So, you probably know what time to get up to work out in the morning (or be the boss of your workday). But what about on days when you don’t hit the gym in the morning? Which is the right time to exercise?

Scheduling exercise helps you continue your healthy lifestyle after a workout, says James L. Orin, Ph.D., associate professor of exercise science at St. John’s University in New York. Whether you workout in the morning, afternoon, or night, make a time commitment. It’s easier to keep working toward your goals when you set a time to exercise regularly.

For those who exercise in the morning, there’s no one right answer. "It’s going to be more effective to exercise close to when you typically wake up," says Andrew Sperhake, a professor of kinesiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "It’s also easier to get the energy to exercise if you do it first thing in the morning."

However, if you exercise in the evening, the timing doesn’t matter that much. "If you’re not that tired, you’ll be able to exercise effectively," says Orin.

But you can’t exercise when you’re too tired. If you exercise in the late afternoon or evening, you’ll have to take it easy in order to recover. Too much rest after exercise and too little food are the least desirable ways to workout, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

"It’s important to get a total caloric intake after exercise that’s in line with how much you’ve worked out," says Orin. That means filling up on foods like fruits, veggies and whole grains, rather than those with refined sugar and white flour.

Sleeping Soundly

When it comes to feeling rested and alert, it’s important to get seven to eight hours of sleep a night, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. No more, no less. But if you’re under- or over- sleeping, that can have lasting reduslim side effects on your body’s metabolic functions.

The reason this is so important is because a lot of what happens during the day — from falling asleep to waking up — has an effect on your body˜