What is the Best Time to Work Out?

By Team Beachbody

Everyone wants to maximize their workout. One of the ways to do this is to try and workout when you will get maximal benefits. Morning, afternoon, evening ... before or after eating, what's the best time? With the holidays coming up, your routine is likely to get thrown off. Here are a few tips to help you plan ahead.

1. Mornings - Morning workouts are good because they get you moving, elevate your metabolism and the endorphin rush can enhance your mood for the rest of the day. Even better, though, is that when you work out on an empty stomach your body will utilize stored fat as energy so you maximize fat loss. Every body is capable of this, but it can also be improved upon with training. The drawback is that your body's blood sugar is low in the mornings, which will make it tough to push your hardest. Therefore, moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise is a better choice in the mornings than hoping to achieve a high-intensity weight training routine.
2. Afternoons and/or Evenings - This should be your peak time - although we all vary somewhat. Your blood sugar is high and you are not waning towards evening. This is the best time for achieving the highest-intensity workouts. If you've eaten properly, you will have some carbs in your system and be ready to rock. Without question, this is the best time for your most intense resistance sessions.
3. Night - Many people's schedules don't allow time for exercise until everything else is finished. There is no real problem with this as far as your workout goes. You should be well fueled by this time, although perhaps a little tired if your day was busy. But working out right before bed can make it hard to get a good night's sleep, and sleep for recovery is often just as important as exercise. Something that can help you get to sleep is to take a long warm shower after exercise, get in some comfortable clothes (like sweats), and stretch for 5 or 10 minutes to calm down. Then, perhaps, relax with a cup of herbal tea. The ability to sleep after exercise can also be learned, so if this is your only window, you can make it work for you.
4. With props to Nike, "Just do it!" - The bottom line is that anytime is good to workout. Unless you are injured or severely overtrained, the only error that you can make is to skip your workout because you missed the "maximizing window." Working out elevates your body's metabolism so that you will burn more calories. This process doesn't change when you work out at different times. The more intense the workout, the longer your metabolism stays elevated - so the calories keep burning off even after you've ejected the video!