It’s a great question and one i’ve been asked many times during my personal training career. It’s something i’m going to answer in this post…

When Is The Best Time To Workout? 

We live in a fast paced society where time is precious, we want the most bang for our buck and choosing the right time to workout is important. There’s no doubt that there are better times to workout than others, let’s delve deeper…

The Right Conditions…

When we workout, ideally we want to be fresh, so we are able to fully exert ourselves and train hard. After all we really need to push ourselves in order to improve our body shape and boost fitness. We also want to be fully hydrated, and have adequate fuel in our system, so we have energy to push our physical/mental boundaries.

Choosing the best time to exercise…

In an ideal world we would have the luxury of training at the exact time we want, our lives would be stress free, and we could devote more time to activities that enhance our health and well-being.

Unfortunately though, most of us don’t have that choice. We have commitments, work, family, a social life, and that’s just scratching the surface!

The best time to exercise will depend on your lifestyle, not everybody works 9am-5pm, for example Doctors and Nurses often change shifts which requires them to work nights or anti social hrs. This type of work pattern therefore effects your routine and it will not always be possible to workout at the perfect time.

My Preference…

Personally I like to workout either in the morning or afternoon. If I had the choice though it would be the afternoon because; 1) i’ve had the opportunity to eat and digest 1-2 high quality meals, and 2) I have fully hydrated myself throughout the morning. Sometimes however this is not possible for me as I have personal training sessions, so i’ll therefore go in the morning before work.

I don’t like to go in the evening because i’m usually pooped! Whenever I go to the gym in the evening (i’ve not done so for about 3 years!) my workouts are always lacklustre and my concentration and energy is pathetic! I’m definitely more of a morning person. That said I know people who prefer working out in the evening as that’s when they feel most alert.

Different Strokes For Different Folks!

The perfect time to workout really depends on the individual and your goals. There are pro’s and con’s to working out in the morning, afternoon and evening.

It’s really all about looking at your lifestyle, figuring out your goals and what’s possible i.e. work commitments, etc and then establishing a plan. For some it will be the morning, for others the afternoon or evening and sometimes you may have to alternate between all 3.

Weekend Workouts…

I also think working out on the weekends is great, again that’s presuming you’re not working! On the days that you don’t work, typically stress levels will be lower (maybe a generalisation?) but I find that I have better concentration and more mental and physical energy.

I’m also not tied down to as many time commitments, meaning I can fully enjoy my workout. Again this is just my opinion and something which works for me, but may differ from person to person.

Don’t Use This As An Excuse… 

I see this all too often, people using any excuse to skip a workout…

“Oh darn it…I’ve missed the perfect time to workout! Ahh well there’s always tomorrow!”

It’s easy to look for reasons not to exercise. The truth is you can kid yourself but you can’t kid your body! The most important thing is to workout, no matter what. If you have to wake up an extra 30 minutes earlier each day, or go to the gym on your lunch break, or go to bed 1hr later…

JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Nick