“It’s increasingly a 24/7 world – embrace diversity, broaden your definition of exercise”
DR CHRIS BEEDIE Head of ukactive Research Institute and senior lecturer, Department of Sport & Exercise Science, Aberystwyth University – UK
Is there a correct time to exercise? It’s a good question and the answer – as with so many of life’s big questions – is ‘yes but...’. It’s highly likely that, for a range of
reasons, there is an optimum time to exercise for each person. What time of day that is, however, will depend on such a large number of factors that it’s likely that – for anyone but the elite athlete, competitive bodybuilder or exercise obsessive – identification of the time in question is more trouble than it’s worth.
April 2013 © Cybertrek 2013 For example, while
research suggests that the lungs function best late in the day, certain hormones that regulate response and adaptation to exercise peak in the morning. Likewise,
while muscle force might peak in the evening, motor co-ordination and concentration are way past their best by this time, as is pain tolerance. If you know the exact balance of
physiological, cognitive, emotional and performance variables required to perform at your best and to recover optimally, you might be able to identify the optimal time of day for your specific goals. But here’s the problem: you probably can’t rely on the published
research to do so. Research conducted on large populations rarely generalises to individuals, meaning that you will have to use a lot of trial and error to identify the optimal times of day for each variable for you. And to make things even worse, there’s a strong chance that relationships between time of day and performance variables might change with the season, temperature, stress and a number of other factors. Train when you can as best you can. If
you feel better training in the morning, if you see results, and if it works for your lifestyle, that’s the time to train, irrespective of what the research says. If you want to be a champion, you may need to look deeper into your internal rhythms, but be prepared for a complex journey!
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