What time of day is best for the body? You might lock your answer to a certain point in the morning or evening.
However, a new study discovered by mainland scholars extends the "prime time" of exercise to 6 hours.
Experts interviewed
Zhang Yimin, Key Laboratory of Sports and Physical Health, Ministry of Education, Beijing Sport University
Su Hao, Associate Professor, School of Sports Human Science, Beijing Sport University
11 ~ 5 p.m., the "golden hour" of sports
A study published in Nature Communications identified the best time of day to exercise. Compared with previous studies, this study, led by scholars from the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, expands the time range and gives specific values.
The researchers used data from 92,139 people from the UK Biobank to divide participants into 4 groups based on their exercise time:
Morning Group (5:00~11:00)
Noon-afternoon group (11:00~17:00)
Mixed groups
Evening Group (17:00~24:00)
Based on the above 4 time group data, the study found that:
Moderate to vigorous physical activity at any time of the day reduces the risk of all-cause, cardiovascular disease, and cancer death;
Compared with the morning group and evening group, exercise or mixed exercise at 11:00~17:00 every day reduced all-cause mortality by 11%, and cardiovascular disease mortality decreased by up to 28%.
Cancer mortality rates were similar across the four time groups;
Compared with other time periods, exercise at 11:00~17:00 every day has lower all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality.
In addition, the researchers found beneficial associations between the noon-afternoon and mixed groups and the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease death, which was more pronounced in older people, people with less physical activity (less than WHO recommendations), and people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease.
In other words, the above people can consider exercising during the time period from 11 a.m. to 17 p.m., which works better.
3 intensities determine the duration of exercise
According to the "National Fitness Guide" issued by the General Administration of Sports, sports and fitness activities are divided into 3 levels, and each level has suitable groups:
1. People who participate in physical activities or weak physique in the early stage can carry out small-intensity sports such as walking, and the heart rate generally does not exceed 100 times / minute during exercise;
2. People with certain exercise habits and good physique can do moderate-intensity exercise, such as walking and jogging, cycling, tai chi, etc., and the heart rate is generally 100~140 times / minute;
3. Fitness experts can participate in running, fast climbing, stairs climbing, tennis and other sports, the exercise intensity can reach high intensity, and the heart rate exceeds 140 times / minute.
The length of each exercise is also delicate, too short a time has little effect, too long a time can aggravate fatigue or cause sports injuries. In general, a long-term exercise plan has the following duration principles:
Early participation in physical activity
You can choose aerobic exercise, ball sports, traditional Chinese sports, flexibility exercise and other types, starting with 3 days a week and gradually increasing to 5 days; From 10~20 minutes per exercise, gradually increase to 30~40 minutes.
After 8 weeks of physical activity
If you feel that your physical function and athletic ability have improved, you can enter the mid-term physical activity stage.
This stage should continue to increase the intensity and duration of exercise, appropriately increase strength exercises, exercise 3~5 days a week, 30~50 minutes each time.
Long-term stable physical activity
200~300 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week, or 75~150 minutes of high intensity exercise; Strength exercises are carried out 2~3 times a week, no less than 5 stretching exercises, and the frequency of exercise should also be increased to 5~7 days a week.
It should be reminded that each warm-up before exercise and post-exercise stretching exercise should ensure about 5~10 minutes, and the warm-up time should preferably account for 10%~20% of the total duration of exercise; Dynamic stretching is mainly before exercise, such as positive kicks and side kicks, and static stretching is carried out after exercise, such as positive leg pressure and side leg compression.
4 misconceptions about exercise time
Exercise can both improve physical fitness and give positive emotional support. However, retaliatory exercise, blind follow-up, picking the wrong exercise time... These bad habits can make you ineffective from exercising.
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Assault movement
Many office workers will "shift" their exercise time to the weekend because they are too busy and tired on weekdays, and make up for the lack of exercise in this centralized fitness way. However, the damage caused by this fitness style is similar to "overeating".
Studies have shown that for people who cannot exercise for a long time, occasional heavy exercise will aggravate the wear and tear of the body's organs.
It is recommended that you distribute the exercise time evenly, use the fragmented time to do a set of leg lift training, or plan a 10-minute training for yourself every day.
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Exercise during illness
During illness, it is most necessary to rest, stop exercising or reduce the amount of intense exercise, otherwise it is easy to aggravate the condition and even induce sudden death.
You can refer to the "neck rule" of the Mayo Clinic in the United States: if the symptoms are above the neck, such as nasal congestion or mild cold sneezing, you can exercise appropriately; Exercise is not recommended if the symptoms are below the neck, such as severe cough, fever, muscle pain, nausea.
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Morning exercise time is too early
Before the sun comes out, the carbon dioxide content in the air is high, the air quality is poor, and people who are accustomed to morning exercise should be arranged 1 hour after the sun comes out, and should not practice on the side of the road with more traffic and in places with dense woods.
In addition, fasting morning exercise is prone to hypoglycemia, and coronary artery tension is high in the morning, sympathetic excitability is also high, and the incidence of cardiovascular disease is higher from 6 am to before noon.
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Blindly perform high-intensity interval training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a kind of exercise method for full-strength, rapid and explosive exercise in a short period of time, because of its high efficiency - in 15~20 minutes to achieve the exercise effect of medium and low intensity exercise for about 1 hour, there are no special requirements for the venue and equipment, and it has become one of the popular exercise methods.
HIIT training is more suitable for young people or middle-aged people with exercise foundation, generally about 3 times a week.
Before high-intensity interval aerobic training, it is best to do a month of acclimatization, at least 3 times a week to complete 20 minutes of aerobic training, so that the body gradually adapts to the training stimulus.
It should be reminded that people with poor heart function can exercise for about half an hour, and if there is chest tightness, shortness of breath and other discomfort during exercise, they should immediately stop exercising and rest; In cases such as colds or often staying up late, it is not advisable to exercise. ▲
Editor of this issue: Zhang Yu