01:45 – Source: CNN
This type of training may be better for your aging body than jogging
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If your main fitness goals If your goal is to lose weight, it’s a good idea to consider how much time you exercise. New research offers tips to help maximize your efforts.
Exercising between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. reduces waist circumference, body mass index According to one study, people who exercise during the day or in the evening The study was published on Tuesday Published in “Obesity” magazine.
“This is exciting new research that is consistent with common hints. achieve exercise goals That means scheduling your exercise in the morning, before potentially distracting emails, phone calls, or meetings,” says Physician, a clinical psychologist with expertise in behavioral weight management who was involved in the study. Rebecca Kurkowski said in a news release.
A positive association between moderate to vigorous physical activity and weight loss has been previously reported by other researchers.However, research on the best time to exercise to lose weight is mixed, So what did the authors of the latest study look for? influence Performing activities at different times may influence the relationship between exercise and obesity.
The authors studied health and activity data for 5,285 people who participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003 to 2006. (The researchers chose that particular year because that was when accelerometers, or activity meters, were first used in research.)
After recording their BMI and waist circumference, participants wore an activity tracker on their right hips during waking hours for at least 10 hours every day for 4 to 7 days.
Those who exercised in the morning (7 a.m. to 9 a.m.) had an average BMI of 27.5, while those who exercised in the afternoon and evening had an average BMI of 28.3. Noon was defined as 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and evening was defined as 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Average waist circumference, adjusted for diet quality and caloric intake, was 96 cm (37.7 inches), 97.8 cm (38.5 inches), and 97.5 cm (38.4 inches). ), Each.
read more: When should you eat to fuel your training?
These findings hold true regardless of gender, ethnicity, education, smoking, drinking, or sedentary behavior. Additionally, among people who all met physical activity guidelines (at least 150 minutes per week), meeting this goal in the morning had the lowest BMI and waist size.
“This study adds valuable evidence based on a national sample of US[participants]that has not been done before on the topic of exercise timing and weight loss,” said lead author of the study. said research assistant Dr. Tongyu Ma. Email Professor of Rehabilitation Science, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
However, because participants’ BMI and waist size were measured before the activity tracking period and not again afterward, the authors could not prove that morning exercise had a direct effect on either measure.
Professor Ma said further research will be conducted to confirm this result and to see if there is a causal relationship between morning exercise and reductions in BMI and waist size.
Experts said the reasons behind this finding could be related to both physiology and lifestyle.
Because of the study’s design, “it is unclear whether people who consistently exercise in the morning are systematically different from those who exercise at other times in ways not measured in this study,” the public health expert said. Professor Kowsky said. He is a Doctor of Science and co-director of the Center for Community-Based Health Equity at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
“People who regularly exercise in the morning may have more predictable schedules, such as being less likely to work shifts or have caregiving responsibilities that interfere with morning exercise,” she says. added. “A predictable schedule may have other beneficial effects on weight that were not measured in this study, such as sleep length (or) quality or stress levels.”
Additionally, morning owls may be biologically different from night owls, experts say.
The authors noted, based on previous research, that people who exercise in the morning are likely to have a lower daily caloric intake and passively expend more energy when they are not exercising. Although it may seem contradictory, working out fasted in the morning means your body relies on stored fat for energy rather than stored glucose from food, so this tendency may occur. This may mean that the early-born bird’s body is better prepared to promote fat oxidation or burning, both during exercise and the next day. if they are sedentary After training.
In a new study, people who exercised in the morning were the most sedentary, despite having the lowest BMI and waist circumference.
“I personally like this because it tells me that if I exercise in the morning, I can sit in the office and focus on work the rest of the day without worrying about gaining weight.” said Ma in an email.
Greater weight loss may come from doing more focused or structured exercise, the authors said, which was also a pattern found in the morning group.
If you can manage this, “early morning aerobic exercise (such as cycling, running, or brisk walking) can be a promising tool for weight loss,” Marr said. “In fact, most people are more likely to stick with their morning workout routine than midday or evening.”
