Exercising at any time of day is beneficial for your fitness and weight loss. After all, raising your heart rate in any way at all is bound to be better for your wellness and wellbeing than simply parking your bum on the sofa and watching TV. That said, there are times of the day that are better for working out than others, and if you want to see the best results, you would be wise to tune into these.
According to a recent study by the American Council on Exercise, the best time to exercise is in the late afternoon, as your body is warmest at this time. At this time of day, your muscles are also at their most flexible and your blood pressure and heart rate are low, making your body strong. At this time, if you exercise, you will find that you exert less energy than you would whilst performing the exact same activities at other times of day. To top all this off, your reaction speeds will be fastest at this time of day, too.
That said, if you already have an exercise schedule, you are actually better off sticking to it (assuming it is working) rather than switching it up in favour of a late afternoon workout. Your body is very adaptable, and if you are used to running every day at noon (for example) then this will become our peak performance time.
Knowing this, you can actually train your body to work best for a forthcoming event or competition (such as a marathon) by training at the same time of day that the event is going to be, to give you the best chance of performing your best on the day.
Whatever time of day you work out, your body will convert that into the ‘peak’ time of day, and you will find that you perform your best during that hour or so.