Workout Timing: Is Morning or Evening Better??

Aloha my friends!

I’ve been working for several weeks now on my next YouTube video, which will be on all-natural strategies for optimizing each of the 8 anabolic hormones that determine how easy or hard it is for us to gain muscle and lose fat!

There’s so much to go over though that I eventually realized if I covered everything I had been planning to, the video would be wayyyy to long (like… well over an hour).

So to not let all the extremely important content that I had to cut just go to waste, I decided to share what I could in Fitness-Tip Friday newsletters! (And put the rest on my membership site.)

Today’s tip is one of those!

Here it is:

You probably know that testosterone is one of the most important anabolic hormones that exist — particularly for men.

The simple way to think of it is that more testosterone you have when you work out… the greater gains you’ll achieve.

HOWEVER. In reality… it’s not that simple.

The TRUTH is that the ratio of your testosterone levels compared to your cortisol levels (the primary stress hormone) is what really matters… because cortisol counteracts testosterone’s effects!

So here’s what you need to know.

Your testosterone levels fluctuate in a “circadian rhythm”, where they’re highest in the morning, as shown in the following graph:

So… working out in the morning is best. Right?

Well, what you ALSO need to know is that cortisol levels ALSO follow a circadian rhythm, where they’re ALSO highest in the morning (in fact, the morning cortisol spike is what wakes you up):

And here’s the key. The morning cortisol peaks are MUCH higher than the testosterone morning peaks… and the evening cortisol lows are MUCH lower than the testosterone evening lows!

So here is what a graph of your testosterone to cortisol RATIO actually looks like:

So how much testosterone you have that ISN’T being counteracted by cortisol is significantly higher in the afternoon and evening than it is in the morning!

ALSO, some studies have found that the boost in testosterone that exercise itself creates is larger in the afternoon than the morning.

Therefore, there’s strong evidence that you can achieve greater gains working out later in the day!

HOWEVER, the same studies also note that there’s a lot of variation between individuals with these circadian rhythms… so while the above is true on average, it may not be true for you.

And of course, you can still achieve your goals working out in the morning. I personally always do my workouts in the mornings, because I have a hard time focusing for work if I haven’t exercised. And there are plenty of other benefits to working out in the mornings.

But what I went over above is still very valuable to know, and may affect the time of day that YOU choose to do your workouts!

Application: Evidence suggests you can achieve greater gains workout out in the AFTERNOON / EVENING, due to a significantly higher testosterone to cortisol ratio!

Relevant Previous FTF Tips (for All-Access Members):

1) Week 50  | How to Naturally Increase Testosterone Levels (in Men)!

Relevant Research Article(s):

1) Interactions of cortisol, testosterone, and resistance training: influence of circadian rhythms