What is the best time of day to Exercise?

What time of day should I exercise?

There’s a question we get asked a lot. Is there a best time to exercise? The answer is of course yes…and no…but yes but also no….

Old research studying groups of people often found inconclusive results. This was due to not accounting for genetic differences in individuals, so the generic advice was just do it whenever it feels good. As long as you do it.

New research has revealed that indeed there are better times of day to exercise for different people. The results are in tandem with numerous aspects of our physiology which we cannot alter to a great deal, even with persistent effort. These are either inherited in our DNA or created by early childhood habits.

The name given to the description of how time affects bodily function is Chronotype. Chrono meaning relating to time. Research into Chronotypes and Exercise has revealed that depending on your Chronotype you may find it easier to be motivated, have more energy, perform better, and get up to 80% more effective training responses if you are able to locate the best time of day to exercise for your specific chronotype. I know right. Game changing.

This goes hand in hand with sleeping at the time natural to your chronotype, and generally optimising your schedule around times where your body is naturally functioning at its highest levels physically and psychologically. And giving yourself a break when you are physiologically requiring one.

Most people are the expert on themselves (not even joking), and have an idea whether or not they function well first thing after waking up, or whether they seem to maximise in the middle of the day, or work best later on. That doesn’t seem to stop them from forcing themselves to do things that they naturally aren’t drawn to due to social pressure. There are also many complex variables that are too much for people to understand without very difficult and time expensive introspection. “

“…Easier to be motivated, have more energy, perform better, and get up to 80% more effective training responses if you are able to locate the best time of day to exercise for your specific chronotype”

If you wish to discuss this further with an expert Exercise Physiologist. Give us a call on (02) 4016 4446 or email admin@hunterrehab.com.au