AsiaLIFE

If you are a regular exerciser, you may have already determined your most productive time to exercise and follow a routine that works for you.

On the other hand, if your exercise time varies from day to day, and it’s wearing you out instead of pumping you up, you may be interested in the work of people who are studying how to best determine what time of day you should schedule your workouts.

The secret appears to lie in circadian rhythms, the daily cycles that our bodies follow. These rhythms originate in the hypothalamus and regulate everything from body temperature and metabolism to blood pressure. They result from the firing rate of neurons, conform to our 24-hour light-to-dark cycle, and may be regulated each day according to the environment.

When body temperature is at its highest, your workouts will likely be more productive – when your temperature is low, chances are your exercise session may be less than optimal. Body temperature is lowest about one to three hours before most of us wake up in the morning, in contrast to late afternoon when body temperature reaches its peak. Studies consistently show that exercise during these late in the day hours produces better performance and more power. Muscles are warm and more flexible, perceived exertion is lower, reaction time quicker, strength is at its peak, and resting heart rate and blood pressure are low.

Don’t change your schedule if you feel good beginning your day with exercise. Everyone agrees that exercise at any time is better than no exercise at all. In fact, people who exercise in the morning are more successful at making it a habit. And though it has been suggested that morning exercise may put some people at a higher risk of heart attack, further research indicates that there is simply a generalised increased risk of heart attacks in the morning. So, if you like to exercise in the mornings, emphasise stretching and a good warm-up to be sure you’re ready for action. Whatever your goal, be it losing weight, training, reducing stress, getting fit – exercise always works, all the time.