The best time to exercise?

CEBU, Philippines - Dr. Joseph Mercola, an alternative medicine practitioner, published an article on the web about exercise and its benefits, among others, improved quality of sleep.  Depending on availability of time and to our convenience, we squeeze in workouts to our daily schedules.

Personally, I prefer doing my thing late afternoons as I tend to get drowsy at work when I do exercises in the morning.  It also allows me to de-stress as working out in the afternoons gets my mind off things accumulated during the day considered unpleasant.

Dr. Mercola’s web article says there is a common notion to avoid vigorous exercises at night considering that doing so increases adrenaline levels, heart rate and body temperature, thus making it difficult for us to sleep.  But there’s another nocturnal exercise, although not as vigorous, that I guarantee that gives us a good night’s sleep, sometimes with silly smiles on our faces.  Get my drift, people?

Experts recommend that we don’t do vigorous workouts within three hours of bedtime as it also takes about that time for our body to cool down.  The National Sleep Foundation (yes, they have a foundation for sleep, my freaking goodness) concluded that regardless of the time of day an exercise is performed, exercise is good for sleep, and they further said that :

“While some believe that exercising near bedtime can adversely affect sleep and sleep quality, no major differences were found between the data for individuals who say they have done vigorous and or moderate activity within four hours of bed time compared to their counterparts (those who did vigorous/moderate activity more than four hours before bedtime.)”

Also, scientific studies say that depending on the time of  day that exercises are performed, it results in different types of  benefits, specifically involving our body clocks, our circadian rhythm.  Studies show from a circadian point of view that it would be sensible to exercise in the afternoon.

Circadian rhythms control our body temperatures and it tends to be a degree or two warmer in the afternoon.  This gives us better circulation, better muscle performance and lesser injury risks, and we tend to be more generally alert and active in the afternoon.

On the other hand, morning exercises also have its benefits.  Almost always, early morning workouts are done on an empty stomach, thus maximizing benefits.  Research showed that exercising while hungry prevents weight gain as it forces fat to burn for energy.

As per Dr. Mercola, there really is no best time to exercise.  The only best time is when we do it consistently.  Let’s make exercise a habit, no matter what time of day its gonna be.  Bottomline, we let our body decide what is best for us, be it morning, afternoon or night.

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I love you yesterday, I love you today, I love you everyday.  To Denden, the bearer of my children Emil and Ana, there’s no love that survives longer than a mother’s love.   To reciprocate, I quote Theodore Hesburgh, “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”

At my age, I still miss the love and the hugs that my late mother gave me and my siblings.  To all the mothers of the world, Happy Mother’s Day.

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