When Is The Best Time To Exercise? This Is What Experts Say…

We know that we should get in some kind of movement every day, with most experts agreeing that 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day is the minimum – but ask when that exercise should occur and answers will vary. We’ve all heard that exercising at night is a bad idea: it raises body temperature and heart rate, activates the brain and releases adrenaline that keeps you wide awake. But new studies suggest we’ve been wrong all along. “Paying attention to your body clock can seriously improve results,” says Matthew Buman, professor of exercise science at Arizona State University. “Physical performance is usually at its best, and risk of injury at its least, in the evening – the sweet point being 6pm.”

But it’s not just fitness levels that benefit. “There is preliminary evidence that the body’s fluctuating hormones and glucose levels make late-afternoon or evening workouts better for your metabolism,” says Buman. “While the jury is still out on whether this evidence is beneficial for weight loss, what is exciting sports scientists is the drop in glucose triggered by evening exercise that has been proven to kick-start the metabolism.”

That said, research published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology has found women who are most active at 8am and 10am have a 22% and 24% lower risk of coronary heart disease, respectively. The study’s co-author, Gali Albalak of Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said in a statement: “It is well established that exercise is good for heart health, and our study now indicates that morning activity seems to be the most beneficial. The findings were particularly pronounced in women and applied both to early birds and night owls.”

For some of us it’s easier, psychologically, to work out in the morning, while for others, a light or intense session post-office is a much-needed antidote to a stressful day. But whether it’s the mind or convenience that dictates, the key to achieving long-term goals is to exercise to suit your schedule and your mindset.

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