The time to exercise

Yes, we all know that exercise is a necessary part of your good health regime, but when's the best time to exercise?

Well, one option is when it works for you eg before/after work etc. If you're a "first thing" exerciser I'd like to highlight some information for you to take into account when planning a routine.


The spine needs bed rest and bed rest reduces the applied (hydrostatic) load below the disc osmotic pressure, resulting in net inflow of fluid. This is how the disc receives nutrients and in fact your spine will "grow" during the usual eight hours of bed rest per day. Diurnal variation in the fluid level of the intervertebral (spine) discs changes the stresses on the disc: they are highly hydrated upon rising from bed. The annulus (core of disc) is subjected to much higher stresses during at this time and the end plates fail at lower compressive loads as well.

Discs will lose 90% of the fluid they generally lose over the course of the day within the first hour after rising from bed.

Thus, performing spine-bending maneuvers first thing in the morning is unwise and it is recommended to avoid full-range motion under load shortly after rising from bed eg. spine stretches, sit-ups, rowing.



Reference: "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance" (3rd Edition) by Stuart McGill PhD, Professor of Spine Biomechanics, University of Waterloo, Canada. www.backfitpro.com