Working Out at Night: Fitter and Healthier

Alarm clocks that sound off before the sun has even started to crack the horizon should be terminated. Most people don’t need to hear the harsh siren of an alarm clock or even birds chirping in the morning. If getting out of bed is a daily struggle you can’t expect to perform at your best in the gym 20 minutes later. No one has to be a morning person and it’s not as advantageous as the gurus make it out to be. Giving yourself a full day to build up steam for a workout makes you feel like your doubling what would have been a painful sunrise workout. Working out in the evening does more than fit into your schedule, it raises your level of fitness and has multiple health benefits. If you’re a sundown, nocturnal lifter and have been forcing yourself to train early, listen up. Working out in the evening will change your life.

Higher Quality Sleep

It might seem obvious that by turning forward the alarm and sleeping in later to tackle an evening workout that you’ll feel more rested. Many worry that exercising later in the day may affect their sleep but according to a study by the National Sleep Foundation, no difference was found in the quality of sleep or those who vigorously exercise in the evening versus other times. Better yet, many studies like this one have shown that people who train in the evening actually have a higher quality sleep. As long as you set a sleeping schedule and put your time in you’ll be in for the most refreshing sleep of your life.

Better Quality Workouts

If you’re serious about your results and always looking for an edge training at night has been shown to produce greater results. Several studies showed substantial improvements in hypertrophy and high-intensity exercise outputs for participants training in the evening. They trained harder and lasted longer during their sets and workouts. That translates to heavier weights, new levels of fitness and consistent PRs.

Bring Down Blood Pressure

If you’re here for a good time and a long time you want low blood pressure. Maintaining lower blood pressure is always heart healthy and a staple of longevity. Lower blood pressure means your heart and arteries don’t take unnecessary wear and tear that has serious aging and health-risk effects. Scheduling your training for the end of the day has been positively correlated with a decrease in blood pressure. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research published a study that found people who trained at night versus the morning saw a 15% decrease in blood pressure. 15 percent is more than a lot, most people spend months exercising and dieting to see those results.

Your Body Will Be Ready to Crush Workouts

Everyone has experienced how much heavier things feel in the morning whether it’s luggage for a trip or 45-pound plates. There’s science behind the body’s readiness to train in the afternoon: Circadian rhythms — the heart’s natural daily patterns — throughout the day shift becoming most optimal for high training outputs later in the day. Even more important, cortisol (A stress hormone) levels are naturally highest in the morning creating a catabolic rather than anabolic muscle-building environment that produces results. Testosterone levels also rise later in the day directly improving resistance training performance and recovery. Improved function of your heart and an increase in anabolic hormones at night is more than enough to prime your body to perform evening training sessions.

Higher Intensity Training, Faster Results

Training at higher heart rates and weights forces the body to adapt and grow to meet the demands you put on your body. Pushing your body past its comfort zone is the key to big changes and results. The New England University of Birmingham recently published a study finding that those who trained in the evening went 20 percent longer and trained at a higher intensity. Put the morning gym crew back to bed because it’s clear that evening workouts bring serious results. Working out later in the day isn’t procrastination; it’s a strategic move to training longer, harder and smarter. That’s not just gym talk, that’s proven by research.Read more fitness articles here.