Though circadian rhythms are innate, you can reset them, and one of the most effective ways to do this is with exercise. Zambon and his colleagues have shown that lifting weights can affect the genes responsible for regulating the circadian clocks of muscles independently of what's happening with the brain's main timekeeper. "With just one weight training session we were able to increase the expression of certain genes located in the muscles that are normally switched off in the morning and reduce the expression of genes that are normally switched on in the morning," Zambon says.
Translation? By resetting the muscle's clocks, lifting weights seems to trick your body into believing it's morning when it's actually the afternoon or vice versa. Although Zambon cautions that more research needs to be done to completely understand how circadian rhythms work, he says this discovery may explain why exercise is so effective for overcoming jetlag.
If you experience jetlag or fatigue from a major schedule change, Zambon recommends trying this: Once you arrive at your destination, wait until you start to feel fatigued, and then immediately do a weight workout at about 80 percent of maximum effort. "Repeat this for a couple of days and you may be able to minimize the symptoms of jetlag," he says.
