Most people wake up at dawn's crack, full of enthusiasm and ready to work out. Some hit snooze and then get their oomph on later in the day.
Most people wake up at dawn's crack, full of enthusiasm and ready to work out. Some hit snooze and then get their oomph on later in the day. While a new study found early risers tend to get more exercise overall whenever you squeeze into a workout doing incredible things for both your mental and physical health.
In the survey, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, researchers came back to 6,000 individuals who had been part of a health study previously. In the follow-up, the men and women were asked to wear a two-week activity tracker. They found early birds got into more overall movement after calculating how much energy the participants expended. Women walked more than the night owls for 20 minutes, and the men walked more than 30 minutes.
Study leader Laura Nauha, a doctoral student at Finland's Oulu University, told the New York Times there is a reason for the extra movement. It could be that night owls get more energy later in the evening when, for example, running outside or going to the gym isn't as easy. She says a lack of sleep can also play a part, as they may be more exhausted from staying up later during the day. Whatever the reason may be, they just need to move more crucially. "Types of the evening can need to work harder to try to make sure they exercise," she said.
The good news is that evening owls can work with their own internal clocks to make sure they stay active too. If you're not the sort of person who's ready at 5:30 a.m. for a sprint, experts suggest that you work up a sweat when it feels better for your body, whether that's during your lunch break or after you're finished with daytime work. You'll get more out of it when you're still wandering around with your eyes half-closed, opposed to trying to exercise first-thing. You'll reap the rewards as long as you make it your goal to move forward.
Work up a sweat with this high-energy, full-body workout whenever you wish:
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