When should you train?
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When should you train?
Fitting a training session into the twenty-four hours is often no easy matter, given everyone's commitments, needs and deadlines, especially for the majority of active sportspeople, who remain amateurs rather than doing sport for a living.
Professional athletes are lucky enough to be able to choose the best time of day to train based on their preferences, and not only that: when planning the day's training, it is not just a matter of personal taste but also of the clear link that exists between athletic performance and time of day.
Just as heart rate, the sleep-wake cycle, body temperature and certain emotional states undergo significant fluctuations over the course of the day, so our predisposition to perform one athletic movement rather than another changes over the twenty-four hours. Scientific evidence tells us that not all sporting activities reach their peak performance at the same time of day, especially in relation to the physiological state we are in which, as mentioned, changes throughout the daylight hours.
A sporting discipline focused on endurance, volume and a medium-to-low intensity sustained over time, for example, does not always sit well with the afternoon and evening hours, whereas in the early morning and up to midday we might see better performance. On the other hand, performing an athletic movement that involves coordination, strength and precision might bring greater satisfaction in the afternoon, or at any rate in the second half of the day, rather than in the first. Again, a sport that involves high heart and breathing rates might not be advisable in the evening or close to times of relaxation, which would be affected by it.
These correlations depend above all on the circadian rhythms of certain physiological functions regulated by complex hormonal systems within the body, but also on external factors as well as personal habits and routines. Throughout the day our body undergoes a constant process of change, broadly divided into three main phases: awakening, maintenance and decline of activity. At first the body is emerging from its night-time torpor and needs time to fully activate its functions, driven by the hormone cortisol, which rises precisely in the first part of the day; for this reason, activities requiring a high level of mental and physical concentration cannot be favoured. Conversely, as a result of the increase in "wakefulness", heart rate and body temperature, the body as a whole may be much better suited to more "refined" activities in the afternoon and evening: the increase in heart rate and temperature allows better blood flow not only to the muscles but also to the brain, and consequently athletic movements involving joint and sensory coordination will be favoured, as in precision sports with targets to hit, or combat sports.
Amateur athletes are very often in a position where they cannot always choose when to train, and may experience first-hand the difficulties that can arise when making efforts at unsuitable times. It is, however, possible to partly get round some of these drawbacks and improve performance and how you feel after exercise.
If, for example, we have to train as soon as we wake up, we should try as far as possible to warm up gradually, but also quickly, before starting any kind of session. The warm-up should be even more thorough if the session includes high-intensity, strength and explosive phases, which the body would normally tolerate poorly at these times. At the same time, evening sessions, although they may be preferable in the hot season for example, should be short, keeping high-intensity phases to a minimum, above all to avoid negative effects on the quality of night-time sleep.
During the cold season, it may be advisable, whatever the sport, to make use of the lunch break, even if it means bending over backwards to fit in all your commitments, thereby avoiding the cold hours of the day, which put muscle tone and elasticity at risk. Conversely, in summer the early hours of the day are certainly the best, whatever the sport.
Food choices can also help reconcile training times and sport: in general, whatever the discipline or type of activity, you should approach physical performance with maximum energy and as little gastrointestinal load as possible. If this meant having to train on an empty stomach early in the morning, for example, to avoid uncomfortable stomach fullness, then you should choose the lesser evil, which in that case would certainly be to eat nothing on waking.
Supplementation can sometimes resolve any doubt, as bars, gels or liquid supplements can cover energy needs with short digestion and absorption times.
Fitting a training session into the twenty-four hours is often no easy matter, given everyone's commitments, needs and deadlines, especially for the majority of active sportspeople, who remain amateurs rather than doing sport for a living.
Professional athletes are lucky enough to be able to choose the best time of day to train based on their preferences, and not only that: when planning the day's training, it is not just a matter of personal taste but also of the clear link that exists between athletic performance and time of day.
Just as heart rate, the sleep-wake cycle, body temperature and certain emotional states undergo significant fluctuations over the course of the day, so our predisposition to perform one athletic movement rather than another changes over the twenty-four hours. Scientific evidence tells us that not all sporting activities reach their peak performance at the same time of day, especially in relation to the physiological state we are in which, as mentioned, changes throughout the daylight hours.
A sporting discipline focused on endurance, volume and a medium-to-low intensity sustained over time, for example, does not always sit well with the afternoon and evening hours, whereas in the early morning and up to midday we might see better performance. On the other hand, performing an athletic movement that involves coordination, strength and precision might bring greater satisfaction in the afternoon, or at any rate in the second half of the day, rather than in the first. Again, a sport that involves high heart and breathing rates might not be advisable in the evening or close to times of relaxation, which would be affected by it.
These correlations depend above all on the circadian rhythms of certain physiological functions regulated by complex hormonal systems within the body, but also on external factors as well as personal habits and routines. Throughout the day our body undergoes a constant process of change, broadly divided into three main phases: awakening, maintenance and decline of activity. At first the body is emerging from its night-time torpor and needs time to fully activate its functions, driven by the hormone cortisol, which rises precisely in the first part of the day; for this reason, activities requiring a high level of mental and physical concentration cannot be favoured. Conversely, as a result of the increase in "wakefulness", heart rate and body temperature, the body as a whole may be much better suited to more "refined" activities in the afternoon and evening: the increase in heart rate and temperature allows better blood flow not only to the muscles but also to the brain, and consequently athletic movements involving joint and sensory coordination will be favoured, as in precision sports with targets to hit, or combat sports.
Amateur athletes are very often in a position where they cannot always choose when to train, and may experience first-hand the difficulties that can arise when making efforts at unsuitable times. It is, however, possible to partly get round some of these drawbacks and improve performance and how you feel after exercise.
If, for example, we have to train as soon as we wake up, we should try as far as possible to warm up gradually, but also quickly, before starting any kind of session. The warm-up should be even more thorough if the session includes high-intensity, strength and explosive phases, which the body would normally tolerate poorly at these times. At the same time, evening sessions, although they may be preferable in the hot season for example, should be short, keeping high-intensity phases to a minimum, above all to avoid negative effects on the quality of night-time sleep.
During the cold season, it may be advisable, whatever the sport, to make use of the lunch break, even if it means bending over backwards to fit in all your commitments, thereby avoiding the cold hours of the day, which put muscle tone and elasticity at risk. Conversely, in summer the early hours of the day are certainly the best, whatever the sport.
Food choices can also help reconcile training times and sport: in general, whatever the discipline or type of activity, you should approach physical performance with maximum energy and as little gastrointestinal load as possible. If this meant having to train on an empty stomach early in the morning, for example, to avoid uncomfortable stomach fullness, then you should choose the lesser evil, which in that case would certainly be to eat nothing on waking.
Supplementation can sometimes resolve any doubt, as bars, gels or liquid supplements can cover energy needs with short digestion and absorption times.
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