Is it better for our body to exercise at certain times of the day?
A new useful study on exercise timing and metabolic health suggests that, for at least some people, the answer is a yes with reservations. The study, which looked at men at high risk for type 2 diabetes, found that those who trained afternoon they improved their metabolic health much more than those who did the same exercise in the beginning. The results add to a growing body of evidence that the timing of exercise can change its benefits.
Scientists have long known that today’s timeline influences the quality of our health. Studies in both animals and humans indicate that all of our body tissues contain a kind of molecular clock that sounds, in part, in response to biological messages about daily exposure to light, food and sleep.
These cell clocks help measure when our cells divide, feed, express genes, and carry out their normal biological activity. Adjusted to our lifestyle, these watches create multiple circadian rhythms within us that cause a rise and fall in body temperature, hormone levels, blood sugar, blood pressure, muscle strength and other biological systems of the day.
Circadian science also shows that disrupting normal 24-hour circadian patterns can harm our health. People who work night shifts, for example, whose sleep habits are disturbed, tend to be at increased risk for metabolic problems, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. The same is true for people who eat at night. late outside of normal dinner hours. However, more encouraging research suggests that manipulating sleep and meals can improve metabolic health.
But much of this research focuses on when we eat or go to bed. It is not so clear whether the timing of exercise can influence metabolic health or how, and the results of experiments do not always coincide. Some suggest that morning workouts, for example, increase fat burning and weight loss.
But these experiments often manipulate the timing of breakfast and other meals, as well as exercise, which makes it difficult to determine the circadian effects specific to training. Healthy volunteers with no metabolic problems usually participate.
On the other hand, a much-debated study from 2019 found that men with type 2 diabetes who did a few minutes of high-intensity afternoon sessions substantially improved their blood sugar control within two weeks. However, if they did the same intense workouts in the morning, the blood sugar level actually increased unhealthily.
Patrick Schrauwen, professor of nutrition and movement sciences at the Medical Center of the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, read with interest that study from 2019. He and his colleagues studied moderate exercise in people with type 2 diabetes, but did not take it into account. consider the possible role of the program in their research. Now, looking at the different effects of intense workouts, he wondered if the timing of moderate workouts could equally affect the way you are. training has changed people’s metabolism.
Fortunately, he and his colleagues had a ready-made data source in their own previous experiment. A few years earlier, adult men at high risk for type 2 diabetes were asked to ride a stationary bike in the lab three times a week for 12 weeks while researchers tracked their metabolic health. By the way, the scientists also noticed when the patients showed up for training.
Schrauwen and colleagues then extracted data from the 12 men who exercised consistently between 8 and 10 in the morning and compared them with another 20 who always exercised between 15 and 18.
After 12 weeks, men who cycled in the afternoon had a significantly higher average insulin sensitivity than those who exercised in the morning, resulting in a increased ability to control blood sugar. They had also lost a little more fat around their waists than those who cycled in the morning, even though everyone’s exercise routine had been the same.
“I think exercise is better than not exercising at any time,” says Schrauwen. “However, this study suggests that afternoon exercise may be more beneficial” for women. people with impaired metabolisms than the same exercise done before.
However, in the study, published in Physiological reports, only men participated. Women’s metabolism may respond differently.
Also, the researchers did not delve into the reasons why evening workouts could affect the metabolism differently from previous ones. But Schrauwen believes moderate afternoon exercise can have a effect on food which we consume later in the evening and “help to metabolize the last meals of the day faster” before bed. This effect could leave our bodies in a state of fasting during the night, which could better synchronize the body’s clocks and metabolism and improve health.
He and his colleagues hope to explore the molecular effects that underlie future studies, as well as whether the lunch and dinner schedule changes these results. The team also hopes to investigate whether night workouts These could amplify the benefits of the evening effort or perhaps undermine them, worsening sleep.
Ultimately, says Schrauwen, the special and most effective exercise regimen for each of us will fit “our daily routines” and our exercise inclinations. Because exercise is good for us at any time of the day, but only if we choose to continue doing it.
By Gretchen Reynolds © The New York Times