Let’s face it, not many of us can proclaim we exercise regularly out of pure love for it.
More often than not, we workout because we want to keep our body in shape, health in check, cardio fitness on point, or for many other personal reasons.
Consider this. Since we have our own personal reasons for exercising, will it make better sense to arrange our sweat session at the time of day which best supports these reasons?
Hitting your workout bright and early in the morning
If you are wanting to sleep better at night, then you may want to start your day off with a morning workout. The combination of exercise and bright daylight produce powerful circadian signals, which schedules an earlier release of melatonin (a hormone responsible for sleep), so you are not kept lying awake at night.
Research has shown that exercising in the morning can help increase your energy levels, alertness and decision making. So, if you are looking to up your productivity for the work day, you may want to consider kicking off the day with a morning workout.
Exercising in the morning has been observed to help regulate one’s blood sugar. Research indicates that morning workouts increase the muscles’ ability to metabolise the sugar and fat more efficiently than workouts at other times of the day. If you would like to test this observation, check out the CuraMaker app.
Fitting in a workout during lunch or in the afternoon
If you are not a ‘morning person’, and have a lot to attend to in the evenings, then an afternoon workout offers a happy medium between the two extremes of a morning and evening workout. Since the body gets warmer as the day progresses, some people find it easier to get into the groove of a workout faster in the afternoon.
It has also been observed through research that the body produces more testosterones during afternoon workouts. The testosterone hormone is important for building muscle in both men and women. So, if greater strength and muscle gain is one of your objectives for exercising, then you may find that sweating out in the afternoon works best for you.
Wrapping up the day with an evening workout
If your typical work day is crazy busy, ending the day with a good dose of endorphins from an evening workout, could just be the perfect stress reliever.
Otherwise, if you are looking to replace some bad evening habits like watching too much T.V, snacking or drinking – an evening workout might be the substitute to help you kick one or two bad habits.
Regardless what time of the day you choose to exercise, there are benefits to be had. The key to exercising for maximum benefit lies more in having a regular, consistent workout routine. And obviously, building this habit of consistency is easier if you exercise at the time of day that best fits your lifestyle and optimum energy levels.