Physical Activity

Should You Work Out in The Morning or Evening?

Dr. Husam Rezeq/ Head of EIMQ Clinic
23 October, 2018

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It's a subject that has refused to be settled for years: the early bird gym larks versus the weights room night owls. Who is better? Who is doing it right?

Should we all rise with the dawn and storm through a session before the rest of the world awakes? Or is it better to refresh your brain and body for the evening ahead with a 45-minute safari around the gym after a long day at work?


The key, as ever, is balance: training and eating in a way that makes you happiest – whether that means a 7am spin session or a 7pm weights workout.

Researching the Internet and asking many trainers, fitness centers and even doctors will make you face a lot of conflicting opinions and advice. You will also find great research and complex and puzzling studies at the same time as many of these articles and tips indicate that exercise in the morning is the best! As specialists in this field we want to answer this question and spread the benefit to all.


Before answering this question, we must review ourselves and know the purposeof the exercise. In other words, why do we practice? What is its main purpose? Do we exercise to improve fitness and physical activity or exercise to control and improve the state of diabetes or to reduce fat and weight reduction and this is of course the cornerstone before performing any exercise so that we can direct the person to the right choice and medical advice?


So what is the best time to exercise?

The answer to this question depends on several factors and it is important to know the person's goal of the exercise: is the goal of the exercise

  • Prevention and treatment of diabetes?
  • Reduce weight?
  • Improving muscular athletic performance?
  • Make physical activity regular?
  • Participate in a competition or a tournament?

Any other questions and objectives and make the answer to any of these questions individually constructed commensurate with the person's goal, fitness and state of health.


When should I exercise for the prevention and treatment of diabetes?

Lots of articles about morning exercises are wrong and we'll explain it to you. Many of these articles, which claim that exercise in the morning is the best is misleading because the studies built on it were not to burn fat and reduce weight, but was aimed at prevention and treatment of insulin sensitivity, which is an early sign of diabetes and these studies were not originally about exercise in the morning. The study was designed to determine the oxidation of fat and compare the effect of exercise in the case of fasting and the state of eating and how it affects the sensitivity of insulin, and therefore the results of the study is excellent for the prevention of diabetes as exercise in the morning have a greater impact on insulin sensitivity in the case of fasting, but it has nothing to do with losing weight or increasing muscle mass. So such articles about morning exercises do not tell you the whole truth. It is easy to research and deduce certain information and write it in a way that makes you enthusiastic about reading it and even applying it. The truth is more complicated than that, since all those who participated in this study did not lose weight.


When should I do the exercise to achieve the greatest amount of weight loss?

The answer is inconclusive. Based on many research, it was not determined whether exercise at different times of the day affects the balance of energy or helps control weight. In other studies, it was concluded that it is not important at any time of the day to exercise because it does not affect significantly on short-term energy consumption in healthy adult.

In other words, do not be afraid to eat a large meal at dinner if you do exercise in an afternoon, the time of exercise will not affect your appetite or the amount of food you will eat.

When should I exercise to improve my muscular performance?

There is no definitive answer to this question and researchers found that performance is not much affected among people who exercise at different times of the day.



Here comes the answer we are waiting for!

The researchers agree that it is not important at any time of the day to exercise as long as you maintain correct exercises and learn how to maintain an active lifestyle. Therefore, exercise time is a personal matter that depends on the lifestyle of everyone and accordingly morning exercises are excellent for some people, while some prefer to do it at different times.


The researchers were unable to find any significant effect to reduce weight or increase muscle performance when people exercise at different times. If you feel that weight loss exercises performed at noon or in the afternoon will pay off, you have to continue and let the rest behind you.


If you still have doubts about the best exercise time, you should know that the studies have shown that you can break up the exercise several times or short spells and have the same effect of the exercise that you perform for a longer period in a single batch so try to stick to physical activity throughout the day and you can wake up and exercise for 15 minutes before your morning bath. You can also hike, walk at lunch, perform pressure exercises, bend at rest time, and take your children to walk after dinner.


The bottom line is that goals cannot be achieved in short cuts. The best workout is the one you actually do. More important than any science or subjective opinion on when you should train are the dull practicalities of your day-to-day. When can you actually get to the gym? When will you enjoy it? At what time does exercise most make you feel good?



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