When Should You Be Running and Juggling?

Here is an article outlining research that concludes you learn better at nighttime. Researchers used a magnetic coil to stimulate subject’s brains and measured their ability to control their hand movements. They found that the time of day effected the brain’s speed and concluded that people learn better later in the day. This glosses over the research but it did get me thinking, when is the best time to train for running, juggling and joggling?

Evening is best to learn juggling

According to this study, evening is probably the best time to learn to juggle. Apparently, your brain will learn quicker at night. (If you need tips, check out these 25 free juggling resources). Take about 30 to 60 minutes before going to bed and practice your juggling.

But I wonder, is nighttime also the best time to run?

When should you run

My experience has been that I feel best when I run in the late afternoon.  Joggling at 5 pm seems easier than 5 am or noon.  This could just be psychological but there is some data to back it up.

According to this article at Running Times online the best time of the day to run is Mid- to Late Afternoon. Here is what they said about each time.

Early Morning – Not the best time to go. Your body isn’t warmed up and many of your systems won’t work quite right. The only benefits are psychological. If you can have a good workout at this time, you’ll have confidence come race time.

Mid-Morning – One of the best times to go. You’ve got a little food, some energy and your phsyiological systems are working. They say it’s really good to do weight training.

Lunchtime – It may be conveient but it’s not the best time to run. Most people’s body tends to have a lull at this time, so you may feel sluggish.

Late afternoon or Evening – This is the best time. There aren’t any physical negatives for this time of day. Of course, your motivation might be low so that could affect the quality of your workout.

So, to maximize your joggling training, you should do most of your workouts in the evening.  It’ll be better for both your juggling and running.

Average Joggling 2007 stats

The whole subject made me wonder when I did most of my workouts.  Here are the relevant stats from my joggling log.

Morning – 91 workouts, 677 miles, 97.5 hours, 42% of mileage
Afternoon – 104 workouts, 447 miles, 58.75 hrs, 28% of mileage
Evening – 125 workouts, 469 miles, 62.5 hrs, 29% of mileage.

For 196.5 miles and 21.5 hours, I have no time of day data.

It looks like most of my mileage is done in the morning.  This could be one reason I’m such an “average” runner.  Perhaps more evening workouts would help me improve.

So, JYAJ community, when do you workout the most?