Fitness column - Choose time of day to suit you

The Colonel says: Jess, first and foremost, regardless of when you train it’s the very fact that you ARE training that’s good!

There have been various studies that suggest positives for both morning and evening training but essentially, what really matters is your motivation.

If you aren’t a “morning person”, your motivation is going to be limited, if you’re used to working nights you might not want to get up early to work out. You need to train when you will feel motivated to do so.

People have too many reasons to avoid exercise and not having the time should never be one of them.

Training in the morning potentially “jump starts” your metabolism for the day.

You will definitely burn fat if you train on an empty stomach but the counter point to this is that you will need to refuel your body to make up for lost fluids and minerals, make sure you are drinking water to keep yourself hydrated and try protein shakes.

Training in the evening has been said to aid sleep, working out after a full day at work could potentially help you drift into a peaceful slumber.

Your metabolism will also drop on an evening so exercising later has its advantages too.

Both have pros and cons -my advice; train whenever it fits your schedule.

This way you will minimise your chances of making any excuses and won’t ‘leave it ‘til tomorrow!’ Test drive it, try the morning and if it doesn’t work try the evening and vice-versa! Make it work for you!