What is the best time of day to exercise? First thing in the morning? Just before bed?

Question

What about eating and exercise? Should you exercise before or after eating? How long should you wait to exercise after eating?

Answer 1

Well the best time is first thing in the morning without eating.after your workout eat eggs , tomatoes, porridge and anything with protein( not fat stuff)
If you have eaten before you exercise then 2 -3 hours.
I read this and applied it and it works fabulously. I feel great all the time I dont get tired and research shows that if you exercise in the morning you will keep with it. Evening exercisers often stop.

Go and take a look at http://fit-n-fat.blogspot.com these guys are fun and there recommendatons work.
Take care

Answer 2

Exercise:

Everyone has there own internal natrual clock that dictates times they are more active and alert and times when they are more tired. The majority of people are most awake during the day time hours, with the rest of the population either during the early morning or evening and night. The time when you are most awake is the best time to exercise. You will gain more benefits as a whole by doing this. Studies show that people who exercise at times that are not their peek have more chance for injury. Basically you are less coordinated at those times, your muscles are less responsive and your metabolism is slower. For instance I am more awake during the evening, so I exercise at that time. If your work schedule does not allow you to do it at that time, then use the next most awake time available.

Eating:
Eating is fine through out the day. Here are some tips:

1. Never eat after 6PM
2. Eat a small breakfast everyday, a light snack before lunch, a small lunch, a light snack in between and a small dinner. By eating all day rather then eating once or twice, you will boost your metabolism making you able to burn more while you are at rest. The key is portion!
3. Make sure that you eat the most calories at the time when you are most alert. You burn more calories during this peek time.
4. Eat after exercising. Studies show that you burn more if exercising on a glass of OJ rather than an actual orange.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

The best time to exercise is when you can do it regularly.
(You also need to consider what exercises you are doing. Running can be intense, as can weight lifting. Stretching or yoga may be less so.)

If you have no problem getting up early and doing it, exercising in the morning is going to be "efficient" in terms of only showering once (after exercising), and getting it over with so other things don't interfere with your schedule.

If you are, by nature, a night owl, exercising in the early evening is probably best. Don't exercise vigorously right before bed, or else you'll never get to sleep.


As to eating, a small bite about an hour before exercising is ok. Much more than that, or closer to your exercise time, you'll get stomach cramps.
Eat nutritious food as soon after exercising as you can stomach it. This will enable your muscles to recover more quickly. When your muscles recover more quickly, you get stronger faster and your muscles will ache less.

Answer 4

Everything I'v e read says not before bed. Makes sense, you don't want to get your system hyped up just before bed or you won't sleep.

Probably it depends on you. Are you a morning person? If not the afternoon is good. I usually exercise late in the afternoon, that way I am working off breakfast, lunch and still have my system up and running when I eat dinner to burn some calories then too. (I read that even a few hours after exercising, your body is still burning calories from a good workout, hence, still burning some while eating dinner).

Answer 5

I'm an avid runner, I also work out in the gym. Here's what I would say; Eating properly is just as important as excercise. It is better to work out on an almost empty stomach. Not quite empty; but, You only want enough protein in your system to be able to support the needed energy for your workout. And when you do eat afterwards, don't pig out. It's hard to work out on a full stomach. I can't. All the times I've had too much food in me,and then I went running, it wants to come out at the worst time; like when I'm not close to a bathroom. If you work out in the morning you will find that you have more energy for your day. Working out before bed might cause you to not be able to sleep.

Answer 6

In the morning. You should exercise after eating, and if you eat after exercising, make sure not to eat too much. That would defeat the purpose of exercising.

Answer 7

It really depend on your goals...

Any professional will tell you it does not matter whether it is in the morning or evening... you exercise and you will burn the same amount of calories within the 24 hour period.

In terms of eating... eating after you exercise lessens the likelihood you will feel sick or slothy during your workout...

I recommend to not eat before working out, but if you have to, have something light like one piece of fruit.

Watch out when you eat after working out. Think small. Many people over eat after a workout which is not good either.

Answer 8

Exercising in the morning, is far better than exercising at night. If you exercise in the A.M. you will have far more energy during the day, and you might even be less hungry during the day, and therefor consume less calories, during the course of the day. Exercising at night, will make falling asleep far more difficult, because your energy level goes way up after exertion. Always exercise as early in the day as possible.

Answer 9

Recent research indicates that the mythology around exercising in the evening is mostly bull. As long as you give yourself about 2 hours or more to "cool down" before going to bed, there is no reason why you shouldn't exercise in the evening. Obviously (from the responses above), most people haven't heard.

Answer 10

First thing in the morning, when (surprisingly) you have more energy. AND it is cooler then in the afternoon. At night you are likely to be too exausted to do anything. Wait 15 min. before you exercise after eating.