New research has uncovered the best times of day for tackling complicated work projects, getting the most out of your workout, and having the best sex. It’s not great news if you like to sleep in.
For this report, the researchers from health and wellbeing firm Forza monitored the body clocks of 1,000 people to determine the optimum times of the day to do a range of activities in order to get the most out of them.
When to have the best sex
Apparently that the best time of day to have sex is at 7:30am – or around 45 minutes after you wake up. Your energy levels are at their highest after a good night’s sleep which means both sexes have more stamina.
Morning sex has the added benefit of giving you a rush of endorphins that lower blood pressure and stress levels and make you feel more upbeat throughout the rest of the day.
The best times to eat
The key to healthy eating for this study was not to have an uneven calorie intake throughout the day, according to 72 per cent of respondents. Therefore, the best times for meals were breakfast at 7:15am, lunch at 12:15pm and dinner at 6:00pm, if you want to maximize weight loss.
The best time for challenging work
People’s concentration levels are generally at their peak roughly three hours after waking up. Consequently, if you have a difficult project you’re working on or a problem to solve, then 9:45am is the best time to tackle it, according to this research.
The best time to drink
It turns out that traditional ‘Happy Hours’ are actually rather well timed. This research suggests that the best time of day to have a drink is at 6:15pm. The science is that you should drink earlier in the evening so that your liver has four hours to recover from the alcohol intake before bedtime. (See the best bars for Happy Hour drinks in Toronto.)
The best times to work out
Just over half of the participants in this study (54 per cent) found their calorie burn from running was best with pre-breakfast run at around 7:00am. However, since strength levels tend to build up during the day, 52 per cent of gym goers who lift weights found they were most effective after work, with 6:30pm being the best time.
When you’re most likely to snack
The study pinpointed the weak moments when we were most likely to put on weight by reaching for junk food. “Snack O’Clock” most often hits at 3:30pm, when we are starting to lag at work, and at 8:15pm when we are relaxing in front of the TV. So, these are the best times to show willpower or to have healthier snacking options handy.
The best time for sleep
The best time to hit the hay is at 10:10pm – which gives you 20 minutes to fall asleep and then 90 minutes of the most restorative non-REM sleep which is most likely to occur prior to midnight.
Most people need roughly eight hours of sleep per day. A key finding from the study was that more than half of us (56 per cent) are not getting enough, and this is impacting our effectiveness throughout the day.
Of course, this schedule is based on morning people who get up at about 6:45am. If you are a later riser or a night owl, you can adjust the clock to fit your schedule, since the optimal timing for activities is based on the clock starting when you get out of bed.
