Best Time To Exercise

[styled_image image=”http://sixpackforgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/bestTimeToExercise.jpg” alt=”best time to exercise” title=”best time to exercise” w=”0″ h=”0″ align=”center”]Best time to exercise  – what a question! And it’s one that has several different answers, the one that is right for you will depend on various factors.

Best Time To Exercise

There have been numerous studies carried out to try and find the best time to exercise; asking whether we’re stronger in the morning versus the evening, looking at the differing levels of testosterone and cortisol during the course of the day.
Testosterone – a muscle building hormone (anabolic) – levels are higher in the mornings than in the evenings, BUT research has shown that resting evening testosterone levels show a greater increase after exercise than they do in the morning. [1]
Resting cortisol – a muscle destroying hormone (catabolic) – levels are lowest in the morning and peak in the evenings, BUT cortisol levels appear to increase at a slower rate, due to exercise, in the evening compared with the morning. [2]
If you wanted to base the best time to exercise on testosterone-cortisol ratios then early evening looks to be best. [3]
There is also evidence to suggest that almost everyone is stronger in the evening than in the morning; I had this very conversation with the Coach not so long ago – I would have thought we’d be stronger in the mornings due to not having spent all day rushing around and being busy, but it seems the opposite is true.
Another tick in the box for the best time to exercise being the evening.
Well this is all very ‘bad’ news – training in the early evening is definitely NOT the best time to exercise for me (AND all the studies cited involve men, most research involving women seems to focus on bone density – we’ll talk about THAT another day).
But you know, you could drive yourself crazy trying to figure out the best time to exercise and be so busy reading ‘the best time to exercise’ research that you never actually get round to training at all!
So here’s what I base my best time to exercise on…

Best time to exercise #1 – When I’m most likely to get it done

I’m a morning person.  I like to walk the dogs and train before lunchtime, so this is the best time to exercise for me. The thought of training in the afternoon or early evening, when I’ve got a ton of other demands on that time, makes me edgy AND I rarely feel enthused about throwing weights around at that time of day either.
However, if you’re NOT a morning person then YOUR best time to exercise will not be first thing, you might perform better in the evening.

Best time to exercise #2 – When I DON’T feel like it

This follows on from the best time to execise #1 – there are times when my schedule doesn’t allow for training in the morning, so what should I do?  NOT train at all?  I don’t think so; I have to kick myself up the proverbial and train even when I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT!
It’s a case of ‘suck it up, remember your goals, and stop being such a baby’; not only that, I know I’ll always feel much better once it’s done – the sense of ‘overcoming yourself’ and having done what you committed to do can’t be underestimated.
Yesterday was a case in point! It was creeping closer to lunchtime and my ‘morning best time to exercise’ was rapidly slipping away. It was deadlifts, you see, and they’re beginning to ‘scare’ me somewhat so by the time I faced up to them I’d tidied the house, done some laundry, done some admin’ considered cleaning the kitchen floor by licking it and other ‘more appealing’ things I’d been putting off.
It got to the stage where there was nothing else for it – I had to do those deadlifts to stop them taunting me.
I nailed them – 60kg for work set, for those who like to know – and I felt GREAT afterwards so, yes, the best time exercise can most definitely be when you don’t feel like it.

Best time to exercise #3 – Whenever I can

What if you work a rotating shift pattern?
What if you have a small baby who dictates your (almost)every waking and sleeping moment?
What if you have older kids who need to be chauffeured around here there and everywhere at different times on different days? That’s me!
Well, the best time to exercise for us is going to be whenever you can fit it in – as long as you DO fit it in to your 24 hours of each day somewhere, the key to success is to make sure you consistently do what needs to be done.

So, the best time to exercise…?

When you feel at your best, when you’re most likely to get it done, when you DON’T WANT TO and whenever you can.
Whichever the best time to exercise is for you, the one thing I can guarantee is that you’ll feel fabulous afterwards and be a step closer to your six-pack goal.

Best time to exercise study references

[1] Deschenes, M.R., Bronson, L.L., Cadorette, M.P., Powers, J.E., & Weinlein, J.C. (2002). Aged men display blunted biorhythmic variation of muscle performance and physiological responses. Journal of Applied Physiology, 92, 2319-2325
[2] Kanaley, J.A., Weltman, J.Y., Pieper, K.S., Weltman, A., & Hartman, M.L. (2001). Cortisol and growth hormone responses to exercise at different times of day. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 86, 2881-2889
[3] Bird, S.P., & Tarpenning, K.M. (2004). Influence of circadian time structure on acute hormonal responses to a single bout of heavy-resistance exercise in weight-trained men. Chronobiology International, 21, 131-146