
They have rituals or habits that ‘just work’ for them. Sleep is incredibly important for the mind and body – if the only way of squeezing in a morning workout is by reducing your sleep, the negatives could quickly outweigh the positives.Some people have no trouble finding their focus.

While morning exercise has a number of physical benefits, it doesn’t work in everyone’s routine. But consistency is key to rewiring your circadian rhythm to an early start. Getting up early to exercise, on the other hand, has been shown to help people sleep better.

But remember sleep is also needed for muscle gain, so don’t push it. If this is the case, it’s worth trying something less intense. This is particularly the case with anything very intense – like a HIIT session or CrossFit. While this is not the case for everyone, some people find they can be irritatingly energised or jittery after exercise – making sleep challenging. Some people find exercising in the evening can negatively impact sleep. We’re all built differently, so whether or not evening exercise is a good shout varies from person to person. An evening yoga session will help you get more deeply into poses and stretches. It’s also a great time to take advantage of this and stretch. Your core temperature increases later in the day – so you’ll find you can get into your routine more quickly and with less creakiness. Testosterone is vital for building muscle in both men and women, so playing your times to hormonal advantage is a smart thing to do.įlexibility also improves as the day goes on as you warm up - literally. Your body may produce more testosterone in the afternoon than the morning – which enables greater gains in muscle and strength. If you’re bodybuilding, hormones are on your side later in the day. Great news for cardio enthusiasts – research shows people who work out in the evening take up to 20% longer to reach exhaustion, so you can run, ride or swim for longer. If you’re not quite ready to become a member of the 5am club, don’t panic – the afternoon or evening is a great time to work out if you do it right.Įnergy and performance tend to improve later in the day – most people have higher levels of power and endurance as the day goes on.
Dont workout early to be focused at work full#
View full post on Youtube Evening Exercise Benefits If a sweaty gym first thing isn’t your vibe, a morning yoga session is a great way to wake up your mind and body while soothing your nervous system. Joints and muscles tensing up overnight? A session focused on stretching and lengthening your muscles is a great way to improve flexibility. Research also indicates morning exercise can boost concentration and alertness levels – helping you have a more productive day. Leave it til later in the day and life will almost certainly intervene – but committing to a run first thing means you’re more likely to do it.

Prefer cardio? Morning is a great moment to carve the time needed to work up a decent cardio sweat. If you need any more encouragement, an Appalachian State Uni study showed those who lift at 7am power down faster at night – and produce more human growth hormone – than evening trainers. Research also shows the ‘afterburn’ may last longer after a morning work out. Strength and weight training first thing, for example, will require your body to use fat already stored in the body – rather than relying on the food you just ate. 10 of the Best Dumbbells for Home Workouts.Still not sure? The battle between the larks and the owls is long, so let's get started. The key, as ever, is balance: training and eating in a way that makes you happiest – whether that means a 7am spin session fuelled by an espresso or a 7pm weights workout fuelled by cake. When can you actually get to the gym? When will you enjoy it? At what time does exercise most make you find your 'feel good'? More important than any science or subjective opinion on when you should train are the dull practicalities of your day-to-day. Let's start with a cliché: the best workout is the one you actually do. Once you consider that sports records are almost exclusively broken after the sun's gone down, the truth becomes harder to find, as both early birds and night owls clock in impressive advantages. Should we all rise with the dawn - like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who works out long before the cock's crow, at 4.30am - and storm through a session before the rest of the world awakes? Or is it better to refresh your brain and body for the evening ahead with a 45-minute safari around the gym after a long day at work?

It's a score that has refused to be settled for years: the early bird gym larks versus the weights room night owls.
