Millions of Americans spend their time exercising every day from their busy schedules. However, only 23% of adults over the age of 18 meet the recommended guidelines for both aerobic exercise and strength-building activities. The biggest hurdle for most people: not enough time. Au contraire, 2019 studies from CDC and Rand say. A survey of more than 30,000 participants found that Americans have an average of more than 5 hours of free time per day.
Whether you’re considering starting a training regimen or a more experienced athlete, one of the biggest questions I ask is, “When is the best time to exercise?” Most people are fairly controlled and protect when exercising. Choosing to exercise in the morning or evening is often the product of work schedules or childcare responsibilities. Or is it just “morning” or “night”?
But is there any science that supports morning and evening workouts? Recent research studies on the frontier of physiology shed some light.
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Do Early Birds Get Exercise Worms?
This is a relatively small study at Skidmore College, collecting data from 27 women and 20 men who are already very active on regular exercise therapy. Participants were followed for 12 weeks. They performed one of four different exercise routines: stretching, resistance training, interval sprinting, and endurance training four times a week for one hour each time. One group ran the routine from 6:30 am to 8:30 am and the other group ran the routine from 6 pm to 8 pm.
For groups exercising in the morning:
- Women had a 7% reduction in tummy fat, significantly lower blood pressure, and increased leg strength.
For groups exercising in the evening:
- Women have significantly improved upper body strength, power, endurance and mood
- Men improved heart health, metabolic health, emotional well-being
- Men also had greater weight loss and lower blood pressure
Dive deeper into other studies
Previous studies examining the time-dependent effects of exercise were in complete disagreement with the results of this new study. In contrast, a small study in 2019 found that men also lose weight significantly when exercising in the morning. However, previous studies support current findings that improved metabolic health in afternoon-exercised men, including improved insulin sensitivity and glycemic control.
The January 2022 International Consortium of Researchers examined the molecular changes that occur in cells of multiple organs in mice to see what happens when exercising in the morning and evening at the most basic cellular level. We conducted an attractive research study to quantify in. .. The molecular profile of the mice showed a high dependence on fat to promote morning exercise and a high dependence on glucose to promote afternoon exercise. Some may argue that mouse data cannot be extrapolated to humans, but the cellular processes at the molecular level are similar.
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Additional factors that are hypothesized to play a role include sleep quality and hormones.
The role of sleep
One possible reason is that women tend to spend more time in deep sleep, so they tend to be more careful and ready to exercise early in the morning. However, many men prefer to exercise in the morning as well. This leads us to one of the greatest myths of sleep and exercise. Late evenings or near bedtime slows exercise and reduces sleep quality. Again, it’s different. Exercising at the end of the day may not affect the self-proclaimed night owl. And most importantly, a meta-analysis identified 29 studies that showed that exercise improved sleep quality or duration.
Don’t count hormones
Levels of the stress hormone cortisol are higher in both men and women in the morning. This can create a need to “burn off” stress for both men and women who prefer to do aerobic exercise early in the morning. However, cortisol can have inhibitory or catabolic effects on muscle building. Therefore, men and women who aim for strength training may benefit more from evening training.
It is also worth mentioning that the latest research found that consumption of key nutrients did not play a role. Participants in the study also needed to maintain the same accurate dietary regimen of Foamir daily at the same time for 12 weeks.
“X” factor: you do you
Conclusion: This is a small study and much is still unknown about the time-dependent benefits of exercise. It adds a set of evidence that men exercising in the evening have a higher metabolic effect. For women whose goal is to burn fat, this study showed clear benefits to morning training. And I don’t think we can ignore the catabolism of cortisol. Night training may be preferred for men and women whose goal is to gain strength.
Whether you exercise in the morning or in the evening, the important point is that you are exercising and certainly enjoying its many benefits. If you feel better mentally and enjoy exercising first thing in the morning, keep doing it! If you have specific goals in mind, consider the results of your research when choosing a time of day to work out.
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Michael Daignault, MD, is a board-certified ER physician in Los Angeles. He studied Global Health at Georgetown University and holds a medical degree from Ben Gurion University. He completed emergency medicine training at the Lincoln Medical Center in South Bronx. He is also a former US Peace Corps volunteer. Find him on Instagram @ dr.daignault
