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Claire Zulkey, a 44-year-old Chicago-area freelance writer, has a well-established morning routine<\/a>: She gets her kids off to school, turns the television to a favorite show, and gets moving with a full-body workout. Once completed, Zulkey showers<\/a> and settles in to work.<\/p>\n Meghan Cully, in contrast, puts in a full day\u2019s work before hitting the gym on her way home. The 32-year-old graphic designer from Maryland is a self-described \u201cslow starter\u201d in the mornings and finds it difficult to get moving early in the day.<\/p>\n Each gets their workout, but is one time of day better than the other?\u00a0<\/p>\n A small study<\/a> out of Skidmore College examined the benefits of morning versus evening exercise for both women and men. Paul J. Arciero, Ph.D., professor for health and human physiological sciences department at Skidmore, was the lead investigator.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe had the groups follow the same multi-modal routine, randomly dividing them into evening and morning groups,\u201d he says. \u201cWe found women and men respond differently to different types of exercise depending on the time of day, which surprised us.\u201d<\/p>\n The study revealed that for women who want to lower blood pressure or reduce belly fat, morning exercise works best. Those women striving for upper body muscle gains, endurance, or overall mood improvement<\/a> should consider evening workouts.<\/p>\n For the male participants, the findings were somewhat flipped: Evening exercise lowers blood pressure, the risk of heart disease, and feelings of fatigue, while similar to women, they burn more fat with morning exercise. To understand the reasons behind the results, additional research is required.<\/p>\n What might be most ideal, then, says Arciero, is adjusting your workouts to the time of day when you can get the most bang for your buck. \u201cIf you\u2019re a female, then, you might want to perform your cardio workouts in the morning, and your strength training in the evening,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cFor many people, [the best time to exercise] will depend on their chronotype,\u201d says Jennifer J. Heisz, Ph.D., associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University and author of Move the Body, Heal the Mind<\/em>.<\/p>\n Chronotype is your body\u2019s natural inclination to sleep at a certain time\u2014it\u2019s what determines whether you\u2019re a night owl or an early bird<\/a>. For the 25% of the population that considers themselves a night owl, getting both enough sleep<\/a> and enough exercise can be difficult, says Heisz.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cExercising at night can sometimes be challenging with societal norms,\u201d she explains. \u201cYou might naturally stay up until midnight and exercise late at night, but if you have to be out the door the next morning at 7, you\u2019re not getting enough sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n Sleep\u2013which provides your body the necessary time to recover and make gains from exercise\u2013should always be a priority when it comes to exercise. Regardless of research on the benefits of certain exercises at particular times of the day, your results will be diminished if it doesn\u2019t allow enough time for sleep.<\/p>\n If your goal is to change up your routine to adhere to Arciero\u2019s findings related to exercise time of day, or simply to make exercise more convenient even if it runs against your chronotype, Heisz says it\u2019s possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019d like to shift to a morning routine, for instance, the good news is that both the sun and exercise can reset your biological cues,\u201d she says. \u201cPut them together by exercising outside in the sunshine, and it\u2019s a powerful effect.\u201d<\/p>\n For older adults, whose tendency is to sometimes awaken too early and not fall back to sleep, the desired shift might be to evening exercise. \u201cThis might help with falling asleep later and staying asleep longer,\u201d says Heisz.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re worried that evening workouts will impact your ability to fall asleep, shift your workouts to gentler forms of exercise, like yoga. Avoid vigorous exercise like running, which might elevate your heart rate and make it tougher to wind down.\u00a0<\/p>\n For evening exerciser Cully, the trick is working out on the way home from work, which is spaced far enough from bedtime not to impact her sleep. \u201cIf I went home first, I probably wouldn\u2019t exercise,\u201d she admits. \u201cBut then I have my whole evening to wind down.\u201d<\/p>\n No matter when you prefer to exercise, what\u2019s most important, according to Arciero, is including a multi-modal approach. For his study, Arciero developed a program that does just that, called RISE\u2014resistance training, sprint interval training, stretching, and endurance. \u201cWe found that when doing each type of exercise once a week, compliance was higher and so was the benefit,\u201d he explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n More on workouts and exercise:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nConsider your fitness goals\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Early birds versus night owls<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How to shift your workout time<\/strong><\/h2>\n