Are you dragging yourself out of bed? exercise Do you go to the gym before work or on your way home? Does a lunchtime walk bore you in the afternoon, or do you rely on yoga for relaxation in the evenings? We all know exercise is good for us, but growing evidence suggests When Exercising can also affect our mood, fitness and health.

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

Lead researcher Professor Dr. from the University of Regensburg, Germany. Michael Leitzmann said the findings “could open new avenues for targeted prevention strategies.” The reason for the reduced risk is unclear, but it begs the question: Could we benefit psychologically or physically by adapting the timing of our exercise routine? If so, how?

Aerobic exercise in the early morning

If you can face it, breaking a sweat first thing serves many purposes. Not only is this the most practical way to exercise before an ambush, but 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 MenopauseHe says waking up and lifting weights four times a week makes him “more energized and motivated for the rest of the day.” It draws attention to this resistance training It has been proven to balance blood sugar and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the long term. “This makes me less stressed.”

Exercising early may also be more effective at weight control – research in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise It found that 45 minutes of intense aerobic exercise can increase metabolic rate for 14 hours, meaning you burn more calories than the hours you spent overnight. They were more likely to increase their activity throughout the day in the morning.

Performance Physique sports scientist and coach Arj Thiruchelvam adds: “Research shows that doing aerobic exercise earlier in the day may have a slight advantage because it increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which can increase your productivity.” Resistance training and aerobic exercise can be equally beneficial in terms of boosting feelings of well-being, he says, “because they both trigger the release of endorphins, which is the most important factor in improving mood.”

After breakfast for longer workouts

While research shows that exercising on an empty stomach, no matter the time of day, can increase fat burning by up to 70 percent, this doesn’t have to be prescriptive. “I need to eat something protein breakfast – usually scrambled eggs – up to half an hour before because my workouts are long and I don’t want to run out of energy,” says personal trainer Cornel Chin, who does a two-hour weight training session at 11 a.m. every Saturday. “This fits my lifestyle. I brisk walk throughout the week and do bodyweight exercises with my coaching clients.

Lunch walk in the park

Meanwhile, a lunch session can help you cope with the demands of the job, especially if it is held outdoors during the dwindling hours of daylight. A two-week study conducted in Finland in 2017 found that a 15-minute walk in the park helped participants feel more at ease than indoor relaxation exercises. And Kalevi Korpela, a psychology professor at Finland’s University of Tampere, said the “relaxation group only experienced an increase in feelings of relaxation.”

“Exercising at lunchtime can help clear your head after work or other activities in the morning (and) boost your mood and brainpower in the afternoon,” says Amanda Daley, a health psychologist at Loughborough University.

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Resistance training in the afternoon

It may also have advantages for our physical health. An important study in the journal last year Nature Communication Although moderate to vigorous physical activity at any time of the day is linked to a lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, those who exercised between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. were found to have a lower risk of premature death from all causes than those who exercised in the morning or evening. .

The authors of the reports suggest this may be due to a faster recovery of blood pressure in the afternoon or to effects related to meal timings (walking after a meal has been found to control blood sugar levels, for example), but acknowledge “underlying mechanisms” as well. It needs to be explained.”

what are we To do We know that our body temperature peaks in the afternoon, and “being a little warmer can improve our performance by allowing muscle fibers to respond faster,” says Thiruchelvam. “Therefore, athletes may want to train because they will be a little stronger. “Research shows that resistance training may be more effective in the afternoon.”

Some evenings HIIT…

Reaction times are also generally fastest at this point, potentially improving performance in competitive sports and stop-start exercises such as High-Intensity Interval Training. In fact, a study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that American football players generally play 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 (24-hour internal clock). However, your happiest exercise time of the day will depend in part on your chronotype, or natural tendency to fall asleep at certain times, and if you’re an early bird who wakes up at 5am, for example, evening exercise is still on the cards. feeling a challenge.

…but for most PMs, less is best

But the latest research has reversed the long-held belief that evening exercise can affect sleep, finding that it may even help us fall asleep faster. A study this summer with 30 participants found that those who performed three-minute intervals of bodyweight exercises, such as squats and calf raises, every 30 minutes for a four-hour period starting between 5 and 5:30 p.m., slept an average of 27 minutes longer than others. sedentary control group.

The exception seems to be high-intensity exercise training, which releases the stress hormone cortisol and is thought to reduce sleep quality when done close to bedtime. But Thiruchelvam says any impact will likely be minimal, “and it’s still better for you than scrolling through your phone.” But he emphasizes that exercising when tired is more likely to result in injury: “Mental and physical fatigue is when slips occur.”

Yoga or stretching before bed

If cardio seems too strenuous, consider stretching in the evening; A four-month study of patients with chronic insomnia found that stretching three times a week from 5pm to 6pm improved symptoms. Meanwhile, a 2019 meta-analysis found that mind-body therapies such as yoga and tai chi may be “effective in treating insomnia and improving sleep quality.”

Yoga has been shown to increase levels of melatonin, the hormone that regulates the sleep cycle, and is a “great addition to a bedtime routine,” Rowe-Ham says, but research isn’t clear on whether yoga should replace exercise. I hope the evening will be useful.

What’s “vitally important” is that we exercise constantly and that no amount of work “stops people from exercising at the only opportunity they have,” Thiruchelvam emphasizes. Rowe-Ham agrees: “I don’t want people to think that because they can’t exercise at certain times they’re at higher risk of getting cancer, or that there’s no point in it. “No matter what the time, movement is beneficial.”