Time and Energy

Energy levels ebb and flow throughout the day, influenced by everything from your mood to your body's circadian rhythms—daily changes in things like heart rate, temperature, and blood pressure. Here are recommendations of exercising at various times of day.

MORNING: The main difficulty in the morning is dragging your self out of bed. Once you've done that, however, there's little else to distract you from the business at hand. That may be why people who work out in the A.M. are more likely to stick with it over time, which means they're well on their way to reaping the long term energy boost that being fit brings.

LUNCHTIME: Most people feel an energy decline between two and three in the afternoon. "It's not related to eating; it's just part of the body's natural cycle," says Thomas Reilly, an exercise physiologist. Exercising in the middle of the day can smooth out the low energy, Reilly says, because it increases the flow of hormones that push you up for a few hours after a session. But don't skip lunch to work out. A light meal an hour before you exercise will give you the energy to get moving.

EVENING: In the late afternoon and early evening, people breathe easier because the lungs' airways are more open, our strength peaks since body temperature is higher. But, don't work out too close to bedtime or the resulting burst of energy may make it difficult to fall asleep.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Paragraph 1, blood pressure will have an effect on energy level because of ____.
2. What will trouble us in the morning?
3. What is mistaken about afternoon tiredness?
4. What is the meaning of "skip lunch to" in Paragraph 3?
5. From Paragraph 4 we can conclude that the higher temperature is ____.

(Keys.)