Morning vs. Night

gillian_gail

I have a super wonky schedule where I don't usually get home from work until 9:30 or 10pm. For some reason, I can never seem to wake up early enough in order to exercise before I go to work. So I have been working out when I get home and then getting to bed around midnight. I'm always getting more than 8 hours of sleep, but I still can't seem to wake up with enough time to do my workout and shower before I need to leave.

So my question is, based on what you've done yourself and anything that you've heard is it better to workout in the morning or at night before bed?


Thank you for any responses in advance

--GIllian--

aionsnow

I have had to do both and morning were always hard for me because I am 100% night owl. I brain wakes up about 11:00pm. But when I have to work and/or workout in the morning I have to train myself to eat at certain times to get my body on whatever schedule I need to meet. For example if I have to wake up early (*ie 6:00am or before) I can't eat after 7:00pm. What happens to is then I wake up because I am hungry which forces me to skip the snooze and get up to eat. Basically you have to put yourself on a schedule and stick to it.

kwaters7

I'm in the gym for cardio or swimming for 7am most mornings - it gets very busy early-mid evening and once you've started the day with exercise I find I have more energy for the rest of the day. It also elevates your calorie burn for the rest of the day if you train am.

Kenny

ps If you train early on an empty stomach, you burn more fat than you would do if you train later in the day..

gillian_gail

Thank you both very much for the input. Sadly, just a few hours after I posted this I lost my job. So....now I don't have to worry as much about not having the time to workout when I wake up. No more having to wait until 10pm to get my exercise in.

Also, I do really need to get back into a better sleep schedule. Any advice on how to do that when I've had basically the same sleeping pattern (go to bed around 3am, wake up anytime between 8am and noon) since I was 16?


--Gillian--

MercuryBlue

I always exercise after work because I can't drag myself out of bed any earlier than I already do. Honestly, it doesn't really matter- what matters is that you're exercising!

I do find, though, that I have a harder time sleeping if I exercise too close to bed time.

I PREFER to work out in the late morning/early afternoon, but this only happens on weekends.

jessicajoy87

I have kids to take care of all day so I exercise after I put them to bed. I am too tired to wake up in the morning to do it. And I would probably wake up one of my kids if I did.