Do you remember those times when you were in college long after midnight? Weekends or weekdays, meeting friends or no friends, can we all think in our 30s and 40s how we did it? The answer lies in the small molecular bells found in every tissue in the body that synchronize with the brain's main clock and environment. As we grow, the ticking of our main hours changes. During puberty, it is slower to encourage us to spend the night and sleep. In adulthood, it accelerates gradually and accelerates. The synchronization of these watches is ultimately related and describes the chronotype.
WHAT ARE KRONOTYPES?
A chronotype is a predetermined schedule of sleep and wakefulness programmed by its genetic imprint. Every individual's molecular clock on this planet "ticks" at a certain speed. One of the biggest genetic factors for speed is called PER2. People who have naturally occurring genetic mutations in PER2 called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) lead to people you know as "squirrels" or "owls".
Although we still need 7-8 hours of restful sleep each night, some people naturally prefer to go to bed at midnight first and wake up long after sunrise. Someone who is a villain prefers to lie in bed before 9pm and wake up before the sun rises. Someone who is not like most people in the public will naturally fall asleep around 11pm and only wake up when the sun rises.
Chronotypes can also predict the time of day when you will achieve top performance. For some, they can reach a peak physically and cognitively late in the morning and late in the evening. But someone who is a beggar would peak physically and cognitively very early in the morning, take a second breath in the late afternoon and be exhausted after dinner. In a world of fitness and athletics, no chronotype is better than another.
There are genetic compromises. For example, my research has shown that ultra-running endurance sports can often pre-skate (Brager et al. 2019), but we have recently reported in a book (press) that weightlifting can pre-skate. We will talk about these "compensations" in more detail in a moment of benefits.
ARE CHRONOTYPES UNIVERSAL?
Chronotypes are universal. One of the founders of circadian biology used the term "mammalian bottleneck" to describe how chronotypes evolved in Mother Nature. In general, a mammal that is considered prey will have the opposite chronotype of its predator.
This was first demonstrated in the 1980s, when the biological clock for ground squirrels was disturbed. With a disturbed biological clock, the squirrels could no longer maintain their normal sleep and wakefulness regime. The squirrels emerged from the underground shelter at night rather than during the day. This eventually made the squirrels more likely to be eaten by predators.
Of course, the chronotypes we are born with as human beings are not a matter of "life or death". But these chronotypes can certainly help determine when we should work, not work, exercise and not exercise, eat and eat and of course recover from sleep. Many organizations, including the military, are beginning to accept these inter-individual differences in the understanding of chronotypes, which not everyone can best serve at any time of the day.
HOW TO HEAT YOUR CROWN TYPE
The biggest question is how to find your chronotype. There are several clinically validated, free to use and downloadable questionnaires that have been developed over the years. The gold standard is the morning-evening survey. It takes 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire, but it can change your life.
I often handed out this questionnaire http://acaiberryweightloss-australia.com/is-clenbuterol-legal-what-you-should-know-about-clenbuterols-legal-status/ to athletes I worked with for several years. Many people have found it to be extremely useful in improving their athletic performance and sleep. Regardless of your health goals, this questionnaire is an excellent tool for assessing your baseline and using the above strategies. Check it out today!