![]() ![]() For one, this study used cardiovascular fitness as a measure of performance. Take actionĪ few things to consider, before you turn your sleep schedule upside down. So on average, it took the night owls much longer to get to an optimal level of performance – great if you have a performance in the evening, but not so terrific if you have to perform during the daytime. For the owls, on the other hand, it took 11 hours from their biological start of the day to get to peak performance levels. For the larks, the average time from entrained wake-up to peak performance was 5.5 hours. Using the athletes’ natural wake-up time (or the biological start of their day), and the time at which they had their best performances, the researchers then calculated the athletes’ average time to peak performance. ![]() The owls’ natural wake-up time, on the other hand, was 9:45am – only 15 minutes before their 10am bleep test! So it’s not surprising that the owls would perform more poorly in the morning/early afternoon bleep tests – their body clocks were still just getting out of bed, in a manner of speaking. The otters’ entrained wake-up time was ~8am, so their body clocks would have been up for 2 hours before the test. The early larks’ average natural wake-up time was ~7am, giving them 3 hours to clear their heads and get revved up a bit. The researchers also looked at athletes’ performances relative to their “entrained” wake-up time, or the time athletes reported waking up naturally without an alarm clock.īecause even if an early riser and late riser are both up and about during most of the same parts of a day, they do keep very different hours and have different biological days.įor instance, studies have found that larks have higher levels of cortisol in the morning (a hormone, too much of which isn’t good, but is essential for muscle function), and a particular pattern of cortisol levels during the day, relative to owls who have lower cortisol in the morning and also a distinctly different pattern of cortisol levels during the day. Sure, 7% may not seem like much, but as the authors note, a 1% gain/loss in performance is easily the difference between medaling and not medaling in the Olympics, and in some events, can even be the difference between 4 th place and 1 st place. Meanwhile, the owls’ performances varied pretty wildly, with an average difference of 26% between their best and worst performances. Larks’ and otters’ best and worst performances varied by about 7-10% on average. Evening owls performed their best in the evening.įurthermore, the consistency of each group’s performances varied quite a lot too.Intermediate otters performed their best around mid-afternoon.Early larks performed their best on the bleep test around mid-day.When separated by their circadian phenotype (or internal “body clock”), the researchers found that athletes’ performances varied quite a bit during the course of a day. However, the story gets a little more nuanced and interesting when you look at the larks, otters, and owls separately. So at first glance, it would seem that the best time for us to schedule an audition or performance is somewhere in the 4pm-7pm range. Performance at 10am, 1pm, and 10pm was somewhere in the middle. Overall, performance was worst at 7am, and best at 4pm and 7pm. The 20 participants then completed the standard “ bleep” fitness test at six different times of day – 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, and 10pm – to see at what time of day they would perform their best. And do cute human-y things, like hold hands ).įrom that pool of athletes, the researchers selected 20, who were all field hockey players at approximately the same age and fitness level (1/4 th were larks, 1/2 were otters, and 1/4 th were owls). The results were used to categorize the athletes as morning “larks,” intermediate folks, or evening “owls.” (Why didn’t the athletes in the middle get a bird nickname? I don’t know, so I’m just going to call them “otters.” Because otters are awesome. ![]() Researchers at the University of Birmingham recruited 121 competitive athletes to complete a comprehensive inventory of their daily activities, ranging from sleep/wake patterns to food intake, training schedules, and more. Put another way, at what time of day are you most likely to perform your very best? Larks and owls (and otters) If you had a choice, what time slot should you select for your next big audition? ![]()
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