These Are The Best Times To Workout For Your Goals

Best time for weight management: morning workouts

 

There are some physiological perks to morning workouts in general. Working out first thing on an empty stomach may be more conducive to burning stored fat, because of your body’s hormonal composition, Hackney explains.

Best time for intense training: afternoon workouts

 

Hackney says afternoon workouts can also be beneficial. The perk of these workouts is that by the afternoon, you’ve had time to get a few good meals in, which can raise your blood sugar levels, making it easier to do more high intensity things. A Journal of Physiology study noted that working out between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., like a morning workout, can shift forward your body clock and help you recover from things like jet lag more easily.

 

Best for stress management: evening workouts

 

There’s some conflicting research out there about evening workouts, and how they impact your sleep. The Journal of Physiology found working out between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. may delay the body clock, making you go to sleep later. But a paper published in the journal Experimental Physiology found nighttime exercise wasn’t disruptive to sleep, and could even reduce levels of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates hunger. Hackney says the recovery period after exercising could suppress appetite and make you less likely to crave evening snacks.

Best time in the month: workout on your period

 

Hackney did research looking at how working out at different points in your menstrual cycle may impact the way you exercise. The research found that, in some cases, the second half of your menstrual cycle after ovulation may cause you to metabolise more fat as an energy source, compared with the early part of the cycle. He says this is because oestrogen tends to spikes after you ovulate. "So, when you go to the gym during this time you may actually be burning more fat," Hackney explains.

 

Best time overall: when it works for you

 

Ultimately, the best time to workout isn’t about small physiological gains. It’s about carving out time for yourself, and accommodating your schedule and chronotype. If your work and life schedule doesn’t align with your chronotype, you can train your body to workout at a new time, Hackney says. Say you’re really a night owl, but you don’t have time to workout at night because that’s when your kids need help with homework. You can train yourself to be a morning exerciser by easing into it.

 

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