When is the Best Time to Exercise?

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Adjusting to a new semester schedule can come with many challenges. One of the most common ones is finding the right time to work out. With classes, meetings, and other obligations, most students either work out late at night or early in the morning. But what time is really best for you? Here are the cases for each.

Morning

While waking up before class to get to the gym seems daunting, there are many reasons why it can benefit you.

A study in the Journal of Physiology found that working out earlier in the morning adjusts your schedule, making you more alert in the morning but more tired in the evenings. And since exercise reduces stress, working out in the morning can improve your mental health for the rest of the day.

Caroline Guterres, a sophomore nursing major who runs her own fit-stagram (@caros_fitsta) says that to burn fat, it’s better to work out in the morning.

“It’s best to work out first thing in the morning, before you eat anything, because then your body burns what it has stored and will continue to burn calories throughout the day,” Guterres said.

For sophomore environmental science major Shannon Leonard, there’s another benefit to a morning workout: “There are less people, and the machines are more available,” Leonard said.

College is exhausting, and waking up before class to work out is much less common. So if you like to have your space, opt for an earlier gym time.

Night

Working out in the evening is much more common, which makes the gym a lot more crowded, but depending on your fitness goals, it may be worth the wait time for the machines.

“I prefer for my difficult workouts to be at night,” said fifth year family science major and UMD RecWell instructor Jessica Pickett. “If it’s truly a good workout, I’m too exhausted to do anything else!”

It’s also better to have eaten before completing more strenuous workouts, which is why nighttime could be preferable.

“If you’re training and need to exert more energy for a longer amount of time, then you should probably work out later in the day when you’ve eaten a decent amount of healthy foods to fuel you throughout the session,” said Guterres.

So…

Ultimately, the optimal time to work out depends on your fitness goals. If you’re looking to burn fat, getting up a little earlier to get a workout in before class can make a difference. Conversely, lengthy, strenuous workouts will likely be more successful in the evening.

“The primary factor when choosing a time to work out is your ability to adhere to that time,” said UMD RecWell personal trainer and sophomore kinesiology major and Harrison Wu. “Pick a time that is most convenient for you, and you’ll be less likely to skip.”

Your body will also adapt to your work out schedule and be more efficient if you consistently go to the gym at a certain time every day, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.