JUST FOR LARKS?

● It’s true that some people have a natural tendency towards being larks – they perform better in the morning and go to sleep relatively early – while others are owls, and happily stay up till the small hours but prefer a lie-in. But is it worth trying to fight your predisposition for the sake of bagging extra miles before brunch?

Science suggests the answer is yes. A 2019 joint study from the University of Birmingham, the University of Surrey and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, showed that volunteers were able to shift their natural wake-up time by up to three hours after following a three-step plan for one month.

During the research period, 22 people who typically went to bed between 2.30am and 3am and got up around 10:15am were asked to follow a common-sense plan: go to bed two to three hours earlier than their usual time, get up two to three hours earlier than usual; eat breakfast on waking, and have lunch and dinner at the same set times. They were also advised to cut down their caffeine intake and avoid lie-ins on the weekends.

The volunteers were able to stick to their earlier wake-up times and also reported reduced stress and anxiety and better mental performance, suggesting the belief that we are naturally either morning or evening people might be preventing some people from making beneficial changes. Dr Revell agrees: “There are some genes that are associated with being a morning or an evening person,” she says, “but a lot of it is behavioural choice.” So, it would seem the choice is yours…