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Early Birds Might Just Catch the Worm Because They’re Stronger Than Night Owls
By Christina | July 9, 2009
The most common question I receive after the age-old debate of whether cardio or resistance training is best for weight loss is “What’s the best time to exercise?” My response is always the same. The best time to exercise is whenever you will actually exercise. Fitness experts recommend exercising first thing in the morning, not necessarily because that is the best time to exercise, but rather that is the most likely time people will succeed in exercising before daily life gets in the way.
A new study was just released that sheds some interesting light on what the optimum time to exercise is in order to achieve maximum results in both athletic performance and building of lean muscle. The results were that the strength of a person varies at different times of the day depending on whether you are a morning person or an evening person. Researchers found that early risers might have an advantage over night owls because they maintained consistent strength levels throughout the day and evening. Whereas, late night people have considerably lower strength levels during the day, and are much stronger at night.
These findings may or may not be significant to you depending on your fitness goals. If you are a night person and can only exercise in the morning because of work and/or family obligations, exercising in the morning (even if not at your peak muscular strength) is definitely a better option than not exercising at all. However, if you are flexible in your schedule and you are not achieving the fitness results you have been hoping for, varying the time that you work out to correspond with when your body is at its strongest, might be a good way to yield better results.
For the most part, the casual exerciser is not going to dramatically benefit from this study. This is not necessarily the case for elite athletes, however, where athletic performance is paramount. Based on the results of this study, athletes can and should tailor their training schedule to when they are the strongest. Unfortunately, training can be personalized. But, when it comes to actually competing, the early risers might have a distinct advantage because their strength levels remain constant no matter what time of day the competition falls.
The bottom line is, whether you are an athlete or just training like an athlete, you should pay attention to when your body feels strongest and capitalize on that time to exercise to your maximum potential. If nothing else, this study gives credence to night owls pushing their snooze buttons at 5AM, instead of sleep walking their way through the gym.
Topics: Personal Training |
August 14th, 2009 at 10:32 am
I need ideas on how to improve my daily exercise. Running appeals to me. I would like tips on how to become a better runner.