Morning or Evening: When is the best time to workout?

Nowadays people are leading a very busy life, it’s even hard to find the time to exercise.

When it comes to hitting the gym, it is generally being said that working at a particular time will enhance your fitness goals. Is that true?

Let’s jump into the question, “When is the best time to workout?”

Working out in the morning

Anthony Hackney, a professor in the department of exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill says that, Working out in the morning — especially on an empty stomach is the efficient way to burn stored fat. He also claims that people naturally have elevated levels of cortisol and growth hormone in the morning. That can help in losing weight and also help from putting on pounds.

A recent study in 2019, published by the journal of physiology started that exercising before 7AM makes you feel more alert throughout the day and helps you get more quality sleep at night.

Pros of morning workouts:

• You’ll be less likely to skip breakfast.
• Studies shown that Morning Workouts can burn 20% more fat than evening Workouts.
• You’ll more likely to be consistent and productive throughout the day.

Working out in the evening

Working out in the evening has its proven perks. Some studies have shown that evening workouts may boost your performance, since you’ll have eaten a meal or two by the evening.

In 2009, a study by the Journal of strength and conditioning found that training in the evening experienced greater muscle growth than training in the morning. A similar study in 2016, conducted on 72 trained men, comparing the effectiveness of training in the morning Vs evening. After 24 weeks, researchers found that the evening training group experienced nearly 50% more muscle growth than the morning and likely to lose fat as well.

Another paper in 2008 from the journal of sports sciences states that, most people are naturally able to perform better when their core body temperature is at its highest. Most people’s body core temperature is at its highest around 3PM to 9PM.

Pros of evening workout:

• Muscles and joints are more flexible in the evening which decreases the chances of injury during exercises.
• It is not important to wake up early in the morning unless you have some work.
• You’ll have more energy in the evening, since you’ll have eaten a meal or two by the evening.

The conclusion

• If you are not a morning person and if you don’t like early alarms, don’t force yourself. This leads to the worst training.
• You may be exercising, but it may be at such low intensity which is neither useful for fat loss and muscle building.
• Working out at a particular time (i.e., Morning or Evening) has both pros and cons.
• And finally, the best time to workout is when you’ll able to be consistent.

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