Daytime vs nighttime cardio

camiyo
camiyo Posts: 10 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Maybe it's just me, but does anyone think they lose more weight doing their cardio at night vs first thing in the morning?
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Replies

  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Studies on this have shown different things. There's some evidence that cardio at night can raise your resting metabolism for several hours while you sleep. But the effect, if any, would be minimal and not worth going to a lot of trouble to pursue.

    Speaking for myself, I don't sleep well if I do cardio late in the day.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited August 2017
    I can't think of why cardio would burn more calories depending solely on when you perform it. Just like it doesn't matter what time you eat because the timing is irrelevant. It's the totals that matter.

  • TRI_CMDO
    TRI_CMDO Posts: 95 Member
    Mid morning or afternoon for me. I'm rehydrated and fuel after waking up and fresh mid afternoon
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,192 Member
    camiyo wrote: »
    Maybe it's just me, but does anyone think they lose more weight doing their cardio at night vs first thing in the morning?

    It doesn't matter; and yes, it is just you :D:D
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I usually do mine late afternoon. So, depending on time of year, it's either day or night (think starting some time between 4 and 7PM).
  • 2DUNNY
    2DUNNY Posts: 101 Member
    i find that if i do cardio in the evening (even afternoon) i am wide-awake at night.
    it revs me up, so i do it a.m.
    but i'm not sure it makes a difference for weight loss. :smile:
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    I suspect you just have more energy during the evenings so you're working harder. Time of day alone shouldn't have any noticeable difference.
  • ziggy2006
    ziggy2006 Posts: 255 Member
    No, never noticed anything of the sort.
  • LaReinaDeCorazones
    LaReinaDeCorazones Posts: 274 Member
    I take my bike rides in the morning, but it's mainly because I work in the evening, and it's cooler in the morning (85 or so degrees compared to the 103+ in the afternoon/evening). Walking occurs throughout the day for me, usually hitting 12000+ steps. And if I go swimming, I try to do it in the morning.
  • belleflop
    belleflop Posts: 154 Member
    Only science to this is your internal core temperature changes throughout the day and reduction in initial injury potential. Everything else is subjective. When you eat and when you workout has no bearing on your designated goal (weight loss). As others have mentioned, weight loss is consumption/expenditure.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    I don't think it makes a lick of difference. For me, it's simply a matter of time (or lack thereof). I get a 30 in run in at 6am, then another 30 min walk at 7:30pm. That's in addition to lifting 3x per week and Pilates 1x per week. Generally, I would think it best to exercise when you have the most energy to put in a 100% effort.
  • Unknown
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  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Nope. I try to do cardio as soon as I wake up to get it out of the way as I don't like cardio. But it's about total CICO averages that matter for weight loss.
  • JustRobby1
    JustRobby1 Posts: 674 Member
    In terms of weight loss, when you do it does not matter, only that you do it. I am a runner, and I have gotten my runs in both before and after work but my preference is before. That way when I get off work I have the rest of the night to do whatever.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    For me afternoon and evening works better because I have more energy at those times so I can do more and push myself harder. I've never been a morning person. I also sleep better when I work out later and have dinner, my largest meal after at around 8pm.
  • igarcia13
    igarcia13 Posts: 59 Member
    I do both lol I do fasted cardio in the morning and another workout about 1-2 hours before bedtime. I'm happy with my weight loss so far :smile:
  • igarcia13
    igarcia13 Posts: 59 Member
    VeronicaA76 wrote: »
    Nope. I try to do cardio as soon as I wake up to get it out of the way as I don't like cardio. But it's about total CICO averages that matter for weight loss.
    So true! Once you workout first thing in the morning, it's out of the way. Sometimes life gets busy and it may get hard to squeeze a workout in the afternoon
  • SillyCat1975
    SillyCat1975 Posts: 328 Member
    If I don't work out in the morning then I will put it off until bedtime and then I will just refuse to do it, I will put it off until the next day. Starts a really bad pattern for me.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    The possible reason for the perception might be that, during a workout, you are likely to lose water and stored glycogen. While those levels should be restored as part of recovery, the process is not instantaneous. It's plausible that, if one did a workout late at night and weighed first thing in the morning, there might be a difference in scale weight vs a day that one worked out early and so was farther along in the recovery process. Any differences, however, would be due to timing and would not represent actual "weight" loss.

    That explanation includes a lot of "ifs" and speculation, but it is one possibility. Ultimately, as others have said, workout timing has no independent effect on weight loss.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    I usually do both because I enjoy it and I'm super sedentary during the work day and outside of exercise/activity.

    Loving how it makes me feel and it helps me to maintain my weight.

    I started off working out in the early morning just to get it over with. Now I look forward to it.

    There are too many factors for me to say if there was a difference in timing. Had I ate a meal higher in sodium? TOM? etc. etc. I just watched my calories, stayed active, had a lot of patience and stay consistent and the weight came off.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    natasor1 wrote: »
    A brisk walk in the morning on the empty stomach will do more than same walk in evening

    I don't think that is true. What source in the form of a broad based peer reviewed study do you have that would prove that? Generally speaking, exercise and nutrient timing is irrelevant except for preference and perceived performance. Where do you find anything that proved differently?
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
    natasor1 wrote: »
    This in not about cals burned. Think about hormonal make up working in your body. if you heard about insuline in the blood, it will never let fatty acids comes out from fat cells only in opposite direction. Perceived performance is irrelevant too. Person may feel really hard working, but fat burn is zerro. The simple answer, the insuline in the blood don't let to reliese even 1 gram of fat.

    Cardio doesn't burn fat. A calorie deficit does. It doesn't matter when you work out. It matters how many calories you eat.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    natasor1 wrote: »
    This in not about cals burned. Think about hormonal make up working in your body. if you heard about insuline in the blood, it will never let fatty acids comes out from fat cells only in opposite direction. Perceived performance is irrelevant too. Person may feel really hard working, but fat burn is zerro. The simple answer, the insuline in the blood don't let to reliese even 1 gram of fat.

    So the scientific study that demonstrates any of this is........???

    Honestly, this sounds like a bunch of pseudo-science to me.
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