Should You Exercise After 8:00 PM? Is It Good For You?
There are conflicting ideas about when is the best time to work out. One school of thought says that morning workouts are the best while another says that you should work out whenever you feel comfortable and have enough energy. Let’s look closer at what happens if you go for a brisk walk or exercise after 8:00 PM.
What You Should Know:
The Advantages of Working Out at Night
One of the main advantages of course is that you are actually working out and getting some exercises or your daily 10,000 steps. But here are a few more advantages of working out after 8:00 PM:
- It’s a great time to work out if you are not a morning person or have to leave early for work.
- You could set up a regular routine that you can stick to after work.
- You are aware of the calories you have consumed during the day so you can adjust your workout if you need to burn extra.
- It helps you let go of the daily stress.
- It could help you sleep better if there is at least a two-hour gap between your workout and bedtime.
The Disadvantages of Working Out at Night
As every individual is different, exercising or brisk walking after 8:00 PM does not suit everyone. Here are some disadvantages of a night workout that some people might experience:
- You could be too tired to have an effective workout.
- You might end up skipping days if you are working late or have an early morning appointment.
- Exercising too close to bedtime could cause you to take longer to fall asleep.
- Exercising immediately after eating dinner could cause muscle cramps and indigestion.
- If you miss a morning workout you can make up for it in the evening, you can’t do this with an evening workout.
How to Decide What You Should Do?
If you’re trying to decide whether you should work out early in the morning or whether a post-dinner workout suits you better, here’s what you should do:
- Try exercising in the mornings for a month. Fix a time and the duration of the workout or walk and try to stick to it as much as possible.
- Evaluate how you feel before you start your workout each morning. Are you able to wake up easily? Do you look forward to exercising? Are you being consistent?
- Try exercising after 8:00 PM for the next month. When fixing the time, make sure that you give yourself enough time after dinner and at least two hours before bed.
- Evaluate how your evening workout is going. Ask yourself the same questions as earlier but also check if your sleep patterns have changed in any way. Are you sleeping better, the same, or not as well with an evening workout?
Once you have done this experiment, you can compare your results from each set of workouts. What you are looking for is the time when you enjoy working out more. Looking forward to your exercise also tends to lead to you being more consistent. According to what you find, you can choose to workout either in the morning or after 8:00PM. Just make sure that you stay active every day.
