Does The Time of Your Workout Impact Strength Gains? What The Research Shows

Fitting exercise into a hectic schedule usually means finding any free moment to get your workout done, no matter the hour.

While it's clear that any exercise is beneficial for your health, studies1 suggest that aligning your workout timing with your specific fitness objectives can enhance your results.

Conducting the study

In order to determine the benefit of fitting training into certain times of the day, one small study took 27 active women and 20 men and measured their fitness progress over the course of 12 weeks. 

Participants began at the same baseline fitness level, and the study monitored various measures of strength progress, abdominal fat loss, and other health markers.

The researchers ensured that participants also followed a similar macronutrient-dense diet.

The benefits of exercising in the morning

In this study of active people, female participants who completed their strength training in the morning (6 to 8 a.m.) displayed not only improvements in lower-body power in exercises such as jump squats but also a significant reduction in total and abdominal fat.

"It's important to highlight these favorable body composition changes occurred in the absence of changes in body weight," the study specified.

The benefits of exercising in the evening

As for evening workouts (6:30 to 8:30 p.m.), female participants in this group were found to have better success in increasing upper-body strength, power, and endurance.

In terms of body composition, women who exercised in the evening still experienced a reduction in total body fat but less significantly than their morning workout counterparts.

Instead, they were found to have better success with overall muscle growth, which can be useful to take into consideration when looking at fitness goals. "Exercise in the evening may provide improvements in upper body muscular performance, and possibly mood enhancement," the study authors note. 

As for men, those who exercised in the evening experienced the same change in body composition as the a.m. fitness group, but working out in the evening offered a more significant reduction in blood pressure.

Add a creatine supplement for even more benefits

And if you're looking to get the most out of your strength training routine, no matter what time you work out, you should consider taking a creatine supplement. Creatine supplements are well-researched and can help you build more muscle than exercise alone.* 

One review2 found that people taking creatine gained an average of 2.5 pounds of muscle, around 4-5% more muscle mass than those who just exercised. And, they lost an average of 1.6 pounds of fat mass (losing 1-2% more fat mass than their peers who didn't supplement).* 

Always choose a creatine powder that contains a minimum 5-gram serving of creatine monohydrate (the most researched form of the compound). mindbodygreen's creatine+ fits the bill (and also includes 2 grams of taurine to further support muscle health and longevity).*

Women, in particular, have been loving creatine+ to energize their workouts, tone their muscles, and recover more efficiently.* 

The takeaway

It should come as no surprise that women and men react differently to exercise, but this study reveals exactly how much gender and the time at which you work out can play into body composition, strength gains, and overall fitness improvements.

Separate from even your diet and the workouts you're doing, catering your exercise time to specific goals can allow you to create a more targeted approach to fitness (and even boost your mood, in the case of evening workouts!)

At the end of the day, what really matters is that you're taking the time to work out and prioritize moving your body whenever works best for you. But if you want to get granular, looking at the time you're exercising may play a role.

If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medications, consult with your doctor before starting a supplement routine. It is always optimal to consult with a health care provider when considering what supplements are right for you.