example, or maybe if there is a difference between afternoon training and evening training.
The body chemistry is not the same throughout the day and there can be benefits in training at a certain time of the day. That being said not all people have the luxury to choose when they want to train, but instead train when they have a gap during a packed working schedule and fitting in social life and family as well.
But no matter what time of the day you train, any exercise is better than none and you must find a time during the day that you can consistently rely on to do your exercise routine.
Morning workout
Not everyone are morning people, and some find it difficult to get up very early to do exercise and some people take longer to wake up than others. Some people have an early work schedule and can’t fit it in during morning hours, then evenings after work is the only choice. Some people exercise better in the morning, and that is probably because they have been doing it for a while and their bodies are used to it.
Exercise in the morning before your day begins will leave you feeling good and ready for the day. It is easier to keep a morning exercise routine than after work, because you can get distracted by work and other chores and miss out training completely. Getting it over and done first thing in the morning means less time to come up with excuses during the day not to be able to train after work. Having a hectic schedule during the day will leave you too tired for exercise later the day.
Exercising early morning will give you a dose of endorphins, which is a hormone that will relieve stress and manage pain and will give you a good and optimistic view of the day and making you more productive. It will make you feel stronger and more alert boosting your concentration levels for a tough day at the office. It will also help you get more done during the day. During the morning hours testosterone levels are highest, these hormones are responsible for building muscles, and you could see faster gains during morning training.
When you wake up in the morning all the previous day’s food had been digested and your body is still in a fasted state. Exercising on an empty stomach will cause your body to target fat burning and will help you lose weight faster. When you eat before training your body will use the recently ingested food molecules for energy instead of burning stored fat.
Morning exercise will shift your body clock earlier so that you are more energetic in the morning and more tired during the evening which will help you sleep better. Good quality sleep is necessary while training because your body will replace stored energy in your cells causing higher metabolism during 24 hours and thus burn even more calories especially with high intensity training. This is also the time when your body repair muscle fibers and increase muscle mass making it stronger.
Some drawbacks involving morning training might include your body running on empty. Exercising on an empty stomach while getting hunger pains can distract you from giving your best and hunger fatigue may also set in making you feel wobbly and light-headed. Your body’s core temperature is also at its lowest when you wake up and your joints will probably be stiff from the night’s sleep. While your muscles are still cold and your heartrate is also the lowest in the morning, you might not be able to perform at peak and thus a longer warmup might be required. You should take it easy in the beginning of your exercise routine till your muscles get warm to avoid injuries.
Afternoon and Evening workout
During normal daily activities your body core temperature will start to rise after you wake up from using your muscles as well as day temperature rising, and you will lose that stiff feeling that you have in the morning. Your muscles will be more ready to take on the increased work rate from exercise. Later in the day your muscles will function better, they will be more flexible and ready to go improving strength and endurance. This means you can work out harder and for a longer time.
Exercising too late at night or just before bedtime might cause you to struggle to fall asleep hindering your sleeping pattern as endorphin is released in your blood making you more alert. Getting enough sleep is important because this Is the time your body repair and build muscles. When doing high intensity exercise do it at least one to two hours before bed to give your body time to wind down. Exercising during the early evening cause endorphins to be released in your bloodstream relieving stress and may help you sleep better. Your body may also produce more testosterone during the later hours of the day because your muscles are more flexible and stronger increasing endurance. This will lead to longer and more intense training sessions which will contribute to faster muscle gain compared to morning training.
Recent studies have shown that people use less oxygen during later hours of the day compared to the morning setting your muscles up for a better performance making them more productive and efficient.
Conclusion
There are pros and cons to both morning vs evening training and there are a lot of studies contradicting one another. Research is still ongoing surrounding these matters. I think the most important part is that it should fit into your own busy schedule. Some people are more energized and pumped during the evening and some are during the early morning hours. I think you should use that to your advantage if your schedule allows that. If you want to lose weight, make sure you don’t exercise on a full stomach and force your body to use stored energy rather than newly acquired energy from food. If you have intense anaerobic training sessions and your goal is to build muscle mass make sure your body don’t have an energy deficit, then training on an empty stomach could be detrimental to muscle gains. Rather eat something light before a workout so you don’t suffer hunger fatigue and also eat something within at least two hours after a workout so that you replace your
