morning vs afternoon workouts

After a month of adding morning cardio a few times each week I haven't noticed much of a change...except that my breakfast doesn't hold me over until lunch...and I eat a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, fruit, and a protien shake...around 350 calories.

My morning work out is 45 min on my treadmill, walking briskly up hills and random sprints (I have a ton of great settings on my treadmill) I usually burn around 400 calories. I warm up before and cool down with stretching so all said it takes about an hour. I don't eat before hand and have my breakfast after I get ready for work.

So my point and question...I thought working out in the morning would result in more of a fat loss?  Or does it really matter when we work out?  When do you guys work out?

When I was working day shifts i made an attempt at morning workouts -which caused me to get up at 0300.

I found that I was seriously lacking energy and motivation.

For me, it was best to work out in the evening, after work around 7pm. I had all day to properly hydrate and plan my meals accordingly.

Unfortunately, I am now working night shifts and my workouts feel like those listless 3am ventures.

Every one is unique; do what's best for YOUR body.

Hey Jamie, I can't workout in the morning, I just won't do it : O I would totally set myself up for failure if I planned on only working out AM. I think the best time to workout is when your willing to.. (if that makes any sense?)

Everything I've heard says that working out in the morning is better for you since your heartrate stays higher all day, rather than working out at night when your HR will hit bottom when you go to bed.

Unfortunately for me, I'm so not a morning person, I will hit the snooze button 9-10 times if I'm not careful. So I just work out right after work, it's the best I can do.

A while ago I was doing an hour in the morning, and an hour in the evening, but that's when I was going to work later so it was easier... I got severely burnt out on that though, it was just too much.

I do a bit of both - but I am also a morning person have been all my life.  I get up about 4:30 and do some "telecommuting" for work for an hour and then do the elliptical for an hour then get ready to go into the office and eat breakfast right before I leave the house. 

On Monday and Wednesday I have a weight lifting class at the local comm college so after work 4:30 - 5:30 I go do weights.  On Tues/ Thursday I have a cardio mix class at the comm coll too its from 5:30 - 6:30 pm so I don't get home until about 7 and then its a late dinner, but ready for bed by 10. 

I don't get hungry on most mornings but I also do an early lunch @ 11:30 and sometimes in the afternoon before I go to my classes I'll eat a banana but for the most part I don't usually need that afternoon snack either.  I think if you are hungry a couple hours after eating a small snack it good.  I do admit I am usually starving come dinner time though

I must be from another planet because i perfer working out in the morning. It get's me all amped for the day and i find that i have more energy and a better attitude. after work i don't want to do anything. sometimes i will do a light workout in the evening like a mile on the treadmill or basketball with my kids. I find that i am hungry shortly after breakfast when i work out too. my cure for that hunger is i take a couple healthy snacks (around 100 calories) to work with me so that i have a healthy option at my finger tips throughout the day when hunger strikes. But i don't eat them if i don't get hungry.

i love my morning workouts...when i can get out of the warm cozy bed. they do make me feel great through out the day. i got up this morning and did 30 min of HIIT felt great.  To counter my hunger I added a bit more to my oatmeal and had a protien w/blueberry shake. I'm not the least bit hungry and should make it another hour till lunch.

My doctor told me that working out in the morning gives you a "double benefit."  You get the obvious benefit of the calorie burn from your workout, but when you work out in the morning it gets your heartrate up and helps speed your metabolism throughout the entire day.  Just gets everything moving faster and earlier, I think. 

However, if you're not a morning person, exercise is exercise.  You do it when you can!  It's all helpful in the end!

I get up at 4:15 am for my van pool (work), don't get back home until 4:00 pm, so the ONLY time I have to workout is after work.

The only problem I have with it, is I get SO energized from my workout I find it hard to get to sleep.  It is a pretty big issue for me, in that I get about 4 hours of sleep a night, not good for a 51 year old woman.  At 11pm I'm up wanting to do chores, etc.  I've learned to sleep in the van (1 hr commute) so that helps a little.

I LOVE weekends when I can workout in the morning, lift weights at a good pace, swim, hot tub, nice shower.....I have energy all day and can sleep at night...ah, bliss.....

my personal thought is that if you exercise in the morning before breakfast...then you burn the fat you have already stored...if you exercise in the afternoon then you burn the carbs you have eaten that day...also if you exercise in the morning, half an hour later your metabolism is fastest...therefore you can have breakfast

due to the fasted state of sleeping you do burn your reserves in the am.

breaking up your workout gives you a double boost.
say do your cardio in the am to fat burn. and strength training before dinner for another boost.

I have been doing morning workouts for about 2 months now (I am NOT a morning person either) and I can't say that I've noticed a difference in my success but I have noticed a difference in my moods- As hard as it is to get my lazy can out of bed @ 6am it feels SO GOOD when it's all done by 8! It gives me more time to spend w/my family as my kids are still sleeping when I get home from the gym!

And I PROMISE- the whole morning thing gets easier w/time. You just have to make sure you are going to bed early enough to get 7-8 hours of much needed sleep!

I honestly cannot get out of bed until the very last moment that is possible. So i'm yet to do a morning workout. But I'd love to be able to get into that routine - after a good workout my mood is much better and I've more energy.

But I work shift work - so getting into a routine is difficult. Today, I don't start work until 6pm, so I dragged myself out of bed (at midday mind you :P ) and went for a jog - so that is basically am for me! Tomorrow I start work at midday though, and it'll be dark by the time I get home.

If I had a routine of getting up at X time EVERY morning despite my work schedule id probably be seeing better results.

I guess what i'm trying to say is whenever you can fit it in is good - but a routine that fits around your commitments would be better - no matter what time of day/night it is.

I have read somewhere that it is supposed to be good for you to exercise in the morning so you can burn away all of that fat that you have stored over night. Then you can eat an hour after you have exercised! (I dont know why an hour but that's what a article said)