Best time to exercise?

Is it best to exercise in the morning, afternoon or night? Does it even matter? Right now i usually exercise at night, take a half-hour break, jog, have a snack and hit the hay.

Nothing wrong with what you’re doing, Max. When you exercise is based upon personal preference and schedule. If it works for you, you’re more likely to stick with your program.

Poliquin wrote that it takes an hour or two for the nervous system to “wake up”, so morning isn’t ideal, but if it’s all the time a person has, go for it.

what type of exercise and what has your performance been? Light aerobic work in the AM and my heavy training in the PM works best for me.

I workout mid-day, right around lunch time. I used to workout later in the afternoon but the college gym gets really crowded. Arnold Schwarzenegger used to workout in the mornings as well as the evenings, and I believe it is a matter of personal preference. Personally I don’t work out in the morning because I am not ready for heavy lifts.

I usually lift for about 45, then kick back for 15-30, and then jog for a half-hour or so.

Poliquin’s recommendation is either three hours after awaking or 11 hours. Ultimately, it comes down to what time of the day do you have to train and when do you have the most energy or feel the best.

max.
i am going to agree with all the advice you have got so far. It is totally a personal thing but if you have other times you can train try them out and see what works best for you.

good luck.

11 hours sounds good - that’s pretty much what i’m doing now. I’ll stick with that. Thanks all.

I’m back in the gym next Monday, and I’ll be back on my ‘normal’ schedule - 6 am cardio followed by lifiting. No, it’s not ideal, but if I don’t do it then I won’t do it at all.

When I compete I like to work-out in the morning like around 5am, because I feel if I don’t do it this time I’ll never do it. I know it probably not the ideal time to work out. If I am not competing I usually work out around 10am that way I already had two meals in my system and I am ready to go… Just my opinion anyways. I can’t work-out after work just to tired after that…

I usually train around 11 am but ive recently learned of the college football training, in which , they train at like 6 am. I will be emulating this soon.

My optimum time is about 10.30am, generally wake around 6am, but like others have said it’s often a matter of when you can.

I have a gym set up thats freaking great. I usually lift at around 7 pm. I just feel at my best at this time. In addition the radio stations play better songs at this time i find.

It really depends on you. However, there are several studies that show that many people are stronger when they workout 3-4 hours after they wake up. Regardless, I know several people that love morning workouts and feel very strong in the morning. I prefer afternoon to late afternoon workouts and find that I am much stronger.

A couple of points:


The best time is usually the time that you’re used to working out at. Morning, afternoon, whatever, a person will get into a groove of exercising at a certain time and his body will rise to the occasion at that time day after day.


Also, I think that if you’re young, practically speaking, you can work out directly after getting up and it won’t really affect you that much. Yes, if you’re an elite athlete then there’s probably some measurable drop-off, but not for the average trainer.


On the other hand, the older you get the more you need to let your joints warm up, and if you’re much over 35 exercising (weights, running, whatever) right after getting up is asking for an injury. Not a good idea at all.