You’ve found the perfect sneakers, mapped out the best route around your neighborhood, and even nailed your walking playlist. But is there more you could be doing to amp up your exercise routine? Are you walking at the right time to maximize the health benefits?
The answer isn’t straightforward, says Steven K. Malin, Ph.D., FACSM, professor in the department of kinesiology and health and the department of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Time is precious, so it makes sense to maximize every second you have. Ahead, experts explain how to time your walk to reap specific health benefits.
Does it matter what time you take a walk?
Maybe. “While the ‘best’ time to walk can be argued to be the time you’ll actually do it consistently, then the answer is probably not,” says Malin. “Certainly doing some exercise is going to provide health benefit”—no matter what the clock says.
That means walking at any time of day is a win for most people. “From a calorie-burning and cardiovascular perspective, the total duration, intensity, and consistency of walking are much more important than the time of day,” says Peter Coulter, P.T., D.P.T., manager of outpatient rehabilitation at Cooper University Health Care. “A 30-minute brisk walk provides similar cardiovascular benefits, whether it’s completed in the morning or in the evening. There may be some modest advantages to certain walking times, but the differences are generally small compared to the overall benefit of walking itself.”
However, the approach may be more nuanced if you want to optimize the benefits of walking for specific health outcomes. Research looking into time of day the exercise is performed is still fairly sparse, says Malin, but data indicates “timing can meaningfully change certain effects because your body operates on a daily biological schedule governed by your circadian biology.”
The benefits of walking in the morning
“In the morning, walking tends to help ‘set’ your circadian rhythm, especially if you get natural light exposure, as well as to improve alertness and mood for the rest of the day,” says Malin. This exposure to morning light can set an internal timer in your brain that triggers melatonin production later in the day, helping you fall asleep more easily that night.
Some evidence also suggests that morning exercise may also help people expend more calories throughout the day, which can support body weight regulation better than if exercise is done later in the day, says Malin.
From a strictly practical point of view, a morning walk may help you establish a routine and increase the likelihood that exercise gets completed before the day’s responsibilities interfere. “Morning walks often have the fewest scheduling conflicts so it may be the easiest to turn into a daily habit,” says Coulter.
The benefits of walking later in the day
If the only time you can fit in a walk is lunchtime or in the evening, it’s absolutely still worthwhile. “In the afternoon or early evening, walking often feels physically easier because body temperature, muscle function, and coordination peak later in the day,” says Malin. “This may produce better performance if you’re walking briskly or uphill because the muscles are ‘primed’ to work better.”
Exercise that happens later in the day may also support your cardiometabolic health. For instance, it may help improve insulin sensitivity as well as lower blood sugar. “If you are looking to lower your blood pressure or improve blood vessel health, then late afternoon or early evening is suggested to be better as well,” says Malin.
On top of that, afternoon walks might give your body a good midday refresh. “You break up static postures from prolonged sitting and prolonged standing,” says Coulter. “It also reduces fatigue and provides a reset during a busy day.” It may even help reduce stress you’ve accumulated during the day.
The verdict
Emerging research has looked at how the benefits of walking shift depending on what time of day you walk—with morning, midday, and evening walks all having distinct advantages. At the end of the day (pun intended!), the best time to walk might come down to nothing more than your personal preferences, so go ahead and take a walk whenever you think you’ll be able to make a habit out of it.
