Morning or Evening Exercise? A Critical Analysis
One of the most hotly contested arguments since the dawn of bro-kind; “To lift in the morning or to lift in the evening?”
All through my early-mid 20’s I lifted in the evening with ferocity and vigor but when I had an occasional morning workout I was sluggish and quick to fatigue. This might have had to do with the fact that I rarely woke up before 10, drank and smoked cigarettes (totally quit a decade ago), and never did cardio. Only old folks hit the gym early, right?!
In my late 20’s and still today (34) I can’t imagine not lifting first thing in the morning, after my fasted cardio, and leading into my morning routine to set the high-speed tone for the entire day ahead. How on earth could I budget any other time with my busy days and afternoons? Am I making the most of my routine?
What time of day do you exercise? How has that fit into your lifestyle? Has one or the other made a noticeable effect? Comment below with your thoughts & experiences.
Throughout writing this, I observed two recurring elements contributing to both pros and cons of both morning and evening exercise, so you’ll see them often. They are;
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) - makes children grow, helps to regulate body fat, muscle, bone growth, metabolism, and heart function. High levels help with weight loss, injury recovery, and restoring healthy brain and muscle tissue.
Cortisol - a stress hormone that assists in controlling mood, fear, and has a significant affect on how your body processes carbs, fat, and protein. It reduces inflammation, regulates blood pressure, increases glucose, and controls your circadian rhythm. Cortisol healthy except when it’s high, leading to high BP, thyroid issues, hyperglycemia, and fat storage.
I had always heard the ‘gym lawyers’ spout off fake news and non-facts to which time of day is ‘the best’ but in my never ending search for maximum efficiency and to justify my decisions as a coach, I decided to dig up what modern science has to say about it. Here’s what I found…
Morning Benefits (Including negatives of evening)
(Decision Making) I wouldn’t always trust my judgement, but science says I’m right most of the time… Exercising in the morning does show improved decision making throughout the day. This was conducted on older adults but the outcome of the study is intended to offer methods of optimizing mental clarity, like taking short walks during your work day to break long periods of sitting.
(Higher Testosterone) Testosterone, a naturally occurring and highly anabolic hormone in men, skyrockets in the morning hours. Testosterone gives us (men) energy, libido, and drive, along with increased muscle growth so this is easily one of the most common arguments by males to exercise first thing in the AM.
(Mental Well-Being) In a 2012 study of female high school students, morning exercise lead to mental well-being including better relationships, environmental awareness, self-acceptance, and purpose. This ties into a larger argument pushed by leaders of industry and entrepreneurs about the importance of waking up early and being productive in your life and career.
(Lower BP) In a study by the American Heart Association, obese adults age 55-80 who walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill to start their day showed reduced blood pressure, and this effect was increased when subjects took 3 minute walk break periodically throughout the day.
(Fasted Exercise) There is a strong argument to be made about morning fasted exercise (I recommend this in much of my nutrition and fitness literature) for effective weight loss. The lack of stored glycogen (carbs stored in muscle used for energy) along with elevated cortisol releasing fat storage for energy consumption results in burning body fat for energy during your exercise. You will often hear me coaching my clients and competitors on fasted cardio. More research is needed to make a concrete conclusion but the fasted exercise method does show signs of increased weight loss and metabolism during a diet and exercise regimen.
(Higher Metabolic Response) In a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, subjects were given exercise regimens to follow in the morning or in the evening. Interestingly enough, not only had the morning exercisers lost more weight, they had lost more weight irrespective of the degree of exercise between morning and evening training subjects. The reason for this ties back into that earlier topic of circadian rhythm as well as a 100 calorie increase in TDEE (calories burned per day; Basal MR + Exercise) of the evening exercisers.
(Priorities & Discipline) The most important workout of the day is the one you actually do. This is more of a personal point from a coach’s perspective, but waking up early and just knocking it out ensures that you won’t have to worry about the rest of your day. Nothing can come up and interfere with it, it’s done. I also feel this will play into your personal fitness discipline and appreciation of it.
(Endorphins) Cardio and exercise release endorphins. While this is an effect that is relevant at any time of day, what better way to begin your day with some feelings of well-being and confidence?! This isn’t always the case for everyone, but I will testify that I was, and still do, able to use weightlifting to escape chronic depression and build confidence and security with myself.
