Study Suggests Exercising In The Morning vs. Evening May Affect Your Fitness Results

Fitting exercise into a hectic schedule usually means finding any free moment to get your workout done, no matter the hour.

In order to determine the benefit of fitting training into certain times of the day, one small study took 27 active women and 20 men and measured their fitness progress over the course of 12 weeks. 

Participants began at the same baseline fitness level, and the study monitored various measures of strength progress, abdominal fat loss, and other health markers.

In this study of active people, female participants who completed their strength training in the morning (6 to 8 a.m.) displayed not only improvements in lower-body power in exercises such as jump squats but also a significant reduction in total and abdominal fat.

As for evening workouts (6:30 to 8:30 p.m.), female participants in this group were found to have better success in increasing upper-body strength, power, and endurance.

In terms of body composition, women who exercised in the evening still experienced a reduction in total body fat but less significantly than their morning workout counterparts.

Instead, they were found to have better success with overall muscle growth, which can be useful to take into consideration when looking at fitness goals. "Exercise in the evening may provide improvements in upper body muscular performance, and possibly mood enhancement," the study authors note. 

And if you're looking to get the most out of your strength training routine, no matter what time you work out, you should consider taking a creatine supplement. Creatine supplements are well-researched and can help you build more muscle than exercise alone.* 

One review2 found that people taking creatine gained an average of 2.5 pounds of muscle, around 4-5% more muscle mass than those who just exercised. And, they lost an average of 1.6 pounds of fat mass (losing 1-2% more fat mass than their peers who didn't supplement).* 

Always choose a creatine powder that contains a minimum 5-gram serving of creatine monohydrate (the most researched form of the compound). mindbodygreen's creatine+ fits the bill (and also includes 2 grams of taurine to further support muscle health and longevity).*

It should come as no surprise that women and men react differently to exercise, but this study reveals exactly how much gender and the time at which you work out can play into body composition, strength gains, and overall fitness improvements.

Separate from even your diet and the workouts you're doing, catering your exercise time to specific goals can allow you to create a more targeted approach to fitness (and even boost your mood, in the case of evening workouts!)