Best Time of Day to Exercise for Seniors Over 70 (and Safe Morning Routines)

By Doug Jones

Best Time of Day to Exercise for Seniors Over 70 (and Safe Morning Routines)

What's In This Article

• A Reader Asks: Does the Time of Day Really Matter?
• Safe Morning Routines When Joints Are Stiff
• When NOT to Exercise: My Timeline Guidelines
• Last and Certainly Most
• How to Pick Your Time and Keep It
• Timing Questions I Get Asked Most

Aloha from Kaua'i. Readers ask me about the best time of day to exercise for seniors over 70 more often than almost anything else — usually right after they have read one article saying mornings are magic and another saying evenings are better. Here is my answer, and it began with a letter from Wailua.

A Reader Asks: Does the Time of Day Really Matter?

Aloha Doug,

Thanks for all of the information that you share in your column and on your website. I really like how you make fitness so much fun. I'm doing my best to fit fitness into my schedule each and every day. Over the years, I've heard a lot of different things about the best time of day to exercise. I'm interested in hearing YOUR thoughts about whether or not it really matters what time of day I work out.

Mahalo from Mercedes, Wailua -

Dear Mercedes,

When it comes to WHEN to exercise, most trainers will probably tell you to "work out when you feel like it and work out even when you don't feel like it." Unfortunately, in my opinion, this diction is fiction. Instead, there is a simple top ten list of timeline guidelines which are worth considering regularly and exercising accordingly.

As a personal fitness professional, helping a diverse range of clientele who are often working through (and around) an extensive assortment of issues (and injuries), I have come to realize that when is NOT always now. In certain circumstances, exercise is not always the best medicine and, depending upon the specific situation, can actually be a source of dis-ease.

Committing to exercise on a daily basis is a great thing, Mercedes! In general, whenever works for you works for me. Doing something is almost always a better option than doing nothing, and you can usually even work out whenever you feel like it and, sometimes, even when you don't (hey… where have I heard that before?).

However, since you asked for my personal professional opinion, I'm going to get very specific as to when choosing INactivity might be the most sensible solution.

Safe Morning Routines When Joints Are Stiff

Before the list, a word about mornings, since that is when most folks over 70 prefer to train. Mornings are perfectly good — as long as you respect the fact that you have been lying still for eight hours in a cool room. Give yourself a longer, gentler on-ramp:

• Move before you train. Have your coffee, walk around the house, open the curtains. Ten quiet minutes of ordinary movement counts.
• Warm before you work. Three to five minutes of easy walking or gentle marching while holding a counter. You should feel warm before anything gets hard.
• Save the deep ranges for later in the session. Stiff joints first thing are not a problem, they are just a signal to go slow.
• Eat something small if you are heading out for more than a short walk. Running on fumes is not a fat-burning strategy.
• Cooler mornings need longer warm-ups. Especially with arthritis or an old back.

When NOT to Exercise: My Timeline Guidelines

Don't Exercise in the morning… IF you have arthritis or back pain. Be very cautious about early morning exercise, especially after chilly nights. Your body is stationary and cools down as you sleep, and it needs time to warm up before intense activity. If you do work out in the morning, always begin with light stamina, like walking or biking, then progress to strength and finish with stretching.

Don't Exercise in the afternoon… IF you have skipped breakfast. Your body is running on fumes, not fuel… which is necessary for burning fat and building muscle. Also, if it is afternoon and you have just recently eaten a big lunch, your body wants to pump blood to your stomach, not to your muscles. Be sure to rest and digest for an hour or two first.

Don't Exercise in the evening… IF you tend to skip exercise at the end of a long day. If you like to procrastinate, and often put off until tomorrow what you should do today, then don't work out after work's out. Instead, perhaps you would be better off finishing your fitness regime well before your day gets started.

Don't Exercise on Sundays… IF you tend to exercise too much or too often. In other words, always take at least one day off each week from formal exercise. I always choose Sunday as my day of rest. Keep in mind that working out is most effective when properly paired with reparative recovery.

Don't Exercise… IF you have exercised recently. More specifically, if you ran yesterday, don't run today. If you trained biceps today, don't train them tomorrow. Always rest and recover whatever mode or muscle you've worked. Proactive recuperation is much better than your body forcing you to take a break.

