To summarize: Women who want to reduce belly fat and blood pressure should exercise in the morning. Men who exercised at night showed improvements in metabolism and heart health, as well as improved overall emotional health.
resource: cutting edge
When should I be exercising in my routine? For most people, the answer depends on our family’s schedule and work hours, and perhaps whether we are “larks” or “night owls.” But over the past decade, researchers have found that the problem goes beyond these limitations. This is because recent findings suggest that the effectiveness of exercise depends on the time of day (time of day, ETOD).
Now, a randomized controlled trial has not only convincingly demonstrated the effectiveness of ETOD affecting exercise, but has also shown that these effects differ between exercise types and between women and men.The results are published in Frontiers in Physiology.
“Here, we show for the first time that, for women, morning exercise reduces Belly fat and blood pressure, while women’s nighttime exercise increases upper body muscle strength, power and endurance, and improves overall mood and nutritional satiety.”
“We also showed that, for men, exercising in the evening was associated with lower blood pressure, heart disease risk and fatigue, and burning more fat than exercising in the morning.”
New 12-Week “Multimodal” Training Program
The authors recruited 30 women and 26 men to participate. All were between the ages of 25 and 55, healthy, active, non-smoking and of normal weight.
Following the RISE program previously developed by Arciero, they underwent over 12 weeks of coaching training Wait.: Depending on the day of the week, 60 minutes of resistance (R) training, sprint interval (I) training, stretch (S) training, or endurance (E) training can be performed. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday are days off.
Participants followed a specially designed meal plan with a protein intake of between 1.1-1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day.
Importantly, female and male participants were independently randomized beforehand to either of two regimens: dedicated training in the morning (60 minutes between 06:30 and 08:30) or in the evening (18:00 to 20:00 between).
Those assigned to morning workouts ate breakfast after exercise, and then three more meals every four hours. Those assigned to nighttime workouts ate three meals every four hours before training, followed by another meal.
At the beginning and end of the trial, participants were assessed comprehensively on aerobic capacity, muscular endurance, flexibility, balance, upper and lower body strength and power, and jumping ability. Over the course of the 12-week trial, only 16 percent of the 56 enrolled participants dropped out, entirely because of their inability to adhere to the nutrition and exercise program.
In addition to changes in participants’ physical and metabolic parameters such as blood pressure, arterial stiffness, respiratory exchange rate, body distribution, and fat percentage, the researchers also measured changes in relevant blood biomarkers such as insulin, total “good” HDL cholesterol, C-reactive protein and IL-6. They also administered questionnaires to the participants to quantify changes in mood and food satiety.
Overall benefits of a clear plan
The researchers showed that overall health and performance improved in all participants over the course of the trial, whether they were assigned morning or evening exercise.
“Our study clearly demonstrates the benefits of morning-evening multimodal (RISE) exercise for improving cardiometabolic and emotional health and physical performance outcomes in women and men,” said Arciero.
But crucially, they also showed that ETOD determines the magnitude of improvements in physical function, body composition, cardiometabolic health and mood.
For example, all female participants lost body fat, abdominal and hip fat, and blood pressure during the trial, but these improvements were greater in women who exercised in the morning. As fat became the preferred fuel source, only men who exercised at night showed lower ratios of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, respiratory exchange rate, and carbohydrate oxidation.
Different ETOD recommendations for women and men
“Based on our findings, women interested in reducing belly fat and blood pressure while increasing leg muscle strength should consider exercising in the morning. Nighttime workouts are the first choice for women who are on a budget,” Arciero said.
“Conversely, nighttime exercise is ideal for men interested in improving their heart and metabolic health, as well as their emotional health.”
see also
Second author Stephen J Ives, Associate Professor at Skidmore College, concluded: “We have shown that ETOD should be an important consideration for anyone, male or female, because of its impact on the strength of exercise physiology outcomes. But regardless of ETOD How, regular exercise is vital to our health.”
Research news about this exercise
author: Mischa Dikstra
resource: cutting edge
touch: Mischa Dijkstra – Frontier
picture: Image is in the public domain
Original research: Open access.
“Exercise in the morning reduces abdominal fat and blood pressure, exercise in the evening improves muscle performance in women; exercise in the evening increases fat oxidation and lowers blood pressure in men”, Paul J Arciero et al. Frontiers in Physiology
Abstract
Morning exercise reduces abdominal fat and blood pressure, and evening exercise improves muscle performance in women; however, nighttime exercise increases fat oxidation and lowers blood pressure in men
Purpose: Given known gender differences in responses to exercise training, this study quantified the health and performance outcomes of different groups of women and men who adhered to different ETODs.
method: Thirty athletic-trained women (BMI = 24 ± 3 kg/m2; 42 ± 8 years) and 26 males (BMI = 25.5 ± 3 kg/m2; 45 ± 8 years) were randomly assigned to multimodal ETOD in the morning (0600-0800 hours, AM) or evening (1830-2030 hours, PM) for 12 weeks and analyzed as separate cohorts. Baseline (Week 0) and Post (Week 12) Muscle Strength (1-RM Bench Press/Leg Press), Endurance (Sit-Up/Push-Up), and Power (Squat Jump, SJ; Bench Press, BT), Body composition (iDXA assessed; fat mass, FM; abdominal fat, Abfat), systolic/diastolic blood pressure (BP), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), mood state (POMS), and dietary intake.
result: Twenty-seven women and 20 men completed the 12-week intervention. For the female and male cohorts, there were no differences at baseline between groups (morning versus afternoon). In women, a significant interaction (p < 0.05) present in the 1RM bench (8 ± 2 vs 12 ± 2, Δkg), push-ups (9 ± 1 vs 13 ± 2, Δreps), BT (10 ± 6 vs 45 ± 28, Δwatts), SJ ( 135 ± 6 vs 39 ± 8, Δwatts), fat mass (-1.0 ± 0.2 vs -0.3 ± 0.2, Δkg), Abfat (-2.6 ± 0.3 vs -0.9 ± 0.5, Δkg), diastolic blood pressure (-10 ± 1 vs−5 ± 5, ∆mmHg) and systolic (−12.5 ± 2.7 vs 2.3 ± 3, mmHg) BP, AM vs PM. In men, a significant interaction (p < 0.05) presence of systolic blood pressure (-3.5 ± 2.6 vs -14.9 ± 5.1, ∆mmHg), RER (-0.01 ± 0.01 vs -0.06 ± 0.01, ∆VCO2/VO2) and fatigue (-0.8 ± 2 vs -5.9 ± 2, Δmm, respectively), AM vs PM. Macronutrient intakes were similar in the morning and afternoon groups.
in conclusion: Morning exercise (AM) reduced abdominal fat and blood pressure, and evening exercise (PM) enhanced muscle performance in a female cohort. In the male cohort, PM increased fat oxidation and decreased systolic blood pressure and fatigue. Thus, ETOD may be important for optimizing individual exercise-induced health and performance outcomes in physically active individuals and may be independent of macronutrient intake.