Benefits of a Nighttime Workout

Do you exercise in the morning? Early morning workouts to start off the day might not be as beneficial as you think when it comes to sleeping at night. New research, shown in Cell Metabolism, has found a significant link between the benefits of exercise and time of day. These new studies show that exercising at night before we go to bed really benefits sleep. This means if you have trouble sleeping, maybe you should try a nighttime workout.

It’s too early to definitively say what time of day is best for effective exercise, but research shows there is a significant link between time of day and the benefits of exercise. This is because the human body undergoes hormonal changes throughout the course of a daily cycle. These hormones affect sleep and can change depending on what time of day it is. Growth hormones are produced in the night during sleep while cortisol is produced early in the morning. This makes sense that certain times of day might work better than others for meeting specific exercise goals.

A 2018 study suggests that NFL teams tend to play better during games starting around 8 or 9 p.m. when compared to games starting around 1 or 4 p.m. This likely due to the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. This study does helps prove that vigorous aerobic exercise in the evenings may help sleep.

Researchers are still exploring more details on the connection between exercise efficiency and time of day. Though there is not much data to justify exercising at one time or another, researchers say the evening might be the best time to get in your workout. So, if you are having trouble sleeping, you may want to try a nighttime workout.

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Article written by William Graves.