The Worst Time to Exercise

People often ask "when is the best time to exercise?"

The answer of course, is not a simple number on the clock. The best time for each person will vary depending on that person's lifestyle, temperment, and preferences. Each person has to be realistic, think carefully about his or her daily schedule, and decide when it will be "easiest" to keep up with a daily routine.

Several studies DO shed some light on successful tactics, however. In general, people who exercise first thing in the morning are most likely to keep up with exercise long term. I always suspected that this is because there are fewer interuptions first thing in the morning - fewer phone calls from friends, fewer last minute "homework emergencies" from the kids, fewer "work emergencies", etc. A new study shows there may be an additional reason (more on this later...)

Anyone who knows me, knows for sure that I am not a natural "morning person" - yet I absolutely HAVE to work out first thing in the morning, because realistically I just won't get to it at night. When I work out in the morning, I am still half asleep - which is great, because by the time I fully wake up, my workout is over!

A new study shows that one of the worst, most painful times to exercise is AFTER you have performed a long, complicated mental task. A study published in the March issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology found that people who performed a mentally taxing chore BEFORE exercise, didn't exercise as long, and reported feeling much more exhausted, compared to people who watched a movie before exercise.

In other words, mental fatigue makes the same exercise feel harder and more exhausting, and can cut into your exercise time. If you are doing challenging mental work all day, exercise after work can feel tougher than the same workout done first thing in the morning.
Check out this article on WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20090227/mental-fatigue-can-make-exercise-harder

So what does this mean to you? Well, if you happen to have a mentally challenging, taxing chore to perform, you might want to exercise BEFORE you do it. Hey, sounds like a great reason to procrastinate, and put off that chore while you work out, doesn't it? When it comes to sneaking in exercise, give yourself whatever excuse you need!