Morning vs Evening: When Do You Work Out?

Morning vs Evening workouts?!?!  

If you would have asked me 3 months ago which I prefer I would have told you 100% mornings but today I will tell you it is evenings or after work.  I am not a night person, I prefer to get up early in the morning rather than stay up late so morning workouts were much easier for me to complete rather than afternoon or evening workouts.  The reason I have changed my routine from morning to late afternoon/evening is because in June I joined a racing team that meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

During the week 90% of my workouts occur after work or in the evenings but on the weekend I continue to workout in the morning because I do not want lose the whole day waiting to work out.  I have actually come to love my evening workouts just as much as I have loved working out in the early am.  There are definite advantages and disadvantages to either option.

Yesterday afternoon was a classic example of why it is better to work out in the am.  Monday I spent most of my day in bed with a severe migraine and felt slightly better yesterday morning.  I went to work still battling the after effects of the migraine like light sensitivity and by the time I got home from work a little after 4 o’clock I just did not want to go for a run but our team didn’t meet for our usual track workout Tuesday night because we were volunteering at a race (which I missed anyway due to the migraine) so I felt like I needed to do some speedwork yesterday.

I just did not want to go………..Nike actually sent me their Nike + GPS Sportwatch I had planned on using but I couldn’t get my computer to connect to the internet so I couldn’t set it up  After futzing around with the internet for 15 minutes without success I just changed into my workout clothes and went to grab my Garmin only to find this:

As if I needed another excuse not to run  I took a deep breath, tweeted about my lack of motivation, grabbed my Gymboss to use for the speedwork and headed out the door in my new Nike FlyKnit Trainers (another gift I received from Nike).  I ended up really enjoying my run as I usually do but I couldn’t help but think that I could have been done with my workout if I had just gone in the morning.

My Nike FlyKnit Trainer + my Gymboss = 1 awesome run!!!!

I completed this workout after work yesterday and once I was 5 minutes into my run I felt great but I could just as easily blown it off because I was tired and cranky.  This is the biggest disadvantage of afternoon/evening workouts compared to morning workouts where you wake up, workout and then you are done for the day….no excuses.  It is so easy to just skip an afternoon workout but having a team on Tuesday and Thursday nights makes it slightly more difficult because I know other people are expecting me to be there but when it is just me I just have to play mind games with myself to get out the door sometimes.

Morning workouts are great because when they are done I felt accomplished and ready to start my day but because I work at 8 a.m. I would have to be out the door by 5 a.m. to give me enough time to workout and get back home to get ready for work in time.  In the summer when it is light out already it is not so bad but in the cold, dark winters it is much harder to get out the door that early.  The other disadvantage to early morning workouts is the safety risks of working out in the dark and when there are less people around in general.

It doesn’t really matter when you workout as long as you workout so choose a time that works for you whether it is morning, afternoon or evening.  Just remember that there are always going to be days you don’t feel like working out so just push yourself to start anyway and I guarantee 95% of the time you will complete that workout, I know I always do!!!!

Today is the last day for you to enter My Race Ragz Giveaway for a custom running shirt!!!

When do you prefer to workout?

Tagged as: Flyknit Trainers, GYMBOSS, Nike