I'm gonna give you the short answer first, in case you don't want to read the rest of the post. Many people want to know if they should workout first thing in the morning, before dinner, after dinner, before they go to bed, etc. The answer that I have for this is really scientific and hard to grasp, so read it slowly. Are you ready? You should workout at the time of day that you feel most motivated. That's it! I know, that's not rocket science, but so many people get hung up on the time of the day as an excuse not to workout. I've had people say, "My goal is to burn fat and the best time to do that is first thing of the morning. I can't workout in the mornings so there's no need for me to even try. I'd be working out for nothing." Honestly, that makes no sense at all. Exercise is about burning calories, increasing your heart rate, building muscle and getting healthy. That's the main goal. Regardless of when you are doing, it is better than nothing at all.
I'm sure that there is probably some scientific data out there to support that specific times of the day are marginally better for different results; however, isn't it better to exercise at some point in the day than not to exercise at all? It will still bring results regardless of whether it is at 5:00 a.m. or 10:00 p.m. Exercise is exercise. Although your metabolism will be working at different levels throughout the day, you will still gain results from exercising, regardless of the time.
So, here's my advice on this question. If you have a window of time that permits you to exercise at various points throughout the day, experiment. Find the time of the day that you enjoy your exercise the most. Once you find that time, dedicate that as your exercise time. If you don't have that luxury, workout when it best fits your schedule. When I first started, that time was 4:00 a.m. for me. Sounds crazy, I know but I learned that, once my day started, I never found the time to exercise. By the time I found that I did have some free time, I was already worn out from the day's events. You can see, there is an element of commitment to this. Find your time, commit to it and get that exercise in. You won't be disappointed.
Contact me at darrenrcline@beachbodycoach.com if you have any questions.
