What is the Best Time of Day to Work Out?

If you are just starting your fitness journey, you may be trying to figure out your best routine. This includes establishing the best time of day to work out for optimal results. For example, many people love to exercise in the morning before starting the rest of their day. However, others prefer working out in the afternoon or evening when their body is more awake and warm. Let’s look at both and how to identify the best time for you! 

Working Out in the Morning

Early risers prefer to choose the morning as their time of day to exercise. This offers many benefits, including starting your day off feeling accomplished and relaxing in the evening. When you arrive home from work, you can cook dinner, devote time to other activities, or simply relax. In addition, you will feel good knowing you completed your workout in the morning.

Studies show that working out in the morning increases your metabolism. This means you will burn more calories throughout the day after you exercise compared to when you are sleeping if you work out in the evening. Also, exercising vigorously too close to bedtime may disrupt your sleep routine. Working out in the morning will allow your body to prepare for sleep at nighttime.

Working Out in the Afternoon or Evening

Perhaps the afternoon or evening may prove to be the ideal time of day to exercise for you. Your body’s ability to perform peaks in the afternoon between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. This is when your body’s temperature is the highest, which optimizes your muscle function, strength, enzyme activity, and overall endurance.

You have a heightened reaction time in the afternoon and evening, which can be beneficial if you enjoy high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or speed work on cardio machines. Another added benefit to working out during this time of day is lower blood pressure and heart rate, decreasing your chances of injury.

Taking Workout Supplements

No matter when you work out, to enhance your performance you can take a variety of workout supplements. We recommend those on our website, including pre-workout, protein powders, and weight loss supplements. Be sure to factor in the ingredients of your workout supplements into your best time of day to work out. Most pre-workouts are stimulant-based. The stimulant they contain is most often caffeine which can last in your bloodstream for many hours. In fact, your body takes between three and five hours to cut the caffeine in your blood in half. Therefore, the ideal time to take pre-workout is between 30 and 60 minutes before your workout. Keep this in mind if you are planning on exercising in the evenings. You may benefit from working out earlier in the day if caffeine considerably affects your ability to fall asleep.

In summary, you will be able to decide when is the best time of day to work out for yourself and your schedule. The important factors to consider are when your body feels at its best and if you take workout supplements before exercising. The key is choosing a time and sticking to a consistent routine for your body to maintain its rhythm and see results. If you want to add a workout supplement to your fitness routine, House of Gains is here to help! Visit our website to explore all of the products we recommend!