01:45 – Source: CNN
For aging bodies, this type of workout may be better than jogging
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If your main fitness goal is weight loss, you may want to consider the time of day you exercise. A new study offers clues that could help you maximize your efforts.
Exercising between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. was associated with lower waist circumference and body mass index that people who train at midday or in the evening, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Obésité.
“This is exciting new research that fits with a common tip for achieve exercise goals — that is, schedule exercise in the morning before emails, phone calls or meetings that might distract you,” said Rebecca Krukowski, a clinical psychologist specializing in behavioral weight management who does not did not participate in the study, in a press release.
Positive links between moderate to vigorous physical activity and weight loss have previously been reported by other researchers. However, the results regarding the best time to exercise for weight loss were mixed, the authors of the latest study therefore examined what influence doing activity at different times could impact the relationship between exercise and obesity.
The authors studied health and activity data from 5,285 people who participated in the 2003 to 2006 cycles of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. (The researchers chose these specific years because that’s when accelerometers, or activity trackers, were first used in the survey.)
After participants recorded their BMI and waist circumference, they wore activity trackers on their right hip during waking hours for 10 hours or more each day for four to seven days.
Those who exercised in the morning – between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. – had an average BMI of 27.5, compared to midday and evening exercisers, who had a BMI of 28.3 on average. Lunch was defined as 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and evening as 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The average waist circumference, adjusted for diet quality and calorie intake, was 96 centimeters (37.7 inches), 97.8 centimeters (38.5 inches), and 97.5 centimeters ( 38.4 inches). ), respectively.
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These results hold true regardless of gender, ethnicity, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, or sedentary behavior. What’s more, even among people who met all physical activity guidelines – at least 150 minutes per week – achieving this goal in the morning was associated with the lowest BMI and waist circumference.
“This research added valuable evidence based on a national sample of participants in the United States, which has never been done before on the topic of exercise timing and weight loss,” said the lead author of the study, research assistant Dr. Tongyu Ma. professor of rehabilitation sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, via email.
However, participants’ BMI and waist circumference were measured before the activity monitoring period, and they were not measured again afterward. The authors were therefore unable to prove that morning exercise had a direct impact on either measure.
Ma plans to do more studies to confirm the findings and determine whether there is a causal relationship between exercising in the morning and having a smaller BMI and waist circumference, he said.
The reasons behind these results could be linked to both physiology and lifestyle habits, according to experts.
Due to the study design, “it is unclear whether people who exercise regularly in the morning may be systematically different from those who exercise at other times, in ways that was not measured in this study,” said Krukowski, a public health professor. sciences and co-director of the Community-Based Health Equity Center at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
“People who exercise regularly in the morning might have more predictable schedules, for example by being less likely to work shifts or have caring responsibilities that interfere with morning exercise,” she said. added. “Predictable schedules might have other beneficial effects on weight that were not measured in this study, such as sleep duration (or) quality and stress levels.”
Additionally, experts say morning people may be biologically different from night owls.
Based on previous studies, the authors note, people who exercise in the morning are more likely to have a lower daily calorie intake and to passively expend more energy when not exercising. exercise. This may seem contradictory, but this trend likely occurs because working out on an empty stomach in the morning means your body relies on stored fat for energy rather than glucose stored in food. This may mean that early risers’ bodies are better equipped to increase fat oxidation or burning, both during exercise and the following day, even if if they are sedentary post workout.
In the latest study, morning exercisers were the most sedentary, even though they had the lowest BMI and waist circumference.
“Personally, I like this because it tells me that as long as I work out in the morning, I can sit in my office and focus on my work for the rest of the day without worrying about weight gain” , Ma said by email.
Greater weight loss may also result from more concentrated or structured exercise, the authors said — another trend they found among the morning group.
If you can fit it in, “early morning aerobic exercise — like cycling, running or even brisk walking to start — is a promising tool for losing weight,” Ma said. “In fact, most “People are more likely to stick to a morning workout routine rather than a midday or evening one.”
