With the changes in the weather as summer tries its best to break out across the country, should you change the time of the day you complete your daily run or should you maintain your normal routine, after all some people swear by a jog first thing in the morning as it sets them up for the rest of the day, while others see it as a great way to wind down after a busy day in the office.

It can just be your personal preference or when you can fit it into the day, but the time of day can, it seems, affect both your health and your performance. Your natural body clock is affected by changes in daylight and this has an affect on processes within the body which in turn affect how you run.

Research has shown that early morning running can leave you alert and ready to face the day. The early morning natural light can actually help you to wake up and does in turn release hormones within the body that make you ‘feel good’. However, if you are a little slower at getting going in the morning this will not have the same effect and you should do your exercise later in the day.

One point to note is that early morning exercise can be a bit of a shock to your system if you attempt too much too soon after sleeping. It can increase the risk of injury. Reseach shows that your core body temperature will be slightly lower and your body will feel tighter than normal, so you should remember that your warm up routine might need to be a little longer to fully stretch out the joints, tendons and muscles.

Lunchtime is a great time to get outside, as it is both a chance to exercise with others, get away from the office and everything that involves, and it can help to keep you more awake and alert for the afternoon. This is because we all experience a natural slowdown just after lunch called the post-prandial dip.

If you are looking at exercise in the late afternoon/early evening this has been shown to be the best time to get serious exercise done and so gives you more chance of setting a personal best. This is because various systems and rhythms all peak during this period of the day and our lungs are more efficient at this point of the day so exercise is perceived as being easier and so we go a little further and harder than at any other point of the day.

So plenty for you to think about, but however you run and at what time of day you exercise, make sure that you are wearing the right footwear and kit and if you are just starting out then why not look at our latest arrivals in the Asics running shoes.