The best time to exercise, according to science

You drag yourself out of bed to exercises before work or go to the gym on the way home? Does a midday walk energize you for the day, or do you rely on yoga in the evening to unwind? We all know that exercise is good for us, but there is a growing body of evidence to support this When we can also affect our mood, fitness and health.

The study was published in the journal Tuesday BMC Medicine The study, which tracked the activity of 86,252 people aged 42 to 79, found that participants who had two daily peaks of activity at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. were associated with an 11 percent reduced risk bowel cancercompared to those who were active at other times of the day.

Lead researcher Professor Dr Michael Leitzmann of the University of Regensburg, Germany, said the findings could “open new avenues for targeted prevention strategies”. The reason for the reduced risk is not clear, but it begs the question: could we benefit psychologically or physically by adjusting the timing of our training? And if so, how?

Aerobic exercises early in the morning

The first thing to sweat has a few purposes if you can look at it. Not only is it often the most practical way to distract yourself from exercise, but neuroscientist Andrew Huberman says it can also help us feel more alert by raising our body temperature, which is at its lowest in the morning.

Personal trainer Kate Rowe-Ham, author Owning your menopausesays that lifting weights after waking up four times a week makes her “more energetic and motivated for the rest of the day.” She points to it resistance training It has been shown to balance blood sugar levels and, in the long term, reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. “It leaves me less stressed.”

Exercising early may also be more effective for weight control, journal study finds Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise found that 45 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise can increase your metabolic rate for 14 hours, meaning you burn more calories during the hours you consume them, as opposed to at night, while another study of 35 women in the same journal found that participants who exercised in the morning they were more likely to increase their activity during the day.

“Research shows that doing aerobic exercise early in the day can have a slight benefit because it improves circulation and oxygen to the brain, which can increase your performance,” adds Arj Thiruchelvam, sports scientist and trainer at Performance Physique. In terms of improving well-being, he says strength training and aerobic exercise are probably equally beneficial, “because both trigger the release of endorphins, which are the most important factors in improving mood.”

After breakfast for long training sessions

While studies have shown that exercising on an empty stomach, regardless of the time of day, can increase fat burning by as much as 70 percent, it shouldn’t be a prescription. “I have to eat protein breakfast – usually scrambled eggs – half an hour before, because my workouts are long and I don’t want to lose energy,” says personal trainer Cornel Chin, who holds a two-hour weight training session at 11 a.m. every Saturday. “It fits into my lifestyle. During the week, I do brisk walking and bodyweight exercises in between coaching clients.”

Lunchtime walk in the park

At the same time, a lunchtime session can help you cope with the demands of work, especially if done outdoors during our ever-shrinking daylight hours. A two-week Finnish study in 2017 found that a 15-minute walk in a park helped participants feel more relaxed than indoor relaxation exercises. and disengaged from their work, while “the relaxation group only experienced an increased sense of relaxation,” said Kalevi Korpela, a professor of psychology at the University of Tampere in Finland.

Amanda Daly, a health psychologist at Loughborough University, says that “lunchtime exercise can help you clear your head after a morning’s work or other activities (and) boost your mood and brain function in the afternoon.”

Resistance training in the afternoon

It can also have benefits for our physical health. Last year, a large study in the journal Communications of nature found that while moderate to vigorous physical activity at any time of day was associated with a lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, those who exercised between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. had a lower risk of premature death from of all reasons than those who exercised in the morning or in the evening. .

The report’s authors speculated that this might be because blood pressure recovers more quickly in the afternoon, or because of meal-time effects (for example, walking after a meal has been found to control blood sugar), but acknowledged that “the main the mechanisms have yet to be clarified.”

What are we do We know that our body temperature is at its highest during the day, “and if we warm up a little bit, the muscle fibers respond faster, which can improve our performance,” Thiruchelvam says. “That’s why athletes might want to train then because they’ll be a little bit stronger. Research shows that strength training can be more effective in the afternoon.”

HIIT in the evening for some…

Reaction time is also often fastest at this point, potentially improving performance in competitive sports and intermittent exercise such as high-intensity interval training. Indeed, a study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that football players typically perform better in games that start at 8 or 9 p.m. than in games that start between 1 and 4 p.m.

This was because they were at the peak of their circadian rhythm – the 24-hour internal clock. However, the time of day when you’re happiest exercising will depend in part on your chronotype, or your natural tendency to fall asleep at a certain time, and if you’re an early bird, such as waking up at 5 a.m., evening exercise is likely. feel challenged.

…but less is best for most in PM

However, a recent study debunks the long-held belief that evening exercise can interfere with sleep, and found that it may even help us nod off more quickly. This summer, a study of 30 participants found that those who did three minutes of bodyweight exercises, such as squats and calf raises, every 30 minutes for four hours starting at 5:00pm to 5:30pm slept an average of 27 minutes longer. longer than a sedentary control group.

The exception is high-intensity exercise, which releases the stress hormone cortisol and is thought to impair sleep quality when performed before bedtime. However, any impact is likely to be minimal, Thiruchelvam says, “and it’s still better for you than scrolling on your phone.” However, he stresses that exercising when you’re tired is more likely to lead to injury: “Mentally and physically tired is when mistakes happen.”

Yoga or stretching before bed

If cardio sounds too tiring, consider stretching in the evening—one four-month study of chronic insomniacs found that stretching three times a week between 5 and 6 p.m. improved symptoms. Meanwhile, a 2019 meta-analysis found that mind-body therapies, including yoga and tai chi, may be “effective in treating insomnia and improving sleep quality.”

Yoga has been shown to increase levels of melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep cycle, and is “a great supplement to a sleep routine,” Rowe-Ham says, although the research isn’t clear whether doing it in the evening is necessary to benefit.

“It’s vital,” Tiruchelvam emphasizes, that we exercise, period, and no study should “stop people from exercising in their only opportunity.” Rowe-Ham agrees: “I don’t want people to think that they are at a higher risk of cancer because they can’t exercise at certain times or that it doesn’t make sense. Movement is good, regardless of the hour.”