When's The Best Time Of The Day To Exercise?

The ideal time of day to exercise is the early morning. I say this for a few reasons. First, when you train in the morning, you’ll get it done and you’ll have the rest of the day to do other important things. You also won’t have to worry about getting your exercise in and possibly not having the time.

If you do decide to train intensely in the morning, you must make sure that you have enough energy and the ability to create laser focus. You will accomplish this by making sure that your body and mind are sufficiently fueled up. You’ll do this by having a protein/carbohydrate shake about an hour before you train. This will help to prepare your body for the workout ahead.

You can also have a cup of coffee, if it’s not too hard on your stomach. If you tend to get nauseous from early eating, play around with the timing and you may find it necessary to take a little more time between eating and workout time. You’ll also want to make sure that you have another one of these shakes, immediately following your workout. This is referred to as Nutrient Timing and your post workout shake will become one of the most important factors in helping to change the look of your soon-to-be, new physique!

If you’re mostly concerned with shedding body fat, and you’re not lifting too much weight or pushing yourself to the brink of exhaustion, you can skip the morning meal and train on an empty stomach. However, I suggest that you try to do this for your cardio training and not the more intense Resistance Training sessions. You see, when you first awaken, your body’s glycogen stores are depleted. Glycogen is what your body needs for optimum muscle functioning. This is yet another reason to eat before more intense training. Your body’s lack of glycogen means that your body will tap into other fuel sources for necessary energy. One such fuel is triglycerides AKA body fat stores.

That’s right…When you train cardio on an empty stomach you MAY burn more body fat. However, if you attempt to do heavy training on an empty stomach or directly after your cardio session, you will not have nearly as much energy as you’ll need for optimum exercise intensity and you make your chances for injury much more likely.

I understand that for many individuals morning training is not always possible, so if you are unable to do this, pick a time of day when you are not rushed or exhausted. It is fine to break the workouts provided into two 20-30 minute routines a day. Simply warm up and stretch and perform your cardio exercise in the morning. Then after work or during lunch break, return to the bodyweight or weight training portion of the schedule to complete the day.

Be creative. Just try to finish all the requirements for the day. Do not exercise just before sleep—give your mind and body an hour or two to rest and relax. Also, make sure you are well hydrated (drink water, not soda!) before you warm up. Remember, if you're dehydrated or simply not hydrated enough, this will have a huge negative impact on your body, including your energy output and your muscles ability to optimally contract!

Keep Going!

James Villepigue CSCS

Category: TLR