Most often, it is advised to do sports in the morning, when the body is fresh, and the problems accumulated during the day are not spinning in the head. You can also hear that training at this time is especially useful for losing weight.
This makes sense, but not so unambiguously. In fact, both morning and evening workouts have their advantages. The choice depends on what you want to achieve. Below we will analyze when it is better to train for various goals.
For muscle building
Evening exercise helps to build muscles faster than morning exercises. In addition, the higher the training of a person, the greater the effect will be. For example, in one study, evening sessions provided experienced bodybuilders with a 3.2% increase in muscle mass, while the same load in the morning increased muscle mass by only 0.6%.
Perhaps such a difference is related to fluctuations in the level of hormones during the day.
For muscle building, the amount of the male sex hormone testosterone and the "stress hormone" cortisol is of great importance. The first has a positive effect on muscle growth and fat burning, the second contributes to the accumulation of fat reserves and muscle breakdown.
Testosterone production increases at night and peaks in the morning. Then the level of the hormone gradually decreases, increases slightly at 4-6 p.m., and then falls again, down to the lowest values at nine in the evening.
And it would seem that if its level is highest in the morning, you should train at dawn. But don't forget about cortisol. Its number increases after midnight and reaches its peak around eight in the morning, and then gradually decreases.
As a result, the most favorable ratio of testosterone and cortisol is observed at the same 16-18 hours: at this time, as already mentioned earlier, the male sex hormone rises slightly, and the stress hormone is at a low level. In addition, in the evening there is a high activity of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) - another anabolic hormone that contributes to the increase in muscle mass.
Perhaps that is why more intense anabolic signals are noted in the muscles after training in the afternoon than after training in the morning.
To increase strength
Although muscle size and strength are not the same thing, these indicators are directly related to each other. After evening training, not only the volume of muscles grows faster, but also your achievements in strength training. The fact is that at this time, the strength, power and level of muscle activation increases - the body's ability to use more fibers during loads. As a result, working weights increase faster than after morning classes.
This can be partly explained by the difference in body temperature that changes throughout the day.
In the morning, it is about 36.6 °C, then it gradually rises and reaches its peak at 6–9 p.m. Then it begins to fall and drops to the lowest values at 3 o'clock in the morning. The higher the body temperature, the softer and more elastic your muscles are. It is easier for you to warm up before class, and in the process of training, the fibers work more powerfully and efficiently.
However, body temperature and muscle readiness for exercise can be increased even before morning classes. For example, if you drink coffee. One study found that 250 mg of caffeine provided the same neuromuscular readiness in the morning as before evening workouts without caffeine.
To increase endurance
If strength exercises are better performed in the evening, then these studies are ambiguous regarding aerobic loads on endurance. Some studies show increased performance in the morning, others show the best results from evening sessions.
In general, it doesn't really matter if you run, swim, or do other aerobic work. The main thing is to do it at about the same time. Adherence to the regime causes adaptation of the body and increases its productivity at the usual time for classes.
For weight loss
Morning workouts help to efficiently process fat and sugar during the day, and also increase fat oxidation. In other words, after them, your body is better able to cope with the incoming calories and put less in reserve. However, evening workouts burn more calories than morning sessions at the same intensity, so it's hard to say which will help you lose fat faster.
However, if we look at the problem of weight loss in general, training in the first half of the day is still more effective due to the influence on eating behavior.
Several studies have shown that morning exercises help control appetite and choose healthier food, as well as increase physical activity during the day. And since good nutrition and overall physical activity often mean more than exercise, anyone trying to lose weight should really start their day with exercise.
To improve health
In addition to weight loss, morning workouts provide some other health benefits:
- Increase brain abilities. 30 minutes of light activity in the morning, along with three-minute breaks during the workday, improves working memory and executive functions of the brain, and also increases the level of BDNF, a protein that stimulates and supports the development of neurons and glial cells.
- Reduce the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. After several weeks of morning exercises, blood pressure decreases during sleep, which is a good indicator of heart health.
- Reduce the risk of hypoglycemia in patients with type I diabetes. Low cortisol in the evening reduces gluconeogenesis and the body's response to glucagon, which increases the likelihood of hypoglycemia during and after exercise. Early exercise with high cortisol does not have these effects, which reduces the risk of a dangerous drop in blood sugar.
At the same time, it must be said that regular physical activity at any time of the day will have a positive effect on weight, health and the volume of muscle mass. So choosing a training schedule primarily depends on your capabilities and preferences.
If you are used to working with a barbell in the morning, and after a work shift you feel like a squeezed lemon, you should not change the regimen just because evening classes provide a slightly greater increase in strength and muscle mass. The same applies to training in the afternoon. If you like to run at this time, and in the morning you feel like a sack and suffer every kilometer (like me), there is no need to turn the exercise into torture.
Another thing is to add a small charge for 15-20 minutes after waking up to better concentrate and choose healthy food during the day.
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