At night sports are hardly healthy

Nocturnal training can bring the body out of the sleep-wake cycle

02/21/2014

Nocturnal training is only recommended in exceptional cases. This is what Professor Ingo Froböse from the German Sport University Cologne is talking to the news agency „dpa“ out. The body can thereby unnecessarily get out of the natural sleep-wake cycle, the expert said. Nevertheless, many gyms are now open around the clock, 24 hours a day.

Exercise in the afternoon instead of at night
Many working people have to work long hours - even on weekends. If you still want to do sports, you can not help but postpone it to the very late evening or the night. Froböse stresses, however, that recreational athletes should exercise only in exceptional cases at night. Training at an unusual time could negatively influence the natural sleep-wake cycle. According to the sports expert, people tend to be most efficient between 9:00 and 11:00 tomorrow and 16:00 to 19:00. The best exercise time is the afternoon, because then all physical functions were running at full speed.

The internal clock is mainly influenced by two hormones: melatonin and serotonin. Both are secreted by the epiphysis in the brain. While serotonin awakens the body, melatonin gradually transports the body into nocturnal sleep mode. Training in the late evening or at night can confuse this hormonal balance. So it is not surprising that recreational sports after training usually can not fall asleep immediately. Froböse therefore recommends allowing at least two to three hours to elapse between the end of training and bedtime.

For those who, for example, due to shift work have no other option than to do sports at night, advises the sports expert to a prolonged warm-up. This will outsmart your own body by raising your body temperature and improving your performance. In addition, recreational athletes should abstain from intensive training at late hours. Yoga or gymnastics, on the other hand, are well suited, as far as no overly demanding exercises are practiced, says Froböse.

Each workout should be adapted to the individual's physical fitness, which depends on the one hand on the general state of the recreational athlete - including age and weight - on the other hand, but also on the time of day. Also, the mental state can influence the physical fitness. (Ag)

Picture: Rainer Sturm