GYM TEST
Science Advises You To Train In The Evening!
That could make a difference.
Science says you should stay longer in your comfortable bed and train in the evening. Interested?
Research shows improvement in 16 km cycling time performance by approximately 50 seconds when training is carried out at 5:30 pm as compared to 07:30 am.
You may think that training in the morning is better since you have your battery fully charged. It seems quite logical, without all the accumulated fatigue of the day you should perform better.
Science has taught us a lot about sports and best practice to optimize your performance, muscle growth and fat burn. I will shed light on the influence of your training time. That will help you be better at all sports, weight lifting, running, swimming, basketball, etc…
When do you train?
You have seen it if you had the opportunity to go to the gym at different times. Many people have specific habits, some prefer to train in the morning because they have no other choice, their schedule imposing this kind of organization. In contrast, others prefer going to the gym after a day at work to relax a little and remove all the stress.
On the question of the time of your sports session and the effect that it can have on performance and muscle growth, we are lucky because we have a lot of scientific studies that have been conducted on the subject.
Effect on less than 12 weeks trainings
The first study I have selected dates from 2009, it gives us interesting information. It compares the effects of a program that lasted ten weeks, both the strength and the hypertrophy. The individuals trained in the morning between 7:00 and 9:00 am and in the evening between 5:00 and 7:00 pm. This study observed no difference in muscle growth between sessions performed in the morning and evening.
Second, more recent study (2017) compares two groups who followed sessions either from 7:30 to 8:30 am or from 4:00 to 5:00 pm for eleven weeks. Once again, we have tests that were conducted on strength and muscle growth. This time as well, no difference was noticed between the groups that trained in the morning or the late afternoon.
According to these two well-conducted studies, one a little old and one relatively recent, there would be no difference in the strength and muscle growth but wait it’s not over yet!
Effect on 12 weeks+ trainings
The third study lasted 24 weeks, therefore twice twelve weeks, comparing the effects on strength and muscle growth. The first program was performed between 7:30 and 9:30 am. The second group trained between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. In this study, we have a slight advantage for the sessions carried out at the end of the day.
It is interesting because it could lead us to think that there would be no difference in the short term. All the previous studies were carried out during periods inferior to 12 weeks, and no difference was observed.
However, past the 12 weeks of training, more muscle growth and strength are noticed when training in the evening.
For the more curious of you, in these studies, searchers made many assumptions to try understanding the reason behind this improved performance.
The searchers try to explain it with more suitable hormonal secretions and nervous system in the evening. However, it is still a little unclear why there would be a slight advantage over morning sessions.
Effect on sleep
We observed that training in the morning was associated with a decrease in performance and decreased quality of sleep, very annoying… We will continue to talk about rest before concluding.
I found two studies that will be very interesting; the first study concluded that morning training showed a higher parasympathetic nervous system activity. In comparison, evening training enhanced a higher activity of the sympathetic nervous system.
If you’re ever completely foreign these two terms, here are quick definitions I have found on the internet:
Parasympathetic: sometimes called the rest and digest system, conserves energy as it slows the heart rate and increases intestinal activity.
Sympathetic: it directs the body’s rapid involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations. A flash flood of hormones boosts the body’s alertness and heart rate, sending extra blood to the muscles.
In the last study, I selected the workouts done in the late afternoon or early evening related to better sleep and decreased fatigue. A recovering sleep is crucial for muscle growth as well, that could be another reason for the slight advantage of late training.
In the long run
The body has excellent adaptability; in reality, there would be no superiority between a training carried out in the morning and exercise for more extended periods.
Now, most of you do not necessarily have the choice and have to do with their schedule; you may have constraints related to work or family. What’s good is that you can realize that in the long run anyway it won’t affect your muscle growth or strength.
That being said, if you ever have workout schedules that change pretty regularly like every week, it could actually cause a reduction in performance and a slower muscle growth in the long run.
If you have the choice and have ambitious goals in bodybuilding or whatever sports you are practising, the best would be to have a relatively constant routine.
But anyway I want to say that it is not only valid for training, but it is also the same for dietetics and sleep we know that it is clearly recommended to have somewhat constant eating habits, do more or less the same number of meals at more or less the same time to have the best possible results.
Final thoughts
So on the match “training in the morning” versus “training in the evening”, we still have a slight advantage for training in the evening.
But above all, there is an advantage to the regularity of your workouts.
Moreover, there is something I didn’t mention to you at first. It wouldn’t be great to train directly after waking up; it would have to be ideally past few hours.
I know it’s not possible for everyone and again if you have the opportunity to do it two or three hours after waking up, that would be optimal. In the long term, if you have the chance, always to do your session at similar times.
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