Night Time Work Outs Before Bed

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the_new_robin2016
the_new_robin2016 Posts: 97 Member
in Introduce Yourself
So for the last 2 weeks I have been doing a routine of working out in the morning (doing slim in 6) and then doing the Elliptical in the evening. I have heard that working out in the morning, soon after waking up, boosts your metabolism. My question is, does working out in the evening, or before bed, really benefit me at all? Besides maybe burning off calories when i occasionally eat too much for supper (whoops!). So am I wasting my time and effort for exercising before bed, or should I keep on doing my thing?

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  • Frannswaz
    Frannswaz Posts: 172 Member
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    Like your profile says 'Doing something is better than doing nothing'.

    Exercise is exercise...keep it up....you're seeing results.

    You will find loads of different opinions. I wouldn't stress it.:smile:
  • KatyE213
    KatyE213 Posts: 446 Member
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    Do what works for you! Its like theres a common opinion you shouldnt eat on a night either, but my opinion is that a calories is a calorie whatever time of day you put it in your mouth, and similarly calories burned are calories burned. Good luck :smile:
  • KLi531
    KLi531 Posts: 130 Member
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    I am not a morning person at all and I always work out at night. I know they say the morning is the best time, but I figure as long as I'm doing it I'm ok. Exercise is exercise. It's good no matter when you do it :)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,698 Member
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    So for the last 2 weeks I have been doing a routine of working out in the morning (doing slim in 6) and then doing the Elliptical in the evening. I have heard that working out in the morning, soon after waking up, boosts your metabolism. My question is, does working out in the evening, or before bed, really benefit me at all? Besides maybe burning off calories when i occasionally eat too much for supper (whoops!). So am I wasting my time and effort for exercising before bed, or should I keep on doing my thing?
    Here's the skinny. If you're going to exercise first thing on an empty stomach in the morning, it shouldn't be anything other than some very moderate cardio. If you lift weights or do any high intensity work, you'll catabolize your muscle. That would lead to muscle wasting and lower your metabolic rate. I would encourage you NOT to do workouts that involve lifting or cardio that's above 65% of your max heart rate.
  • deftodie
    deftodie Posts: 19 Member
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    There are a lot of people that find exercising with intensity will keep them awake at night, I find that it helps me calm down after an hour of down time after and bedtime routine. As others have said, something is better than nothing, but if there is more time in your day earlier it you will get more bang for your buck. You will burn more calories throughout the day, it challenges your muscles to be used even though they're fatigued earlier on (I'm assuming you're doing higher intensity exercise). Is there another time you can put in a bit of cardio? when you get home? lunch time? I know too, late at night is also a good time to use as an excuse with the "i'm tired and had a long day" syndrome, so if you're able to put a good effort in that late, and cannot do it any other time, then keep it up! :)
  • deftodie
    deftodie Posts: 19 Member
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    I wouldn't ever encourage exercise on a completely empty stomach, especially if in the morning and needing to 'break the fast'. You're not doing yourself any favours, even at a lower intensity.
  • AmberBarrios
    AmberBarrios Posts: 394 Member
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    I am not a morning person at all, I am lucky I can get out of bed and walk to the bathroom without running face first into the wall (shhh i do that sometimes) so I never work out in the morning except maybe on the occasional saturday morning (9am) run. I always work out at night. I used to work out after dinner as I have a very busy day and sometimes the only time I could find was at 9 or 10 at night, but since my husband has started working out with me we now do our workouts around 6pm when I get home. I lost most of my weight while doing workouts at 10 at night so I don't know if it really matters. Like others have said something is better than nothing and as long as you are moving you are making a difference.
  • the_new_robin2016
    the_new_robin2016 Posts: 97 Member
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    Thanks all for the posts! I'm a stay at home mom, and so i usually get up before my daughter does, eat something, and then do the work out video. After that really can't get another work out in till night when she's asleep. I will make sure to eat something before working out! I didn't know about catabolizing my muscles haha, and i'm not sure what exactly that means, but i'm guessing its a bad thing! So i'll make sure to eat first, then exercise! And if working out is working out, then i'm going to continue doing my thing!

    Thanks again all! You're input was very helpful!

    Sincerely, Robin!
  • tammyrains
    tammyrains Posts: 6
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    I have always heard that mornings are better, however, I am just not able to wake up and exercise before going to work..so, I always exercise in the evenings, except weekens.. I try to do late mornings on the weekends, as well as an evening workout. Seems to be working for me :-)
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Why wouldn't it? It burns calories. It improves fitness.

    The only reason I don't work out at night is it effects the quality of my sleep.

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