The best time to play sports, according to science

You drag yourself out of bed to exercise before work or go to the gym on the way home? Does a walk during lunch give you energy for the afternoon, or do you rely on yoga in the evening to unwind? We all know that exercise is good for us, but growing evidence suggests that When We play sports, which can also affect our mood, fitness and health.

On Tuesday, a study published in the journal BMK 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 8am and 6pm were associated with an 11 percent reduction in risk bowel cancercompared to those who were active at other times of the day.

Lead researcher Professor Dr Michael Leitzmann from the University of Regensburg in Germany said the findings could “open up new possibilities for targeted prevention strategies”. The reason for the reduced risk is not clear, but it does raise the question: Can we gain psychological or physical benefits by adapting our exercise time? And if so, how?

Aerobic exercise early in the morning

If you’re willing to accept it first, then sweat training serves multiple purposes. Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman says it will also help us feel more alert by raising our body temperature, which is lowest in the morning.

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

Early exercise 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 boost your metabolic rate for 14 hours, meaning you burn more calories during the hours you consume them rather than at night, while another study of 35 women the same journal found that when participants exercised in the morning, they were more likely to increase their activity throughout the day.

“Research shows that doing aerobic exercise earlier in the day may have a slight benefit because it improves blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which can improve your performance,” adds Arj Thiruchelvam, sports scientist and coach at Performance Physique. In terms of feeling better, he says resistance training and aerobic exercise are likely to be equally beneficial, “because they both release endorphins, which is the most important factor in improving mood.”

After breakfast for long workouts

Although studies have shown that exercising on an empty stomach, at any time of day, can increase fat burning by as much as 70 percent, it shouldn’t be mandatory. “I need to eat protein breakfast “I usually scramble eggs half an hour before because my workouts are long and I don’t want to lose energy,” says personal trainer Cornel Chin, who leads a two-hour strength training session at 11 a.m. every Saturday. “It fits into my lifestyle. During the week, I speed walk and do bodyweight exercises in between training sessions with clients.”

Lunchtime walk in the park

Meanwhile, a lunch break can help you cope with the demands of work, especially if it’s spent outdoors during our ever-shrinking daylight hours. A two-week study conducted in Finland in 2017 found that a 15-minute walk in a park helped participants more than indoor relaxation exercises, making them feel more relaxed. And disconnected from their work, while “the relaxation group only experienced an increased sense of relaxation,” said Kalevi Korpela, a professor of psychology at Finland’s University of Tampere.

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

Resistance training in the afternoon

It can also benefit our physical health. Last year, a major study in the journal Natural communications 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 a.m. and 5 p.m. had a lower risk of premature death from all causes. than those who trained in the morning or evening.

The authors of the reports suggested that this may be due to blood pressure returning more quickly in the afternoon, or due to an effect on meal timing (for example, walking after a meal has been found to control blood sugar levels), but acknowledged that “the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated.”

What are we do Our body temperature is known to peak in the afternoon, “and when it’s a little warmer, 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 stronger. Research shows that resistance training may be more effective in the afternoon.”

HIIT in the evening for some…

Reaction times are also often fastest at this point, potentially improving performance in competitive sports and stop-start exercises such as high-intensity interval training. Indeed, a study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that American football players tend to perform better in games starting at 8 or 9 p.m. than in games starting 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’ll be most comfortable 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 who wakes up at, say, 5am, evening exercise is still likely . feel challenged.

…but for most people in PM, less is better

However, the latest research challenges the long-held belief that evening exercise can interfere with sleep, and has found that it may even help us fall asleep faster. This summer, a study of 30 participants found that those who performed three minutes of bodyweight exercises such as squats and calf raises every 30 minutes over a four-hour period starting from 5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. slept an average of 27 hours. minutes longer than the control group leading a sedentary lifestyle.

The exception appears to be high-intensity exercise, which releases the stress hormone cortisol and is thought to impair sleep quality if done before bed. However, any impact will likely be minimal, says Tiruchelvam, “and it’s still better for you than scrolling on your phone.” However, he emphasizes that exercising while tired is more likely to lead to injury: “Mental and physical fatigue occurs when failures occur.”

Yoga or stretching before bed

If cardio seems too strenuous, consider stretching in the evening: One four-month study of patients with chronic insomnia found that stretching three times a week from 5 to 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 addition to your sleep routine,” says Rowe-Ham, although research is unclear as to whether practicing it in the evening will benefit you.

What’s “vitally important,” Tiruchelvam stresses, is that we exercise, period, and no research should “discourage people from exercising at their only opportunity.” Rowe-Ham agrees: “I don’t want people to think they’re at greater risk of cancer because they can’t exercise at a certain time or that there’s no point in doing it. Movement is good at any time.”