Best time of day to exercise?

[ActiveMSers]

Lots of MS experts say to exercise in the morning when you are least likely to be tired. I agree, to a degree.

I prefer to listen to my body and go the gym or ride my bike when I feel freshest. Sometimes it is in the morning, other times in the afternoon. If I'm going to be outdoors here in Albuquerque, I aim for the a.m. in the summer when it gets in the 90s, and p.m. in the winter when it might not get above freezing.

When do you like to exercise?

[Bridget]

time constraints

I go to work super-early; so there's no way I could go to the gym pre-work (unless I was one of those crazy 5:30 am gym-rats -- and I know some of them!) The reality is I have to exercise after work. It's actually a nice end to the day.

Here's a question about exercising when you have an MS-type fatigue (the bad kind where it hurts): The strange thing is - no matter how fatigued I am - my body can still do actual exertion (even if it's just something little). There are days when i'm so tired it hurts and I think I just walk another step -- but I can get on a reclining bike at the gym and ride it no problem. So even though my body feels totally spent and terrible -there is normal energy and strength still sitting in the muscles. I still felt terrible after 15 minutes on the bike; but at least I get a sweat. I have no idea if this is a good idea or a bad one - just something I've noticed this year.

[RunMS]

I strongly agree listening to your body.

For me mornings generally are the best, but I do do some early evening runs. I do these early evening runs mainly because I'm part of a group and also just to defy what people say about people exercising in the heat that have MS.

[murmaggie]

I go through phases in my life when I am a morning person, and then exercise in the a.m. works well. I am NOT in that phase now, so I do some light exercise at lunch time. A yoga class or a walk (something that won't involve too much sweat). I need to amp it up a bit, but I just can't get myself out of bed early to do it....