Ever wonder why, no matter how hard you try, you can’t be one of those exercisers who jog 5km every dawn.

有沒(méi)有想過(guò)為何不管怎么努力，你都無(wú)法像那些專業(yè)鍛煉者一樣每天晨跑五千米?

Stop blaming yourself. It’s not because you lack discipline, it’s because your body isn’t programmed to work out at that hour.

不要怪自己，這并不是因?yàn)槟闳狈ψ月?，而是因?yàn)槟愕纳眢w在那個(gè)時(shí)間并未將訓(xùn)練這一項(xiàng)納入“程序”。

According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal website, a growing number of research suggests that we should pay more attention to our body clock when we make daily plans.

《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》網(wǎng)站上的一篇最新報(bào)道稱，有越來(lái)越多的研究表明，當(dāng)制定日常計(jì)劃時(shí)，我們應(yīng)該更加關(guān)注自身的生物鐘。

Our body clock, or natural body rhythm, influences our energy and alertness. Paying attention to it can help us pinpoint the different times of day when we best perform specific tasks – from thinking creatively to exercising.

我們的生物鐘，或者說(shuō)是生理節(jié)奏，會(huì)影響我們的精力和機(jī)敏度。關(guān)注生物鐘能幫助我們精確地找到一天中的哪個(gè)時(shí)段，做哪項(xiàng)工作效率最高，無(wú)論是創(chuàng)造性思考還是鍛煉身體。

The reality, however, is that most of us organize their time around work demands, school deadlines, commuting or social events. Doing whatever your body feels like doing is a luxury in today’s fast-paced modern society.

而事實(shí)上，我們中大多數(shù)人都在根據(jù)工作需要、課程期限、通勤或是社交活動(dòng)來(lái)安排時(shí)間表。在快節(jié)奏的現(xiàn)代社會(huì)中，身體想做什么就去做什么是一件十分奢侈的事。

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying. Obeying our body clock has significant health benefits. Disrupting our natural body rhythm, on the other hand, has been linked to problems such as depression and obesity, says Steve Key, a biology professor at the University of Southern California.

但這并不代表該做法不值得一試。遵循生物鐘對(duì)身體健康十分有益。來(lái)自南加州大學(xué)的生物學(xué)教授史蒂夫? 凱表示，從另一方面來(lái)說(shuō)，一旦打破我們的生理節(jié)奏，可能導(dǎo)致憂郁、肥胖等問(wèn)題的產(chǎn)生。

When the body clock can synchronize the rhythms of its natural processes in response to light and other natural influences, it “gives us an edge in daily life”, says Kay.

史蒂夫?凱說(shuō)：當(dāng)生物鐘在光線以及其他自然因素影響下，與自然節(jié)奏同步時(shí)，它便會(huì)為我們的日常生活增添砝碼。

According to him, when it comes to cognitive work, most adults perform best in the late morning. As our body temperature starts to rise just before awakening in the morning and continues to increase until midday, our memory, alertness and concentration gradually improve.

史蒂夫表示，就認(rèn)知型工作而言，大多數(shù)成年人在臨近中午時(shí)工作狀態(tài)最佳。由于我們的體溫剛好在清晨起床前開(kāi)始上升，并且持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)直到中午，我們的記憶力、機(jī)敏度和注意力也在逐步提升。

However, our ability to concentrate typically starts to diminish soon thereafter. Most of us are more easily distracted between noon and 4 pm.

而緊接著，我們的注意力通常會(huì)開(kāi)始下降。我們中的大多數(shù)人從中午到下午四點(diǎn)這個(gè)時(shí)間段里都很難集中精力。

Alertness also tends to fall after eating a meal and sleepiness tends to peak around 2 pm, making that a good time for a nap.

在用餐過(guò)后，機(jī)敏度也開(kāi)始下降;下午兩點(diǎn)左右達(dá)到瞌睡高峰，因此這是小睡的絕佳時(shí)機(jī)。

Surprisingly, tiredness may boost our creative powers. For most adults, problems that require open-ended thinking are often best tackled in the evening when they are tired, according to a study in the journal Thinking & Reasoning.

令人意外的是，疲勞能夠激發(fā)我們的創(chuàng)造力。一項(xiàng)刊登在《思考和推理》雜志上的研究表明，對(duì)于大多數(shù)成年人而言，那些需要用開(kāi)放性的思維來(lái)解決的問(wèn)題，最佳處理時(shí)間往往是在晚上人們感覺(jué)疲勞的時(shí)候。

This is because tiredness allows the mind to wander more freely to explore alternative solutions.

這是因?yàn)槠谀茏屗季S得到更自由的發(fā)散，去尋求不同的解決方案。

When choosing a time of day to exercise, paying attention to your body clock can improve results. Physical performance is usually best, and the risk of injury least, from about 3 to 6 pm, says Michael Smolensky, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Texas.

在選擇每日鍛煉時(shí)間的時(shí)候，關(guān)注生物鐘能提升鍛煉效果。德克薩斯大學(xué)生物醫(yī)學(xué)工程教授邁克爾?斯莫倫斯基表示：下午三點(diǎn)到六點(diǎn)這個(gè)時(shí)段中，身體狀態(tài)通常最佳，受傷風(fēng)險(xiǎn)也最低。

Muscle strength tends to peak between 2 and 6 pm. And joints and muscles are as much as 20 percent more flexible in the evening, lowering the risk of injury, according to Smolensky.

斯莫倫斯基表示，肌肉力量一般在下午兩點(diǎn)到六點(diǎn)之間達(dá)到頂峰。關(guān)節(jié)和肌肉在晚間的靈活性比其他時(shí)間高20%，從而降低受傷幾率。

Another boost for physical strength comes from the lungs, which function 17.6 percent more efficiently at 5 pm than at midday.

另一個(gè)增強(qiáng)體力的因素來(lái)自肺部。下午五點(diǎn)時(shí)肺部的效率要比午間高17.6%。

Of course, not everyone’s body clock is the same, making it even harder to synchronize natural rhythms with daily plans. But research shows that if people don’t follow a typical body clock, they operate on either of two distinctive patterns: Morning people tend to wake up and go to sleep earlier and to be most productive early in the day. Evening people tend to wake up later, start more slowly and peak in the evening.

當(dāng)然，每個(gè)人的生物鐘都不盡相同，這使得將日常計(jì)劃與自然生理節(jié)奏同步變得難上加難。而研究表明，如果一個(gè)人不遵循典型的生物鐘，那么他/她便會(huì)選擇兩種與眾不同的行事方法中的一種：“百靈鳥(niǎo)”型人群往往比一般人早睡早起，白天的工作效率最高;“夜貓子”型人群起床較晚，進(jìn)入狀態(tài)較慢，最高效的時(shí)間是在晚上。