What's the best time to excerise?
 

:confused:

I go to work 9-7 and I have 1.5hr lunch break.

The gym is about 3 minutes walk from my office.
What's the best time to work out? morning? lunch break? after work?

I heard 2 different stories about work out in the evening. Some say it's not good for your health when you are tired after work, but some say it can reduce your stress level? which is true?

Whenever you want. I wouldn't do it late at night, as if you are working out properly your heart rate will be high for a few hours after you leave the gym. This makes it impossible to sleep.

But if all you're doing is hitting the treadmill or whatever, you could go any time (or not at all, it won't make a difference)

ive heard stories as well that morning is the best time to work out because your burn the fat you stored last night and you get more energy during the morning. Ive done this before and it does work well but it becomes a challenge after awhile since you are working out right after getting out of bed so you lack the motivation and energy. sometimes your half asleep still so putting effort is a struggle and you lack overall energy since you have no nourishments in your body to fuel your work out. I try to squeeze in a morning cardio if my body can but mostly i work out after work.
There's really no right or wrong time of when to work out but there is a right or wrong way of working out.

When it comes down to "some people say this, some people say that...", the answer is "what ever works for you".

Personally I like anytime prior to 4pm, and a time when I'm not full.
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Theoretically your testosterone levels are at their highest about 3 hours after you wake up.
I doubt it will make that much of a difference.
I prefer to get it over with early so I dont put it off and so I can feed my body the rest of the day.

I vaguely remember watching BBC Horizon's "The Secret Life of Your Body Clock".
If I can recall correctly, 4pm-6pm is the best time to exercise since body temperature and alertness is the greatest - beneficial to track and fielders.

Balance and steadiness is highest in morning - great for gymnastic + yoga + dancing

In the morning's first few hour after waking up the body tends to have the highest blood pressure (plague break off blood vessels easier) + vessel cant widen as much + platelets in blood is more 'sticky'. All of these combination means VERY high chance of heart attack if you were to exercise in morning.

In early afternoon (1-3pm) there's afternoon fatigue where blood glucose dips a little. Obviously exercising immediately after a meal isnt great since most of your blood will be in your GI tract and oxygen delivery to muscle may be compromised. I cant remember what is wrong with a late evening workout though.

I have trouble sleeping sometimes and was told specifically not to exercise at night. In addition I hear if you're trying to lose weight you don't want to eat at least an hour before or after you work out...so would that be more likely in the morning or night for you?

btw, I need to gain weight and build muscle, not to lose weight, so yeah, I guess hitting the gym in the morning is good?

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I think hitting it in the morning would be best.

After you are done, your body is still working out through out the rest of the day (just from daily routines, walking, moving arms, etc.) plus it gives you a lot of time to wind down and relax.

I like to work out early so I feel good for the rest of the day. Sore muscles = satisfaction.

More ppl seem to believe that working out in the mornng is best. I think anytime is fine as long as its not just before you go to sleep

I like to work out and hit the saunas and pools a bit. I do this a few hours before I plan to sleep. The cooldown from the sauna makes me sleep like I was 4 years old again.

a few hours???? maybe your definition of a high heart rate is different from mine, but i disagree with your statement.

i do agree though that the best time to go to the gym is totally dependant on the person. i wake up for work at 4am, but on my days off i have no motivation for the gym until 11 at the earliest.

After a solid workout (IE not running on the treadmill or doing "cardio" but actual full-body high rep weight lifting) I find that my heart rate stays elevated for several hours afterward. And really, that is kind of the point, if fat loss is your goal.

You should know this

i'm curious to know the actual beats per minute of your elevated heart rate a few hours after you've been at the gym as well as what it at when you're at the gym.

just hop onto a treadmill or elliptical.

heart rate monitors built into the cardio machines aren't always very accurate, and besides, if you read his post, you will see that he is referring to weight training, not cardio...

I have a heart rate monitor, but the battery is dead. I'll keep an eye on it next time. Even at my best shape, my resting heart rate is high - about 70-80. I'll update this when I get around to it :)

that is fairly high. you do know that lower is better (within reason), right?

Morning is the best for health reasons. Especially when doing cardio. Wake up run/workout then eat breakfast.

Yes I know that, but that's what it is for me. It's always been on the high side of normal. When I am working out it gets REALLY fucken high too.

yeah my sitting and doing nothing but awake, heart beat is around 70 as well. it's always been up there. it's lower when im asleep obviously.

Best time is in the morning because you get your metabolism up for the rest of the day. Plus, you get more energy, which wouldn't be so good at night unless you're going out to party.

resting heart rate is usually taken first thing after you wake up, for 3+ days and then divided by the number of days to get the average.