What's the Best Time of Day to Work Out to Burn More Fat?
You’re up at 5, drink a double shot, and race off to the club. You’re consistent and religious about doing it first thing in the morning so you set your day off on the right foot.
But what if you could actually build up to 84% more lean muscle and lose more body fat, with the exact same workout, and not have to do it on the empty stomach that makes you feel nauseous?
Well it turns out that if you switch your workout from the morning to the late afternoon or early evening, you could build significantly more lean muscle, lose far more body fat, and even get noticeably stronger (especially if you do eccentric style workouts like I do with my clients).
Why? Very likely it’s because your testosterone to cortisol ratio is better and your body temperature is higher.
So what’s the best time of day for me to workout?
If you’re over 40, anywhere from 3-8pm is probably a good target, with later being better. If you’re under 40, 5-10pm is a great range. (Reference)
Those are nice recommendations of course, but they may not be your best time of day because of your sleep schedule (or, biorhythm), as well as when you actually perform best.
It’s extremely important to remember that just because you think you perform best at a certain time of day, it doesn’t mean you actually perform best then. Feeling good after a workout has almost nothing to do with how effective it was.
I have many examples of clients who start off training in the morning because that’s when they “feel best”. Then life happens and they have to reschedule and train in the afternoon. They quickly come to find out that even though they were a little sluggish right before starting their workout, as soon as they got going they did way more reps than they normally did in the morning, and they even report sleeping better that night. So if you can actually lift heavier weights, do more reps, or both, at a certain time of day, that’s likely your best time of day to work out and you will change your body dramatically faster by working out then consistently.
Okay, so working out later in the day is probably best for you, but do not let this be an excuse to not work out. It is always far more important to do your workout —even if you’re fasted and it’s way too early— than to skip a workout because you couldn’t do it at the optimal time of day.
Consistency will always win out. But if you are serious about changing your body, you will shift your schedule to make your fitness a priority.
But what if you could actually build up to 84% more lean muscle and lose more body fat, with the exact same workout, and not have to do it on the empty stomach that makes you feel nauseous?
Well it turns out that if you switch your workout from the morning to the late afternoon or early evening, you could build significantly more lean muscle, lose far more body fat, and even get noticeably stronger (especially if you do eccentric style workouts like I do with my clients).
Why? Very likely it’s because your testosterone to cortisol ratio is better and your body temperature is higher.
So what’s the best time of day for me to workout?
If you’re over 40, anywhere from 3-8pm is probably a good target, with later being better. If you’re under 40, 5-10pm is a great range. (Reference)
Those are nice recommendations of course, but they may not be your best time of day because of your sleep schedule (or, biorhythm), as well as when you actually perform best.
It’s extremely important to remember that just because you think you perform best at a certain time of day, it doesn’t mean you actually perform best then. Feeling good after a workout has almost nothing to do with how effective it was.
I have many examples of clients who start off training in the morning because that’s when they “feel best”. Then life happens and they have to reschedule and train in the afternoon. They quickly come to find out that even though they were a little sluggish right before starting their workout, as soon as they got going they did way more reps than they normally did in the morning, and they even report sleeping better that night. So if you can actually lift heavier weights, do more reps, or both, at a certain time of day, that’s likely your best time of day to work out and you will change your body dramatically faster by working out then consistently.
Okay, so working out later in the day is probably best for you, but do not let this be an excuse to not work out. It is always far more important to do your workout —even if you’re fasted and it’s way too early— than to skip a workout because you couldn’t do it at the optimal time of day.
Consistency will always win out. But if you are serious about changing your body, you will shift your schedule to make your fitness a priority.
