To boost exercise results, working out at a time that matches an individual’s body rhythm may help, but in practice it is more important to choose a time you can stick to, an expert advised.

Medical News Today (MNT) reported on April 18 that exercise physiology expert Mark Kovacs said sustainability matters more than optimising workout time.

Kovacs explained that the body can respond differently depending on whether someone is a morning or evening type. He said hormone status, body temperature and neuromuscular readiness change through the day, and these factors can affect exercise performance and long-term health outcomes. A study published recently in the journal Open Heart also suggested that exercising when a person is most awake and focused could be more favourable for cardiometabolic health.

Still, he said setting an exercise time should be based on a time you can keep rather than an “ideal time”. “For most people, the best time to exercise is the time they can keep consistently,” Kovacs said. “If you can do it regularly, safely and at a certain level of intensity, that time is the most appropriate.” He added that morning workouts can help build habits and maintain metabolic rhythms, while late-afternoon or early-evening workouts can produce better strength, power and coordination because body temperature and nervous system readiness are higher.

When people put off exercise because of fatigue, he advised distinguishing between real fatigue and a simple drop in motivation. Kovacs said even low-intensity activity can help and recommended starting with 5 to 10 minutes of light movement such as walking, gentle mobility exercises or bodyweight movements. He said this initial movement can increase blood flow and neurochemical responses, lifting energy and often leading to longer workouts.

When fatigue persists, he said people should check their recovery status before pushing intensity higher. “Chronic fatigue is often not something you should just push through, but a signal that you need to revisit sleep, nutrition, hydration and overall training volume management,” Kovacs said. Low- or moderate-intensity exercise can improve the ability to use energy over time, but if recovery strategies break down, workout consistency can also fall, he said.

He also said an approach that relies only on willpower has limits when it comes to maintaining motivation. “Exercise motivation is not something you wait for, but something you build through structure and habit,” Kovacs said. He said the most effective methods are scheduling exercise at a set time, setting realistic and measurable goals, and tracking progress. He said small achievements accumulating can also help sustain habits.

He said it is also important to vary exercise types. Mixing strength training, aerobic exercise and mobility work can reduce boredom while helping improve overall physical capability, he said. If it is hard to keep going alone, he added that using social commitments such as an exercise partner, coach or group workouts can be a strong tool for staying on track.

He also stressed there is no need to view taking a day or two off as a problem. Kovacs said physical adaptation happens not only during training but also during recovery. He said that especially as people age, including 1 to 2 days a week as recovery days or low-intensity workout days is important for long-term progress and injury prevention. Complete rest is not the only answer, he added, and active recovery such as walking, light stretching or low-intensity cycling can also help circulation and recovery.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity or at least 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination. The core message of the advice was that what matters in meeting such standards is not exercising at maximum intensity every day, but creating a structure that can be sustained over the long term without overexertion.

Ultimately, the key that determines exercise results lies not in insisting on a specific time of day but in building a structure that fits one’s daily pattern and recovery status and can be carried out consistently. Exercise timing that matches body rhythm can help, but over the long term the practical solution is to plan manageable frequency and intensity along with sufficient recovery, and this was presented as the core of the advice.