Sheer Balance

It may sound painful, but working out in the morning provides you with multiple benefits, making your workout more effective than a workout in the afternoon or evening.

• Exercising on an empty stomach allows you to burn fat and calories that are stored vs. those that you have eaten during the day, making your caloric burn more efficient
• You burn an increased number of calories for up to 2 or 3 hours after a workout. Combined with normal activity (as compared to the evening when you are winding down), your metabolism becomes super-charged. Further, this increased metabolism means burning off breakfast even faster than normal
• You wake up your body naturally, helping it to be ramped and ready to take on the day without needing caffeine and other chemicals to get you up and moving
• When waking up your body with exercise, you also wake up your mind, allowing you to be more productive, more alert and more effective throughout the day

So when considering staying up an extra hour to get things done after your evening workout, take that time to sleep and get up the extra hour early to get to the gym.