When do you get a better workout? Morning or Evening

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Ahhh, the age old question: when is the best time to workout?  The best answer is to do your workout at the time you are most likely to do it. That is when you are least likely to blow it off.  For me, that means running in the morning.  By the end of the day I can find a myriad of reasons to blow off a run.

But when do you get the best workout?

In this recent New York Times article – Ready to Exercise? Check Your Watch – the author stumbles on a startling fact: her heart rate is consistently higher during evening workouts.  Does that mean she gets a better workout in the morning? It certainly seems so, as she would be doing the same workout with a lower heart rate – i.e. more efficiently.

Michael H. Smolensky, an expert in chronobiology, the study of the body clock, says that according to exercise physiologists you should be able to perform at the same level with a heart rate of 140 in the morning as in the afternoon or early evening.  But chronobiologists say your capacity to generate and tolerate a higher heart rate is better later in the day.”

“In the afternoon and evening,” Dr. Smolensky said, “you are in a different biological state.”

Read the full article to figure out your best workout time.

So what did you think? Is this information useful? Did you agree with it? Let me know!