What Time of Day Do You Workout? What I Learned From 1,198 Gym-Goers (Case Study)

I studied 1,198 gym-goers to determine their preferred time of the day to workout.

In this article, you’ll learn the favoured times of the day that people workout and their reasons why.

Additionally, I also wish to discuss numerous scientific exercise-related studies which provide a “best” or optimal” time of the day to workout.

Let’s start with a quick breakdown of the results.

• 530 people (44.24% of those studied) worked out in the early morning.
• 82 people (6.84%) worked out mid-morning.
• 64 people (5.34%) worked out at lunchtime.
• 132 people (11.02%) worked out mid-afternoon.
• 274 people (22.87%) worked out in the early evening.
• 62 people (5.18%) worked out at night time.
• 54 people (4.51% worked out very late at night.

What Did I Do to Determine When People Workout?

I conducted what I guess is known as an “observational survey”.

Therefore, the question had already been asked, so I simply collated the information I found from various sources.

I spend a lot of time in online fitness communities typically to get an idea of the struggles that people have with exercise and fitness.

So, this seemed like the perfect way to gather the information I required.

My main sources for this survey were the Bodybuilding.com forum, Reddit, Quora, T-Nation forum, and Starting Strength forum.

Admittedly, the vast majority of information I pooled came from the first 3 platforms.

It seems as though T-Nation and Starting Strength members haven’t discussed when they prefer to workout as much as the other platforms.

But still, I worked my way through a total of 62 different conversations, forum threads and discussions, and what follows is the “feedback” from 1.198 regular gym-goers. 

So, let’s look at the results in closer detail now.

What Time of Day Do You Workout? The Results

I’ve split the time of day into 7 different categories.

My reason for doing this is that out of the 1,198 “respondents” while many gave a specific time, a fair few simply gave a particular time of day.

So, I’ve had to do some guesswork based on the information provided.

For this survey I have concluded that the times are approximately as follows:

• Early Morning – 5am to 8am
• Mid-Morning – 9am to 12pm
• Lunch Time – 12pm to 2 pm
• Mid-Afternoon – 2pm to 4pm
• Early Evening – 4pm to 8pm
• Night Time – 8pm to 11pm
• Late Night – 11pm – 4am

We also have 132 people or 11.02% who like to workout between 2pm and 4pm.

Finally, the lowest percentages take up the other times of the day, and realistically are nowhere near as many as the other times of the day.

Reasons For Working Out at a Particular Time of the Day

Firstly, a common theme among respondents was that they didn’t have a particular time of the day that they preferred to exercise, but simply that they worked out when it felt right for them.

I must say that I totally agree with this.

While it’s great to know what others are doing, you should always do what feels best for you.

In other words, you know your body better than anyone else, so if you’re half asleep first thing in the morning, and you feel that this would affect the intensity of your workout, there’s no need to follow the crowd.

That being said, the most obvious reason for the two most popular workout times of the day comes down to work or school/college commitments.

Basically, it appears that the majority of people like to workout before they go to work or straight after work (or school/college).

Obviously, this makes a great deal of sense and also explains why 9am to 4pm are among the quieter times in the gym.

Furthermore, if you’re working or schooling during these hours you probably wouldn’t want to disturb your sleep patterns by working out late evening, night time, or even really late at night.

Now, let’s see exactly what people had to say about their preferred time of the day to workout.

“Morning For Me”

I would hazard a guess that this is quite a popular choice of workout time, and this is proven from the case study.

Basically, most of us are looking to train around work, school, or college.

So, the vast majority of the day, let’s say from 9am to 5pm is out of the question.