Don't Exercise… IF you are exercising and experience ANY of the following "throw in the towel" symptoms: nausea, dizziness, pain or tightness in chest, difficulty breathing, or blurred vision. If something doesn't feel right, trust your feelings. Stop immediately and seek medical attention!!

Don't Exercise… IF you don't exercise. If you have been sedentary for months (or years or forever), make sure that you get a physical before you get physical. A doctor's work up is always recommended before a trainer's workout, especially if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, family history of heart disease, or if you smoke. You can still exercise… eventually; just don't go it alone. Better safe than sorry!

Don't Exercise… IF you haven't exercised recently. Unfortunately, inactivity undermines fitness very quickly. Use it or lose it, right? For every week that you take off from working out, take at least one workout off from high intensity workouts. This may seem counterintuitive, but the safest and soundest penalty for taking a break from intense exercise is to reward yourself with yet another one. Again, the mythological methodical turtle wins the race, right?

Don't Exercise... IF you are sick, or at least do a checkup from the neck up. If you only have a sore throat or nasal congestion, a light workout might make you feel a little bit better. On the contrary, a chest cold or bronchial hack deserves some serious R & R.

Don't Exercise... IF you are injured, at least not with that specific body part. A qualified physical therapist can help you to work through an injury; a well-trained personal trainer can help you to work around it. Don't pay a bigger price tomorrow by discounting professional guidance today.

And Now... Last & Certainly Most

(Bellows Puff the Magic Dragon)

Don't Exercise... IF you have smoked. Also, if you HAVE exercised, please do NOT smoke!! I can't think of anything more blatantly dangerous than smoking, either before or after a workout. The carbon monoxide contained in cigarette smoke has an affinity for hemoglobin which is approximately 240 times stronger than that of oxygen. 240 TIMES!!! When your body's method of transporting oxygen is filled to the gills with the gaseous equivalent to water, it will drown you just the same. When it comes to exercise, smoking totally sucks… the wind out of your sails, away from the muscles, the brain, and, finally, with finality, the heart. Please know that this guideline is valid for ALL sorts of smoke.

How to Pick Your Time and Keep It

Once you have ruled out the times that do not suit you, picking a time is easy. A few things I have watched work for decades:

• Attach it to something you already do. After coffee. After the news. Before the shower. Habits stick to habits.
• Earlier is safer for procrastinators. Nothing gets scheduled over 7 a.m. quite the way things get scheduled over 7 p.m.
• Give yourself a two-hour window, not a minute. "Sometime this morning" beats "8:15 sharp" for most retired folks.
• Keep the same day off every week. Mine is Sunday. A planned rest day is training, not cheating.
• Shorten before you skip. Two minutes on a bad day keeps the streak alive.

Now, by knowing all of the best excuses for when to not exercise, you now have no more excuses to not exercise. In fact, there is no better time to for you to start exercising and, yes, you really can have a good time in doing so.

Timing Questions I Get Asked Most

What is the best time of day for seniors to exercise?

The time you will keep. Morning suits most people over 70 because nothing gets scheduled over it, but if arthritis or back pain makes mornings stiff, take a longer warm-up or move your session to mid-morning.

Is it bad for seniors to exercise first thing in the morning?

Not bad, just cold. You have been still for hours, so start with light stamina like walking, then strength, then stretching. Never launch straight into anything hard.

Should seniors exercise before or after breakfast?

A short easy walk before breakfast is fine. Anything more demanding deserves some fuel first, and after a big meal give yourself an hour or two to rest and digest.

How many days a week should a senior over 70 exercise?

Most days, with at least one full day off each week and never the same muscle group two days running. Recovery is when the results get built.

If you ever have any questions about exercise and eating or fitness and fat loss, I'm here to help. In the meantime, you know where to find me…

Ready to put this to work today? Try SUPER 7 FREE for a Smart-Simple-Speedy-Safe daily starting point: no gym, no equipment, no downloads - just open and go.

In Health & With Hope,

Doug :-)

About the Author: Douglas Jones, BS, MA, CSCS

Douglas Jones earned his Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Maryland and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. As an Exercise Physiologist and Concierge Fitness Professional based in Kaua'i, he has helped thousands of clients in person and millions online build simple, science-based habits for strength, stamina, stretching, and sustenance.

Doug is the founder of the Super 7 System — a complete training system you can do at home in as little as 7 minutes a day.

Watch his free intro and start free at Super7System.com.

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