What is the best time to Train?

The best time to train!

What time of day do you feel at your best?

The combination of scientific advances and our own analytical mind gives rise to a multitude of questions. Our inquisitive nature leads us down many roads of discovering the best and most efficient way of doing things. One question many of us have probably wondered about is how the time of day can influence our performance in activities.

One such activity to be analyzed is weight training. As we will see, though, the answer to the question of "when in the day is our weight training performance best?" is not clear cut. There are many paths to choose from, with different roads leading to various results depending upon the individual.

The human body has evolved to function and sustain itself automatically, so that the brain can devote more energy to higher-level tasks. We have all adapted to cues in our environment that help our body trigger activation of certain systems and processes, while suppressing others.

The biggest environmental cue our bodies recognize, and react to, is light. The regulation of our bodily systems based on time of day is referred to as our circadian rhythm.

It should be noted that everyone's biological rhythms are different, and I will discuss the influences on performance based on a person with consistent sleeping and waking habits. This consistency actually helps to prevent unwanted stress and injury, and improve your performance in various activities. Assuming this regularity, the biggest difference between peoples' circadian rhythm tends to be their waking time:

Larks Vs. Owls:

There are some that rise from sleep earlier-waking up enthusiastic and full of energy. Such people are called "larks." Another type of person, the "owl," wakes later and more slowly than most, taking a few hours to get functioning and feel alert. Generally speaking, the owl will perform better in the late afternoon, while the lark will perform better in the morning.

Both these types of people actually form a minority, though. Most people, about 60% to 70% of the population, are indifferent. This means they fall somewhere in between the lark and the owl.

Understanding the bodies circadian rhythm and your hormonal functions is important to actually knowing when the best time of training is for YOU.

The following compilation reviews points of interest for the average circadian rhythm:

Morning:

Testosterone is at its daily peak.
Mental alertness peaks late morning.
Memory works best.
Body temperature is still low.

Afternoon:

Pain tolerance is highest.
Possible point of low energy around noon.
Late afternoon, adrenalin and body temperature has a rising trend.
Late afternoon, there is an optimum period of mental/physical function balance.

Evening:

Coordination, stamina, body temperature at a peak.
Lung performance is best.
Flexibility and strength at their greatest.
Mental focus is waning.

Night:

Starting around 9pm, the body produces additional melatonin, preparing for sleep. Bodily processes should be slowing down in preparation for sleep.

Notice that many systems will not be at peak performance at the same times of day. Because of this, and with the addition of individual differences, it is difficult to give a time at which a person will be at their best. But with the given information so far, I would suggest late afternoon as a time of optimum performance in most of your body's processes.

From the given information on circadian rhythm, here are some suggestions based on unique goals:

1. Morning - Best potential for building muscle because testosterone is critical in protein synthesis and for rebuilding muscle fiber damaged in weight training. There is also greater mental focus, which may allow for greater mind-muscle connection and greater efficiency of muscle work done.

2. Afternoon - Best potential for breaking plateaus by employing muscle shocking techniques because pain threshold is highest and the limits of the body might be able to be pushed further than usual.

3. Evening - Best potential for strongest performance. This is the time of day when the body is in peak condition for physical activity.

Besides the purely physical observations about circadian rhythm that have been mentioned, there are other considerations that one might take into account when deciding the best time of day to weight train:

Morning:

Is fat loss or fat storage prevention a goal? Morning exercise may help in reaching this goal partly due to higher than normal testosterone. It also helps that your body has not had much food to process yet, and may turn to fat for energy instead.

1. Exercise has shown to increase serotonin levels. Low serotonin has been shown to be related to depression. Exercising in the morning could possibly help elevate mood slightly for the rest of the day. It should be noted, however, that significant changes in overall mood can take a long time to occur, and will happen as a result of a general increase in serotonin.

2. Is the gym open at the time you want? I know my gym currently does not open at an early enough time for me to schedule a workout.

3. If you are able to get to a gym in the mornings, there are generally less people there. You won't have to fight over weights or machines. You're more free to move about and choose the exercises you'd like with less interruption and possibly less embarrassment if you're the shy type and trying something new for the first time.

4. By doing a workout in the morning, it will be out of the way, out of mind. There will be less worry about missing a workout and less stress in anticipation of your performance if it gets done sooner in the day.

Afternoon:

*** A good balance between all the issues discussed in both morning and night sections. ***

Evening:

1. If working out too late, this can affect you're body's natural time of slowing things down for sleep.

2. Working out increases ability to absorb nutrients on a cellular level. If adequate nutrition is not in place after a workout, the body might soon be left hanging for an eight hour fast while you sleep.

3. Is the gym open late?

4. More people tend to be at the gym because they are done with work or school for the day. It may be harder to get in all the specific exercises desired in a reasonable amount of time, as there may be waiting times for equipment.

5. How worn out a person gets from there school, work, or other daily activities might also play a role in their evening weight training efforts.

The Best:

Based on both these more obvious considerations and from the circadian rhythm information, I would recommend that weight training in the afternoon would be best. It has a nice balance of all the aspects and issues presented. In fact, the only real drawback I could think of might be that it may be harder to schedule for some--due to other commitments like work or school.

For those that cannot do afternoons, just try to schedule training at a time that is either most comfortable, convenient, or when equipment is most freely accessible. What is most important is not placing undue stress upon yourself by worrying too much about when you train-your body will figure things out no matter what time it is.

The best advice given is to follow your bodies reaction to the training you put it through.

1. Do you feel like you are getting the most out of your workouts? If not maybe trying a different time of day to train may just do the trick.

2. In my opinion there really is no one perfect time to train for everyone. I've always trained when I felt ready to train. The key to long term success is basically to train consistently regardless of the time of day. There is no need to stress over the time of day not being perfect for your training.

3. Remember to get maximum benefits from training it's not all about the time of training, remember that proper nutrition, supplementation and rest are all equally as important.

This article is simply designed to give you the knowledge so you can make a more educated choice on when you should train. Just remember follow what works best for YOU and get in the gym and train!