In a perfect world I would choose to workout in the morning for the following reasons:
Hormonal Environment
During the morning, your circadian rhythm (which tunes your body to the rise and fall of the sun) triggers a rise in get up and go hormones like cortisol and a fall in rest and relax hormones like melatonin. Vice versa come the evening! Since a workout also triggers a release in get up and go hormones this can interfere with your circadian rhythm and by extension your sleep if done too late in the day.
Domino Effect
A positive training session first thing in the morning can easily spill over into the rest of your day triggering a cascade of healthy decisions like opting for a monster salad at lunch or declining the office feeders latest round of donuts.
Less Interference
Consistency is the most important factor influencing your fitness success so choosing a time of day to workout when you are least likely to get interrupted, distracted or pulled away by the rest of your life makes a lot of sense. For most people that time is first thing in the morning!
More Energy
Let’s face it, after a long day at work it can be quite hard to motivate yourself to get your workout gear on in the evening. Certainly is for me. The inertia to start is that much higher!
Smug Factor
Yup, there is something quite satisfying about banking a great workout early in the morning. It’s done, dusted and you can look forward to tackling the rest of the day.
All that said, if the evening is the only time when you can workout, or indeed if the evening is your preferred time to workout… that is ABSOLUTELY fine!
90% of the discussions around health and fitness are about optimising the 10% of things that don’t really matter.
And that includes what time of day you choose to workout.