Gina Kolata, perhaps the best informed (meaning best reporter) health and fitness writer going, seeks an answer to the oft-asked question: Is it better to exercise in the morning or in the evening? And the answer is….it depends on who you ask. Ask an exercise physiologist, writes Kolata, and you’ll be told that it shouldn’t matter, because we should be able to perform at the same level in the morning as in the afternoon or early evening. But if you ask a chronobiologist, assuming that anyone knows what a chronobiologist is and how to find one, you will be told that your capacity to tolerate a higher heart rate is better later in the day. Kolata’s chronobiology source (every reporter should have one) is persuaded that muscles are more flexible and
stronger and your heart and lungs are more efficient late in the day. But then there are the big questions about training: Do you really want to do it when it’s easiest–when your biological efficiency is
greatest, which means late afternoon or early evening, or do you want to train when your biological efficiency is lower and go for a harder workout. In other words, do you really want to make workouts easy? Gosh, it’s confusing. What’s your answer? Let Geezer know in the comment box below?
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A workout should be enjoyable (so I’ll keep doing it) and that can be either efficient or hard, depending on how I’m feeling. Been enjoying intervals lately so “both” perhaps.
We were always lead to believe that it was best to exercise for size early in the morning when you were fresh, rested and could thereby lift the heaviest weights and, that one should exercise for definition during the afternoon when one is not has strong, thereby doing more , lighter reps but the body is burning fuel more efficiently.
Before the age of massive steriods, gh hormone shots and all of the other chemical assist that current professional and top ranking ametuer body builders now use, this seemed to have worked well.
I can’t remember ever having seen a chronobiologist in the gym…(smile).
Thanks for asking.
For me personally, the mornings are always the best. I’m well rested and refreshed and ready to meet the challenge of a good workout. And after I’m finished with the workout I feel fully charged to meet the challenges of the day head-on. It makes me feel more alert.
I’ve tried the late afternoon workouts and that doesn’t work for me at all. After all the stresses of the day I’m just not up to a workout…..of any kind. I just want to chill and clear my head.
And as for an evening workout….NO! I’ve tried the evening workout thing. After a serious workout I couldn’t go to sleep within the next five or six hours on a bet. I’m too charged up.
My routine is to get up at around 4:30 to 5:00 am, have a cup of coffee and head to the gym. Have a good workout for about an hour to an hour and a half, Short
cool down period, hit the shower and I’m ready. This has been working for me for 30 years at least.
Retired Army. Endurance exercise in the morning when you have the most energy. Always found that I could lift weights more effectively in the afternoon or evening when muscles are warmed up. Depends on how physical your job is. you might not have any energy left by the evening. Do what you can , when you can!
My former chronobiologist, Dr. Phineas O’Westerhoffen, advised that only people with a death wish should exercise hard in the morning. (Of course, he promptly suffered cardiac arrest during an evening run, so now I don’t know what to think, or even who to ask.)
Geezer you are really sretching for something to write. You can do better, heck I can do better.
Start of a good joke–How can you tell a chronobiologist? anybody think of a good punchline?
Most events (runs, triathlons…) start relatively early in the morning. So when training for specific events, I would train at the event start time to acclimate. This meant as the event neared I trained earlier in the day.
Exercising in the late afternoon or evening to “close out the day” (and provide a bookend for work) has always been easiest for me.
I do cardio in the morning and yoga or circuit training in the early evening. Works well so far.
How about exercising when you’re mostly likely to stick to your routine? Everyone is different when it comes to time and type of exercise. As long as you’re healthy, safe and enjoying the workout, does it really matter in the long run?
Look up his/her genes…
Mix it up and keep it fun! Morning, evening, hard or easy… just do it!
I enjoyed Kolata’s article. Sounds like she’s looking for an angle to help her race better, hence the focus on efficiency. But I’m not sure she’ll know that by watching a heart rate monitor because there are many other factors at play, e.g.,glycogen, VO2, lactate threshold. It’s fun to wear a heart rate monitor once in awhile because you do discover some interesting stuff about your body during exercise, but it is not a gold standard measure of fitness. To me, one of the great joys of fitness is letting go of a preoccupation with efficiency. If you really enjoy exercise and do it frequently, you’ll naturally become stronger and faster…and efficient. http://www.tuffoldjock.blogspot.com
1. The morning is great for running, walking or riding the bicycle. Tae Kwon Do classes and other martial arts classes really should be held in the am although that is not practical for people.
2. The afternoon is the best for serious weight training.
3. The evening is a very good time to work on flexibility to help you relax into the evening. This is the very worst time for martial arts classes, martial arts testing, and any other exercise that will increase one’s heart rate.
NO PAIN, NO GAIN!!
I think mid-morning is best.I’m almost 70
and soak in warm bathwater after my workout.
Exercising near bedtime may spoil your sleep.
Don’t forget the jump rope and dumbbells.
In order to make a change in your body, whether it be improved performance, increased strength, or looking better, you absolutely MUST step outside of your comfort zone. If you continually do exercises that are “comfortable,” then you are not “working” out. That defeats the purpose.