The best time for fitness exercises

In fact, there is no "standard answer" that applies to everyone - the best fitness time is the time when you can persist for a long time, do not feel any discomfort when practicing, and can achieve the results you want after practicing.

First let’s talk about the most widely circulated saying that “3-6pm is the best time”. It’s really not groundless. I chatted with the sprint coach of the provincial team before. He said that the team has been monitoring the status of the players for half a year. With the same warm-up intensity and the same track conditions, the 100-meter time measured in the afternoon was on average 0.2-0.3 seconds faster than that in the morning, and the probability of injury was also reduced by nearly 40%. Academic research can also correspond: during this period, the core body temperature of the human body is 1-2°C higher than in the morning, the elasticity of muscle ligaments and the recruitment ability of muscle fibers are at their peak, the level of cortisol (the hormone that consumes muscles and increases stress) is low, and anabolic hormones such as testosterone are at high levels. Whether it is sprinting or aerobic, the efficiency will indeed be higher.

But having said that, this "optimal" is the result of measuring variables in the laboratory. When it comes to ordinary people's lives, it is really not that absolute.

You can’t have a nine-to-five office worker skipping work to go to the gym just to make up for this so-called prime time, right? When I was working on a project two years ago, it was almost 9 o'clock when I got home from get off work. I had to change my plan and couldn't squeeze out a whole block of time. I forced myself to set the alarm clock to 6 o'clock in the morning and get up to dance Pamela for 40 minutes. In the first week, I was so sleepy that I couldn't even open my eyes. I could jump and jump smoothly, and I had to take two bites of half a banana in my pocket before I could bear it. After my biological clock slowly adjusted, I took a shower after practicing and went to work. I felt refreshed all day long, and even the spring sleepiness I often suffered from before was gone. Later, I measured my body fat and found that I lost 4 pounds in three months. The effect was no worse than practicing at night. Oh, by the way, if you have low blood sugar, don’t join in the excitement of fasting aerobics. Stuffing a piece of bread or half a banana before going out is better than anything else. If you faint from training, it will be more than worth the loss.

Some people are still confused about whether working out at night will cause insomnia. This is true for thousands of people. I have a programmer friend who is a standard night owl. He goes to the gym downstairs at 10 o'clock every night to hit the irons. He goes home to take a shower at 11:30 and can snore in 5 minutes in bed. But the little girl in my department is not good at all. Last time, she followed us after get off work and played badminton for half an hour. She still counted sheep with her eyes open until 3 o'clock when she got home. After that, she never dared to do any strenuous exercise after 7 o'clock. To put it bluntly, it depends on the individual's nervous excitement threshold. If you have tried it a few times and it doesn't affect your sleep, then just practice without any worries. If you really don't sleep well, move the time forward so that you don't have to compete with your own biological clock.

If you have a clear fitness goal, you can also adjust the time according to the goal. There are not so many rigid rules. If you want to build muscle, as long as you take in enough protein and carbohydrates before and after training, it doesn't matter even if you lift dumbbells in a rental house at 8 pm. When I lived in a city village, the guy who sold braised food downstairs closed his stall at around 9 o'clock every day. I used two buckets filled with water to practice arm strength in the rental house. After more than a year of training, my arms were thicker than my calves, and I could bench press 140 pounds. If you have not been sleeping well recently, don't do too strenuous exercise. One hour before going to bed, spread out a mat and do 20 minutes of gentle yoga or baduanjin. After stretching, your whole body will feel relaxed, and you will fall asleep quickly while lying on the bed.

There is really no need to worry about the "best time". I have seen too many people who read on the Internet and said that it is best to practice in the afternoon. They specifically set the alarm and wanted to go on weekend afternoons. However, they ended up lying on the sofa scrolling through their mobile phones until dark, and did not step into the gym once in half a year. To put it bluntly, the purpose of fitness is to make yourself more comfortable. The time when you can persist is the best time.