- If you can’t decide whether to exercise in the morning, afternoon, or evening, new research may help.
- The best time of day to exercise depends on what you want to accomplish with your workout.
- However, it also depends on whether you’re male or female, the findings suggest.
Regular physical exercise can do wonderful things for your mind and body, but there may be an optimal time of day to achieve the best result, depending on what your goal is, and this may differ depending on your gender.
The researchers behind a new randomized controlled trial, involving 27 healthy, active women and 20 healthy, active men, tested the effects of a varied fitness program, including sprinting, stretching, endurance, and resistance training. . The participants exercised four days a week for 12 weeks. The participants were between 25 and 55 years old.
While half of the group completed their daily exercise routine in the morning before breakfast, the other half did so before dinner in the evening. The entire group followed a specifically designed eating plan for the duration of the study.
different advantages
The findings revealed that all participants showed significant improvements in their fitness and health, but that women burned more body fat during morning exercise, while evening exercise had a greater impact on men.
For example, women who exercised in the morning burned 7% more abdominal fat than women who exercised in the evening. The same result was observed with the reduction of blood pressure. Additionally, morning exercise resulted in greater leg strength.
On the other hand, women who exercised at night had greater benefits in upper body strength, mood, and food cravings. The researchers also noted that muscle power improved by almost 30% compared to those who exercised in the mornings.
“Based on our findings, women interested in reducing abdominal fat and blood pressure, while increasing leg muscle strength, should consider exercising in the morning,” said first author and physiologist Paul Arciero of Skidmore College. In the USA. said in a press release.
She added, “However, for women interested in gaining upper-body muscular strength, power and endurance, as well as improving overall mood and food intake, evening exercise is the preferred option.”
What about men?
Male participants were generally less affected by exercise time. However, Arciero explained that “nighttime exercise is ideal for men interested in improving heart and metabolic health, as well as emotional well-being.” Evening exercise also reduced fatigue by more than 50%, the team found.
Scientists previously looked at the different effects of morning and evening exercise. A study published this year showed how the body could produce different signaling molecules in an organ-specific manner after exercise, depending on the time of day. These signals affect health, sleep, memory, and exercise performance.
The authors of a 2013 reviewlooking at 70 different types and times of exercise, he concluded that “time-dependent exercise has different outcomes, depending on exercise type, duration, and hormonal adaptation.”
However, despite numerous previous studies on this topic, there has been a lack of data on various exercise routines, with many of the studies focusing only on men. The current study is the first to implement a diverse exercise regimen and assess its impact on both women and men, although it is not without its limitations either.
Most of the participants were Caucasian and physically fit, the authors noted, although Arciero told the BBC that the program can work for people who are overweight or obese. “They have more opportunities to benefit,” she said.
Why this difference?
It’s not clear, but the researchers are referring to the fact that men and women have different internal (circadian) rhythms, the natural 24-hour cycle that is our body’s internal clock.
“This study provides novel insight into the impact of exercise time of day (ETOD) and associated circadian rhythms on physical performance, body composition, cardiometabolic health, and psychological mood outcomes in separate cohorts of women and men. healthy, trained men exercising either early in the morning (6:00 to 8:00 a.m.) or later in the evening (6:30 to 8:30 p.m.), consuming a similar diet,” the authors wrote.
Health care physicians, as well as trainers and physical trainers, should therefore take into account the time of day when making exercise and physical activity recommendations to patients or clients, they said.
The findings were published in Frontiers in physiology.
