Sport is extremely beneficial for the body and mind. It improves health and fitness, reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular or musculoskeletal diseases and at the same time, relieves stress and improves mood. While it is universally recognised that exercising is good for you, experts and sportspeople are not unanimous on when to exercise. There are two main trends, namely those who argue that it is better to do sport in the morning and those who say that afternoons and evenings are the ideal time of the day for training. Despite the many studies on the topic, there is no right answer. In other words, there is no certainty that one moment or another is better and it also depends a lot on the individual person/athlete. However, there are some fairly universal concepts shared by everyone.
There are undoubtedly advantages to exercising in the morning. First of all, it allows you to start the day full of endorphins, in a good mood for having done something satisfying and with the peace of mind that you will then have time in the evening to devote yourself to other personal things, like meeting friends, cooking or relaxing. According to many scientists, exercising in the morning results in increased metabolism, which allows more calories to be burnt during the day, a fact that is potentially positive for some people.
However, according to various research, the human body's peak performance is reached in the afternoon. As stated in the research entitled Different effects of heat exposure upon exercise performance in the morning and afternoon, body temperature rises during the day, optimising muscle function and strength, endurance and enzyme activity. Furthermore, we are less receptive to pain in the afternoon, which means we can work harder and feel less fatigue. In short, in the late afternoon or evening, we are usually stronger, more flexible and more willing to work hard and this is also proven by the fact that many world records in sports have been broken in the evening.
However, working out in the late afternoon or evening can worsen the quality of sleep, especially for people who are more inclined to be productive in the morning and disrupt the circadian rhythm. The body temperature tends to drop while sleeping and melatonin production increases. Doing sports late at night raises the temperature and decreases the production of the sleep-related hormone, affecting our ability to sleep. According to the research entitled The effects of evening high-intensity exercise on sleep in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis, exercising improves the quality of sleep for most people, as long as you finish exercising at least two hours before going to bed.
In general, doing sports in the afternoon or evening allows you to perform better but you must be careful that it does not prevent you from sleeping, because rest is, among other things, essential for recovering after a workout. There are no major contraindications to exercising in the morning but there is probably a difference in the type of sport. In the book entitled A time for everything: Living in tune with your biological clock, physician and professor Roberto Manfredini wrote that it is best to do precision sports in the morning, when focus and aim are at their peak, while power sports are best left to the afternoon.
