Best time to workout?

Yup, coffee can give your workout a jolt. But if your workouts have been lagging lately, then might be an even better way to perk up:
Tap into your natural energy peaks.

Circadian rhythms

I use my circadian rhythm (hatred of mornings) as a guide (excuse) for everything I do. Still, circadian rhythms are legitimate predictors of perkiness.
Your circadian rhythm is that roughly-24-hour biochemical cycle which ebbs and flows—typically ebbing at night and flowing during the day—and regulates your physical state and behavior. No one’s circadian rhythm is exactly the same. Morning people have shorter cycles; night people have longer cycles. Most people are somewhere in between (afternoon-ish people?).

That means everyone’s optimum time of day is different.

How does your circadian rhythm alter your workout routine? It has to do with body temperature.

How body temp affects exercise

Circadian rhythms regulate body temperature. Most people have lower body temps at night and higher body temps during the day.
In a nutshell, lower body temps make you sleepy while higher temps make you more active. At a higher body temperature, you’re more energetic, alert and coordinated. That means you’re more likely to have better physical performance and more productive workouts (ACE Fitness).

Interestingly, it’s not common for anyone’s body temp to peak in the morning—a morning person’s body temp is highest in the afternoon, and a night person’s peaks in the evening. Physically, then, morning might not be the ideal time for anyone to exercise.
Science aside…

Although your body temp might not be soaring in the a.m., I’m going to wager that morning is the best time to exercise regardless of your circadian rhythm. Morning, or first thing in the day—whether your day starts at 7 a.m. or 4 p.m.

For one, working out first thing is a good way to make sure your workout happens. Getting up early to exercise is a drag, but you know what’s even more of a drag? Going to work, walking the dog, doing laundry, watching Celebrity Apprentice AND THEN working out.

People who exercise in the morning are more successful at making it a habit, according to ACE Fitness. There you have it.

Another reason to workout early: The world’s pace moves faster during the earlier part of the day, and you can ride the energy wave. I’m recalling my evening workouts in college, cruising on the elliptical in an empty gym and gazing out the window at the dark sky, and I’m shaking my head. Nothing ever happened.

Also, masses of people exercise in my neighborhood in the morning, and they look happy.

If you’re like me and the concept of getting up early for pleasure is alien, I urge you to try it this week, just once. Forget about all the excuses not to exercise in the morning.
Pack your jersey pockets with water and power bars and let your eyeballs soak in some sun. You’ll be cruising in no time.

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Achieving Health & Fitness Success!

Why Some People Quit And Some People Never Give Up Throughout my 18 years in the fitness industry as a trainer, nutrition consultant and motivational coach, I have noticed that some people who start a nutrition and exercise program give up very easily after hitting the first obstacle they encounter. If they feel the slightest bit of discouragement or frustration, they will abandon even their biggest goals and dreams. On the other hand, I noticed that some people simply NEVER give up. They have ferocious persistence and they never let go of their goals. These people are like the bulldog that refuses to release its teeth-hold on a bone. The harder you try to pull the bone out of his mouth, the harder the dog chomps down with a vice-like grip. What's the difference between these two types of people? Psychologists say there is an answer. An extremely important guideline for achieving fitness success is the concept that, "There is no failure; only feedback. You don't "fail", you only get results." This is a foundational principle from the field of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and the first time I ever heard it was from peak performance expert Anthony Robbins back in the late 1980's. It's a principle that stuck with me ever since, because it's a very, very powerful shift in mindset. A lot of people will second-guess themselves and they'll bail out and quit, just because what they try at first doesn't work. They consider it a permanent failure, but all they need is a little attitude change, a mindset change, or what we call a "reframe." Instead of saying, "This is failure" they can say to themselves, "I produced a result" and "This is only temporary." This change in perspective is going to change the way that they feel and how they mentally process and explain the experience. It turns into a learning opportunity and valuable feedback for a course correction instead of a failure, and that drives continued action and forward movement. It's all about your results and your interpretation of those results Dr Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, did some incredible research on this subject and wrote about it in his book, Learned Optimism. Dr. Seligman noticed that the difference between people who give up and people who persist and never quit is what he referred to as "explanatory style." He said that explanatory style is the way we explain or interpret bad events or failures. People who habitually give up have an explanatory style of permanence. For example, they hit a plateau in their progress and explain it by saying, "diets never work" or "I have bad genetics so I'll always be fat." These explanations imply permanence. Other people hit the same plateaus and encounter the same challenges, but explain them differently. They say things such as, "I ate too many cheat meals this week," or "I haven't found the right diet for my body type yet." These explanations of the results imply being temporary. People who see negative results as permanent failure are the ones who give up easily and often generalize their "failure" into other areas of their lives and even into their own sense of self. It's one thing to say, "I ate poorly this past week because I was traveling," (a belief about temporary behavior and environment), and to say, "I am a fat person because of my genetics" (a belief about identity with a sense of permanence). Remember, body fat is a temporary condition, not a person! People who see challenges and obstacles as temporary and as valuable learning experiences are the ones who never quit. If you learn from your experiences, not repeating what didn't work in the past, and if you choose to never quit, your success is inevitable. Www.tanyaevans.com