What is the best time of day to exercise for weight loss? page

[Mike Gager]

somewhere i read in the morning before you eat was best because your body is still in its overnight fat burning cycle but im always so tired in the morning im not sure i really get what i should be getting out of these early morning workouts. so is there a perfect time of day to workout for fat burning?

[Marnee]

If there were, the difference it could possibly make would be negligible.

Just work out when it's best for your schedule or whatevers.

[loafingcactus]

Agreed. The best time to work out is the time you will actually work out.

[Sanctus Real]

I agree with all of the above. The times I exercise vary wildly; I'm a SAHM and fit it in where I can. Since the summer started, I've gone from exercising at 8:00 am, after dropping the kids at school to exercising when it's possible to exercise. Some days, the kids allow me to go to the gym while the day care center is open. Other days, it waits until my husband gets home at 5:30. Sometimes it happens once the kids are in bed.

[Mike Gager]

what if the best time for you to work out is right before bedtime? that cant be good for your sleep right?

[bloodorchid]

maybe an hour before bed

[bcbcbc2]

somewhere i read in the morning before you eat was best because your body is still in its overnight fat burning cycle but im always so tired in the morning im not sure i really get what i should be getting out of these early morning workouts. so is there a perfect time of day to workout for fat burning?

Yes, that WAS a popular theory for a while. To really follow the theory you would do low intensity(~60%mhr) steady state "fat burning" exercise like walking so a high effort level wouldn't be much of an issue. I still walk in the morning even though the value of burning fat directly compared to simply burning more calories has been pretty well discredited.

[Al_Kavadlo]

When's the best time to work out? NOW!

Seriously though, I did a blog about this topic a while back - check it out here.

[davem]

what if the best time for you to work out is right before bedtime? that cant be good for your sleep right?

It's great for your sleep. I actually preferred for a while to do a heavily lifting workout just a little before bed, so when I got home I was beat and slept like a corpse until the morning. It worked well, because I wake often at night, and times I did that I would just sleep through, wake up rested and the DOMs wouldn't hit til the next night usually.

[RezH]

It may be CW, but studies have shown men are strongest in the early evening, 4-6 pm. Obviously, there would be exceptions.