The Best Workout For You-According To The Time Of Day And Type Of Workout — Helapy- Health Insights
What is the best time of the day to exercise?
With so many options of what to do and when to do it, it’s hard to know which is best. Should you exercise in the morning or in the evening? What time of day burns more fat? Finding the time to exercise can be difficult. You may have to wake up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later to find time in your schedule to squeeze in your workout. Many people choose to work out on their lunch break or right after work. With exercising, there are two questions that come up most often.
One is when you should workout; the other is what kind of exercise you should do.
While finding an optimal time can be helpful, the most important thing is to exercise regularly. We all have different routines and motivations behind exercising. Like most things in life, one size fits all approach does not always work. Some people find it easier to wake up early and get a workout in before heading off to work, while others prefer the evening after they’ve had a chance to relax. Depending on what else is going on in our lives, certain days of the week or certain workouts may work better for us.
While it is important to find a workout schedule that suits you, it is crucial to consider certain factors.
In general, cardio workouts burn more calories in a shorter period of time. Strength training affects muscles and raises your metabolism 24 hours after a workout is over.
So, what time of the day is best depends on your own fitness goals. If you’re looking for weight loss results, it’s best to do your cardio workouts in the morning before breakfast. Cardio workouts are typically better in the morning because you’re rested and have more energy than later in the day after you’ve been running around doing errands and hauling kids around all afternoon. If you’re following a healthy diet and working out, you’ll lose fat faster in the morning than if you were to workout at night. This is because the body’s metabolism increases while we sleep and remains higher when we wake up than when we go to sleep. After working out in the morning, the body continues burning fat throughout the day. Ideally, you want to work out right when you wake up so you don’t have time to talk yourself out of it. This can also help make it part of your morning routine. A brisk walk, running, cycling, are all good cardio exercises you can do without going to the gym.
Strength-training workouts are typically better in the afternoon or evening since you have less energy early in the day. Weights sessions also tend to take longer than cardiovascular ones and many people don’t have as much time early in the morning. Another reason behind doing strength training in the afternoon or later in the day is because strength training workouts build muscles, which requires having had a meal with a healthy source of protein. Muscles need rest and recovery time to grow. The more time your muscles have for recovery and growth, the better chance you have of building muscle mass. Strength exercises in the evenings mean your muscles will have an opportunity to rest and build while you sleep a few hours later. Easy strength training exercises you can do anywhere include push-ups, pull-ups, squats and other body weight workouts.
However, choosing a certain time of the day doesn’t mean that you can’t do both types of workouts during that time frame if it works better with your schedule. What matters most is that you are actually making time for yourself and doing what it takes to improve your health. So while it might not matter as much when you choose to exercise, what does matter is that you do it!
One thing to keep in mind is that working out too close to bedtime can make it harder for you to fall asleep and stay asleep. Research shows that exercising at night may increase alertness because of a rise in body temperature associated with exercise or because of a release of adrenaline as a natural reaction to physical activity.
Most sources suggest avoiding strenuous activity within three hours of bedtime, because you’ll have a much harder time falling asleep. It’s also a good idea to give yourself some time for recovery after an intense workout.
Regardless of time or time of exercise, it is important to make sure you’re well-rested before starting an exercise routine. If you’re too tired from working out the day before, your muscles do not get ample time to recover and worst yet you can do more damage than good. Too much soreness can affect our sleep, which delays rest and recovery.
Apps like Helapy can help you better understand your workout routine. By monitoring your resting heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep, and other parameters from your apple watch along with your workout data, Helapy can let you know if your body is too tired for a strenuous workout. Looking at your trends, we can also provide you with insights on what days you tend to work out most or least.
Originally published at https://helapy.com on Feb 2, 2022.
