Yes, you can exercise at night

(Laura’s note: This post originally ran at Vanderhacks, my Substack newsletter. To learn more or subscribe, please visit here.)

I know that many people reading a productivity blog are morning people. Probably a number of folks reading this have already gotten a workout in today. I’m a big fan of morning exercise, and for many people with commutes and families, early morning is the time of day that works best.

But I’m an even bigger fan of exercise, period, and if morning, or mid-day, or even after work doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean you have to declare defeat. You can absolutely exercise at night, and considering the possibility can lead to all sorts of smart scheduling decisions.

When mornings don’t work

I hear from a lot of people who’ve been frustrated in their attempts to exercise in the mornings. Perhaps work starts at 6 a.m. and the bedtime required for a 5 a.m. wake-up is already pushing the limits of normal. Some people’s kids wake up unpredictably. There’s little more frustrating than setting an alarm for 5 a.m. only to have your kids hear that alarm too. Lunchtime is hit or miss and if people want to see their young kids, stopping by the gym for an hour every night after work doesn’t seem appealing either.

That leaves night time, perhaps after the kids are in bed, but that’s fine. Evenings can actually be a great alternative to morning workouts. The old assumption was that evening exercise was a bad idea because it would keep you awake. New research has revealed that this assumption is false. People who exercise sleep better than people who don’t, full stop. It is a lot less important when this exercise happens.

Dealing with the logistics

Of course, if you’ve had a tough day at work, or battled to get your kids to bed, you might not be highly motivated to do much. Maybe there are logistical barriers — you’re the only adult at home, for instance, so leaving your sleeping little ones to go to the gym isn’t an option.

But there are ways around all of this. First, you don’t have to exercise daily. Maybe start by aiming for two evenings a week. Choose these evenings ahead of time so you can steward your energy during the day. Knowing that exercise is in your plan for the evening can make it slightly more likely to happen.

Second, choose something accessible. If you have a treadmill, stationary bike, or a weight set at home, awesome. If you don’t, search on YouTube for exercise videos that use body weight, or try a service that streams fitness classes. Of course, you can run or walk outside if it’s light (as it is in mid-summer), or if you live somewhere with sidewalks and where it’s safe, but I know that’s not the case for everyone. Plus, the weather doesn’t always cooperate. So you want a back-up plan.

Also: think short. You don’t need to exercise for an hour as you’re starting out. Twenty minutes is fine. If that seems daunting, go for 10. Even the busiest person can probably find 10 minutes in the evening, two or three days a week, and small amounts of activity turn out to matter.

Third, and most important — when you’ve chosen a time, just do it, before you do anything else. Once you collapse on the couch you probably won’t get up again. So don’t put yourself in that position of having to exert extraordinary willpower. Promise yourself you’ll stick with it for 10 minutes and then you can quit. I’m willing to bet that by 10 minutes in you’ll be feeling more motivated and you’ll be willing to go to 20. If you’re looking for extra motivation, try watching a favorite show or listening to a favorite album while you’re exercising.

Mapping out an evening

The upside of exercising from, say 8:30 to 9 p.m. is that it happens, and then you still have an hour or more to veg out before you need to go to bed. This can be plenty of time to wind down, crack open that beer, read a book, hangout with your partner, or whatever it is you do.

Indeed, aiming to exercise in the evening can help you think through the whole evening — which is a good thing. Most of us are less intentional about evening time than workday time. That makes sense, and yet the result is that four or more hours can pass and we have no idea what happened.

Figuring out where a 30-minute run on the treadmill might go means you’ll think about those hours. You might be motivated to choose another 30 minute slot for reading a good book and another 15 minute slot for calling a friend. All of a sudden you’re fitting all sorts of good things into the evening, which can feel like you are manufacturing time. And you’re exercising too! It’s really just good all around.

Photo: From a sunset walk at Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden