Wednesday, July 16, 2014

When's the Best time to Exercise?

I get asked this question a lot so I wanted to take some time and address it. The time of day you work out gets a lot of attention, but is it really that important? Let's dig deeper and take a look at the reality of how much the time of day you work out can affect your results. I'll also share with you the four best times of the day that you should work out

1. When you WILL work out

While this may seem obvious, you should not lose sight of the fact that exercise is almost always preferable to no exercise. While technical "nitpicking" can help make your fitness journey easier, it can also work against you if you get too wrapped up in it. Exercise and healthy eating will always trump all other advice. I've seen every excuse in the book, including "I missed my optimal window for training so I skipped today's workout." Don't let this happen. Unless you're injured, sick, or overtrained, exercising is better than not exercising. Schedule your workout when you have the best chance of getting it done

2. When you FEEL the best


There are times during the day when you will have a slight physiological advantage if you work out during them, but none of those trump the psychological edge you have if you feel like exercising. As simple as this sounds, effort equals results more than any other one factor. This means that if you're a night owl, work out at night. Morning person? Work out first thing in the morning…you get my drift. Anytime you're in the mood to really Bring It will work because, by far, the biggest physiological changes happen to your body when you push yourself further than you've pushed yourself before. There's a reason the P90X® mantra is "Bring It." The closer you get to putting in 100% effort, the more you force your body into an adaptive state, which is exactly where it needs to be in order to change.

3. MORNING w/an empty stomach

In the morning, before you've eaten, your body is forced to utilize its fat stores for energy, and you can train your body to be efficient at doing so, which is cool. You're also "burning fat," which sounds even cooler. Do easier workouts in the morning, when your glycogen stores are still full so you can power through those workouts.  Try eating a banana before your morning workout.  That will help stabilize your glucose levels so you don’t burn out.  This works best for me!  I drink my Shakeology right after working out to fuel my body.

4. At night before bed

This time of day is last for a reason. Unless it is really the only time you will work out or the only time you feel the best, you should probably avoid it.
Working out directly before bed can affect your sleep. Most people have a hard time getting to sleep after a workout because exercise can throw off your melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, among other things. This isn't ideal because sleep is very important for recovery. It's when your body naturally produces most of its own performance-enhancing drugs in the form of hormones. Anything that hurts your ability to sleep should be eliminated if possible.

The bottom line is that everyone's body responds differently. We all need to exercise and most of us can eat better. In between are a lot of individual variables. When it comes to getting your best possible workout, psychology often trumps physiology. Exercise when you can and pay close attention to your performance. Then choose your preferred workout time based on your results. It's really that simple.

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