Hit the gym before work, or after?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Paul Arciero from Skidmore College and team wondered: Does time of day make a difference with exercise?
They assigned over fifty people to work out in the morning or evening. After twelve weeks, they measured effects on participants’ health, mood, and body metrics.
And?
All participants showed improved health regardless of exercise time. Women won more upper-body strength gains with evening workouts, but lost MORE stomach fat from morning ones. Evening exercise improved mens’ cholesterol and blood pressure, and boosted everyone’s mood!
So if you have specific goals, consider the time you work out.
As for me, the best time to exercise today is always…tomorrow!
Reference: Arciero, P. J., Ives, S. J., Mohr, A. E., Robinson, N., Escudero, D., Robinson, J., … Yarde, A. (2022). Morning Exercise Reduces Abdominal Fat and Blood Pressure in Women; Evening Exercise Increases Muscular Performance in Women and Lowers Blood Pressure in Men. Frontiers in Physiology, 13, 983. https://doi.org/10.3389/FPHYS.2022.893783