Mental Health | Fitness experts say there are benefits to excercise / working out in the morning as well as in the afternoon or evening.
It depends on what works for your schedule.
Finding time to work out is difficult — especially with a busy work schedule.
Many like working out in the morning: It can make one feel accomplished and happy, and more likely to continue to make healthy choices for the rest of the day.
Does it actually matter what time of day you work out?
According to one fitness expert, yoga instructor and co-creator of PreGame Fit fitness, Dempsey Marks, explains: “Recent studies show that exercise is good and necessary no matter what time of day you choose to workout. But if you want to reap the most out of your workouts, you should roll out of bed early. Start your day with any type of exercise in order to get your metabolism going.
You maximize the benefits of your workout because you will burn calories all day long. Anaerobic exercise like weight workouts will stoke the flames longer. Just 15 minutes of morning exercise will make a difference.”
So it is true that you may get better results in the morning. In fact, one study concluded that morning exercise helps significantly curb your appetite and keep you from overeating afterward. Plus, morning classes are usually less crowded and less likely to conflict with other responsibilities that may pop up after work.
That being said, consistency is key. If you can't make it to the gym until after work, your body can adapt to your schedule and work at a higher level during those times, according to The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. So if you work out every day at 5:30 p.m., your body learns to be most efficient at that time, as long you continue to keep the schedule.
Moreover, a study done in The Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports concludes your body's core temperature is vital in determining the quality of exercise. Because body temperature increases throughout the day, you're less susceptible to injury and at your most flexible during the afternoon.
So the bottom line is this: It's totally up to you. There are reasons why working out in the morning is really good for you, but there's also evidence that afternoon and evening sweat sessions are great, too. Make sure to exercise often, stretch beforehand and keep a healthy diet throughout the day and you'll be good to go — no matter your schedule.