(Crowds) The gym is almost always much less crowded in the morning when compared to rush hour 4pm-7pm! If you have ever had trouble claiming a treadmill or a bench-press rack, try again in the morning.
Evening Benefits (Including negatives of morning)
(HGH During Sleep) For those trying to maximize muscle hypertrophy, AKA muscle growth, it may be more effective to work out in the evening before bed since HGH is released during sleep. Morning lifters might have a little more trouble with body composition and growth due cortisol levels being highest in the morning.
(Sleep Aid) Evening exercise can be perceived as a sleep inhibitor due to the high level of intensity or focus required and thought to interrupt the ability to get to bed easily. On the contrary, science is leaning toward the idea it can be used as a tool to decompress from daily stress and subsequently help in going to sleep.
(Focus & Alertness) Possibly an explanation for the explosive meathead lifts of my 20s, studies have shown that athletes consistently perform better, and win more often, in evening sporting events due to advantages from circadian rhythms (our internal clock that cycles from sleepy to alert). When considering muscle development, this basically translates to having more mental alertness to aid in pushing through an aggressive session as well as having the focus to maintain form, tempo, and injury prevention.
(Lower Risk for Cardiac Arrest) This one is not quite concrete but worth investigating further. For individuals with high blood pressure or are at risk for heart attack; working out early in the morning when cortisol levels are highest may have a slight increase in susceptibility to heart attack. More data is needed but you’re encouraged to check with the doc if you fall into this category. Either way, exercise in general is a key element in getting healthy and fighting these conditions.
(Cortisol Highest in AM) As mentioned above, working out in the morning means you’ll be lifting when cortisol levels are shown to be the highest possibly affecting efficiency of building muscle, as where late evening workouts may be more beneficial as to take advantage of HGH production during sleep.
(Audience/Competition) Sometimes a crowd makes for a good audience or some good internal competition. Sometimes we are killing our diet and training and want people to notice… (OK, maybe just me). But, having a crowd can sometimes light a competitive fire under our a**. Can you bench more than that guy? The old lady on the next treadmill is going twice as fast and with an incline?!
(Community) Sense of community! This was more relevant to me when I was younger, but the gym was a place where I could go to see crowds of friends and acquaintances, build relationships, and even meet a lady with similar interests when I was single. Bonus, if you are also one who enjoys frequent nightlife then you might appreciate the big chest and arm pump you get before you throw on the evening threads.
(Selfies) Oh, and I don’t know about you, but my face is a dumpster fire before 10 AM, so evenings are always the best for gym selfie close-ups…
Benefits Applied to Both
(Endorphins & Reduced Anxiety) The benefits aren’t just for the early birds. As I mentioned in my Beginner Series Blog, after a long day of work exercise has shown to significantly reduce anxiety as well as release endorphins (happy brain fluid).
(Chronotype) Modern humans can be classified into groups known as chronotypes which is basically a shift of circadian rhythm to align with the daily working vs sleeping hours of any individual. A healthy and normal chronotype would have you moving and eating during the day and sleeping during the night so most of us should be here. When you exercise later in the evening, you may be disrupting your heart rate variability due to being out of line with your chronotype along with other mental and physical effects. But, if your routine has been to work, live, and exercise at odd hours of the evening or night, your chronotype may be shifted to actually make evening exercise ideal for you.
And the winner is…
…the exercise session you actually do!
Mornings are likely preferable for those who need to maximize physical results with time-efficiency while maintaining a busy life and schedule. A busy life can also benefit greatly from the mental boost to start your day.
From a physiological standpoint, evening exercise may be more suitable for those that have a schedule allowing it, is less injury prone, and you are more likely to maximize intensity with high alertness, while de-stressing after work for better sleep.
As someone with a very demanding career, I have found the most success and benefits by waking up to start my day with a solid cardio and weightlifting session, but also a short, second cardio session most evenings for the additional benefits. It allows me to structure and plan my entire day down to the minute.
But overall, just go and reap the benefits of health, longevity, libido, confidence, posture, cardiovascular health, community, aesthetics, and just general well-being! Go when you want to go, go when you can, plan to go when you know you will go. Find a buddy or a coach for accountability and set a plan to meet on a schedule. If you have a spouse, go together and create a bonding activity, and make sure to grab a gym selfie for Instagram…
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