All About The Circadian Rhythm

I want to discuss something here that a lot of people don't quite understand and some people have never even herd of it. It's how we function everyday and it is so important to understand, especially for all us health and fitness people. But Anyone could benefit from knowing this stuff. "Circadian Rhythm" First off WHAT IS THE "CR"?
- It is defined as any type of Biological Process that runs in a 24 hour time span and everyone is born with it. Its basically a rhythm the body goes through every 24 hours, and everyones body runs on it's own unique "CR". STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND?
- Then ask yourself this question- Have you every noticed that during every day you have a point where your energy seems the highest? and do you also feel that there is a reoccurring time span where you just feel tired? Everyones answer should be yes, otherwise you are not a biological creature lol. Everyone in this world runs in there own "CR". The interesting thing is that everyones is unique. Have you ever been to a friends house for a late night party or hang out, and then your friend you notice has a lot of energy and all you want to do is sleep? That is the "CR" taking place in these times. Your "CR" is at it's low point during the day and your friends "CR" is functioning for the high of the day. SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? HOW CAN THIS HELP US IN OUR FITNESS?
one of the biggest questions that i get almost weekly is "what is the best time to workout?" well this comes right back to the "CR" you should schedule your workout for the time in your own Circadian Rhythm where you have the most energy. For me my high during the day is in the morning, thats why i choose to do 4:30am workouts. If you are having trouble figuring out when your natural high is during the day this is what you should do; pick a day out of the week and just go through ur day writing down how you feel personally every hour of the day, and do not workout on this day you want to find your natural high and low points for the day and if you workout on the day you are trying to figure that out it will effect your energy levels and you wont have a clear reading then. So once you go a day writing out how you feel every hour of the day you should have a clear understanding how your body functions in a 24 hour time span. You may even want to do this 2 days in a row to make sure things match up. ALRIGHT THAT SOUNDS PRETTY COOL, SO IS THERE ANY OTHER BENEFITS TO KNOWING YOU CIRCADIAN RYTHM? 

a matter of fact yes there is. once you figure out your "CR" you should try to base every day activities to fit your rhythm the best you can. You can actually eliminate stress levels and cortisol levels when you listen and follow your Circadian Rhythm! One of the biggest problems in this world and why there is an obesity epidemic also is that we are not listening to our "CR" When you decide to go off course of your rhythm you will notice negative things resulting in the body because of it. here is a example' a guy in his 50's that has his natural high in the morning, and wants to sleep at night. This guy is working a 3rd shift job so right there he is not obeying his rhythm. His body wants to sleep at night but he has to work. If you think you can change your Rhythm you are wrong! nothing in life can change your "CR" Your rhythm starts when your a fetus in the womb and it ends when you die. During that time it never changes, so this guy that is not listening to his circadian rhythm now is experiencing all types of health problems, he is noticing that he gets sick easy, he is gaining weight even when eating a pretty healthy diet, and his personality goes from positive to almost negative all day long, resulting in random mood swings. I call this effect the negative or other side of life- it's pretty much the dark side of yourself that is taking over. It sounds pretty weird and untrue and a lot of fictional bull crap but i can assure you it is the truth. It is one of the reasons there are so many problems in this world. Can you imagine if we lived in a world where everyone followed there Rhythm to a T? If that was possible the world would be totally different, there would be less crimes, people would be able to maintain a heathy weight, Personalities would be geared toward more positive attitudes, and that list would go on and on. The sad thing is though that trying to follow your Rhythm to a T is almost impossible in the life challenges we face everyday, everybody has to adjust there life to fit there jobs and family and right there is the reason that trying to follow your rhythm to a T is just impossible, wouldn't it be great if we could adjust our work schedule for our Rythms? that would be freaking awesome! With that said though you can seriously improve your quality of life through trying to listen to your rhythm as much as you can. And one of the main things you can do is try to get the amount of sleep needed for you and try to plan your most activities on the high parts of your day. The Chart i posted here (click on it and it will make it bigger) is a great example how the Circadian Rhythm functions, remember the chart above is just an example and everyone's times will be different but it is a general outline that gives a good idea what to look for when trying to figure out your Rhythm. So do you notice how i follow a big rule of making sure to listen to my body? Now you all know how important the Circadian Rhythm is. You can also listen to your body by not getting so attached to a workout schedule too. What i mean by that is lets say you have Asylum Vertical Plyo scheduled for your workout but you wake up and you just can't get your head in the zone for it, and you feel like doing yoga instead, make the decision to do yoga and listen to what your body is telling you because your body will never choose the wrong answer :) This is why i am not one to schedule workouts in advance, and why i kinda plan the workout for the day either the night before or even when i wake up. sometime i will have a workout scheduled totally opposite from what i end up doing lol, you just have to find what works for you. 

I hope this blog helped you out. Don't be upset that you have to go off the schedule and do more recovery if you need it, thats no big deal and your body will thank you by being able to function better. Its a sign that you need the recovery and your body is simply just telling you what to do. All you have to do is listen to it :)

Peace, Fausey