When is the best time of day to do cardio-vascular exercise?

When is the best time of day to do cardio-vascular exercise?

Whether it’s early morning, mid-day, or evening, the most important thing is just doing it.

Your heart is a muscle and working it makes it stronger. A stronger cardio-vascular system means more capillaries delivering more oxygen to cells in your muscles. This enables your cells to burn more fat during both exercise and inactivity. Your goal should be to do some type of cardio-vascular/aerobic activity (walking at a moderate pace, running, biking, stair climbing, swimming, rowing, Zumba, etc) three to five times a week for a sustained period of time of at least 20-30 minutes. Vary your choice of cardio activity to stave off boredom.

Remember, your body’s primary and preferred energy source is Carbohydrates (glycogen). While you are sleeping, your levels of glycogen slowly decline to provide glucose for various bodily functions that go on throughout the night. As a result, you wake up in the morning with depleted glycogen and lower sugar and when your primary fuel source is in short supply, this forces your body to tap into its secondary or reserve energy source; body fat.

You always burn a combination of carbs and fat for fuel, but depending on when you exercise, you can burn a greater portion of fat relative to carbs. When you do cardio in the morning, you not only burn fat during the session, but you also continue to burn fat at an accelerated rate after the workout. This is sometimes referred to as the “after burn” effect. An intense cardio session can keep your metabolism elevated for hours after you’re done exercising. Burn baby burn!

If doing cardio first thing in the morning isn’t an option for you, then the next best time to do your cardio would be immediately after weight training. Lifting weights (using dumbbells, kettle bells, etc) is anaerobic (carbohydrate-burning) by nature, and therefore depletes muscles glycogen. That’s why a post lifting cardio session has a similar effect as morning cardio on an empty stomach. You will still burn fat. However, night time cardio can fail to take advantage of the “after burn” effect because your metabolism drops like a ton of bricks as you go to sleep which is when your metabolic rate is slower than any other time of the day.

Remember that every “body” is different. What works for one may not work for another. It is important to know your body and what it will and won’t respond to when it comes to cardio exercise.

If you have any questions or would like more info, be sure to contact one of the Certified Sports Nutrition Specialists at 4x Nutrition. Have a great workout!!