What is the best time of the day to exercise ?

Kudos to you! The way I look at it, any time you can do it, works.

My threadmill is in the basement, being used by the kids as a plaything...

My elliptical trainer is just taking up space in the living room...

The larger question is, how does one find the time and motivation to use the equipment they have?!

Keep up the good work!

 

The best time to excercise is anytime you can do it IMHO.

I get up at 5:30AM to run, because if I do it later in the day (afternoon, eve, nite, etc.) I will usually blow it off because I have something "more important" to do. So, I wake up early to run, do it, and get it over with.

Dom

 

Ive heard if you want to drop fat its best to do aerobic excercise ( at least 45 minutes) before breakfast bcus the body must use fat stores as there is nothing else to use

I also prefer the morning bcus that way I get it out of the way & I can go do whatever else I want

 

I, too, have heard that first thing in the morning before breakfast is the best time to get the most efficient fat burning exercise.

 

I work out at 5:30am 5 days a week...it is my understanding that first thing in the morning is the best time as your testosterone level is highest then which helps with muscle development...

 

I think it's a myth really. I lost 40 lbs (and kept it off now for about ~2 yrs) doing only 20 min of excercise several times a week. The key to loosing weight is eat less. I limit myself to ~2000 calories/day.

Vigorous excercise tends to burn only abou 10cal/minute. So, if you excercise an hour, you burn about 600 calories. When you think that a whopper value meal+ coke is about 1500 calories, you can see how much more it helps to eat less vs. excercise.

For good health, you need to do excercise coupled with eating less (I can point to several studies in animals that show restriced diet -> longer life).

Dom

 

www.bodybuilding.com

 

Still to maximize the benifits, I was also told to workout before breakfast.

 

I run about 3.3 miles then walk 2 every other day. The ONLY time I can do it is after work. I enjoy it actually at night. Average time for me is about 8pm and it takes about an hour.

I hope it isn't the worst time to do it...been on this schedule for 5 years this month.

 

I've heard that about 50% more people keep exercising if they do it in the morning than if they work out in the evening. Doing it first thing in the morning (I start working out between 5 and 5:30 am), there's almost nothing that interferes with it.

I figure that it takes me about 150 hours a year to work out (I work out three mornings a week for about an hour each). But, I save about 350 hours a year because I get by on one hour less sleep every night, so I save about 200 hours a year!

This November, I will have been working out regularly for 27 years. That's got to count for something!

I also eat right and I never eat too much.

 

Since i moved out to AZ for a bit, ive been running usually in the mornings around 5am here, since ive heard the best time to exercise is in the morning before breakfest as well. Then i realized its not working since i have to cut down on what i eat after the run during the day. Ha. So as they say, make sure you eat right.
Good Luck!

John

 

First thing otherwise it's too easy to just blow it off.

 

I do cardio and abs in the mornings when I am cutting down, usually after taking several months off from the gym....I too have always been told that it is best to workout right after waking up.

 

I used to run 5 miles a day, but then I figured I could save so much time if I took the car.

 

Or drink beer!

Congrats Dom and you're right. Eating right and getting all the food groups is KEY.

Here's some pointers that I have found very useful as far as this topic..

Last I heard weight loss is 70% diet, 30% cardio. I'm trying to put on muscle weight so throughout my 4-5 meals a day, I consume about 150g of Protein. I try and eat upward of 3000 calories a day but I also train or do some physical activity daily. Any given day I'll burn about 300-500 calories, sometimes higher. And it varies, sometimes at 5am, but mostly at 5pm.

 

After work, before supper, around 7-ish. Just can't do anything in the morning. I couldn't wake up at 5:30 just to work out ...

 

one idea I saw was suggesting mapping out your energy levels during the day, and after a week see what's optimal use of your tasks at each energy level. If 5:30am is always a time to hit the snooze bar 18 times, probably not a good time.

I find 4-9pm works best for me, but then I only open both eyes around lunch time.

 

Directly after work. 4:30ish. Gym is a block away.

I've had to miss most of the last few weeks because I haven't felt good. It makes me feel worse when I miss. During June I was working late hours and there was no way for me to go. After 12 straight days of working, it became evident how important my routine was. I went from alive and alert to a dead battery.

 

I just ran 2 miles.

 

Keeping a running total over the last 4 years doesn't count.

 

The bad thing about working out first thing in the morning is that your muscles will be tight and your adrenalin will be low, so things will seem more difficult. I personally am a member of the "after-work-but-before-dinner" club. At least 45 mins but no more than 75 mins of mixed cardio/weights 5 times a week. My doctor said that only in extreme cases (pro athletes or body builders) will people see a benefit from working out longer than 90 minutes. But based on what I've learned, the real thing to look for is an elevated heart rate, however you choose to achieve that (rowing, elliptical, running, lifting, racquetball, etc). My other reason for exercising right before dinner is that supposedly your heart rate and therefore your metabolism will be in an increased state for some time after your workout ends, so the sooner you eat after working out, in theory your body should be able to use up that food energy quickly instead of storing it away. Of course, this also would be a good reason to workout right before breakfast, too.

And yes, diet is also very very important. Even just small things like 2 slices of pizza instead of 3, going for the 6 inch at Subway instead of the foot long, cutting back on sugary drinks and increasing water intake, reducing beer consumption (it's tough, i know), getting one candy bar to last for 3 days..... just small things like that. For the first few weeks it is incredibly difficult, but after sticking with that plan for a while it will not seem like you're missing out on anything, and you will be full after eating what you would have considered a "reduced" portion 9 months back. In fact my plan now is to eat enough so that I'm not hungry (rather than eating until I'm full), and when I'm hungry again in 2 hrs, I'll munch on something else. Apparently this kind of eating keeps an elevated metabolism rate throughout the day since your body learns that it can just burn food since it will be getting more energy shortly, instead of storing energy (fat) because it might be a while until it gets more.

This is just my experience based on going from 235 pounds last Christmas to 190 now, no fancy diet plans or gym memberships. In fact, I hid away my scale and didn't weigh myself for 7 months because my goal wasn't a number but just to change my lifestyle for continuing health since I looked and felt like a slob last year (now I'm at a point where when I don't work out I feel weird). Really, I think it comes down to determination. There is no magic solution to the process; just hard work and some patience, because it does take time for things to play out.

 

Bill collectors? bailiff, ex-boyfriend?