The Best Time Of Day To Do Weight Training Might Surprise You
If you've ever wondered what time of day is the best time to be weight training, look no further. Although lifting weights at any point in the day is better than not getting any exercise at all, the best time to weight train is actually in the late afternoon or early evening (via Insider). That's because your body tends to have more energy later on in the day, as opposed to the early hours of the morning when you have not yet had anything to eat.
If you wait to work out until after you've eaten at least two meals over the course of the day, you'll most likely have more fuel to burn during your workout. Your body is also the strongest in the evening. Studies have shown that the human body tends to have higher levels of testosterone, a lower rate of perceived exertion, and a higher anaerobic capacity— a scale that measures how hard your body is working during physical activity — later in the day. In fact, anaerobic capacity is around 7% higher in the evening, which is particularly helpful when it comes to weight training.
Benefits of weight training later in the day
Aside from having more strength and energy, there are a number of other important benefits to weight training later on in the day. For instance, lifting weights in the afternoon or early evening can actually increase your athletic performance (via Verywell Fit). That's because athletic performance is closely linked to body temperature, which tends to peak in the evening. This is when your body is the most alert and awake.
Weight training later in the day can also help you build more muscle. This is largely due to the cortisol to testosterone ratio in your body, which tends to be higher in the evening. That's because the stress hormone cortisol, which helps break down muscle, decreases more over the course of the day than testosterone, allowing the testosterone in your body to enter an anabolic state and start building muscle. In the end, however, you need to work out at whatever time is best for you. Lifting weights in the evening may work for some people, while working out in the morning might be more suitable for others.