Finding Our Best Time To Workout Through Body Rhythms

Body Rhythms- Our bodies follow a clock and this can benefit exercise if you know what your body is doing at certain times through out the day.  Here is a quick overview:

• Between 6am-12pm there is a 3x’s greater chance of having a heart attack.  Blood pressure is higher during these times, blood is stickier and circulatory system is more stiff than later in the day.
• Working out in the am is only beneficial in balancing sports, 10am-12pm as shown to be the best time for doing mental tasks and late afternoon-early evening shows increase in body temp which is essential for working out.  Note: Many world records have been set during the late afternoon to early evening hours.
• Working out between 5-7pm puts less stress on the heart and will lower your morning blood pressure much more greatly than working out in the morning.
• We are designed for a mid afternoon nap, usually around the 1-2pm hour.  If you don’t sleep you will notice that you may take a micro sleep.  Where you fall asleep for a second, then suddenly wake up responsive then dose back off again.  Your brain is telling you to rest.  This is dangerous when driving.

It is believed that each organ has their own clock, which allows the cells to be more active at certain times of the day than others.  Due to this finding we can plan our attack for the perfect workout.  Other areas that this research has benefited is the terrible world of cancer.  Cancer sufferers have been benefiting greatly by following their body rhythms.   When Chemotherapy is administered it kills the bad along with good healthy cells.  Physicians are now using the chemo more efficiently in sync with the organs rhythm.  For instance, the liver is less active around 4pm and 4am.  This is an optimal time to present chemo so that less of the healthy cells will be killed.  Cool stuff right!?!?!?!

We all know when we feel best during the day.  However, we have to work and most of the time we are too tired to workout later in the day, that’s why gyms are packed at 5am. If they don’t do it then, then they won’t do it later.  A usual work day lasts anywhere from 6-9 hours and we are not capable of getting the early afternoon nap.  So, we drag and drag. “Coffee will help,” and it will, but in the long run it will burn you out, but that’s a later blog entry.

What do we do? We suck it up and do the best we can with what we are given or WE CHANGE OUR SITUATION!