Devlin Brown at the water cooler: Training at any time is better than not training at all

I switched to training in the evenings during winter and I am enjoying it, but I always trained in the morning. When is the best time of the day to hit the gym?

The best time of the day to train, if performance matters to you, is 5.12pm. Perhaps it explains the gym rush hour? Or is it just workday reality, with people rushing to finish on the treadmill in time to cook supper before 7pm?

It is a fact, peer-reviewed even, that 5.12pm produces the best performance, but more on that in a bit. First, welcome. We know you’re new as this has been asked before. 

In May 2023, a reader asked a similar question and we answered that, according to studies, if you wish to fend off heart disease and stroke, you need to quit your office job and switch to remote working, as the perfect time is 11am. If you are a woman and want to lose belly fat and lower your blood pressure, mornings are best for you.

We also reported, however, that men who trained in the evening lowered their cholesterol, body fat and blood pressure more effectively than those who were part of the 5am club. You know, those who like to brag about it around the office water cooler. If the analysis paralysis weren’t enough, we also stumbled on studies that showed everyone builds more muscle later in the day and are stronger the longer the shadows become.

That’s what is so great about misusing science. If you have a business proposition that involves anything to do with supplements or exercise, you can — almost certainly — present study findings in a way to support your marketing efforts. A little science, sadly, goes a long way.

But what’s really going on? It’s all to do with our circadian rhythms and, yes, there are better or worse times to train. However, even within these generalisations there are contradictions. What works for your body may not work for mine. Ever met someone who works best in the early morning? I live with one. By the time most people are getting ready to start their work day she’s ready for lunch. 

I once had a client who would routinely answer emails (and WhatsApp, to my horror) at two in the morning. He was at his most productive in the hours when most of us are in our third REM cycle and thugs are scaling perimeter walls to break in and steal our TVs.

The only undeniable scientific fact, irrefutable and constant no matter the body type or context, is that exercise is better than no exercise. More exercise — within reason and appropriate for you — is better than less exercise. Your circadian rhythm will adapt, trust me. It has to because your Teams meetings and Monday morning manco and exco timetable won’t.

Which brings us back to 5.12pm. A study spanning the four Olympic Games between 2004 and 2016, called “Gold, silver or bronze: circadian variation strongly affects performance in Olympic athletes”, that was published in the journal Nature found that medal-winning swimmers recorded quicker times when they raced in the early evening, specifically around 5.12pm. Another study in Plos One found that recreational cyclists posted faster time trials in the evening, writing: “Performance was improved in the evening, and it was accompanied by an improved hormonal and metabolic milieu.”

The evidence is there for all to see. If you wish to swim faster, do so at 5.12pm and if you wish to cycle faster, make sure it’s during the evening, except only the bravest of the brave would dare to try that on SA roads.

These are all interesting studies, and no doubt behind many of the cutting-edge strategies we see in professional sport. Haven’t you marvelled at how the Boks recover from injury and hit the ground running with such intensity when everyone else around them is paralysed with jet lag?

Unless you have the privilege of working with scientists to find your most optimal time to train for marginal improvements and performance advantages, just training when you can, consistently, is guaranteed to be the best strategy.