You may not have given importance to the time of day you train. Most of us just train when our schedule allows.. But the truth is that science has shown that there is an optimal time to train that can increase our performance and significantly improve your ability to gain muscle mass.
In this article we are going to tell you what that moment is and how you can optimize your results.
The first thing we need to know is that although Research on this topic is somewhat limited.there are some indications that can guide us in this aspect.
For example, in this study, one group of people did a workout routine in the morning and another group did it in the afternoon. After 24 weeks, the group that trained in the afternoon achieved almost 50% more gains in muscle mass compared to the group that trained in the morning.
They also had somewhat greater gains at the strength level. But these gains they were not significant. This same result has also been obtained in other studies like this one, showing that people who trained at 6:00 in the afternoon improve more than people who train around 8:00 in the morning.
It seems that if we train in the afternoon, we can achieve better results than if we train in the morning. This is probably due to higher hydration and glycogen levels. But also to what our core temperature is higherwhich in turn, is something very important since this is related to increased performance in exercise.
This core temperature is usually higher between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. In theory, this is the optimal time to train. Anyway, before you organize your agenda, there are other points that you have to take into account.
For example, if you have a physically active job, it’s probably best to train before you go to work because that way you’ll be less fatigued and perform better.
Maybe training in the morning could be better because there are usually fewer people and you have more material to train.
What you can do if you train in the morning is to hydrate a lot and drink caffeine before training, since it can counteract the possible drops in performance and achieve an environment at a muscular level similar to what can be achieved if we train in the afternoon.
Something you could do according to this study is to warm up more intensely than usual before your training in case you train in the morning due to the relationship that we have discussed that exists between core temperature and performance. Our recommendation is to wear clothing that retains heat better.
Another strategy you can follow is to be consistent with the time of day you trainas several studies show that if you train at the same time, the body’s circadian rhythms will adapt to minimize the possible reductions in performance that you may suffer in the morning.
Finally, It must be taken into account that inter-individual variability is always present.. Therefore, the optimal time will depend on your genetics, your usual sleep schedule, etc.
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