The Best Time To Exercise (And The Benefits Of Scheduling Other Healthy Habits)

[Raffi Ella]

A day-to-night guide to staying fit and healthy.

By Emma Haak

Just as it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, it's better to have squeezed in a quick evening workout than -- well, you get the idea. But what if we told you that it's best to work out first thing in the morning and that other healthy activities are likewise most beneficial at specific times? Here's our daily plan for staying in tip-top shape.

7 a.m. -- Rise And Run On Empty
Yet another reason to get your exercise out of the way early: A study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that working out before breakfast burns nearly 20 percent more fat than waiting until after your first meal. The study was small and conducted on men, but as lead researcher Javier Gonzalez points out, "Women burn more fat during exercise, so it's possible they could see an even greater fat-burning benefit by working out before breakfast." When you exercise on an empty stomach, your body burns more stored fat than carbs to give you the energy you need. (Still, drink water to stay hydrated.) If you work out after you've eaten, your body relies more on carbs, potentially making it harder to lose weight.

more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/31/when-to-exercise-healthy-habits_n_3671353.html

[LeftofObama]

1. Informative!

Thanks.

[Raffi Ella]

3. yeah, for me too.

I didn't know about Vitamin D needing fat to be absorbed. I am definitely going to change when I take it now.

[maddezmom]

2. Great article, thanks for posting

I always eat before I workout but I am going to skip it for a couple weeks and see if I notice a difference. also try to do my workouts early in the am just to get them over with.

[Raffi Ella]

4. YW!

I'm not a morning person at all. I don't usually eat until around 10am and I don't feel awake until that time either. I usually go running in the evening and do floor work at 9 or 10pm. I don't know if it would make a difference later in the day or not.

[maddezmom]

5. Not sure i would say I am a morning person but I am up early

(Around 5am or earlier) everyday. I really believe the most important thing is to just do the excercise.

[Raffi Ella]

6. Me too!

It's good to switch things up and shock your body with something new, especially if you're having trouble losing weight. But yeah, "Just Do It".

[Emiliajarmon]

7. Exercise

The Best time to exercise is in the morning.you feel fresh and your body also relaxed so in my opinion one should always do exercise in the morning.

[maddezmom]

8. Welcome to DU

And I agree with you, but I would also say it would depend on the person and their schedule. Before kids and I was working, I always went to the gym after work and was a good stress reliever as well as a work out.

[Gov101]

9. 5AM

The 5 AM hour is a great time but you'll need a caffeine suspension--preferably tea--by mid afternoon. Its great because if you miss it there is still the afternoon and suddenly compared to 5AM, working out in the evening after a day of work is no longer quite so bad. Also I've heard that working out before breakfast has some kind of metabolic benefits.

Also I've found that even though I'm worn out and tired, an afternoon or early evening workout is its own great pick-me-up when you're feeling tired. Counter-intuitive but its true.

[maddezmom]

10. Agree with you about the PM

I have recently been doing about 20 minutes on my elliptical if I am taking a shower at night. Doesn't happen all that often but depending on what I have done during the day, especially here in TX... I need one. Gives me a burst of energy and also helps me get a good nights rest.

Welcome to DU!

[coucouza]

11. best time for workouts

Best performance and lower risk of injury is usually from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. - ideal for after school practices. Muscle strength is at its highest from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. Lungs will be 18% more efficient at 5 p.m. as compared to midday. Late afternoon is also a peak time for eye-hand coordination.

Muscle and joint flexibility can increase by as much as 20% in the evening which can lower the risk of injury. That is good news for student athletes who compete in leagues later in the day.

[gopiscrap]

12. welcome to DU

[Raffi Ella]

13. This pretty much describes how I feel about it.

Or I should say how my body feels about it. I just can't imagine getting it together to go running in the morning, much less lifting weights(which I hate doing anyway). I wouldn't be able to really do it the way I do in the afternoon or evening.

Are you quoting this from a study? If so I'd love to read it. Oh, and Welcome to DU.

[coucouza]

14. the best time for workouts

well you can not do the various exercises in one day. I quoted the ideal time to do exercises. everything depends on the nature of workouts. and the strength required, and also the nature of the movement. you can running in the morning without any problem, but if you do hard exercises, you need energy. you need also muscle and joint flexibility. you can do exercises in the morning but you must warming up properly and doing the right stretching.
in the evening, you can do more, because you have more energy and more muscle and joint flexibility.

[Amanda Cerny]

15. Best time for workout:

The Perks of morning exercise. If you experience difficulty with consistency, morning might be your best time to work out, specialists say.
You may have heard that the best time to exercise is immediately in the first part of the day, to get your digestion moving or to avoid immediate diversions during the day that could crash your exercise. But if you're not a morning individual, it may not work for you to attempt to get up at sunrise to work out. You can also be discovering your own best time to exercise.