Late risers: slow off the mark but first to finish line

The study, The Impact of Circadian Phenotype and Time since Awakening on Diurnal Performance in Athletes, found that, contrary to previous studies that found all athletes achieved peak performance in the evening, what time you perform best depends on the type of body clock you have.

According to the researchers, the time when you achieve your best performance depends on whether you are a “lark” or an “owl” – in other words, whether you feel better going to bed early and getting up early, or whether you prefer to go to bed late and sleep in. Then there are the intermediates, who fall somewhere between the two camps.

The researchers observed the athletes’ entrained awakening hours – the time at which they would wake naturally without being woken by something else. They found that waking times conformed to three “circadian phenotypes”. Larks get up from 6 to 7am, intermediates from 8-9am and owls from 11 am to 12pm.

Performance times varied by up to 26 per cent according to the athlete’s type of body clock. The early risers reached their performance peak by about midday, but the owls didn’t perform at their best until at least 10pm. Intermediates performed best at 4pm.

For the larks, the study found they should compete about six hours after waking. But for the owls, peak performance could come as much as 11 hours after waking, putting them at a potential disadvantage due to the timing of many athletic events.

Our research takes us away from the idea of ‘time of day of the race’ and directs us more to internal biological time. Roland Brandstaetter, study author

Roland Brandstaetter, who ran the project with his colleague Elisa Facer-Childs, says that for most casual athletes, the difference in body clock types was unlikely to make a significant difference. But for elite Olympic athletes, it could be the key to winning gold:

“If a 1 per cent difference in performance can make the difference between first place and fourth place in a 100-metre race and actually win you the gold medal at the Olympics, then imagine what a 26 per cent difference in your performance could give you.

“Our research takes us away from the idea of ‘time of day of the race’ and directs us more to internal biological time.”

Brandstaetter and Facer-Childs first asked 121 competition-level athletes various questions about their sleeping habits, such as when they woke up, when they fell asleep, how long it took them to fall asleep and what their daily schedules were. They then selected 20 of those athletes, representing early, intermediate, and late types and tested their cardiovascular endurance in a standard fitness test at six times of day.

For footballers, the traditional 3pm kick-off may be on the decline, but Dr Brandstaetter says it is the best compromise time to play for the three distinct phenotypes.

“It’s a very good time for the larks and the intermediates. It’s starting to be an okay time for the owls, they’re slowly getting there,” he said.

“So between 3 and 5pm is probably the time you could call a compromise. From our results it would be the perfect time for the intermediates, still an okay time for the earlies – although they’re declining – and also okay for the lates, because that’s the time they seek increase towards their peak performance. It would be the best possible compromise.”