Need to Know: Morning vs. Evening Exercisers

I am not a morning person. I never have been and I most likely never will be. I am much friendlier later in the day when my body has had a chance to wake up, have some breakfast and come to terms with leaving dreamland. As someone who likes to workout I often hear people tell me that to get the most from my workout I need to get up before work and hit the gym. Unfortunately, this has never been me. Believe me, I have tried time and time again. It just doesn't stick. I hit the snooze button or if by some miracle I make it out for an early morning exercise routine, I don't workout nearly as hard. It is not for me. Perhaps it has sprung from years of late night basketball practices and volleyball games. But my body clock isn't fully functioning until the afternoon or evening. Plus - I can't exercise on an empty stomach and I really don't believe there is any benefit to it (it actually has been shown to do more harm in some cases, you need energy to perform!). I have to have breakfast before I workout hard and I don't want to have to wake-up at 4am to do it. I admire those who can, I really do, I just do not function well that early.

My writing, my running, my best workouts all come at night. My best blog posts often come after 10pm. For some reason, that is when I come alive. I'm a night owl through and through.

Thanks to a recent study from the National Sleep Foundation, I can now defend my choice to be an evening workout queen. According to their recent survey, no matter what time of day you workout, you get better sleep at night just because you were active. It doesn't matter if the workout was at 5am, 5pm or 9pm, you still reap the benefits. Your health, calorie burn and sleep pattern all benefit from exercise no matter when throughout the day that may be.

So evening and morning exercisers alike, rejoice! Any workout is a good workout. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Put in the work and reap the rewards. Just remember to sweat every day.