Most people who have regular working hours choose to exercise either in the morning or in the late afternoon or evening. There are benefits and drawbacks to each of these periods, so consider the advice I’ll share below as a general guideline to adapt to your daily schedule.
Benefits:
The primary benefit of working out in the morning is that you have plenty of energy. It’s more tempting to forgo exercise in the afternoon or in the evening when you’re tired after an entire day of working or taking care of chores.
Moreover, if you work out in the morning, you’re done with the exercise for the day – it’s out of your head and you no longer have to remember to do it.
It also doesn’t hinder your social life (not many want to meet at seven in the morning) and gives you something to be proud of right after waking up, giving you a nice feeling of being productive.
In the case of working out at the local gym, an additional benefit is that it’s empty or has very few people. The vision of a crowded gym in late afternoon doesn’t motivate, does it.
Physical activity in the morning – on an empty stomach – is also beneficial for weight loss. As a 2013 British study has shown, people can burn up to 20% more body fat by exercising in the morning on an empty stomach[xxxiii].
Drawbacks:
Time in the morning is usually limited, and if you want to practice a sport that can only be done at a specific venue (say, climb in a climbing gym) it’s possible it won’t be open yet. For this reason, mornings are better for exercise that doesn’t take a lot of time and can be either done at home, in the area, or in a place that’s open very early (like a fitness gym).
In some cases, morning workouts can also pose a bigger challenge to your willpower than the afternoon. It can be dreadful to wake up early in the morning, realize it’s below freezing outside, and leave your warm bed to exercise.
Lastly, mornings are not friendly for team sports. These are usually done in the late afternoon or in the evening, and you shouldn’t expect to convince your entire team to have a match at six in the morning.
Suggestions:
Physical activities that work well in the morning include:
- jogging or brisk walking (including Nordic walking). You don’t need to do it in a specific place (though obviously doing it in a forest or a park is more pleasant than running through the city) and it’s a nice way to begin your day. Even a 20-30 minute session is enough to get you energized for the day ahead and takes care of your body’s needs for physical activity for a given day;
- any type of exercise done at home, with either machines or free weights. If you have a stationary bike, cycling for 20-30 minutes can jumpstart your day. If you have a home gym (or a gym in your garage or basement), then it should be your first choice for exercise in the morning. An effective weightlifting session shouldn’t last longer than 45 minutes, and it’s perfect to give your body a proper dose of exercise;
- yoga, pilates, tai chi, and similar types of exercise are also perfect to perform in the morning. They are not only a good way to get your body moving, but also enter a quasi-meditative state that will calm you down and prepare for the day ahead;
- biking. A quick bike ride in the morning before heavy traffic hits the streets (if there’s no park or wilderness area close to you) can be an invigorating and relaxing experience;
- stretching exercises (including foam rolling). If you don’t have a lot of time, at least try to do a few basic stretches. I usually do foam rolling in the morning to reduce the tension in my muscles (I spend more time talking about foam rolling in my book How to Relax);
- swimming. Many swimming pools open early in the morning. If you suffer from back pain – like many people nowadays do – you should swim regularly. A 1996 Japanese study on swimming and back pain showed that more than 90% of the patients felt they had improved after 6 months of participation in a swimming program[xxxiv]. A 2009 Finnish systematic review has also confirmed that swimming can be potentially beneficial to patients suffering from chronic low back pain as well as pregnancy-related low back pain[xxxv].
These are just a few suggestions, and there are many more sports that can work in the morning. For instance, if you play tennis and there’s a tennis backboard near you (or if you have a partner who also wakes up early), it can be an enjoyable morning routine to get your blood pumping and improve your skills.
Moreover, if you don’t have to go to work in the morning, you have many more options to choose from – especially if you have a fitness pal, a friend, or a spouse who also doesn’t have to go to work in the morning.
Benefits:
The biggest benefit of working out in the afternoon is that as long as you’ve taken care of other things planned for the day, you’re free to practice a certain sport without strict time limits. It enables you to engage in more time-consuming sports, team sports, or physical activities of a more social nature.
While technically you can go bouldering in the morning (if your gym is open early enough), a large part of the enjoyment from this sport comes from the fact you’re doing it with other people.
The same applies to other sports that you usually do with other people like all kinds of extreme sports (skateboarding, surfing, kitesurfing, etc.), all team sports (you can practice most of them alone, but not play them), martial arts, golf, and other social kinds of physical activity like dancing.
Drawbacks:
The biggest drawback of physical activity in the afternoon or in the evening is that people usually have less energy after 5 PM, especially after 8 hours of work.
If you can’t exercise in the morning, and afternoon or evening are your only options, make sure that the sport you’re going to practice is something you look forward to. A good test of whether a certain activity is for you is whether you think about it during the day – do you look forward to it or dread it?
In the past, I was forced to practice judo in the evening as a part of my curriculum at the college. I dreaded each day because I didn’t enjoy it. I consider myself a self-disciplined person (I wouldn’t write books about self-discipline otherwise, right?), but even for me it’s challenging to exercise in the afternoon or evening if it’s something I don’t enjoy.
Another drawback of exercising later in the day is that many venues where you practice sports are crowded in the afternoon or evening. This can result in a frustrating experience that will discourage you from exercise.
Swimming is a regular part of my weekly schedule, but I never do it in the afternoon because I don’t look forward to swimming in a crowded swimming pool. It’s much calmer in the early morning when I can have the entire lane for myself.
When thinking about what kinds of sports to practice in the afternoon or the evening, don’t forget about this aspect. Sometimes it’s better to wait until the late evening to perform your workout than go in the afternoon, get angry at the crowds, and have a less than optimal workout, which is a common thing at a fitness gym during peak hours.
Suggestions:
Most of the sports I recommended performing in the morning can also be done in the afternoon or in the evening, especially if you go after more volume (a solid 90-minute long bike ride in the afternoon compared to a brief 20-minute bike ride in the morning).
However, if you have a more relaxed afternoon or evening, you can spend this time practicing a more involved sport for longer than just 20-30 minutes so you can get a bigger dose of exercise in one session.
If your days tend to get busy in the afternoon, morning exercise (at least 20-30 minutes) should be a must-have part of your daily routine with afternoon exercise an additional option to squeeze in more exercise time if you can afford it.
If you exercise 20 minutes each day in the morning and add one 2-hour session on a more relaxed Friday or two 1-hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday, you’ll get enough exercise in any given week to enjoy its numerous benefits.
I’m a huge fan of having specific days designated to certain sports. If you can do it, pick specific days during the week (and ideally specific hours) to practice specific sports. Schedule them in your calendar and don’t let anything interfere with your plans. Understand that it’s not about being selfish – it’s precisely the total opposite of it. By exercising, you become a better person so you can better serve others.
I go to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. My routine never changes. Years of following such a routine have made going to the gym not just an option – it’s something I have to do or I’ll feel there’s something missing. If you also set specific days for exercise and faithfully exercise on them, within a few months you’ll experience the same thing.
If there’s no way you can find time to exercise during the weekday, schedule exercise for your weekends. Saturdays and Sundays are perfect for practicing physical activities that aren’t necessarily sports. For instance, consider a day trip to a nearby wild area.
Hiking is a non-sport physical activity that can be very demanding but extremely gratifying and provide a powerful bonding experience when done with family or friends.
Even if you can’t afford practicing any kind of a sport regularly for various reasons, hiking or even taking 1-hour long walks on Saturdays and Sundays should be possible, and still take you from an inactive person to a person getting at least the minimum recommended amount of physical activity.