There's no single best time to train for everyone. Your body clock shifts when you're at your strongest, and when you usually train shifts it too.
When hard sessions tend to go best
Research suggests strength, power and speed are often best around your body temperature's daily high, in the late part of your day. For short, hard efforts the difference from the morning is noticeable; for long, steady sessions it's small.
On your body clock, that's roughly the four hours that end three and a half hours before your bed window opens. For example:
- bed window from 22:45: about 15:15 to 19:15;
- bed window from 00:45: about 17:15 to 21:15.
Your bed window is on the Sleep page, or ask NOYU for today's window.
This isn't the same as your peaks on the Body clock card. The card shows alertness for thinking and focus, which dips after lunch. Your body's physical high comes later, so your best training time can overlap the end of your afternoon dip.
Training at the same time helps
Your body adapts to when you train. Training regularly at one time of day tends to bring your best performance to that time, mornings included. In one study, a few months of morning strength training shrank the usual gap between morning and evening strength.
So if mornings are when you can train, train then and keep it regular. If an event starts at a set time, doing some of your hard sessions at that time can help.
Training time and your body clock
Exercise nudges your body clock too. In one study of 99 adults, an hour of moderate exercise at 07:00, or between 13:00 and 16:00, moved the body clock earlier, and between 19:00 and 22:00 moved it later.
If you're trying to get to sleep earlier, train earlier in the day. If your bed window sits late, regular late-evening sessions can help keep it there.
If your best window falls late and you're trying to get to sleep earlier, an earlier session trades a little performance for an earlier body clock.
Training in the evening and your sleep
For most people, evening exercise doesn't harm sleep: a review of 23 studies found it didn't disrupt sleep on average. The exception is a very hard session that ends within about an hour of bedtime: it may mean taking longer to fall asleep and sleeping less.
After a hard session in the four hours before bed, Tonight keeps you at your usual bedtime rather than suggesting an earlier night.
Your battery and your body clock
Your body clock shows when you tend to be at your sharpest; your battery shows how much energy you have now. A good time on the clock with a low battery after a hard day is a day to keep it easy.
Everyone is different
All of this comes from research averages. Your body may not follow them: some people sleep worse after any evening session, and some train best first thing. What shows for most people may not show for you, and the other way round, so it's worth finding out from your own data. NOYU can help:
- Each night on the Sleep page shows what came before it, your workouts included, next to how you slept, and the measures show your trends over weeks.
- The Energy page puts your own energy ratings next to your body clock.
- Experiments test one change at a time in your own numbers, such as Get to bed in your bed window.
- Ask NOYU in the chat how your evening sessions and your sleep line up.
