When Is The Best Time To Workout?
Your Schedule
Everyone is different. Not only do you have your work schedule to contend with but also family life and whether you are a morning or evening person. For most, working out at all will be a step in the right direction.
If you have all the free time in the world I would suggest seeing what works best for you. Try a few weeks where you work out in the mornings and log your progress. Then do the evening or possibly around lunchtime for the next few weeks and log anything in particular.
The Training Modality
The type of training you’re involved in will also matter. For forms of exercise that tend to drain energy I'd recommend them near the end of the day as doing something that’s completely draining in the morning will affect your performance and focus the rest of the day. For myself, I know that any long-distance running in the morning tends to drain me of energy for a few hours afterward leaving me feeling lethargic and sleepy. Whereas, overcoming isometrics in the morning does the opposite and even throughout the day if used correctly. Calisthenics and weightlifting in my experience are on similar levels to how you feel after a workout. Not too tired but not overly energized either.
Okinawa Story
The unit I was at in Okinawa was high tempo meaning that we were always busy. So by the time I came back to my room after the closing of business, I would be extremely tired with only enough energy to cook something and throw on netflix. In the Marine Corps, we had a great deal of time for our lunch hours. The idea is that if we wanted to work out and eat during this time we could. If I was of lower rank I would have definitely sought out this opportunity as working out in the morning has its cons. But, being in a leadership position when any random task comes down from the top(which it usually did) your entire schedule would be screwed up. On most days either in my shop when I was a platoon commander or when I started working in the company office the second I would grab my cover to go to chow(lunch) chaos would ensue.
Someone from a different shop or platoon would come in telling us the sky was falling and from this point, I and the others with me had to stop what we were doing and attend to the issue.
I didn’t want to leave my time for working out to chance so I always choose to keep it in the morning and I’ve stuck with this time period ever since.
I believe having a sense that you have accomplished something helps your day to go better. Working out isn’t the only thing I do in the morning but part of a larger puzzle. Start the day on the right foot.
What’s More Important
I believe figuring out what time to work out is something low on the totem poll when it comes to fitness progress due to the reasons and experience I have laid out above, but here are some aspects I believe deserve more attention.
Rest
I wish to divide rest and recovery. Rest not only will mean getting ample amounts of sleep but also limiting the amount of stress you deal with. You need to be in a, “rest and digest” state to provide yourself with the best results. Stress, negative thoughts, and the like will hinder your ability to grow between workouts. You grow when you rest. By being in a constant state of “fight or flight” you’re not providing your muscles with the signal to start building and repairing. Therefore, the more you’re in a relaxed state and the better sleep you get will make a significant difference in reaching your goals.
Recovery
Training when you’re sore and can barely move days after your previous workout is not a great plan. Along with rest, ensuring that your muscles are ready to fire powerfully and for long periods of time is crucial. I try to spread out my days in between each workout to two or three days depending on how I feel. If it’s been two days after my previous workout and I’m still somewhat sore I give myself an extra day of rest. What’s the rush? Because if I do decide to work out and my muscles are still undergoing repair, I would have hindered the recovery process. You hinder the recovery process you hinder your gains both in strength and in muscle. I cover more about the right frequency here but the frequency of your workouts should be determined by the speed of your progress.
There are several ways one can facilitate a better recovery period like
Walking
Stretching
Light Swimming
My favorite is walking as it’s low impact, gets you in contact with nature, and helps you shed some pounds at the same time.
By the time your next workout comes around the corner, you should feel energized and eager to jump into your session. If not, and you need some kind of stimulus to get you going…
Maybe consider increasing your rest days a bit more.
Nutrition
The food you eat will determine your ability to recover and improve from your workouts. Protein is needed but so are carbs. Find a balance that works for you. You can find a plethora of pie charts on what part of your diet should be this and what should be that. But honestly as long as you
stay away from processed stuff
limit grains
Eat till somewhat satiated
Digest it all properly(and here are some ways)
You should be good. A great number of the physical culture dudes didn't stress about food as much as we did today. You find them making recommendations on what foods to eat to gain or lose weight but at the end of the day, they trained hard, ate sufficiently, and got results.
There is something to be said for the nutrient-deficient nature of our food compared to previous centuries but the caveat to this is that we have more options as well. If you brought somebody from 100 years in the past to the average grocery store today they would be taken aback at the options before them. Also, the average person today avoids the more nutritious forms of animal meat like organs. If our food is void of nutrients we just throw in some beef liver, heart, or bone broth to level the playing field.
Wrap Up
In light of other aspects, the time of day we choose to work out will be at the bottom of our priority list because everyone has a different situation. We all move to the beat of a different drum. Focus more on resting, recovery, and eating well.
Thank you for making it to the end and comments are below.
Until Next Time…